As 2020 winds down, many HR and staffing professionals are finding ourselves more unsettled than usual. Not only did we overcome immense challenges through this COVID-19 pandemic, we’re still trying to figure out what the future holds personally and professionally as we hopefully move beyond it.
Hiring at such an uncertain time can be daunting. Many employees, for example, continue to work from home (WFH) and it’s difficult to predict the ultimate fate of these arrangements. Should a COVID-19 vaccine be forthcoming, as some very welcome news has indicated, will workers come back to the office? Or have we entered a new era? And how can you bring on talent without knowing the particulars?
The WFH Experiment
For years, companies talked about transitioning to a remote workforce at some point, but actual implementations tended to lag behind the bold predictions of the IT enthusiasts. Sure, the accountant might dial in two days a week or the company might rely on a handful of WFH software developers, but the culture of the office mostly remained intact.Then COVID-19 thrust remote work on companies of all sizes, prepared and unprepared alike. Concerns about overseeing employee tasks or losing the innovation that comes from water cooler conversations had to be set aside.
The results, however, have been surprisingly positive for countless employers—and let’s be honest, for many of us who weren’t sure whether the couch might beckon harder than the work project or family responsibilities (hello online kindergarten!) might annihilate our concentration.
To the contrary, since the unforeseen WFH experiment began:
- 94% of employers in a Mercer study said their productivity was the same or higher.
- Knowledge workers have been more productive at home—and the volume of tasks those employees find “tiresome” has declined, too.
- Workers surveyed in the thousands self-reported their own productivity increases.
Preparing for a Remote-ish Future
In article after article, employers have been thinking out loud about what their organizations will do once workplace decisions no longer center on COVID-19. Twitter and Square, for instance, announced WFH forever policies. Other companies are discussing WFH/on-premises hybrid models, where employees might work from home about half the time.Unfortunately, not all of the choices about work environment have been made and many may be subject to change. This will have a significant impact on hiring considerations. For example:
- Can you cast a wider net for talent if WFH frees you from geographical considerations?
- How should you reimagine your employer brand and benefits package if the on-site culture and amenities are not as important to employees who WFH much or all of the time?
- If you’re unsure of the future, how can you bring on talent without risking turnover, should on-site work again become the norm and employees counting on WFH walk out the door?
- Are there better ways to screen candidates for WFH and hybrid work environments to identify those who will thrive and maximize productivity, not fade from lack of interaction in these circumstances?
- How can you evolve your technologies and processes to make the hiring process work seamlessly, regardless of what’s coming down the pike?
All of this to say, we get it—you have a lot going on. So if you need anything, please reach out.