Welcome to our monthly newswire. We hope you enjoy reading this newsletter and find it useful.
Career Mobility
Career mobility is a key priority for millennial and generation Z employees.
Career mobility (or job mobility) is the process of an employee moving in their career. It can refer to upward or downward movement, as well as movement across to another role within the same business but in a different capacity.
In the past, career mobility was generally associated with employees moving up through a hierarchical structure. More recently, it has evolved to refer to enabling employees to participate in work opportunities that benefit the business and the employee. Career mobility can also include changes to part time or remote working from a full-time role, etc.
Career mobility can be a useful retention tool for businesses. For example, rather than lose a good team member, they can be given the chance to transition to another role in a different part of the business. According to a recent survey by LinkedIn, a high percentage of millennial and generation Z employees would be willing to take a small pay cut in exchange for a role that offered them a better chance of career growth.
While cutting salaries, particularly in the current environment where businesses are competing to attract talented people, is not a good idea, being able to retain employees by offering them the chance to work in a different role at the same business, could be a good staff retention tool.
In addition, being known as a business that offers career mobility could help to enhance your “employer brand” and make your business more attractive to talented employees who, according to the above-mentioned survey, want to work for businesses that offer this.
Career mobility can also be used as a strategy to address challenges such as diversity and inclusion. As businesses step away from rigid career paths and old-fashioned approaches to employment, opportunities for employees have opened up and they can now create the career they want in a way that promotes a healthy work-life balance.
How to be a more inclusive manager
Practical steps that managers can take to be more inclusive
Inclusion doesn’t just happen. In order to be more inclusive, managers need to start with intention and regular practice. People are naturally inclined to be drawn to people that are like themselves. In order to break the bias managers must constantly disrupt their natural approach. They need to develop an awareness of who is being represented, who are the high performers, who are the people who are getting hired and who is not.
The culture of your business is a key ingredient in its success. Culture is often described as “how we do things around here”. In order to be more inclusive, managers can move beyond hiring people who “fit” with the culture and instead think about how others “add” to the overall culture of the business.
To successfully add to the culture of their business, managers should be intentional and honest about the skillsets, backgrounds and perspectives that are missing from the business. Look to represent a broader spectrum of gender, race, educational background, or country of origin. When interviewing potential new joiners, try to seek out those candidates who add to the culture, rather than fit with what you already have.
Build on the existing foundations in your business and focus on developing more inclusive practices. Build trust among your people and encourage teamwork. If you trust your people, they will trust you back. Fostering trust in your business is going to make your employees feel safe and willing to contribute their thoughts, opinions, and suggestions. They will want to be included. Focus on including your team members more by involving them in decision making, creating sub-teams to work on projects and encouraging debate in order to come up with new ideas.
Inclusive managers empower their people. You hired your people because they are capable of fulfilling their responsibilities. Encourage them to go off and try new things, to test out new ideas and to come up with innovative suggestions. Empowered employees feel part of an organisation - they feel included. This will pay dividends in the long run as your people will reward you with loyalty, hard work and positive outcomes.
Give yourself a head start
Starting each day the right way, sets you up for success
We all want to perform at peak level, every day, but in order to do so, you need to start your day the right way. Successful business leaders simplify, focus on what’s meaningful and work with intention. To enable them to succeed, they also start their day, the right way.
Get enough sleep
Sleep is as important as eating and drinking. If you do not get enough sleep, you will not be able to focus properly during your working day. Getting a healthy amount of sleep is linked to increased memory, greater attention span and lower stress levels. Some people need a bit more sleep and some people need a bit less. Listen to your body and aim to get around 8 hours of sleep every night.
Move
Everyone needs to exercise so make time to do it. 1 hour of exercise is just 4% of your day. Whether you run, cycle, go to the gym or walk the dog, make sure you get some exercise every morning before work. Exercise reduces anxiety and stress, improves focus, and gives you more energy. If you want to succeed in business, you need to start with a healthy body.
Eat properly
You don’t need to have a personal nutritionist to eat well. Start your day with a healthy breakfast that works for you and your body. Whether that is scrambled eggs or a bowl of whole grain cereal with fruit and yoghurt, start your day with a good meal that will keep you fuller for longer and give you the energy you need to focus on having a productive and successful day.
Set your goals for the day
What do you need to achieve today? Do you need to find a new customer, close a sale, or hire a new recruit?
Whatever you need to do, write it down and use this as your to-do list for the day ahead. Everything else is optional. Do this before you check your email as your inbox will likely distract you from your own objectives and pull you into (often time consuming) distractions.
Carve up your time
Use your calendar in a smart way. Block out time to achieve your objectives, block out another chunk of time for emails and responding to queries and leave a final section of your diary open for ad-hoc queries or management tasks that come your way.
This will encourage people to disturb you during “open” time slots rather than distract you when you have blocked out time for getting your key tasks done.
Attracting passive candidates
How do you attract applicants for a new role, if they are not actively looking for a move?
As the war for talent rages on, businesses need to think creatively in order to attract good candidates. Targeting passive candidates is a strategy that many businesses are now employing to good effect.
Connecting with passive candidates is harder than reaching out to those who are actively seeking a new role. However, with the right strategy, it’s possible to connect with candidates who aren’t actively looking for their next career move.
Typically, passive candidates won’t dedicate as much time and energy to landing a new job as those who are actively looking. They aren’t wholly dissatisfied with where they are now - they’re simply open to heading in a new direction if it makes sense to do so.
Since the mindset of passive candidates is different, you need to ensure they don’t have to jump through hoops in order to apply for a potential role. Simplify your hiring process, and try to avoid time-consuming activities like essay questions or personality tests. Set yourself up to meet with potential candidates quickly, for an exploratory chat, before asking them to make a formal application.
If you are targeting passive candidates, you need to be flexible about where and when they can have an interview with someone at your business. They aren’t actively looking so they are unlikely to want to deal with the hassle of coming in for an interview in the middle of their working day. Instead, try to meet them before work, in the evening or at weekends for a discussion either in person or via Zoom, Skype or Teams video chat as this makes it easier for them to have an initial discussion about the potential role.
When targeting passive candidates, you need to advertise jobs in places they regularly visit. They may not be looking at job boards on websites, so it may be better to promote a role by posting on LinkedIn, Twitter or on an email newsletter that your business sends out to clients and contacts. Highlight what you have to offer employees and ensure that you sell the value proposition of working for your business.
If you are promoting potential roles in your business to passive candidates, make sure you keep things concise and to the point. Asking them to read long-winded messages or email updates isn’t likely to work as passive candidates aren’t prepared to invest the time. Make sure it is easy for potential candidates to contact your business if they are interested in a potential role. For example, have a “click here to enquire about this role” option with an email link, makes it easy and efficient for someone to start a dialogue with your business, about a particular role.