Taking stock of summer

What have we learned this summer, folks? As we arc into the shorter days — which, for many people returning from summer vacation and childcare issues, are actually longer workdays — it’s time to get serious about hiring.

In this month’s n newsletter, how smart employers meet the needs of their people, why VTO is a great perk, and the importance of letting people be themselves at work.

Lessons Learned from Summer

When surveyed, most people will admit they’re far less productive in the summer than they are during the other seasons. Working parents are juggling childcare issues and camp drop-offs. A lot of people schedule their vacations for the warmest months. And in general, it’s hard to be focused on a computer screen when the sun is shining out there.

Smart employers offer flexible work policies to meet the needs of their workforces in the summer. One recent survey by HR software company Dayforce found that more than half of people work for companies that offer some kind of summertime flexibility, including:

• Flexible work hours

• More ability to work from home

• Summer Fridays off

• Seasonal work-from-anywhere options

If your company offers none of the above, it may be time to take stock. If you’re in a leadership role, consider revising your policies for next summer.

And if you’re simply disenchanted with your current company’s summer culture, reach out to us at KIP Search to get a head start on a new job for next summer.

Does Your Company offer VTO?

It’s like PTO, but you don’t get to relax.

VTO — volunteer time off — is a perk offered by more than a quarter of companies surveyed by SHRM last year. That number has risen since the first time SHRM tracked such data in 2002. We’re not just talking about progressive tech companies trying to virtue signal with their benefits. Companies like Hasbro and Timberland are in the mix.

VTO is not just a way to inspire employees to do good in the world. It brings tangible benefits to the workforce, including skills-building and morale-boosting.

Can Your People Be Themselves at Work?

Values-based hiring leads to higher retention. When you hire like-minded talent, you find people who really want to come to work. As LinkedIn found in one survey, 71% of people would take a pay cut to work for a company that aligns with their own values.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone would rather work for an altruistic nonprofit or a company that engages in blatant virtue-signaling or political grandstanding. But finding the right cultural fit is incredibly important to most people in their professional lives.

As a recruiter, we work with people who are looking for new jobs on a daily basis. While our initial conversations typically revolve around the work itself, eventually, we talk about whether the hiring company will be a good personality fit.

One of the biggest factors for most people is finding a place to work where they can truly be themselves, showing up every day with authenticity.

The best way to hire those people? Be authentic in your hiring, as well. I am here to help with that.

If you’d like to launch a new search, reach out today.