How do you staff your team in an increasingly hybrid world? As someone who has consulted in the field of hybrid and remote work for over two decades, I am constantly on the lookout for new insights into this rapidly changing area. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Rob Buffington, founder of Gordian Staffing, who shared his perspectives on the future of staffing.
The Rise of Remote Staffing
Buffington noted that one of the biggest changes in staffing in the era of hybrid and remote work is the rise of remote staffing. With more businesses offering remote work options, it’s becoming increasingly common for staffing firms to offer remote staffing services. This allows businesses to access talent from anywhere in the world, and provides greater flexibility for both the business and the worker.
Another trend that Buffington highlighted is the growing importance of soft skills in staffing. With remote work becoming more common, the ability to communicate effectively, collaborate with team members, and work independently has become increasingly important. As a result, staffing firms are placing greater emphasis on these soft skills when evaluating candidates.
Buffington also noted that with the rise of hybrid and remote work, there is a growing need for specialized staffing services. For example, businesses may need staffing services that specialize in remote work, or that can provide talent with specific technical skills needed for remote work. As a result, staffing firms are diversifying their offerings to meet these specialized needs.
The Importance of Flexibility
Buffington emphasized the importance of flexibility in staffing in the era of hybrid and remote work. With businesses and workers increasingly seeking flexible work arrangements, staffing firms need to be able to provide flexible staffing solutions. This can include offering temporary or project-based staffing, or providing staffing services that can adapt to changing business needs.
With remote work becoming more common, strong communication and collaboration practices are more important than ever. Businesses and staffing firms need to develop strong communication and collaboration practices that facilitate effective remote work. This may involve using technology tools to facilitate communication and collaboration, and setting clear expectations for how remote workers should communicate with in-office staff.
Remote work can be isolating and challenging for some workers, which can negatively impact their mental health and productivity. To address this challenge, businesses and staffing firms should prioritize mental health and wellbeing. This may involve offering access to mental health resources, providing flexible work arrangements to accommodate personal and family responsibilities, and encouraging workers to prioritize self-care.
Culture, Tech, and Accountability
In a hybrid work environment, building a strong company culture is more important than ever. Companies must find ways to create a sense of community and connectedness among employees, regardless of their location. Gordian Staffing provides its clients with virtual team-building activities, such as online trivia games and happy hours, to help foster a sense of connectedness among remote and in-office employees.
Remote and hybrid work require different skill sets than traditional in-office work. As such, businesses must invest in training and development programs that can help their employees acquire these skills. Gordian Staffing works with its clients to develop training programs that are specifically designed for remote and hybrid work, including training on virtual communication and collaboration tools.
Technology can be a powerful tool for recruiting and onboarding employees in a hybrid work environment. Video conferencing, for example, can be used to conduct virtual interviews and onboarding sessions, eliminating the need for in-person meetings. Gordian Staffing uses technology to streamline its recruiting and onboarding processes, making it easier and more efficient for clients to hire and onboard new employees.
Conclusion
The era of hybrid and remote work is transforming the staffing industry, with new trends and challenges emerging. To stay competitive in this new landscape, staffing firms need to embrace remote staffing, prioritize soft skills, diversify their offerings, and provide flexible staffing solutions. By doing so, they can meet the evolving needs of businesses and workers in the era of hybrid and remote work.
Key Take-Away
In a hybrid work environment, staffing firms must prioritize remote staffing, soft skills, flexibility, mental health, culture-building, and technology to meet the evolving needs of businesses and workers... >Click to tweet Image credit: fauxels/Pexels Originally published in Disaster Avoidance Experts
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky helps leaders use hybrid work to improve retention and productivity while cutting costs. He serves as the CEO of the boutique future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. Dr. Gleb wrote the first book on returning to the office and leading hybrid teams after the pandemic, his best-seller Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage (Intentional Insights, 2021). He authored seven books in total, and is best know for his global bestseller, Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters (Career Press, 2019). His cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 650 articles and 550 interviews in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, USA Today, CBS News, Fox News, Time, Business Insider, Fortune, and elsewhere. His writing was translated into Chinese, Korean, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish, French, and other languages. His expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, and speaking and training for Fortune 500 companies from Aflac to Xerox. It also comes from over 15 years in academia as a behavioral scientist, with 8 years as a lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill and 7 years as a professor at Ohio State. A proud Ukrainian American, Dr. Gleb lives in Columbus, Ohio. In his free time, he makes sure to spend abundant quality time with his wife to avoid his personal life turning into a disaster. Contact him at Gleb[at]DisasterAvoidanceExperts[dot]com, follow him on LinkedIn @dr-gleb-tsipursky, Twitter @gleb_tsipursky, Instagram @dr_gleb_tsipursky, Facebook @DrGlebTsipursky, Medium @dr_gleb_tsipursky, YouTube, and RSS, and get a free copy of the Assessment on Dangerous Judgment Errors in the Workplace by signing up for the free Wise Decision Maker Course at https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/newsletter/.
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