Trust builds the best workplaces
The old master-servant style is being replaced, explains Gil Sawford
EACH year in Tasmania there are about 40,000 workplace transitions. They include people moving from secondary and tertiary education into employment, people changing jobs, and people coming back into the workforce after an absence.
As we emerge from the pandemic, we are beginning to see a changed workplace that is calling for a new approach to recruiting staff, built on trust and empathy. We are seeing workplace needs moving towards creativity and innovation. This points to a reshaping of the employeremployee contract from master-servant to partnercollaborator. Partnerships begin with the recruitment process. The qualities that contribute to the decisions that employers make are the attitude, skills and knowledge that applicants present when they apply for a job. The most successful employers recruit for attitude. Recently most employers have focused on skills and knowledge, supported by recruitment algorithms. Despite this, in recent years more than 80 per cent of employers can’t find suitable recruits, up to 85 per cent of employees are disengaged, and more than 60 per cent of employees are looking for another job.
These outcomes are not driven by processes that are trusting and human, but rather by those that are distant, mechanistic and transactional. As a state, we could benefit from paying attention to this.
Tasmanians are natural connectors and innovators, and these qualities are key to productive workplaces.
This connectedness is ready-made for employers looking for staff who will make a big contribution to their business over the long term.
It is the perfect vehicle for what are called weak ties, based on research in the 1970s by Mark Granovetter. He found the best recruits were not found through formal means such as receiving a resume in response to a listing, but through contacts who told the applicant about the job or recommended them. Weak ties are people one or two steps removed from our regular work or social group, people who know the people we know. Research has shown they are the most powerful source of high-quality employees. Every staff member can take advantage of these connections. This is not nepotism. When a staff member introduces a potential recruit, their reputation is linked to the merit of their protege, for which they will be held accountable. The recruit will not let their sponsor down.
We do not hold algorithms accountable for results, but we will hold colleagues accountable for the people they recommend.
Finding the right people is everyone’s responsibility. This approach is about the right person at the right time, the antithesis of the often-used processes of outplacement and redundancy. The right people are looking for the dignity that comes from working in a wellregarded business. They are looking for meaning — sense of purpose, belonging, competence and opportunity to contribute to something beyond themselves. These deliver a sense of community, being an appreciated member of a team.
Being human is about supporting one another, the primary purpose of human work. When there is an alignment between purposes of the employee and employer, higher productivity and wellbeing are the outcomes.
If the right people are your most important asset and they lend their trust and empathy, productivity and staff retention will be enhanced.
Our experiences through COVID-19 have reminded us of the strength of relationships across our state. We have cared for the homeless and supported those in need in ways not seen in other places.
We know we can bring this connectedness into our workplaces post-COVID as we recruit the right people, leading to improved creativity, innovation and productivity.