5 Ways Companies are Getting Talent Back in the Office

Published:11/08/2022 | Posted by Amanda Rassi - Director - HR & Administrative Search

The last few years have disrupted the job market in unexpected ways. Today, one of the biggest challenges my clients are facing is getting employees back into the office. Candidates have shown a strong reluctancy to forego the hybrid and fully remote lifestyle that became the standard over the last two years.

Lately, I’ve received a lot of requests for help from clients who are struggling to find premier talent that is open to work in an office every day. In navigating these hard-to-fill scenarios with on-site expectations I’ve learned some tips to successfully attract and hire great candidates.

5 Actions Companies are Taking to Bring Talent Back to the Office on a Full-time Basis

1.RELOCATION

Search nationally and relocate talent. You can expand your talent pool to a larger geography. Partner with a search firm who will conduct a thorough state-wide or national search to garner the strongest candidate options. Then offer a competitive relocation package to make moving worth it.

2. MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY CANDIDATE OPTION

Thrive within a smaller candidate pool. Understand and accept that by asking a workforce to come into the office full-time, you are reducing your candidate options significantly. And that’s ok! Be flexible with the role requirements and allow some on-the-job learning if a strong candidate doesn’t perfectly match the position’s skill set or desired experience.

3. HAVE AN AMAZING OFFICE

Provide a great workspace for all employees. Offer a positive, supportive office environment that has an excellent workspace that feels special to the employee. Options such as giving employees their own space, offering amenities to tap into, or even cost-saving perks like free lunch or childcare services to make it beneficial and a no-brainer to be in the office. Speaking of perks…

4. BIG PERKS

Get creative with your benefits. Get inventive and tap into existing vendors/partners and offer valuable perks, gifts, contest bonuses, corporate retreats, and unique opportunities to your employees. Things like a gas stipend, popular gift cards, performance contests for money/prizes, and providing career-boosting workshops or training in sought-after skill sets bring a genuine sense of value to employees.

5. MONEY STILL TALKS

Pay competitively. Lately, candidates are sharing that coming into the office consistently requires higher compensation consideration, and the bottom line is there are enough remote opportunities available that they have options. Meet that need (within reason) and be mindful that there are additional costs and time required to commuting to and from an office every day.

Work-life balance and office flexibility have become much more of a priority, even for the most driven of candidates. Post-pandemic, people are more comfortable and aware that doing a job from home isn’t impractical, and in fact more than ever, it’s becoming the norm and a highly desired lifestyle. It’s not impossible to find premier and experienced candidates to take full-time, on-location roles, but you do need to be realistic about what you need to do to compete as the job market evolves into this new standard.

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About the Author: Amanda Rassi joined StevenDouglas in 2013 and has played an integral role in developing the Human Resources Search Division. Amanda has first-hand experience as an HR Professional as she began her career as an HR Generalist working for a Top 100 Experiential Agency. She specialized in HR operations including high-volume national recruitment. She further pursued a recruiting specialty and prior to joining StevenDouglas, Amanda built and managed the Talent Acquisition department for a national outsourcing organization that contracted with Fortune 500 clients.

Do you have questions about finding top talent to take on-location roles? Contact Amanda Rassi, Director of Human Resources Search at StevenDouglas at 954.475.6660 or [email protected]