Recruitment Roulette: Are You Playing The Fake Flexing Game?

Clearly, nearly all of job candidates prioritize office flexibility. So, it’s comprehensible that employers do what they’ll to make their firm look engaging to them. It turns into an issue when firms downplay the elements of their office that candidates could object to and attempt to current a rosier image as an alternative. This is called pretend flexing.

As we speak’s workers anticipate and like better office flexibility.

In accordance with a Might 2023 Gallup survey, 5 in 10 full-time U.S. workers have remote-capable jobs. Of this group:

• 60% want a hybrid work association
• A 3rd desires totally distant work
• Fewer than 10% want to work totally on-site

In different phrases, greater than 90% of remote-capable workers do NOT need to revert to the pre-pandemic norm of totally on-site work.

If workers aren’t allowed the sort of flexibility they anticipate from their employer, the survey reveals many are “extraordinarily seemingly” to search for a job elsewhere.

For employers who aren’t comfy embracing office flexibility, this could be a huge barrier to recruiting prime expertise in a difficult job market.

Enter this hot-button recruiting concern: pretend flexing.

What’s pretend flexing?

Pretend flexing is profiting from candidates’ want for office flexibility to make the corporate sound extra versatile than it really is, typically leaving a large chasm between candidate expectations and actuality.

This may occur when recruiters or hiring managers:

• Supply obscure references to “flexibility” with out including additional element
• Reply to candidates’ inquiries on this matter by enthusiastically calling themselves a “versatile office,” “hybrid office,” or “remote-friendly office” with out actually defining what this implies
• Keep away from the subject immediately and let candidates depend on their very own assumptions

Often, no recruiter units out to purposely mislead a job candidate or have interaction in malicious habits. Extra typically, it’s an omission or glossing over of essential data to assist the corporate be extra aggressive.

What does pretend flexing seem like in apply?

Let’s say a job candidate who at present occupies a hybrid place by which they work at home three to 4 days per week is contacted by a recruiter. The recruiter agrees that the brand new place can be hybrid, and so the candidate assumes their new working association would be the identical as what they at present get pleasure from. Nevertheless, when the candidate joins the brand new firm, they uncover that the expectation is for them to be within the workplace 4 days per week and solely work at home in the future per week.

Shock! And never in a great way.

On this pretend flexing instance, the recruiter technically didn’t lie. The place is hybrid. However the actuality of the working preparations is a major – and detrimental – departure from what the candidate anticipated.

Penalties of faux flexing

Although recruiters could not see themselves as mendacity to or deceptive anybody, it will probably really feel that solution to job candidates and the brand new workers who discover themselves on the receiving finish of these disagreeable surprises.

When a brand new worker feels such a deep stage of betrayal from their employer, think about what this does to the employer-employee relationship from the outset. It may possibly utterly destroy belief and lead the worker to marvel what else the corporate will not be being solely truthful about.

Workers with low morale are a lot much less more likely to be as engaged, productive or put in additional effort to go above and past. In reality, they’re in all probability one of many quiet quitters who’s doing the naked minimal whereas searching for a brand new job that higher aligns with their expectations.

This mindset can turn out to be poisonous and unfold simply amongst different workers. Briefly order, your office will be rife with resentment and paranoia, and your tradition will be negatively impacted.

Phrase can journey quick, because it’s simple for workers to publish detrimental on-line evaluations and unfold their anger on the firm to exterior audiences as a “beware and keep away from this firm” warning. This may hurt your future recruiting efforts.

Workers who really feel lied to and resentful a couple of lack of flexibility are additionally at excessive threat for leaving the corporate prematurely, supplying you with a retention downside. There are vital turnover prices related to repeatedly changing workers, together with the time and sources for recruiting, onboarding and coaching.

keep away from partaking in pretend flexing

1. Assessment distant and hybrid work insurance policies

Pretend flexing comes from a spot of insecurity about your organization’s place on office flexibility.

So, it is sensible to guage and tackle the place your organization could also be falling behind its competitors to take away a few of this insecurity within the first place.

Take one other have a look at the language of your distant and hybrid work insurance policies to find out whether or not extra flexibility will be in-built. How do you examine to your rivals and is it possible to stage up in any manner?

2. Speak to management

Have a dialog with management about why sure distant or hybrid work practices can’t be integrated into your coverage.

Intention to higher perceive:

• What’s it about elevated office flexibility that makes them uncomfortable?
• What detrimental outcomes are they making an attempt to forestall?
• What do they hope to perform with these guidelines?
• How does this coverage align with firm targets?

This data may also help you put together your recruiters for probably robust conversations.

3. Put together recruiters for conversations about distant and hybrid work

This matter completely will come up in conversations between recruiters and job candidates. Equip your recruiters with the data essential to be truthful whereas empowering them to higher navigate these conditions and procure extra favorable outcomes.

• Describe to them how the corporate ought to current itself within the job market.
• Assist them anticipate generally requested questions by candidates.
• Encourage them to handle the problem and set expectations early in candidate conversations.
• Give them clear explanation why the corporate coverage is what it’s, to allow them to clarify to candidates why the corporate has made sure selections round flexibility. Candidates need the rationale.

4. Incorporate extra element into job descriptions and postings

Relating to office flexibility, be exact when writing job descriptions and creating job postings. Don’t permit for ambiguity or use buzzwords, akin to flexibility, with out defining what they imply at your organization.

• If a job is totally on-site or totally distant, say that.
• If a job is hybrid, spell out what number of days are within the workplace versus distant every week.
• If there’s any variation in flexibility inside your office (for instance, flexibility will increase with tenure), clarify why together with the principles.
• If the job has particular hours, say what these are. If there are scheduling choices, record these.
• Hyperlink to the distant and hybrid work coverage.

5. Prioritize honesty and transparency

Many candidates perceive employers set parameters round distant work and should require in-office attendance for at the very least a part of the week. Be sincere and clear with these candidates about your organization’s guidelines. (Honesty and transparency are must-have qualities in any organizational tradition.)

Explaining the main points of your organization’s distant or hybrid work coverage could deter some candidates and make your organization appear much less aggressive in comparison with your business friends. If your organization isn’t totally on board with distant or hybrid work, it seemingly will.

However you don’t need to conceal or mislead and find yourself losing each your and the candidate’s time. It by no means ends properly.

Focus much less on attracting the largest attainable variety of candidates and extra on capturing the best kind of applicant who’s aligned together with your firm’s tradition and practices.

Summing all of it up

Pretend flexing, the act of presenting your organization as extra versatile and accepting of distant and hybrid work than it really is, is a fast and straightforward solution to alienate job candidates and new workers. It may be tempting to interact on this habits if your organization is out of step with rivals and also you’re having a tough time procuring expertise. However accomplish that and threat an impaired tradition, low morale and engagement, diminished belief, poor popularity and heightened turnover.

As an alternative, be sincere and clear about your group’s insurance policies on office flexibility so that you don’t mislead anybody and waste their time. Assess your distant and hybrid work insurance policies repeatedly to find out if adjustments will be made to increase flexibility. If not, talk about with management their rationale so you may then put together recruiters on the way to discuss to candidates. Stop any ambiguity in job descriptions and postings. And deal with attracting candidates who’re on board together with your insurance policies.

For extra recommendations on recruiting the optimum job candidates for your small business, obtain our free journal: The Insperity information to attracting, recruiting and hiring prime expertise.