Great article by Catherine Higgins of LinkedIn. 

As she points out, whatever the state of the economy, we are always in a position to retain and recruit staff, so what can we do to get ahead of the curve?

I agree with Catherine when she says

"So start by accepting that the workplace has irrevocably changed. There's no going back to pre-pandemic ways of working: your team members expect, and will demand, that you provide them with the conditions, tools, flexibility, and leadership that they need to perform at their peak."

There is now a business imperative to place people front and centre when it comes to digital transformation.

The secret is.  Hire the right people. Trust them to to the right thing and equip them early doors so they can succeed.  Let me go into that in more detail.

1. Your talent wants to be supported in remote or hybrid work.

Unless you are are a 100% remote business like mine, from the get go, you now must offer people all the options, an office, hybrid, and you need to support the team in whatever they want.

Telling people what to do will just push people into the hands of the head hunters. 

Social media will play a key part in putting people front and centre of your digital organization.  Giving people the tools to collaborate, such as Slack, Zoom or Teams.

But also empowering the team to be able to be open and empowered to talk on social media in an authentic way.  Your employees do this in their play time, so why can we not do it (within guide rails of course) during business.  Why?

Because your future employees expect it and want to see your culture externalised.  This is how you will retain your staff and become the employer of choice in your market or vertical.

2. Respect is not optional.

Back to the article

"Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not marketing tools, or optional extras. Your talent is demanding that respect is integrated into the workplace."

As soon as we started working from home, our business and home life merged, we now expect to be treated at work as we are treated at home.

3. It’s a career, not just a job.

People will always want to come and work for you and people will always want to leave your business, it's the circle of life. 

"If you want your talent to stay - and perform at their best - it’s up to you to show them that they have a brighter future with your team than elsewhere. That means opening a dialogue about professional development and career progression opportunities, and supporting your talent to find their path."

As a business and leaders you have to learn how to lead and manage people through screens.