28 Jan Make 2022 Your Best Year Yet: Prioritize Your People
Leaders – how are you doing on your professional resolutions for 2022?
Whether you’ve made significant process improvements or are laser-focused on your anticipated growth, we are here to remind you not to forget your company’s most important asset: your people.
As the new year settles in and the hustle and bustle of your business returns in full effect, here are some tools and strategies to consider as you grow and scale in a 2022 job market.
Understand your candidates
Prioritizing your people isn’t a one-and-done thing. Rather, it is a mindset that must permeate through the entire employee journey, starting from when an employee is still a candidate in the recruitment process.
Even before a candidate comes into your office for an interview, you must approach the journey as a relational experience – not just a transactional one. This means diving deep and developing a clear understanding of the position you are hiring for and the candidate’s perspective.
Firstly, you must do your due diligence from a salary perspective by keeping your finger on the pulse of competitive compensation – both for the industry the position falls under, as well as the location of your company. Be prepared to have a conversation about why the compensation is what it is, regardless of whether it is higher or lower end. Be thoughtful in your reason to demonstrate true understanding and awareness of the job market we are operating within.
To truly build meaningful connections with job candidates, you must also know the right questions to ask relative to the industry for which you are hiring. In a recent article, we explained how to approach interview questions for technical professionals, but regardless of what position you are hiring, demonstrating knowledge of what truly qualifies a candidate will build confidence and trust on both sides of the table.
Finally, understanding your candidates means understanding generational differences in today’s employment market and the professional world at large. From Gen-Z to the Baby Boomers, every generation has different ideas about what a workplace should look like – from daily operations to overarching organizational culture and everything in between. If you want 2022 to be your best year yet in the eyes of candidates, new hires, and seasoned employees alike, you must truly understand the different ways that employees orient themselves in their professional lives and create a culture that respects the diverse makeup of our working world.
Honor today’s reality
Understanding the current job market isn’t just about candidates – it’s also about the people who currently enter your office each and every day!
Simply retaining workers won’t meet the mark in an employee’s job market – employee satisfaction is necessary to thriving for years and decades to come. Responding to today’s talent shortage means hiring right, but it also requires you to have internal processes to match – ones that help your employees thrive.
There is no such thing as ‘business as usual’ in 2022 – the world is changing, and leaders must evolve with it! To thrive in these unprecedented times, you must listen (and truly hear) your employees when it comes to what a productive and fulfilling work-life looks like to them.
With that, it’s time to face the fact that remote and hybrid work options are now the norm, not just the exception. As you consider attracting new talent and supporting your current employees, consider their feedback. By truly working with your employees to develop an organizational dynamic that feels good to all parties involved, you will become more lucrative in the market and set yourself apart from the competition
Promote professional growth
When your employees grow, your company grows! That’s why it’s critical to make corporate training a major piece of your growth puzzle in 2022 and take your team to the next level. This means offering opportunities for professional development and education on new technologies and methodologies to enhance employee knowledge and productivity.
Start by identifying areas of needed improvement. From there, consider the resources you have to create growth opportunities. Not only will this permeate outwards and improve the quality of your brand but will also attract candidates as you work to hire and recruit new team members.
The future of work is here, and it’s time to take the leap. If you’re looking for the people, processes, and resources to make 2022 your company’s best year yet, reach out today!