Firstly, please allow us to wish you a very Happy and Healthy New Year and one which is hopefully substantially better than 2020 for most of us.
Since March last year, the world has been struggling to adjust to the new normal created by the pandemic and had to quickly adjust to a fluid and highly volatile environment. Managing talent during this time has probably been one of the key challenges faced by organisations. Having spoken to and working with clients across the world, we thought it might be interesting to share some of our learnings from these experiences.
Seeking opportunities in adversity
Like many organisations, in March 2020 we had to quickly get our team ready to Work from Home in case India went into lockdown. What was initially a temporary measure, now looks to be permanent, and we are now operating as if this new way of working will be our new normal.
Whilst this has created challenges, it has also opened up new opportunities (in our case, we can now look for talent far and wide, instead of being restricted to where our office was). Many of our clients have also taken this opportunity to cast their nets wider when looking for talent.
Be flexible and nimble
Despite the various lockdowns all over the world, we were fortunate enough to avoid most of the restrictions by travelling to and working from locations where lockdowns were lighter or had been removed. However, at times we risked getting stuck due to rapid changes in travel restrictions. This was a problem for many clients and candidates, especially when taking overseas placements.
It is therefore important to be able to find innovative ways to get around or past some of these hurdles – clients that were able to do this managed to get their resources where they needed them and thrive despite a terrible economic environment.
Discipline
Throughout this period, we maintained a regular work schedule, regardless of where we were working from. Team calls were held daily and timings adjusted to suit our location. Clients were responded to in a timely fashion. Candidates were spoken to at times convenient to them.
By insisting that our standards did not drop, we were able to ensure that the team remained engaged and continued to perform despite the challenges of working remotely. However, perhaps more importantly, we were also disciplined in taking a break. Realising that this was a marathon and not a sprint meant that we made a conscious effort to switch off regularly and avoid working nonstop.
The past year has provided us with many challenges and opportunities and we have tried to address these in the best possible way. No doubt, we have made some mistakes and probably could have done things better!
It would be great to hear about your experiences and learnings, especially when it comes to talent acquisition and management so please feel free to reach out to us with your comments or queries.