Staying in touch with trends in the job market and the preferences of workers of all types are key imperatives for HR and hiring managers trying to find, attract and retain talent.
Equally important in terms of productivity and retention, once talent is engaged, is determining work environments to inspire the best results.
Tapping into employees’ opinions about this, some 76 percent of 2,600 respondents to a recent survey by FlexJobs (a job search website) indicated they did not believe their normal work locations were conducive to concentrating on important work or work-related projects.
Working from a home office, co-working space, a quiet location outside of the office or in the office but outside of normal working hours, were their prioritized choices when they needed to focus and be productive.
Technology continues to increase the flexibility for communicating and working from anywhere and at any time, which illuminates even more clearly that it is quality of output and meeting time lines that are more important than where work is accomplished.
Nothing entirely new here and of course there always will be exceptions, but combine telecommuting with other considerations like – determining whether the work you need done is full time, project or part time work—and you begin raising great possibilities for a flexible staffing approach to how work is accomplished.
In our experience, many companies discover the benefits of flexible schedules and work locations and more, while struggling to fill jobs in their traditional manner.
As a reference…
After lengthy delays and failure to find the ideal candidate to meet the skills, experience level, location and schedule for their opening, one company began considering what felt like, at first, compromises to what they had set out to do. In the end, however, they turned up a more senior experienced professional who didn’t want to work full time or take on a long commute, but was interested in the work and would do it on project basis.
Ultimately the company filled their job/work need in this way and achieved the results and outcomes they were seeking in less time and with less compensation investment than would have been the case with a full time hire.
Flexibility; new ways of considering how work is done; increased reliance on a changed talent pool of professionals looking for different work relationships; full use of technology to bridge the gaps and make it all easier—translate to a greater array of options in many cases.
Career positions are not going away but the mix of them with other classifications of employment—including contracting and project work, without diminishing expertise or the quality of results—will continue to grow as options for filling jobs and getting work done.
Work preferences of talent have been changing for some time to where today 31% of the U.S. and global workforce has “willingly and consciously” chosen free-agency as its preferred work style. Continually evolving company needs increase the pressure to think differently about how we utilize talent as we manage for the future. And we can’t stop thinking about the future.
Having a partner to help you think through the possibilities in these areas can be very important, and we would like you to think of us as that partner.
We have been providing HR professionals for contract, direct hire and consulting projects in the Bay Area since 1989 and during that time we have watched the trends in these areas change significantly. The primary focus today remains to secure the best talent and achieve superior results in the least amount of time possible. How you accomplish that may look and feel different but it is the end result that is key.
If we can help you consider options for meeting your HR talent needs and accomplishing your HR and company goals – contact us. We would welcome the conversation. HR is all we do – and that has been our consistent commitment for 26 years.
Contact us today. It all starts with a conversation.
Best regards,
Rod