Somewhere along the way, in the middle of the minefield that is business, targets and strategies, we forgot how to talk to each other. We forgot how to ask the little questions as well as the big ones. With the clock always on our back and deadlines looming, we forgot what it’s like to sit down and shoot the breeze a little while. To talk about nothing in particular but laugh along the way. And we’re recruiters, so all we do IS talk to people. But business moves fast and everyone has goals, so it’s not always easy to remember to slow down and make time and space for the humanness of people.
But the thing is, when you forget the human element, nothing really works anymore.
We spend our days in conversations with people, listening to their worries, wants and desires, and ultimately, as a global recruitment business, we trade in people, and here’s a few things that we’ve learnt from making time for those people.
1. BUILD A BETTER CULTURE
Everyone has been looking for the magic ingredient to culture, but the truth of the matter is it’s just putting the right people together at the right time. It’s more science with a little bit of chemistry. However, you can’t create that magic mix if you don’t know your people properly. You have to be able to understand them in their entirety, which includes the things that drive them, their passions and dislikes, and even their own personal backstories that lead them to you. It all combines to make an intricate picture of a person that you can then place in the right environment to cultivate high performing cultures.
2. GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEED
Once upon a time the working world used to be about what businesses needed, and the employees were there to serve. Those days are long gone and now we develop and nurture, build and motivate. We give back as much as we get, and the working world is a delicate balance that exists on the exchange of services form employee and business, and business to client (or customer). Taking the time to really understand your people, to sit with them and talk to them about their lives allows you to understand what they need from you as an employer. If you’re aiming to be a destination employer, this is going to be incredibly important to your ability to attract and retain talented individuals. There isn’t a management style in the world that fits everyone and individuals need to be pushed and left alone in different ways.
3. RETAIN A STRONG WORKFORCE
As recruitment professionals, trust us when we say, hiring costs money. It takes time, effort and resources, not to mention the time taken to train up new individuals and integrate them into the teams and wider organization. It isn’t easy, and it isn’t quick. It’s why you can’t afford high attrition rates, no one really can. Treating your employees with human care and compassion and taking the time to get to know them on a personal level might seem like a small thing that doesn’t effect the business, but in reality you’re retaining more people in your company, instead of a revolving door of employees who don’t want to work for you.
So much of building businesses and cultivating culture is written about it, and there’s so many helpful and insightful articles online, but if you strip away the bells and whistles, the tips and tricks, it always comes down to human behavior. It comes down to how we treat those people around us and how much time we make for them. We’ve watched countless businesses try to grow, spending thousands of dollars and weeks of time on the different strategies and technologies that will help them scale their companies, but if you’re forgetting the human element, you’re not going to get very far. So, it’s time we all got human again.]]>