The future of work is here: evaluating your workplace in a tight labor market

By Vicki Bohlsen, President and Founder

There is no denying that recruitment and retention have changed significantly in the last few years. Organizations and leaders have no choice but to be intentional about how they’re going to address this new future in the workplace.

Without the right culture, benefits and retention strategies in place, you’re at risk of losing your top talent and this is likely to cost you in more ways than one. An employee’s exit can negatively impact engagement levels.

And what does it take to lure a candidate to choose to work at your company? Long gone are the days of a ping pong table and free beer clinching a hire.  With such a competitive landscape, companies need to focus on their pay, benefits and workplace model.

Remote or Hybrid

LinkedIn is reporting that 1 in 7 jobs now posted have a remote or hybrid work component; in March of 2020, that number was just 1 in 67. With 8 out of 10 workers saying a flexible schedule is important when considering taking a new job (the Harris poll for Fortune ), companies have to consider a remote/hybrid option to be competitive.

Pre-pandemic, Bohlsen Group had a work-from-home-on-Monday policy. I can attest, it was well-received during recruitment and beloved by the team. 

Like so many, we went fully remote in March 2020 and began working one day a week from a co-working space June of 2021 and have remained the same way since. I can unequivocally say that theses arrangement did not affect our output or outcomes, but I did wonder if it was best for my team’s mental health and well-being?

When considering long-term options, I went straight to my employees and asked a group of pointed questions so that we could move forward with a work model that was a mutual win. We just moved to a new permanent office with a hybrid model that allows flexibility, but also much-needed face-to-face communications amongst the team.  We settled on working from the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and Thursdays are optional, if not needed for an important client meeting).

Pay

If it remains counter-productive for you to recover from the pandemic by giving pay increases, be sure to communicate openly what the long(er)-term plans are for your company.

No doubt it is important that current and future team members are compensated competitively when it comes to their basic pay rate. For my industry, sleuthing chat rooms on FishBowl, researching industry studies, and asking peers has been a big help. Provide a brief inside look at company financials and a timeline for addressing pay increases.

Benefits

Look at your expenses and see if there are cost savings to be had or benefits you can add.

I found a large chuck of cost savings by switching to another PEO. Not only will my employees now save on their health insurance by making this switch, but their plans have improved, even including an Employee Assistance Program that addresses mental health and well-being.

We also added a maternity/paternity paid leave of absence benefit and instituted a policy where you do not need to use PTO days for illness.

All these changes will create a better work/life balance for my team, and will also result in cash in their pockets.  

Work Culture

There is no singular type of work arrangement or benefits; many factors should be in play when setting the stage for your company.

Undoubtedly, however, an employee needs to feel and know they are valued. Feeling valued at work has been linked to better physical and mental health, as well as higher levels of engagement, satisfaction, and motivation.

Larger companies should make sure they’ve got a process in place to regularly communicate an employee’s value. During recruiting, why not ask a candidate how they like to receive feedback? If you have a good system in place, you will be able to pull from your day-to-day operational processes to let the candidate know what they can expect. Let candidates know that this is a top priority to you.

Your best recruitment strategy is the retention of your current employees. Make sure you ask often and listen openly.