Fostering a positive culture
Creative thinking must be cultivated as a fundamental competency. Leaders must evolve their organisational culture to support and foster the creativity necessary to survive and thrive in these times of change and disruption. An entrepreneurial state-of-mind as is often present in start-ups and creates a dynamic that can also benefit larger organisations. Businesses appreciate digital leaders with a distinct set of skills: change agents, strong in building relationships, and influencing others to create buy-in and build trust.
Employees tend to look at their fit within the organisational culture when hunting for a new job. Success in the war for talent largely depends on the positive image and culture an organisation can display during the entire recruitment process. Motivated people appear to be more concerned about the result of their work and the eventual appreciation. Recognition is essential in cultivating a positive team spirit and must not be limited to quarterly individual reviews. Spurring bottom-up initiatives will create the engagement that is required to excel. A weakness does not disqualify a person, because harnessing talent is about underscoring people’s strengths and matching them with the most suitable role.
Attracting and retaining talent are amongst the most important activities for an HR department, whereby the required skillset has become increasingly dynamic with roles and competences evolving at a faster pace than ever before. Recruitment is a combination of hiring permanent employees and engaging contractors that either introduce a specific skill that is not yet present in the organisation or simply to respond to a temporary increase in workload.
As remote working has become increasingly popular, hiring talent can surpass national borders and occur on an international scale, thereby providing access to a larger labour market as well as offering more diversity in skills, expertise, and culture. With organisational structures flattening and workforces becoming increasingly fluid, connecting people is more important than ever. This is where organisational communities come in, accelerating development, breaking down silos and enabling knowledge sharing, and helping to hire and retain staff.
Jan Verbruggen – Managing Partner Xperian
