Recruiters are, by nature, “people people.” Far more than almost any other profession, the pandemic and its subsequent aftershocks have changed the way recruiters work. After all, recruiters are used to meeting candidates in person in order to get a feel for who they are ― not just what they are. Now that the industry has gone virtual, those meetings are largely over Zoom rather than over coffee.
As with any paradigm shift, a lot of what was once “normal” in the recruitment profession has been lost. Nevertheless, even more stands to be gained by recruiters in a number of areas:
Passion
Even virtually, it is still the employer’s responsibility to create an environment where people feel that they can be heard and be creative — in other words, to fulfill their passion. Each employee is unique and looks for different qualities in a work environment. Therefore, it is extremely important to understand what makes people tick, what excites them, and what helps them feel like they are achieving their goals. Having fun is also essential as both a de-stressor and a chance to think outside of the box.
While there has been a lot of discussion about whether employees can thrive outside of the office — Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently chimed in on this subject — work-from-home (or WFH) situations can easily accommodate “fun” activities like yoga or meditation or just learning something new. When you offer autonomy and fun, you can help make people feel fulfilled. The net-net is that they will do a great job at work, wherever that is.
Making It Fun
Speaking of fun, who doesn’t enjoy an impromptu water cooler conversation, even if there’s no actual water cooler? A new WFH/hybrid tradition in our office is allotting 30 minutes every day for anyone that wants to jump on and chit chat about anything but work. These Zoom get-togethers are often more personal than the in-person ones, because we get to see more: kids, partners, pets, parents, and all kinds of things both planned and unplanned.
Bringing someone into your “home” virtually is remarkably personal. Still, it is our duty as leaders to ensure that everyone understands and respects each other’s home environments and familial situation.
Trust
Trust is integral to any team’s success, though the notion of employer supervision has been a hot topic of many WFH cynics. If you don’t want to punch clocks and micromanage, then hire qualified candidates. Then give them autonomy and challenges. At the end of the day, your team will feel fulfilled and know that their employers truly care about them. They will want to do a good job for themselves, their bosses, peers, their clients and for the business overall.
As for slackers or so-called “quiet quitters,” enterprise and workflow software makes it easy to measure if teams are on track, regardless if they work in the same spaces or not. I have the most amazing team and I truly believe it’s because they have all the right attributes in characteristics of GRIT that we look for, and these transcend location.
Inspire
There’s an old African parable that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.” What the parable does not say is that everyone needs to be in the same physical place at all times for motivation and inspiration.
Employees need to feel good in order to be their best at work, so it’s the employers’ responsibilities to enable their teams to take care of themselves both in their personal and professional lives. You can do this by removing the idea of rigid work hours and mandatory in-office attendance. It’s also the reason why it’s so important to connect over Zoom about things that truly matter. For example, mental, emotional, and physical health are important to me. So, I love being able to share my thoughts on these topics, especially when I know that other people are passionate about them as well.
We are all inspired by meeting new peers, and networking over Zoom can be so much better than going to traditional networking events. Because you both know that you only have limited time together, you respect that time more. You also get to see people in their homes or offices rather than in generic restaurants or conference rooms. Plus, you save valuable travel time. Virtual networking not only made us more efficient. It also broadened the opportunity to connect with people all over the world — something we desperately need right now.
Retain
The Great Resignation, aka “The Great Reassessment,” is still a prominent factor for recruiters who are learning even more about retention than hiring these days. Two things that I always emphasize in any situation are to listen and to ask the hard questions.
If we can understand others and give them an opportunity to share how they feel — and why they feel that way — we create a lasting relationship and open the door for fun and passion, because better understanding leads to respect. However, fostering respect requires a final ingredient: leadership. If recruiters only hire managers — rather than leaders — they will never inspire, trust, retain, or enable passion. And what fun is that?
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