FEATURE: RECRUITMENT
and wellbeing are great places to start.’ Lantz provided some tips to help make
flexibility work for all parties. Te first is to establish guidelines for how to treat remote workers. She said: ‘At CableLabs, for example, we encourage everyone to join a Zoom meeting on their laptop, even if some people are in a room together and only one person is remote because it makes that remote person feel more included.’ Te second piece of advice was to create
a level playing field for all employees. ‘Tis is really important,’ she said, ‘to prevent bias and the risk of overlooking employees who are remote by analysing data, looking at our promotions and raises to look for paterns that made them and ensure that remote workers are not being leſt behind.’
bring someone in and trial that role to see if they have enough work to justify it, for example.’ In terms of where FullFibre is in the process,
Shek highlighted that there are a number of warehouse and office roles across the company’s regions, and that she has been working closely with Job Centres in Exeter, Ledbury, Telford and Derby, as well as atending Job Centre events. ‘It’s been extremely encouraging,’ she enthused. ‘We’re based in Devon and have regions around the surrounding areas, so it could have been a bit disconnecting engaging with Job Centres in the further-away regions, but it was really lovely to have the opportunity to travel to the events to meet people at the local Job Centres, as well as their candidates.’
Endless opportunities Shek revealed there was a great deal of enthusiasm from potential candidates, who asked lots of questions and were keen to know about the available opportunities at FullFibre and in the telecoms industry generally. ‘Tat’s what we’d like to get out there,’ she said, ‘the opportunities are limitless. While a lot of our entry roles are more administrative, we like to think these can lead to something much bigger, as they are roles in which people will be able to engage with different parts of the business.’ Tere are 10 candidates currently in the
interview process. ‘We are booking interviews in,’ said Shek, ‘and reviewing through the Job Centre, and it’s been a very good experience that has made me think a litle bit more about what we will do in the future.’ In terms of those future plans, the
company will also be running apprenticeships and working in collaboration with other companies and local job centres to reskill talent. With the Kickstart scheme due to end in March, Shek’s hopes are that the UK government will reconsider and extend the duration of the scheme. ‘When we reach the end of the pandemic, we will still want to help young people by introducing them to
22 FiBRE SYSTEMS n Issue 35 n Spring 2022
all the great things about telecoms,’ she said. Looking at how companies can keep great
employees on board once they have found them was Lori Lantz, chief people officer at not-for-profit innovation and research and development lab, CableLabs. She said: ‘Recruitment strategies have to evolve as we learn about the values and expectations of our jobseekers. But just as critical is the need to evolve our strategies to retain talent.’
Talent trends Lantz cited a recent LinkedIn study, 2022 Global Talent Trends, which looked at the reinvention of company culture. Te report demonstrated something Lantz herself has seen as part of the day-to-day role: that company culture is one of the most important things in which job seekers today place value. ‘Te global average is 40 per cent of candidates who consider company culture a top priority,’ she said. Te report also demonstrated that the best
way to improve a company culture is to begin with professional development. ‘It’s interesting to me,’ said Lantz, ‘just how significantly professional development opportunities have always stood out as a top driver of employee engagement and retention. It was the case before the pandemic changed so many things about how we work, and it remains at the top of what people really want from their employee experience.’ As well as professional development, some
of the other areas highlighted as key for investment to improve a company’s culture include flexible work support, mental health and wellness, training managers to lead remote and hybrid teams, and of course, diversity and inclusion. In fact, the report detailed that work- life balance actually exceeds compensation and benefits when it comes to priorities for candidates picking a new job. ‘So,’ asked Lantz, ‘how do we, as employers, meet this expectation to make employees feel seen as human beings first? Focusing on flexibility
Keeping in touch Tirdly, employee bonds should be strengthened using virtual events. Lantz continued: ‘At CableLabs, when we sent everyone home at the start of the pandemic, we started a weekly virtual coffee break with Phil McKinney, our CEO. It’s optional to atend and there is no agenda, and the conversation can range from industry updates to hobbies shared by employees, to the weather or pets, and aſter nearly two years, it remains a staff favourite.’ Te fourth point was to have some senior
leaders work from home. ‘Senior leaders really have to walk the talk,’ said Lantz, ‘to demonstrate true support for flexible work arrangements.’ To fully maximise flexibility, some other
tips Lantz shared included a focus on results rather than work hours; helping employees to set boundaries; saying goodbye to virtual meetings and providing flex time to front-line workers. Tis last point is particularly important considering so many people in our industry don’t have office jobs, as Lantz explained: ‘Tey need to be hands-on at certain times and places to do their work. But, as employers we can still look for ways to create flexibility for these workers by offering things like flexible work hours, job sharing, four-day work weeks and staggered shiſts.’ Lantz closed by discussing the importance of
wellbeing, offering some tips on how employers can ensure their employees feel cared for. Training managers to become empathetic leaders was a key point. ‘We put a lot of expectations on our leaders to meet strategic goals and to deliver results, and what we need to understand is that the more our employees feel cared for and seen as whole human beings, the more they are willing to commit to the success of the team. We can invest in leadership training to help managers spot signs of burnout and offer support.’ Other tips included making mental health
services easily available, using people analytics to identify problems, such as lack of breaks or longer hours, and turning employees into mental health allies. ‘Everyone struggles at times,’ Lantz concluded, ‘and the last two years have been unusually difficult for so many people, for so many reasons, and it’s important to give people the space to talk about that.’ n
www.fibre-systems.com @fibresystemsmag
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