3 Ways to Navigate the Great Reshuffle

The last two years ushered in a pandemic, a wave of social movements that demand equity and justice for underrepresented communities, and a change in the way people navigate the workplace. All of these things have converged into the Great Reshuffle, where workers have more leverage than ever to find the type of professional environment that not only makes them money, but also makes them feel fulfilled and happy. As a result, it’s imperative for employers to adjust the way they relate to talent because attracting and retaining good employees is getting more and more challenging. Remember, the future of work is not something you need to prepare for to address in the distant future. The future of work is here and you need to understand it now. In this week’s “Untapped” podcast, host Tariq Meyers discusses what employers need to know about talent engagement in the new normal with Angela Cafarelli, Manager of Diversity Talent Acquisition at Prudential.

3 Ways To Navigate The Great Reshuffle

The Great Investment

One pivotal thing that the pandemic did for people was to crystallize what they really want out of their careers, and in this current market, they’re not willing to settle for less. If there is no path for advancement at an organization, workers have no problem looking for it elsewhere, so you need to make sure you’re providing those opportunities in order to retain your talent.  

“People usually quit for a variety of different reasons—either lack of opportunity or lack of leadership. It usually has nothing to do with the company itself. So if individuals aren’t getting that, there are companies that are recognizing them for their talents, and people have goals, they have ambitions,” Angela explained. “If somebody doesn’t think they can go to the next level, they’re going to go somewhere else, so putting investment into your people is important. That career development is more important than ever.”

The Great Priorities

The pandemic has given people an opportunity to slow down and think about their quality of life, as well as their careers. Although workers do want opportunities for advancement, they don’t want to chain themselves to their jobs in order to get it. Work-life balance has become a higher priority for most employees, so you need to provide the flexibility they want because now that they’ve gotten a taste of that balance, they aren’t going back to pre-pandemic work conditions.

“I think people have really had enough. It’s like the pandemic opened our eyes in terms of what’s important in life,” said Angela. “I used to stay at work such late hours. And I’m like, ‘for what?’ I love my job, I love what I do, but I was missing out on quality family time for no reason at all. And the shift coming from the pandemic, I was like, ‘This is amazing. I can still work my butt off, but I get to spend time with my fiancé, or my dog, or my family members, or whoever it may be, and if I lose that again, I don’t want to work in a company that allows that.’ So I think that work-life flexibility is even more important.”

The Great Values-Based Approach

Workers today want to know that their employers share the same values that they do, so organizations need to demonstrate corporate responsibility to attract great talent because money and benefits alone are not what people look for in an employer anymore. 

“There’s a values-based approach, unlike 30 to 40 years ago,” said Angela. “Then it was about ‘Does the company have a good pension? Do they have a 401k match? Do they have all these financial parks?’ Now it’s like, ‘No!’ The questions we get asked by individuals are ‘What are your company values? What are your cultural aspirations? What do you guys do from a philanthropic standpoint?’, because people care about people more than they ever have. They don’t look at jobs as 30- to 40-year contracts where we have in the past.”

To hear more of Angela’s opinions about the future of work and how employers need to adjust to it, as well as how DEI fits into the equation, listen to this week’s episode of the “Untapped” podcast, where our Co-CEO Tariq Meyers explores a variety of diversity and inclusion topics with the movers and shakers in this space.