How can your company thrive in the post-pandemic job market?

More than two years into the pandemic the job market is still upside down. And one thing is for sure – it will never be the same as it was pre-pandemic. Employees’ values have shifted, hybrid or fully remote work has become the norm in many industries – and employers are competing for available talent, raising sign-on bonusses to heights never seen before.

In today’s job market, what makes your company stand out? What are candidates looking for when they have a record number of open positions to choose from?

The most obvious differentiator is flexible work hours and location – remote or hybrid positions are receiving a lot of traction on job boards like Indeed and Ziprecruiter. If the service your company provides is manageable, at least partially from home (or elsewhere), you should consider offering remote or hybrid positions and advertise them as such.

The second which is not as obvious but becoming increasingly important when half of your employees are working from home – company culture. When asked “Would you research a company’s culture when looking for a new role?” over 75% of participants in a recent UK study replied with “Yes”. The same study also suggests that lack of a positive company culture is a large factor for The Great Resignation. 54% of employees interviewed said they are willing to walk away from employers that don’t support a desirable work culture.

But how do you establish and nurture a great company culture? The watercooler and copy room interactions between employees are becoming a thing of the past. Now, a shared set of values and beliefs as well as employee behaviors and interactions are what define a company’s culture. Offering opportunities for your employees to connect with one another beyond work meetings, in real life or virtually (virtual coffee chats, holiday events, happy hours), is essential for building and retaining a positive company culture. Showing and promoting an open mindset (“Always reach out with questions!”) helps employees adapt to a company’s culture to then promote the same values and behaviors. One value that became even more pronounced over the past 2 years is trust. When millions of employees suddenly started working remotely from home in March 2020, employers had to trust that they would still provide the same level of productivity. And to most employers’ surprise – they did, making it easier to convince decision makers to integrate remote work setups into their company’s work culture.

Employer Branding can help you advertise your company culture to the outside world. What is it that makes your company unique, why do employees love working there? With the highly competitive job market we are experiencing now, where job seekers of any age have more options to choose from than ever before, standing out against competitors with a strong corporate culture brand is key. Good Employer Branding can help you convey your company’s values and beliefs to active and passive job seekers and attract talent to your company.

NAS can support your Employer Branding efforts. Discovery calls with different groups of employees help to uncover the core, or the “soul”, of your company. But that is only the first step. To bring your company’s soul to life, the experts at NAS will create media and communications that help present your company’s unique set of values to potential candidates.

In a nutshell: Companies that will survive and thrive on the post pandemic job market are:

• Offering flexible work hours and location whenever possible
• Trusting employees will be productive even if they’re not coming into the office
• Putting an emphasis on company culture to make employees feel included, heard and valued
• Utilizing Employer Branding to showcase their unique company culture to active and passive job seekers