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Change Is the Only Constant and That’s Okay
7 May 2020
"As an entrepreneur and co-founder of a technology talent consultancy, I have always believed that transparency, honesty, and empathy are the keys to everything a company needs to scale and create a lasting company culture." - Phil Blaydes, Talentful Founder and Co-CEO
At any given moment, you never know what will impact your business, your employees, and your market. You have to prepare for the worst and plan for the best, keeping true to your vision and mission and leaning on your leadership team to ensure those messages resonate with employees and clients.
Since co-founding Talentful in 2015, I also knew that change was the only constant we could rely on as we were building the company.
In the current climate, many companies are having to make tough decisions on how to manage their business. As the world rapidly adapts to systemic changes in how we work – living rooms turned into offices and schools – the challenge to keep teams and people connected positively and productively takes centre stage.
Our business culture and the way we work will be changed forever. As our collective new normal becomes more routine, we will begin to shift to a more mindful state about the ways we invest our time, who we work for and how we work.
There’s a significant amount of virtue signalling from leadership now. We see CEO’s trying to indicate they’re doing everything they can despite laying off people. For example, recruitment businesses are posting on social media about offering free support to the NHS, but probably haven’t even messaged the right person. Companies with millions in funding, outwardly supporting the government with staff and advice, but internally cancelling offers for new joiners, leaving them on Universal Credit or for their former employer to support them with furlough.
It’s always a challenge to hire tech talent during good times, and these companies will still need to hire talent after the crisis ends. But news travels fast in the tech community, and the companies that take a ‘last one standing’ approach could have a black mark by their brand and be at risk for a long time after this crisis ends.
Humans want to connect and have empathy with brands and the companies they work with. Will we change our behaviour to only support or work for companies that looked after their people during this crisis? Will the new brand value of a company be how they valued employees during this crisis?
But what about the companies who are still hiring or looking ahead to hire? What will that do for their brand?
Companies that focus on their people right now, and don’t squeeze the life out of them, will be able to hire the best talent in the future. Why? Because their brand put humans first. And by doing that, it will enable them to hire and cultivate the best talent that will help their company get back to business quickly.
