Changing technology has given employees more control in the job market. The ability to search for jobs anonymously online and compare what different companies are offering has changed the balance of power, according to Simon Dalley, brand marketing manager at Bright HR.
“Twenty years ago if I wanted a new job as a marketer, I would have approached a marketing recruitment consultant who would probably have known my boss so there was a risk associated with that straightaway. Now people can look for a job as they would shop for a consumer brand. They can look for the jobs that are available online, they know how much they are worth to an employer and they can do this absolutely anonymously,” he explained.
“Today’s workforce is much more mobile in their approach to jobs because they know they can find another one. It’s not like it used to be when it was a risky business to shift roles. Now you can measure the risk. Millennials are the first generation to have this advantage over their employers.”
Dalley, speaking ahead of the SME Awards 2016 being staged at The Grosvenor House on London’s Park Lane on June 23, said that employers who ignore this changing world could miss out on recruiting the best talent.
“It needs a change in mentality from a business owner in the way they see their employees,” he said. “No longer do the employees just have to turn up, give their labour and receive their wage. An employer has to think much more about how they can make an employee love working for them because that’s the only way you are going to get somebody to stay.
“Historically, if someone didn’t like their job they would get their head down and hope everything would pan out. Now, if they are not happy in a job they will look for another. They will think there are a lot of other opportunities out there and there was no point staying somewhere they were not engaged. You do not want to have employees who are searching for other jobs as they will not be engaging their brain with their current work.”
Dalley also warns of the dangers of non-stop working. “In the same way that technology has changed millennials’ perception of employment, it has also meant that people can seem to be working almost 24 hours a day,” he said. “Even when an employee is on their personal social media, they must be conscious about how that could be perceived by the business they work for, or by a potential employer that might be looking at them, or by their colleagues.”
To find out more about SME Awards 2016 go to http://awards.smeweb.com/
