Here’s where I stand on talent and our workforce

Without meaning to state the obvious, we are in new territory when it comes to talent and the workforce. These issues have always been important for executives, but the seismic changes to the working world brought about by the pandemic have made talent even more of a mission-critical priority. In recent months, employees have experienced a completely new way of working and living flexibly. Business leaders, including myself, have had to totally reassess how to run teams effectively and remain relevant as a result.

From my perspective, this change has caused the job market to become even more competitive than it was. It is a jobseekers’ market at the moment, and flexible working policies and perks are the latest battleground for businesses that want to demonstrate care and consideration for current staff and new joiners.

From banks to tech companies, we are all trying to recruit the same people. And at the moment, we still see the full spectrum of flexible-working arrangements utilized. Some of the big tech companies are saying employees never have to enter the office again, while at the same time, the big US banks are trying to get closer to the traditional ways of office working. There may be merits to both situations, but my guess is most organizations, and certainly we at EquiLend, will meet somewhere in the middle.

There are good reasons for this. For one, we are living through a pandemic. Individuals have had a chance to reassess what matters. Many have experienced flexible working and they like it. Others want to ensure their work gives them a sense of purpose. Businesses that don’t adapt to this will struggle to recruit talent and keep their employees happy.

Only a couple of weeks ago, I was at a football game with a friend whose son is working 100-hour weeks at an investment bank and he is questioning his work-life balance. I was seeing the newspaper headlines playing out in real-time. It isn’t about the pay, it’s about purpose and work-life balance. And I understand where he is coming from. ‘Promoting a work-life balance’ is one of the EquiLend core values because we know that our people are our business.

Another plain fact is that we are living in an age of highly developed technology, and technology allows for flexibility. In many cases, it was designed for it. Our own technology provided flexibility for so many people during quarantines and lockdowns (in March 2020, we went completely remote overnight and had 100% uptime on our platforms). Our commitment is to build technology that makes a difference–for our clients, our employees, and each other as leaders.

From where I sit in our organization, it’s been fascinating to hear from employees what they want going forward: remote work, office work, and everything in between. It’s our responsibility as leaders to create a culture that works for the majority of our employees. If we are able to adopt tech, like videoconferencing, that can meaningfully improve the lives of even a handful of our team, then we should. After all, ‘Teach and be taught’, another EquiLend core value, applies to everyone. We should all aspire to continue learning. This is a goal I constantly work toward. Our people have told us they value the flexibility to be in and out of the office and we have the means to facilitate that, so that’s what we’re doing. We have to learn how to adapt to make that work for the business, and if that is attractive to new recruits as well as our current staff, all the better.

I love seeing what others in our industry — and the business world overall — are doing. Diverse perspectives make us stronger. For EquiLend, flexible working is here to stay. People used to say they managed life around work, now they manage work around life. As this becomes embedded in society’s expectations, a company’s willingness to adapt to their workforce’s needs will become a major differentiator for employees and new entrants to the job market. To see it as anything other than a competitive advantage is a business mistake. That’s how we see it here at EquiLend.