Gary Vaynerchuk, Chairman of VaynerX and CEO of VaynerMedia wears his passion on his sleeve. That emphatic commitment to his perspectives is characteristic of who he has always been and I really respect it. Heck, some days I mirror it. In a recent LinkedIn post Gary reminds leaders that snacks and foosball don’t build culture. I agree, so does Tara Furiani, Not the HR Lady, who just wrote a book called F*ck your Office Snacks.
Their point, and mine, come at a critical and (dare I use the over-used word) UNPRECEDENTED time of employment upheaval, a competition for talent and a furious race to build pipeline and capacity for workers, especially in the tech industry.
Culture matters, retention is critical, leaders can influence it all.
The new world of work means adapting and adopting to meet your team where they’re at to fuel success for ALL. Leaders are being urged to explore and implement a more nuanced approach to increasing engagement and satisfaction. We’ve evolved from ping-pong and kombucha-on-tap to an array of more thoughtful and personalized experiences for individuals that include establishing employee resource groups, policies around remote work/flexible scheduling and mental health resources and services. Real transformation occurs when organizational priorities align with employee satisfaction.
The culture fostered by an employer critically impacts how employees prioritize their physical and mental health which impacts how they manage their own productivity while dealing with personal challenges. The pressures of remote work on parents, as well as the impact of justice movements on underrepresented professionals, definitely qualify as personal challenges IMO. Proactively and regularly addressing the personal and professional needs of employees can save managers time and money while increasing productivity.
Many managers inherently understand that equitable accommodations, compassion, empathy, a focus on personalized professional development and cultivation of belonging fosters a more robust, engaged and productive team. Those satisfied workers (regardless of status as full- or part-time, contract, remote, freelance or temp) contribute to a healthy bottom line. MORE IMPORTANTLY, more often than not, a healthy and happy team eagerly and positively represent the organization to attract and retain talent.
The current competition for tech professionals demands that organizations leverage more than just HR and marketing to recruit and retain good employees. It takes the entire organization to tap their networks and cast a wide net for the next new team members.
Talimer: the future of freelancing
We built Talimer with the understanding that while the work matters, the people who DO the work also matter. We envision a world where diverse, talented tech freelancers and the businesses who hire them thrive and prosper on the strengths independent workers bring to the table. We’re blowing up what’s wrong with the “gig economy” by putting freelancers first in a unique marketplace that offers tech professionals access to projects and jobs, benefits and more while making it easier for businesses to secure hard-to-find, on-demand resources. Talimer is growing and empowering a diverse community of freelancers so that they can feel fulfilled, confident and secure.
