CMOpinion: Tread with caution when playing recruitment musical chairs
Diana Di Cecco returns with her regular Mumbrella column and writes, as a candidate, nailing the “trifecta” of right workplace, good people and personal satisfaction, is the skill of the year. Where do you start when considering a job move?
“I’m thrilled to not be starting a new job and announce I am staying with my current employer” said: no one on LinkedIn in the last year. While I am genuinely delighted for people who have moved roles, the messaging is monotonous. Surely the platform could do something to help people announce their news with some panache, right? I digress but segue directly to the heart of this piece: people moves.
People are weird. Now and then we find new ones covertly declaring, “you’re my people” and stick with them. It’s a sibling-like connection that can last for days, months or years. Sometimes, this happens with co-workers, and they can be the most meaningful relationships we foster. Apart from immediate family, work is the most important part of the week; we spend the most time doing it, it facilitates our lives, and some people even do truly meaningful work. Over the past two years, people have revaluated many aspects of their lives, including work. Some have relocated, others have stayed put, some have moved jobs, and others have undergone a sea change. It is The Great Resignation, The Great Evaluation, or (the great “whatever you want to call it”) playing out in real-time. Despite a looming recession, the lowest unemployment rates since 1974, and the increasing number of jobs vacancies, appetite is high for marketers to sling a hook. So, when you’re considering a job change, how do you land at an organisation with “your people?”
There is a concept I once described as work family. For me, it’s the intersection of family-like behaviours in the workplace. For example, the people I work most closely with, I care about, I am loyal to, I have their backs and they have mine, I respect, and I trust. But most importantly, we show compassion, understand each other and have good banter. Of course, there are good days and bad days. And like family, I don’t get to choose them individually, but they are “my people” and we operate like a small gang; tight and accountable. I know the term work family can be contentious—sure, we don’t hire and fire people at home (although I do give out a red card now and then), but ultimately, we win and learn together. In lieu of an appropriate 90’s-inspired gang name, I now refer to this group as my crew.
