Retaining talent in the post-pandemic workplace

COMMENT With the worst ravages of the global pandemic behind us, and the prospect of a fourth national lockdown looking increasingly slim, it’s time to move forward and use our past as a reflective method to keep our talent shining. At Octopus Real Estate, we believe it’s vitally important that we learn lessons from our experiences and that of our workforce over the past 18 months. We believe in embracing different people’s takeaways and feelings on how they would like to work going forward and encouraging diversity when collaborating. As life returns to normality, we don’t believe that business as usual is an option. Not everyone wants to come into the office every working day, while at the same time there is much to be said for the team building, creativity and collaborations that office life can bring. For us, the key words are balance and flexibility. We think embracing flexibility in time spent in the office and at home will be crucial, not just in retaining our valued staff and reinforcing the culture of the company, but also in attracting new talent to our growing business. This balance is key to showing how much we value our staff as people, with lives outside of work, which we believe is key to a committed and engaged workforce. Dramatic change So how was it for us? When the nation went into enforced lockdown back in March 2020, all 94 of our staff, spread across our offices in London and Manchester, had to set about the process of working from home. We know that some of our people found the experience extremely difficult: stress, working in more confined spaces, home-schooling the children, not being able to make site visits or comfortably maintain valuable relationships directly with clients and brokers were just some of the challenges. Others relished a new-found freedom without the daily journey in on the train, Tube or bus, enjoying the discovery of a different lifestyle balanced between work and home. Some will have taken the life-changing decision to relocate to a quieter area, or somewhere with an outside space. Rebuilding better As lockdowns ended and the last restrictions are eased, a new picture has emerged of how people want to work, and we listened to ensure we retained and expanded our talent. We have some ideas about different ways of doing things, and we’ve seen how the return of our staff to our offices has already brought a renewed energy to our culture and collaboration. Being back in the office where we are all together makes it smoother for us to engage with our people. We are able to see first-hand how our people can grow, where their skills lie and what motivates them. Spending time with our colleagues can also allow us to see where people may be struggling a little more, and therefore we can work with them to develop the skills they want to strive with. A blended approach With our blended approach, we’re suggesting that our people work in the office a few days a week, on days of their choosing. Our advice is that they make the most of the opportunity and arrange face-to-face meetings rather than sitting at their desks making calls. We also recommend that each smaller business unit holds team days when everyone is in, to help deepen relationships and the group effort. We now have a really useful desk-booking app that means staff can choose where, and with whom, they sit on any given day. As well as existing workers, we believe that coming into the office is highly beneficial to new joiners, who can shadow colleagues, learn on the job effectively, and build relationships across the business – something that our lockdown starters found more tricky. Flexibility is the watchword. Flexibility is about trusting our team to deliver and manage their time effectively, which we believe will also help to retain our talented people and retain them in an environment that cares about them and is here as much for them as they are for it. We firmly believe that giving our valued colleagues autonomy, treating them like the adults they are, is going to be the most effective way of retaining them, as well as adding to our ranks. Zoe Cooke is HR business partner at Octopus Real Estate Photo: Niek Verlaan/Pixabay