As the world settles into its new reality with the global pandemic, jobs are on the up, and we’re back to an employers market in terms of getting new talent on board. This is great news for the numerous startups that found their footing at the beginning of or during the lockdown! However, the competition will still be fierce to get the ideal candidate willing to join your team. Besides excellent company culture, what exactly makes for a desirable employer in 2021?
The New Generation
While you may know what it took to hire in previous years, 2021 is a different beast, with Gen Z-ers making up the bulk of the talent pool. This young generation wants to know that your company is involved in great things, such as community endeavours, charities, and sustainability, before signing on. In short, they want to work for a company with a human element — who are the humans behind the company? Use your company and employee stories to show potential hires you have an enticing and positive company culture that’s value-driven, fun, and inclusive. Good company culture, as mentioned, is a main driving factor in capturing this new wave of talent. Your story is key to creating a humanized element for your brand.
Despite the new generation coming in, they’re not ready to take on your more prominent roles. The rest of the talent pool comprises those with plenty of experience — are they looking for the same thing in a company? Startups, especially, have a reputation of being refreshing and fun, which tends to entice the new generation of workers. While culture and company values weigh particularly heavily with Gen-Z, these following components are must-haves for any potential hire, from entry-level to senior management.
1. Offer Room for Growth
According to ML6, around one-third of employees quit their jobs because they “didn’t learn new skills or better their performance.” Being able to grow keeps workers engaged in what they’re doing and builds loyalty for the company. Employees also want to feel like they’re being invested in by their employer through educational and leadership opportunities or workshops. By investing in an employee, they not only feel worthwhile but reassures them that you’re planning on keeping them around. Stability is another factor new hires are seeking, especially with the pandemic causing massive layoffs. Luckily, scaleups can offer both. This ties into what is called an employer value proposition, which will be essential to marketing yourself to the incoming workforce.
2. Prioritize Work-Life Balance
Another major shift due to Covid-19 is that many jobs moved out of the office and into people’s homes — scaleups are no different. Companies and employees are finding the benefit of working remotely (think: a better work-life balance), and Agilus states that a quarter of the working population isn’t keen to go back to full-time office life any time soon. So, roles that offer flexibility to be remote will be more desirable. The biggest trick to hiring and working with remote staff? Keeping your company culture alive in a virtual world. Finding ways to keep that refreshing, startup energy and environment while hiring for a virtual role will make the open positions much more enticing for prospective talent.
Hand-in-hand with work-life balance is company health benefits. More and more roles come with various degrees of coverage for self-care aspects, like massage, and health care, such as medical, dental, and optical coverage. Having some kind of benefits program lends a competitive edge to your recruitment process.
3. Provide Challenging, Meaningful Work
The average, full-time working Canadian spends over 2000 hours a year doing their job. With so much time being logged at the office, employees want to feel like they’re doing something valuable and not just clocking in and out. Much like building and sharing an ethical, positive company culture, the more employees buy into your company and align with the values, the more they’ll get out of their day-to-day. Not only that, but challenging work creates engagement, and engaged employees equate to less employee turnover. If you can offer the right amount of challenge and meaningful work to your new potential hires, you’ll find and keep motivated, top talent within your organization.
From new, young talent hitting the hiring pool to experienced potential hires who know what they want and offer, there are plenty of opportunities to hire the best possible match for your company. But if you’re unsure what to offer new recruits or can’t find those top matches, it may be time to hire outside help.
Pivot + Edge is more than your average recruiter. We help scaleups move past HR trends to build foundational company values and culture that top talent can get behind in any year. If you’re ready to let your scaleup stand out as a desirable company to work for, contact us today to get started.
