Not entirely without some level of trepidation, states are advancing into their reopening stages and many organizations are looking to restock their teams after the wide-ranging layoffs in March. Some states are having more success than others. 

Regardless of exactly when your organization will be ready to ramp up hiring, that time will come. And when it does, it’s important to realize that things have changed. Maybe permanently. 

Like the priority list of most American’s personal lives have undergone a drastic reimagining, so too has the priority list of their professional lives changed. 

Job seekers want new things. They are looking for new characteristics in organizations. They expect new things from their employers. 

We recently wrote a checklist of how companies must adapt their recruiting and talent engagement strategies to be successful in their post-pandemic existence. 

We’ll share a sneak peek of the article below: 

1. Look after your employees, become people-driven

In these times marked by so much turmoil and anxiety, how your organization takes care of its own will have a dramatic impact on your current productivity and ability to attract top talent. 

How are you looking after your employees while contending with financial disruption?

Are executives taking pay cuts to ensure lower-level employees are supported and layoffs are avoided or limited?

Are you still covering benefits for furloughed employees?

With well-being, financial stability, and job security topping the priority list of employees and job seekers, how well and to what degree are you guaranteeing them?

More than ever, people are evaluating companies for indicators that they are people-driven, employee-focused, and rich in humanity. 

Be sure to emphasize the human element of your organization more than ever before in all of your dealings with employees, customers, and candidates. Let empathy guide your conduct and provide multiple, comprehensive means of support for your employees. 

Consider expanding benefits to better assist with new concerns, such as assistance with telemedicine consults. Reassess your work-from-home and sick leave policies to accurately reflect employee safety and health concerns. Provide ample opportunities for employees to communicate issues and thoughts with leadership. 

These are the new concerns and demands in today’s new normal. How well you address them will determine not only how productive and engaged your current teams are, but also how well you’ll be able to secure new talent when markets rebound. 

2. Listen to your employees

The best, most reliable way to address the above needs and become the people-driven organization you need to become is to listen to your employees. 

Gather as much information as possible from your employees. In times of such great uncertainty abroad, people want to know that their employers care to hear their thoughts and are actively committed to reacting in a way that reflects them.

Survey your teams, listen to their concerns, fears, and desires, and use the information to construct comprehensive strategies that leave your employees feeling heard, supported, and protected. 

Consistently address your company as a whole to further a sense of connectivity when so much else right now promotes disconnectedness. Taking this one level deeper, make sure managers are connecting with employees in a one-on-one setting to check-in and address concerns they may not be comfortable sharing in a group setting. 

As teams begin to trickle back into the office, you can hold a “re-orientation” program where employees can reconnect with one another, review new company policies, and begin to reestablish the collaboration, morale, and collective buzz of the office. 
For the next three tips, you can download our checklist here!