Reputation is key to attracting talent

For better or worse, the concept of a job for life is essentially dead. Spending decades at one company, raising a family and then retiring with a comfortable pension used to be considered the ideal, but in a rapidly shifting work landscape, this is becoming the exception and not the rule.

In the years ahead, workers will be expected to regularly jump from job to job – and even from career to career – with the experience they accumulate along the way helping to keep them ahead of the competition. The rise of this gig economy could be cause for stress, but with many sectors such as construction, engineering and technology on a constant lookout to snare – and more importantly, retain – talent, employees are starting to shape how the job can work for them too.

Over the next decade or so, millennials will come to comprise 75 per cent of the workforce, but their outlook on job security is different to that of previous generations. Growing up in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crash provided a first-hand look at how unpredictable the job market can be, and the rise in AI and automation will eliminate the need for certain roles in the future. That said, it will also create opportunities too, which is why constant upskilling is becoming essential.

While millennial workers obviously seek a fair wage, they also want flexibility, a diverse work environment in terms of gender and race, and to work for a company aligned with their own beliefs.

“Employees want to really feel they are contributing to the overall success of the company,” says Mary McNally, recruitment business partner at engineering company Arup. “They want a more balanced work-life balance and flexibility is important – most of our employees have a laptop provided which means they can sit at any desk, location, and work from home when needed. During the big snow earlier this year, it was business as usual due to the fact a great deal of employees had their laptops with them.”

It’s a sign of how far technology has come that the idea of working from home is now seen as an accepted norm, but this is just one example of employees working smart – in addition to working hard. Workplace culture is now a factor in companies attracting talent and those seeking to switch careers.

‘Workplace culture’

“Workplace culture is a vital component of attracting employees – most people join a company based on the company’s reputation in the market as well as based on the people they meet at their interview. You can tell a great deal about the culture of a company from the people you meet at interview. Branding is also essential – it has especially become more prevalent from a client and employee perspective, people like to feel proud of the company they work for. It’s an intangible asset of any company,” says McNally.

It’s clear that workers want a strong work culture, flexibility and to learn new skills – but on the flip side, what are companies actually looking for when it comes recruiting talent? In a nutshell, it isn’t enough to have mastered one or two key skills anymore.

“Roles are constantly evolving and changing, in the past, for instance, a stereotypical IT person wouldn’t have been perhaps a great communicator,” says McNally. “However, nowadays there is more interaction with both internal and external stakeholders, making communication skills as well as technical skills an essential component of a good IT employee. When recruiting talent now, we are looking for people that have more than just technical expertise – they ideally should have excellent collaborative skills, be a strategic thinker, problem-solver and be solutions-orientated. This person may lead the organisation in the future so these are all attributes that may be needed – good leadership skills are excellent also.”

Employee well-being is increasingly becoming a major conversation among large companies, and the importance of reducing stress and fostering a healthy balance between work and play. Millennials aren’t afraid of a little hard work, and will often work outside of hours to get a task finished, but they don’t want their job to dominate their lives either, which is where flexibility comes into play.

“Flexibility is becoming more and more important, with more and more traffic on the roads, employees and employers are realising working from home is a viable and worthwhile option to offer to employees – it reduces stress and in fact, people often find they can get more work done at home,” McNally says. “Wellness programmes are also being looked at as an essential part of employee engagement and of great benefit to the individual. One of the reasons I joined Arup also was due to their flexibility. I work 8am to 4.30pm, which helps me avoid traffic and get home much earlier in the evenings.”