Company Structure: What Talent Wants OVERVIEW
What does Talent want? This is a question that has changed and become the nucleus of talent acquisition teams across the world. How do you get the best talent and then how do you keep them. With the entrance of the last two generations they have created a new trend where the talent has more power than ever in the workforce. With this shift has come some great new insights into what “work” really means, how it fits into an employee’s life and how can employers get the most out of their employees.
Work/life balance For the first time in our countries history, work/life balance is actually a conversation in the work place and a very lively one at that. With the entrance of Gen X and Gen Y into the workforce, they have forced employers to provide alternatives to the “Sorry hunny, I have to work late again” excuse that so many of our predecessors know to be true. Why is this you ask? The war on talent has made it more competitive than ever and the new generation of talent is not only geared toward the flexible lifestyle, they are demanding it. So what does this look like? Being measured more one what you are producing and the quality of that work rather than when you are working on it. Being able to work from home is becoming a requirement instead of a luxury. We have programs such as a lax bereavement policy that give up to six days for any family or friend that has passed away. Adding gyms to all locations so employees can get a work out in at the office at any time of day. Building in the ability to attend children’s sporting events or recitals without guilt from your boss. Again, all of these things are possible as long as the employee is doing the work required to get done in a timely fashion. It’s really all about giving the employee the freedom and opportunity to do both and the reward to the company is loyalty and respect for understanding the employee’s needs.
Feeling Valued Feeling valued is very important to the Gen Y workforce as they are all about reward and feeling as though their work matters. Building strong recognition programs in an organization is good for morale and personal development. It’s no surprise that people like to be recognized for their work, and it becomes a motivator to have it happen again.
Career Opportunities
Both Gen X and Gen Y are all about advancing in their own ways. Gen Y doesn’t necessarily need to move up, but around an organization. Getting experience and skills that are hard to find or even that are just new and different is a great way to keep that group engaged.
The Gen X generation is really more into working alone and not being micro managed. Project Management would be a great direction for these workers but it is important to build your organization to cross train and create a path for both sets of interests.
To make this successful it is really important to look both at a department level and an organizational level. If you can design several different ladders or paths from an entry level position than you can successfully grow and develop your talent internally. If you only have one to two steps for these positions to take, then you have some gaps to redesign if you are looking to keep talent engaged for the long term.
Stimulating and meaningful work Another key to this puzzle is being able to connect individual work to a greater cause. When a google systems engineer can see how much traffic is being driven to an interface that he create he feels a sense of pride and accomplishment being able to bring that information to millions of people across the globe. Having an organizational vision and mission that is outward facing and brining purpose and a goal to its employees builds a sense of community and camaraderie. However, employees need to be able to connect the dots from their work to the bigger mission. If they are able to do that, studies have shown that they are more likely to be engaged in their work and bringing ideas and innovation to the table.
Virtual workplace Having the ability to have a virtual workplace I do believe is a valuable benefit to provide employees if the business is able. Though as Marissa Meyer experienced when she entered Yahoo in 2012, sometimes the people need to be together in order to work. It really is a case by case business decision and some people may be able to work virtually no matter what the circumstances, however in an ever changing and growing technical world, many companies are finding that the next wave of information needs to be built off of collaborative ideas generated with many minds in a room testing and tweaking different products. The virtual workplace is a great tool and it is not a one size fits all solution.