Whether you are in an industry that’s predicted to slow this year–maybe you’re thinking about some “quiet hiring,”–or your company is planning on growth and hiring or you’re somewhere in between, understanding what the majority of people are looking for in a job is important.
Wants Are Often Simple
In a recent installment of the Times’ Work Friend column, Roxane Gay talks about the theme of the letters she receives as the columnist of Work Friend, and it’s quite simple: they want to be seen and valued, and they want to work somewhere that isn’t awful.
Now, we (and Roxane Gay) recognize that we can’t all be entirely, passionately in love with our jobs, but we also recognize that the United States lifts work onto a pedestal that makes it hard for people to find balance or advocate for themselves in a workplace environment.
Some of the issues in the column are small but significant: employees should have access to water that isn’t in a bathroom, no one should be allowed to sing at volume in an office environment, and my goodness please stop complaining about the leadership. Some are much bigger offenses: co-workers stealing ideas, an utter lack of an HR department in a situation that requires one, employees being expected to party into the wee hours and still come to work the next morning, or employers expecting free work or for employees to pay for things that should be paid for by the company.
How Do You Stack Up?
Now is a great time for an assessment. Ask your teams (anonymously!) what they love about the company, what they’d improve, and if there are any small tweaks (like a water cooler!) that would make their lives better. Do whatever is possible, make adjustments, and prioritize your employees’ well-being because if your team members are sitting there trying to pay attention amid in-office karaoke or stewing because their coworker is receiving credit for their ideas, they are not doing their best work.
Hiring is still incredibly competitive and you don’t want something that’s a relatively easy fix to lose you a candidate, and you don’t want to lose good employees because you’re not being an effective leader.
Need help assessing your workplace optimization or where you can improve? ROI can help.
