Employers and employees, backed by the advanced telecommunications industry, are the key players in a changing work environment that is defined by international mobility. The shift in employment trends (remote work, entrepreneurship, flexible working hours) has also revolutionised the motives for expatriation and traveling. Here we discuss several changes in the job market that every conscious employer should be aware of, if they want to excel in their field.
Virtual employees
The time when our nine to five presence in the office was necessary has long gone. Nowadays, as long as we share the same principles with our colleagues — and have Skype — we don't have to be in the same premises. Mobile internet and cloud technology, like Slack, that organise remote teams and give the support tools for their management, are nourishing digital offices.
This reformed way of doing business is a great opportunity for employers to save on office maintenance, and to bring into their business international agents. Every company can benefit from open minded, well-travelled, multilingual employees, who will walk in with different outlooks on a similar subject. However employers should bear in mind that such an endeavor requires good organisation, advanced management, flexibility, and — above all — trust among the collaborators.
Boomerang employees
Employers know that what makes good staff members is loyalty — the more years they have served the values and supported the vision of the company, the more reliable and proficient they are. But the current course of the employment market sees no harm in employees leaving a company, and returning to it in the future.
It becomes more common for employers to come across employees who quit their job in order to add new skills on their CV, grab a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, or follow their partner abroad. But such a choice, shouldn't exclude them from future opportunities in the same company. On the contrary, it's in employers' favor to receive back employees, who already know their whereabouts, and have been repeatedly trained to meet the company's standards.
A boomerang employee will save its company training and introductory time, and he or she will bring in new experiences and skills that will be valuable to the company. It's a good practice for employers to support their competent employees who decide to make a move, stay in touch with them while away, and convert them to boomerang employees when they next look for a job.
Online learning
Curiosity is a prime trait that employers should look for in their future employees. Team members who have a continuous desire to expand their knowledge, and excel in fields that they are genuinely interested in can boost a company's success by offering insight and skills that the competitors lack.
Brian Tracy, a business consultant, trainer, and author, has said: “Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.” Nowadays, it's hard to make an excuse for not pursuing further knowledge. Telecommunications and online learning platforms, such as Coursera and edX are giving access to first class education for everyone regardless of their location and financial condition. Learners can follow the courses at their own pace, have real time discussions from anywhere in the world, and start brand new learning experiences that they have no previous training on.
Every ambitious employer should encourage their staff members to purchase learning opportunities that will be beneficial for the company's market position, will boost the employees' confidence, and will motivate investment in further knowledge.
