Growing your team in a hybrid world

Talent is easier to tap into than ever before. Don't miss this opportunity to snap up the best people for your business.

Growing your team in a hybrid world

Talent is easier to tap into than ever before. Don’t miss this opportunity to snap up the best people for your business.

The past 18 months have been a struggle for most business owners. From supply chain hold ups to cancelled events and changing customer dynamics, we’ve weathered a lot. But as recovery mode ramps up, you may have roles to fill and growth expectations to meet. And hiring will be on your mind.

A lot of business owners have made the most of the opportunities available during the pandemic. We’ve seen a huge wave of ingenuity and luck as entrepreneurs pivoted and started new ventures. But now business owners have new factors to consider when hiring. Staying relevant and attractive in a hybrid working world requires a shift in gear and a little more forward thinking.

The short-term consequences of the pandemic were sudden and harsh for many. In the UK nearly 12 million people were furloughed, others were made redundant and many got used to working from home. Trends like a big shift to digital, especially in e-commerce (which increased by 4.5% in the UK) all accelerated. The pool we’re hiring from has expanded and changed. Our attitude towards hiring must too.

At MarketFinance we were lucky to enjoy growth and reach profitability this year. I’m keen to make the most of this boost and maintain it. As such, we’re launching new products to support different funding needs. This variety means we need new talent to help us achieve our goals. We’re currently hiring for many roles and have put a lot of thought into what an attractive offer in the labour market looks like right now.

Ask yourself whether your company will appeal to current working dynamics. Be honest here: with so much changing, have you got the kind of work policy and culture that people want to be a part of in a hybrid world? This match will be a crucial one to make. A flexible work policy is something that the majority of people will be looking to hold onto beyond the short-term.

One factor to note is that remote work has removed barriers. If you’re comfortable with remote working, you can now hire from across the globe. We have permanent remote hires on our tech team. The kind of work they do is immensely important, but it doesn’t need to be done in our office, or even in this timezone because it’s less collaborative. For roles like these, the world really can be your oyster in the current climate.

People are critical to a business. When you’re hiring for a new role, think carefully about what kind of people do best in your company culture. Usually it isn’t enough just to find someone who would be great at the job. You must also think specifically about what the dynamic of the team they’d be joining is like too. With working from home looking likely to stick around in some capacity, teams will have to work harder than ever before to connect.

Being clear on what your company values are will save you a lot of time here. A carefully crafted company introduction is the first thing any job applicant will read. It’s more than just a description of what you do: it should be who you are, what your mission is and why you do what you do. Spend time perfecting it. Once you’ve got the wording right, you can use this to understand which applicants align with your ethos.

Even if you have the perfect job description, great website to match and a carefully thought out interview plan, it’s only worth it if the right people see it. That’s where things get a lot trickier. Of course you can take whatever route you’re most comfortable with, like posting on LinkedIn or job boards, as well as your own website. You might want to use a recruiter for particularly important hires or if your team is simply too stretched to do the leg work.

But don’t forget about networks. It goes without saying that you can share on LinkedIn with your own connections, but encouraging your team to do the same will open up the pool even further. They may have worked with the perfect candidate at a different company. And you might even consider introducing a referral policy if you don’t already have one. If one of our team refers somebody who we then go onto hire, they get a cash bonus from us.

As businesses recover, the job market will be injected with competition and applicants will have new working culture expectations. If you want to tap into the best talent for your business then think carefully about how your company values and culture sync with the current environment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anil Stocker
Anil Stocker
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