As COVID-19 resets many workforce trends, business leaders must rethink their approach to candidate planning, hiring, management, performance, and overall experience. Here are the 3 trends fueling the remote workforce:
1. Increased Transparency
Even before COVID-19, companies were facing increased demands for transparency. Now, prospective candidates and employees will judge companies by the way they treated their employees throughout the pandemic.
Progressive teams on the forefront of improving company culture communicate frequently and openly to show how they are supporting employees. When possible, companies should look for opportunities to talent-share with other companies to relocate employees displaced from their careers due to COVID-19.
2. Expanded Data Collection
While employees are at home, Gartner analysis shows that 16% of employers are more frequently monitoring their employees. Some of the methods include virtual time clocks, tracking work computer usage, and monitoring employee emails or internal communications via chat on Slack, Google, or Microsoft Teams. Some companies track productivity, while others monitor employee engagement for a more holistic view of the employee experience.
For the past decade, companies have been monitoring candidates, but this HR trend is rapidly accelerating due to the majority of the workforce being at home. While companies track their employees it’s important to follow best practices to ensure responsible and private use of employee information.
3. Accelerate Organizational Complexity
After the global financial crisis in 2008, global mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) accelerated, and many companies were nationalized to avoid failure. As COVID-19 subsides, there will be a similar acceleration of M&A and nationalization of companies.
Many companies will expand and diversify into secondary markets to mitigate and manage risk for the future. This rise in complexity of size and organizational management will create challenges for leaders as well as candidates, who will have more opportunities to choose from.
As organizational complexity complicates every career path, leaders can provide reskilling and career development support within their company — for example, by developing educational resources and providing visibility into internal positions.
Your (Remote) Tech Teammate
As remote work accelerates, IT/IQ continues to serve our clients, candidates, and the entire technology industry. With locations in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto we can help cover all your hiring needs – from in-person to remote needs. Visit us at it-iq.com to learn more.