The most recent Jobs Vacancies Report from Statistics Canada showed another record-breaking number of job openings in Q3 — over 913 000! That means candidates can be selective, often deciding between multiple job offers. Competition in the job market has never been more fierce. More often than not, candidates are the ones interviewing companies. Yes, you want to hire the RIGHT people for your team, but if you can’t do that swiftly, you have little chance of landing the best talent.

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Based on our experience with hundreds of customers, there are four key reasons why companies aren’t able to move faster right now:

• LOW PAY: Many companies, not realizing how much the job market has changed, are simply not offering competitive market rates, and in a talent-led market, talent is choosing roles with higher pay. Inflation is also playing an essential factor in candidates’ decision-making.
• POOR CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE: The standard hiring process is cumbersome, with many layers, hurdles, and people involved. Thrown off by new hiring processes, managers are still looking for the perfect match, are busier than ever, or are unsure how to assess skills in a remote interview setting.
• HIGH EXPECTATIONS: Are you looking to buy or build? Most companies are looking for talent with the perfect profile. In that case, they must be ready to make highly competitive offers. And this is where it all goes wrong. They are outstanding talent without the price tag. Successful hiring managers will often opt to build skills.
• LACK OF FLEXIBILITY: Companies struggle to decide when, how, and where their staff can work, and many, believing on-site is the only way to stay connected and productive, refuse to consider remote workers or flexible schedules.

Sound familiar? While the above challenges are relevant, the need to be flexible has become the most urgent issue as COVID-19 numbers are at an all-time high with the surge of the Omicron variant. Sure, the need to come back into an office or bring workers together in person might be beneficial — once it’s safe. But, in the meantime, there’s work to be done, turnover is continuing (remember the Great Resignation?), and most managers are struggling to make the hires they need to deliver on their projects.

There are many reasons why exploring new ways of working can improve your results and help you hire faster. Let’s explore a few.

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FOCUS ON SKILLS, NOT LOCATION

The more accommodating you can be about where employees work, the more you can remove a location from your hiring equation and focus on what matters: the skills and experiences people bring to your organization. Workers from all industries are increasingly choosing the work/life balance afforded by moving to cities with lower living costs. Wherever they move, their skills follow, creating a decentralization of knowledge. Gone are the days when cities were hubs of AI or Tech talent.

Companies are constantly delaying their return-to-office plans; remember at the beginning of the pandemic when most companies planned two weeks to work from home? Now is the perfect time to help executives revisit the WHY behind the need to limit hiring to local areas, which will determine the pool of talent to work with. You will easily find leading companies now advertising remote positions for pretty much any role. Think about it, what’s the point of being at the office if it’s only to sit on Zoom calls all day?

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IMPROVE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

This benefit is no longer news. Well over a year ago, Fast Company outlined the many benefits and necessary adjustments for employers who want to leverage remote work to improve workplace diversity. A more recent article from LinkedIn provides even more detailed benefits for specific employee groups and supports improved diversity and inclusion.

If you’re serious about bringing diverse ideas, backgrounds, and experiences to your workplace, adopting new ways of working will no doubt help. Companies that have used this time to be serious about attracting diverse candidates are already ahead of the game. On the other hand, if you’re not sure your company is taking diversity seriously, point out that various organizations outperform their peers to get their attention.

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COMPETE ON PRICE

We know that most skilled workers are leaving high-cost areas. Companies trying to adjust salaries based on location need help to attract talent. People want to be primarily reimbursed based on their skills rather than their place. The talent shortage is also not helping companies try to pay lower workers based on their site. The market is still figuring out how to handle compensation and location. Tap into smaller pockets of talent outside major cities. Work on creating offers that attract people. Yes, price is important, but be competitive in other areas, such as benefits, vacations and perks.

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WORKERS WANT SAFETY

Customizing physical locations to provide a safe workplace conducive to collaboration while following public health guidelines is expensive — and risky. No one has yet figured out the acceptable trade-offs between being together and being safe. As health concerns continue (and likely will for some time), 70% of workers want flexible work. Your best path to attracting top talent is to get loose.

Workers prioritize work/life balance like never before, and organizations developing flexible working structures are seeing healthier candidate pipelines and lower attrition.

Extending offers with flexible work arrangements is just the beginning. Once you hire those new colleagues, you’ll need to look at the rest of their journey to deliver a great onboarding process and an incredible work experience. However, many organizations are already making strides in not just reworking but truly rebuilding the future world of work.

Don’t wait to see what the next phase of this pandemic will do to the future of work. Instead, embrace flexibility today, advocate for hybrid work, and get great at hiring and onboarding remotely. All small companies are progressing daily as they adapt and rethink best practices for hiring, onboarding, collaboration, and career development in ways that will win the talent war over the next year.

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