Employment Hero’s Alex Hattingh on why the future of work is remote

What will the future of work look like? Or perhaps more importantly, what should it look like? To answer these questions, it pays to speak to people in the know.

Working with more than 80,000 businesses that collectively manage over 750,000 employees, Employment Hero has become a key supporter of, and source of insights about, the small business sector in Australia. The platform helps SMEs manage their HR, payroll and benefits. 

Employment Hero is also the platinum sponsor of the 2022 Smart50 Awards, which close for entries this week. The winners will be revealed at an in-person event in November. 

So in this Q&A, we sat down with Employment Hero chief people officer Alex Hattingh to find out the biggest people challenges facing small businesses right now, and how they can find, attract and retain great talent. 

We’re in a tight labour market, with many small businesses struggling to compete with bigger organisations in securing the best talent. How would you sum up the current state of things? 

It’s definitely a tough state of affairs for small businesses right now. Australian unemployment continues to be low, sitting at 3.5%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and we have yet to see the same levels of international skilled talent pre-COVID come in. 

Anyone who is hiring right now will tell you, finding and hiring the right people is extremely challenging. 

I really feel for SMEs who can’t hire remotely, but for those that can, I urge you to look for talent outside of Australia if you’re struggling to fill vacancies locally. 

We have also seen salaries increase for in-demand roles, such as product and technology. We’re not sure how sustainable this trend will be. However, for SMEs, it is a challenge at the moment to compete with the larger companies that are willing to pay that additional $30,000-$40,000 for a candidate. We are also seeing candidates interviewing with four to five companies at the same time.

Is the employment market due for disruption? What could a good shift look like?

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We are yet to see disruption in our southeast Asia region. We have seen it in the UK and the Americas, however, and based on these trends, we anticipated we would see the same trends with unemployment going down and being flooded with talent. On the positive, we have not been hit with a recession. 

The disruption we are seeing is the significant shift in people’s desire for continued remote work. This is influencing both people wanting to leave companies that are insisting people return to work full-time in the office, as well as people looking for new roles with companies that are remote first and flexible (and offer career development). 

A good shift would be employers accepting this desire and advocating for remote work. 

Also, expanding your talent pools beyond your current office locations. This provides employment opportunities to those who otherwise may not be able to get a role. For example, those in a socio-economic circumstance where they cannot afford to live in a capital city, close to your office.  

What current trends or strategies have stood out to you as ways to kick against this current — for SMEs to find, attract and retain great talent?

Offering remote work is a huge attraction strategy and at no cost for a SME. In fact, our recent Remote Work Report 2022 showed that 50% of employees would consider leaving their current role if their employer forced them back into the office full time. You don’t need to offer remote work on a full-time basis either; only 36% of employees we surveyed reported that they’d work remotely full time. Among the key benefits of offering remote work to employees are: reduced cost of living, improved discrimination reduction for marginalised groups, and improved employee wellbeing.

Making sure you pivot your recruitment approach is key:

• Your EVP, all data and research shows people are looking for remote work; career development; purpose and a values-driven organisation. Shout from the rooftop about how you provide and advocate for all of these factors;
• Your candidate experience is vital. Especially as we see candidates are interviewing for multiple opportunities at the same time. Make the candidate experience seamless. Also shorten it where you can;
• Training and upskilling and internal mobility (career development) is critical. All research is stating that career development is in the top three or four factors people look for in their next organisation. What better way to fill an open role, than with your existing talent, then backfill at the more junior level. Even if you don’t think your person is ready — support them, train them and have the confidence that they will skill up and raise the bar and fulfill the expectations of their new, more senior role. 

What must business leaders do to better understand their employees’ wants and needs?

Ask them! Survey your employees to ask what they want. What will keep them engaged? What do they love about working for your organisation (keep doing this); What are you not doing? While you cannot give them everything: ensure you read out the results and explain what you cannot provide. 

Also survey your new starters at the three-month mark. Or if you have the resources, have a “check-in” interview. See what has been great about their onboarding and what is missing. Follow-up and act on these insights. 

Conduct exit interviews. Make sure you understand why employees are leaving your organisation. Are there any trends? 

Provide training to your managers to be the best people leaders they can be, and provide plenty of opportunities for connection. This is vital in a remote world of work. It does not have to be expensive either. We’ve found that virtual connections based on shared interests have been very popular — things like sport, gaming, pets, working parents and leadership. Create clubs around passions. Also ask your employees through a quick survey what virtual social connections forums they love. Could it be a virtual team lunch, a speaker on a topic, or even Drag Queen Bingo?

Finally, be very transparent that you are learning along the way.

And ending on a positive note: what excites you about the future of work and the changing nature of employee/employer relationships?

The evolution of remote work! The connections, relationships, learning and growing in this remote environment. 

Personally, I find one-on-ones more personal in a remote environment. There is no longer a desk between me and a team member. I am invited into their home for a discussion on a weekly basis. I believe fostering manager and team members relationships through one-on-ones is vital to our current transformation of work.

Make sure you equip your managers on how to run an one-on-one. You can also try skipping one-on-ones by having one manager meet with their team members not directly reporting to them. 

There’s also a renewed focus on output, via metrics such as OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), and psychological safety, or cultivating trust and open, transparent conversations. Radical Candor is the way Kim Scott describes this. Workplace mentors can also help foster the growth and development of less experienced individuals through challenging tasks by providing resources and encouragement. 

Technology is great. However, nothing will ever surpass the innate need for human connection. We will start see more leaders lead with empathy and transparency.

There are five other things that also excite me about the future of work:

• Fun! At Employment Hero we have always held ‘fun’ very tight in our culture as we have grown significantly since COVID-19. One of those non-negotiable parts of our DNA, is that no matter how hard we work, and hustle, work has to be fun! We have to have fun together. You spend most of your time working / at work. How awful to be within a culture where you can’t laugh and enjoy yourself;
• Being more deliberate with our time and communications: This includes conversations, meetings, asynchronous communications, inclusion, collaboration, and transparency; 
• Learning: Let’s not be too hard on ourselves. We are learning ‘remote work’ as we go through this transformation. Be honest with your people that you are learning. We will make mistakes, we will ask for feedback and action those errors;
• Gen zers are very unquietly working to change the world in so many long overdue ways. They’re not content to accept the world they’ve been handed, when it comes to race, climate, mental health, the economy and so much more. So why give up on changing how their companies work? Why not take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine how we work and live? This is a goal we should never quit on; and
• Reward and recognition: I predict we will see managers and organisations feel the value in having a focus and disciplined approach to rewarding and recognising employees. 

SmartCompany is partnering with Employment Hero to present the 2022 Smart50 Awards.