When you first heard about The Great Resignation, what did you picture?
Because the reality is a little less cinematic.
People are burned out, miserable, andracking up more hours than ever before.
For many, resigning was their last resort.
The Great Resignation concept gets some things right, and many things wrong.
Workers are quitting in high numbers, but theyre not all leaving their jobs for the same reason.
Healthcare workers are burned out; exhausted by long hours and limited resources amid the ongoing pandemic.
Knowledge workers are sick of spying bosses and shitty progression paths theyre looking for better opportunities elsewhere.
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Is a nurse experiencing the same Great Resignation as a marketing exec at astartup?
White-collar workers got a taste of what its like to be a remote worker.
And businesses discovered that work could continue outside the office, something the digital nomads have known for years.
With the perks, came the pitfalls.
The toxicity that silently pervaded the office resurfaced remotely.
Bosses installed mouse trackers while they lamented the old days of presenteeism.
Trust between employers and employees reached anall time low.
We spoke with two recent cohorts of TechleapsRise Programmefor fast-growing scaleups to find out more.
The years dominated by the pandemic have stimulated awareness, Niels told me.
People are realizing its actually quite nice to have freedom and flexibility during the work week.
People had the chance to explore meaningful questions too, like: Is my work important?
Does my manager trust me?
According to a report by McKinsey,52% of workers want flexible working optionspost-pandemic.
Before the pandemic, only 30% of workers did.
Theres no going back, baby.
Then build your policies and benefits package based on their ideas.
Whats more, you might not even need to hire anyone at all.
Companies struggling to hire would do well to capitalize on raw talent.
Instead of pitching for the people everyone else fights for, seek out skilled recruits from parallel industries.
Otto Verhage is chief of operations at TestGorilla, a pre-employment testing platform that champions candidate experience.
He sees first-hand how employers unintentionally create obstacles for great candidates.
Businesses tend to hire purely based on experience.
Employers should look to identify talent where others dont.
Theyll have a better chance of finding someone because theres less competition.
The strategy is tried and tested (pun intended) atTestGorilla.
Otto mentions that employees dont need industry experience to secure a role at the company.
We let everyone apply to our jobs, irrespective of their background.
Our skill assessments identify promising candidates that we may not consider if we just use CVs.
They open our eyes to diverse candidates.
Niels also emphasises the benefits of a skills-oriented approach.
When I picture the future of work, I imagine a labor market thats accessible to everyone.
Covid has shown us the importance of flexibility.
Lets embrace it, and empower more people with opportunities.
In which case, maybe its time to stop requesting 10 years of experience for a junior developer role.
Be real, pal.
People are continually seeking out opportunities to test their squiggly little skull organ.
Employers that are proactive will get one step ahead of the game and start providing these options themselves.
And when businesses deliver on L&D, they can hire less experienced folks and make them brilliant.
People are clearly willing to learn.
You just need to give them the opportunity.
Businesses that make learning and development an integral part of their offering can also boost retention.
The pandemic created the urgency to keep learning to stay relevant.
Sometimes you just want to hear great presentation!
or well done for figuring out how to remove the potato filter!
A little bit of praise goes a long way.
Otto identified this with one of TestGorillas pre-employment tools.
They also have a separate test to assess culture add which measures value alignment.
We know for a fact theres a list of about 10 job characteristics that are incredibly important to candidates.
Things like: Do I have enough autonomy in my job?
Do I get enough recognition?
Can I work on something end to end?
Those things are super important.
Until employers can meet those basic human needs, they probably shouldnt aim for the bells and whistles anyway.
Its time to get real about what you want and need from candidates.
While youre at it, dont fish from the same talent pool as everyone else.
Dont write off raw talent if they have transferable skills.
And for crying out loud do not list Zoom socials as a perk of the job.
