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Why now is the best time to re-recruit your people

The last 18 months have wreaked havoc on the workplace and the personal lives of each of us. As someone with eight children, and sadly losing both parents in the last year, I’ve felt this disruption up close and in a very personal way. The COVID-19 pandemic and the public health responses have combined to introduce extreme adversity in our lives. The complete disruption of schools, childcare, healthcare, family, holidays, and taking care of sick and elderly family members has come at psychological cost, whose impacts will be studied for years and likely decades to come.

There has been a recent chorus of articles that discuss the concept of the “The Great Resignation,” concluding that this disruption and upheaval will cause many to take a hard look at their lives and prioritize what is most important and was often neglected before and during the pandemic. In the end, this dynamic is a good and healthy thing to understand and consider.

When it comes to the great disruption at work, companies are scrambling to respond to this “next normal.” Everything is now on the table to meet employees’ changing needs and expectations — new perks, benefits, flexible work schedules, opportunities to work remotely or to transfer to other locations. These are all important efforts and I believe just the beginning of rethinking what “employment” means. In our networked, always-on world, many of the most innovative and creative solutions will be shared, copied and evolved in this new future of work.

As leaders, we play an important role in this chaotic time to help stabilize our companies and our people by re-recruiting our teams and reminding them of the reasons they joined the organization — and more importantly, why they should stay. Whether they’ve been with the company for years, or only just started, leadership visibility, accessibility, and empathetic support can make all the difference.

Here are three ways I’ve found to be effective in doing this:

1. Meet with your new hires in the first 45 days: As new hires join your company (in our case 30%+ have started during the pandemic), prioritize a conversation with them to share insights about the company, the mission, and the current state of the business. Ask them to share their ideas about what they have seen as new employees. One tool is a concept called “stranger’s eyes,” when someone new starts at the company and they can provide feedback on the company/culture/products through the lens of a stranger, or better said, someone new. Create a safe environment and encourage them to tell you what their eyes are seeing. In doing so, your newcomers have a voice in changing what may not be working, and can also give you insights where there are opportunities.
2. Remove Hierarchy and Gatekeepers: As leaders in the C-suite, it is easy to have hierarchy and gatekeepers that control who you spend your time with, who gets access to you and how your day is structured. In general, I recommend being as accessible as you can, and to avoid surrounding yourself with these formal structures, while understanding that some may be necessary at larger organizations. If you are unable to completely dismantle it, make the effort to suspend as much of it as you can for the next 6 months as the majority of employees return in some way to the office. Let your employees know that you are here to talk to them, hear their story and observations, and to reach out if they want to share what is on their mind. This can go a long way to connect with your team, to learn new things, and give your employees a voice with their senior leadership. It’s also another way to re-recruit your team and show that you value their inputs.
3. Lead with compassion: This is not ‘business as usual’ because it is not life as usual. I am reminded of the old saying “Be kind, everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle,” and this could be now more true than ever. It is easy for leaders to default into a singular focus on performance and trying to get back to how things were before the pandemic. After all, we’re leaders because we know how to drive productivity, create business plans, meet objectives, and drive the bottom line. But as leaders we also have a great opportunity to look within and evolve our leadership style to meet the moment and our teams where they are. We can lean into empathy and compassion to inquire about the full person on our team rather than just the hours they spend at work. To the degree that you and they are comfortable, try to understand the full picture of your team member’s situation, and offer to help address and resolve any issues. If you lead with compassion and it is genuine, you will be surprised at the kind of opportunities to help that come your way as a leader.

Stephen