Companies are going to extremes in interviewing and screening to hire the top people. Google may put a candidate through 25 interviews. Twitter does 5 interviews in one day with interviewers from different parts of the company and must have a consensus of at least 4 to make a job offer.
At the same time there is a dearth of tech talent to be found in Silicon Valley. Google, being the behemoth, will buy candidates right out of Twitter’s hands with shares. Google will also hire people to get their ideas off the street. But not everyone is Google. And more often companies are now opening remote offices in order to hire talent in other parts of the world or country.
What is the price of this war? There is a definite price on hiring, training, and turnover. In this economy, many companies’ main goal is to just hire the brightest people from their competitors.
How do the best companies retain this talent? If they go to extremes to hire from competitors (and they do), then the goal ceases to be that of just putting butts in seats.
The goal must shift. Turnover is now so common that many Gen Y and millennial workers will know within the first few months of employment how long they will stay with an employer. Workers see jobs more as projects which can be done with many different employers over a career.
So they leave every 2 or 3 years. But are some companies keeping these workers longer than others? And what kind of praises do these workers sing of their former employers when they do leave? Are some companies winning the war on employer brand and reputation?
Yes and yes.
The war on talent is won today not with a continual churn of warm bodies. This war is won by acquiring souls.
We must make work so compelling, vital, and urgent that our workforce feels constantly challenged, appreciated, and that they are continually growing. We must give them the tools to be more efficient. And we must make it easy for them to work when and where they want.
Kevin Wheeler of FutureOfTalent.Org says “We’re heading to a world of what I call “Career Mosaics” where people move through various types of employment as their interests, needs, and skills change. One day an employee, another a part-timer, and another a contract worker. This may be interspersed with times when they do not work (at least for money), but travel, learn, chill out, etc. It will be very fungible and much of it will be virtual.”
Recently I was in New York participating in a Thinkathon hosted by Purematter and IBM. The Thinkathon was a hands on, interactive think tank-meets-workshop event. It served as the kick-off event to a three-day experience in partnership with IBM, all centered around hacking the future of work and the unveiling of IBM’s Mail Next product.
Food For Thought
Here are a few fun resources some of my colleagues from the Thinkathon have shared to think about the #NewWayToWork.
Dion Henchcliffe: The new digital workplace: How enterprises are preparing for the future of work
Mark Stelzner: Why working from home is both awesome and horrible
Kevin Wheeler: Future of Talent Work Trends
Some interesting stats from our friends at IBM and Purematter:
•82% used social networks to recruit, versus the 16% average determined in an Jan 2014 IBM Smarter Workforce Institute study*
•Despite access to a wealth of social data, less than a fourth surveyed use social analytics to inform their marketing decisions*•Uncertain ROI is a top two concern across aspirations, yet few (34%) have established formal metrics*
What do you see in your future? Is it possible for an employer to capture your undying loyalty for a long-term career these days? Share your thoughts here or on Twitter @fishdogs, and I’ll share them with the “futurists” at this week’s #Thinkathon.
