As more and more companies require a return to the office, at least partially, and as they establish new guidelines for when and how to work in an office, Recruiting has a unique opportunity to capitalize on “the new world of work.”
It requires keeping an open mind, tracking, tracking, and then again, tracking recruitment data while recruiting and creating reports demonstrating the total effects. However, as we at People Science have discovered, this data is invaluable not only for recruiting and filling positions but also for advising the business.
Our findings to date include the following list of recommended questions and activities, along with their advantages.
What are the main reasons for the company’s policies?
You must know this well if you are going to recruit knowledge workers. The best candidates are the most inquisitive and expect a clear answer as to why they need to come to the office. Often getting this answer is difficult, but without it, how can you make a case one way or the other? Recruiters are the frontline – our response has a huge impact on the candidate moving forward or not, and candidates will share this information with your recruiting market.
If they really want a remote job, they will find it…
Even prior to the pandemic, we witnessed candidates requesting to work remotely accept positions in the office, and as soon as an opportunity to go remote became available, they left. This was apparent in all geographies in the U.S. and with a myriad of different kinds of companies. So, the question becomes, how long will the new hire, who really wants remote, stay?
Keep your own metrics: The press can make their points and have their own narrative.
Consultants may provide some relative data, but nothing beats your own data collected from your recruiting market. A key metric to track is your candidate’s reasons for declines as they relate to Return to Office. This metric can measure the cost per hire against the cost of vacancy (COV=how much it costs the company to have the position open). With this metric, you have a sound base for influencing the decisions around remote work. Without it, you are subject to opinions.
How do you compare to your recruiting competition?
Another key metric is the salary differential between working from home and working from the office. Is there one? During the candidate screening, it may make sense to ask, are you hearing of different compensations for remote compared to in-office positions? Or ask those declining remote work over internal if they had additional comp to make up the commute. Would that change their decision?
How does your company culture measure to your candidate’s persona?
Candidate’s RTO buy-in or not can help a Recruiter learn the specifics of the kind of culture that best suits the candidate, see how it matches up with the organization, and make a better-informed decision of whether or not to move ahead in the process.
Measuring work performance is different in WFH as compared to WFO
Make sure you know what the policy is for both in-house and remote working management. While evaluating the candidate’s fit, how will this kind of management work for them or not?
When talent acquisition involves investigating the candidate’s fit related to remote work and/or in the office, the hire is a better fit culturally. Better culture fits stay longer, engage better, and have higher production levels.
If you need help gathering and tracking data from your candidates, call us. We are happy to help. Our software HireGate might be what you need to augment your ATS, provide all the recruiting metrics, and complete the Talent Acquisition Cycle.