Hiring and retaining your team in 2022 - 5 trends and tips
Welcome to 2022! Here’s to the possibilities that a new year brings. Here are Good People’s predictions for hiring and engagement in 2022, with tips for getting ahead of the game.
Trend 1 - Hiring will remain challenging throughout 2022
We predict a slow start to the hiring year in 2022, as NZ candidates focus on enjoying the summer, public and school holiday period, and keep a close eye on Omicron developments. We expect candidates will have more confidence in applying for jobs and moving companies once Waitangi Day is over and the planned phased border reopening begins. There could be significant peaks and troughs of applications, as lockdowns, outbreaks or border date adjustments will cause uncertainty with candidates, which will make people reluctant to switch jobs. However, look for an upswing in interest at the end of lockdown periods or with an influx at the border.
While we expect to see experienced talent returning to NZ once the border reopens, we also expect an exodus during 2022 of those who are keen to travel, especially junior/entry level candidates. This means it could get even harder to hire for junior roles.
On top of the talent shortage, candidates are likely to be extremely selective about choosing an offer that feels right for them. The balance of power has shifted in the employment relationship - it’s no longer about whether a candidate meets an employer’s expectations, it’s now about whether the employer meets theirs - and smart candidates know it. Offers need to be about more than money now, but about the complete package of the work experience - flexibility, development, career potential, culture, management style, and consideration of their personal circumstances.
How to get ahead of it
Shift your recruitment approach to skills-based hiring. Identify what skills you really need for a role and focusing your hiring process on identifying those skills (along with culture). This will put you at an immense advantage, because many employers are still trying to hire based on expectations of what that person looks like (looking for a ‘persona’.) That approach is likely to fail in a tight market and misses a lot of potential. Focusing on the skills you really need, rather than your expectations of who that person is, significantly widens your horizons in hiring. It also has the fantastic benefit of actively supporting diversity and inclusion in your recruitment and will hit your bottom line positively by supporting better results and performance too, as your new joiners will have the right skills at the start. (We have a deep specialty in skills-based hiring - contact us for a chat if you’d like to know more about it!)
Make sure you give candidates a welcoming and friendly recruitment process that reflects your culture and showcases your business in the way it deserves to be seen. Communicate well and extensively with your candidates. Show them fantastic hospitality when they come for an interview. Give them proactive insights into your process, culture, and people. Try treating your candidates the way you would treat a valued client! That’s the Good People approach, and it will strongly increase their interest in working with you (a great advantage when hiring in a tight market!) Create a fantastic first impression, and then once they join make sure you follow it through with a fantastic working environment too.
Be flexible with your approach to offers. Pay rates are rising as your competitors are pushing their budgets and paying more to secure excellent candidates, and people are now expecting higher pay than they have in the past (so don’t rely on what you could offer pre-pandemic). However, it’s no longer just about the money, as personal needs have become equally important to people. Try co-designing an offer by talking to candidates proactively about their needs and expectations from work - benefits, pay, flexibility, location, personal considerations etc - and be as flexible as you can. Balance the cost of offering more with the cost to your business if you don’t hire, including the risk and cost if they decline your offer.
If you foresee the need to hire junior level staff, consider proactively hiring and training interns or graduates, so you are prepared for an exodus later in the year. This is one area where there is a large pool of local talent, and you’re likely to build great loyalty and engagement by hiring in this area and training someone up in your business.
Trend 2 - Companies not actively building a great place to work will be left behind
With the Great Reshuffle in progress, the employment relationship is changing. People expect much more from their employers than they did in the past. They want a partnership, not the master/servant arrangement of previous decades. If their current employment relationship does not meet their expectations, engagement and performance will probably suffer, and resignations are likely to increase.
Smart employers are using Good People practices to treat their teams well. They know this results in stronger engagement, better cultures, which means their business can adapt and thrive. This trend is becoming mainstream, and people are looking elsewhere to see if the grass is greener. If it is, expect that they will explore their options, as they know they have choices - and your competitors know it too. For many businesses, this will be a mindset shift - but it’s an essential one to stay afloat in the talent world and ensure your business is sustainable throughout times to come.
How to get ahead of it
Actively build a great place to work. Make this part of your management culture and your business strategy. Put it front and centre.
Understand what your people are thinking and feeling. How do they feel about working with you? What does a great place to work mean to them? That’s more important than what it means to you, as they’re the ones who do the voting (so to speak), so make sure you focus your actions on their needs. Conduct regular pulse surveys or engagement surveys and do something with that information. (This is a specialty of ours at Good People.)
Get the people basics right. Don’t underestimate how important this is to your team. It makes people feel valued and included. Build your castles on rock, not sand. For instance, having their pay regularly reviewed and achievements acknowledged is very meaningful to most people. Make sure you have regular processes and communications around pay reviews, 1:1 conversations, goal setting, development, performance. It matters.
Live your values, be true to who you are as a business. Use values as a filter for decisions and behaviour. It’s a great way to build culture and identity, and create involvement and belonging with your people. If you need to revisit your values, now is a great time for an update.
Trend 3 - Demand for increased human caring and individual treatment in the workplace
Part of the expectations shift we mentioned above is an increased demand to be treated well at work – as an individual human being, with personal needs met, rights respected, and management caring about people as people. (Dare we say, like Good People?) We’ve seen a notable blur between work and home over the last few decades. Balance, burnout, and lack of time make life hard. With fluid work boundaries, seeking balance means things are now shifting to include more focus on personal needs as part of the work environment. People are no longer prepared to give without some take.
How to get ahead of it
Focus on good relationships of all kinds. We can’t stress this enough. Good management relationships, team relationships, stakeholders, and definitely social. Make sure there are plenty of social events and team catchups.
Ask people proactively about their personal needs, including flexibility needs, and make it clear you will work with them on this.
Take proactive action to show the team that you care about them personally. Ask yourself what you can do to act like you care and make this part of your strategy. For instance, are people taking holiday and sick leave when they need to? Are you celebrating birthdays and milestones, and acknowledging people?
Trend 4 – Energy levels and wellbeing as strategic priorities
People are exhausted after 2 years of the pandemic. People are low on energy, and mental health has become an increasing issue. Physical health and fitness have suffered too, not to mention the risk of illness through Covid-19 or other diseases. Vaccination has become a social and political issue. Stability, safety, and day-to-day survival are priorities for many people.
All this can contribute to the grass looking greener elsewhere for your team. Many people are hoping change will solve some of their difficulties. Remember, your team are human beings, not robots, and human beings need support and time to rest and repair when they are down. If you treat them well, you’ll be cultivating the loyalty and engagement that your business needs to thrive.
How to get ahead of it
Communicate regularly with your entire team. Letting them know what’s going on with the business helps support their psychological wellbeing in these uncertain times.
Make sure you have a Covid-19 policy and you’ve shared it with your team, and that you have consulted with them about it and how you’re going to manage it together.
Build an active wellbeing plan to support physical, mental, and emotional health at work. This could include core health and safety practices, mental first aid resources, attention to bullying and harassment, encouraging people to use annual, sick and bereavement leave. Add as many extras as you can on top of the basics and consider co-creating this plan with your team.
Know how you will manage your team in the event of an outbreak or increased sick/annual leave being taken over the year compared to 2021. Have contingency plans so you are ready when ‘life happens’.
Trend 5 – Flexibility and Individualisation = Advantage
‘New ways of working’ are not new anymore. With pandemic shifts still uncertain, we predict flexibility of approach and strong contingency plans will continue to give an advantage in both hiring and everyday performance. Under ‘normal’ working conditions, expect to see personalised design of working location, hours, and even the design of jobs themselves.
How to get ahead of it
Keep your contingency plans alive, as the possibility of lockdowns or community outbreaks is still there.
Be very clear about what levels of flexibility your business can support. Consider the range of work model options that are possible for you. Discuss this proactively with your team and plan for suitable options. Be open to remote hiring as far as possible to increase your talent pool.
Get your hybrid and remote working structures right. Communication, technology, connection, coordination. It’s here to stay, so make it work for you.
Don’t overlook fairness among the wider team. Giving flexibility or benefits to some can backfire if people perceive they are being treated differently. Communicate, and invite feedback.
Final thoughts
We hope these predictions and tips will help you and your team prepare for 2022 and navigate the year ahead. The one thing we can predict with total certainty is that the year will bring surprises that none of us can foresee! With forethought and planning, and using Good People practices, you can position yourself for success in the year to come. If you’d like to find out more about these trends and tips, contact us for a chat - we can help you on the road to Good People in 2022.