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From the Experts: What HR Looks Like In an Employee’s Labor Market
In this week’s episode of America Back to Work, S2Verify co-founder and chief strategy officer, Arnette Heintze, sits down with Tanya Jarrett, chief people officer at Alida, a customer experience management and customer insights platform.
With more than two decades of experience in the high-tech, interactive entertainment and film industry, Jarrett is a seasoned people leader and today leads the global talent strategy for Alida.
She is skilled in building high-performance cultures, global talent acquisition, organizational design, and HR operations and is a strong advocate for diversity, inclusion, and personal growth.
The America Back to Work series was born in 2022 in the heart of the U.S. labor crisis when more than 50 million workers quit their jobs, many of whom were searching for an improved work-life balance and flexibility, increased compensation, and a strong company culture. As such, we here at S2Verify set out to interview a wide array of HR industry professionals to get their take on what it would take to get Americans back in the workforce.
To date, most have agreed that the biggest change—born from the pandemic, Great Resignation, and ensuing labor shortage—that HR professionals need to accept today is that the labor market doesn’t belong to employers anymore. It’s an employee’s market now. And even though the job market is finally starting to cool, Jarrett agrees.
“I don’t see a shift back to an employer market anytime soon,” she shares with Heintze in her interview. Employee tastes, attitudes, and behaviors have changed for good, and it’s up to employers to respond.
Jarrett argues that some of how employers respond will likely become codified in HR practices to attract, engage and retain the modern employee. She remembers the days before the pandemic when “you had to ask permission to work from home on a specific day!” Now, remote and hybrid work flexibility are common employee benefits offered at companies nationwide.
Similarly, Jarrett points out how the pandemic spotlighted employee wellness and the role the employees can play in improving employee well-being.
“The heightened focus on the holistic well-being of employees and the shift towards ensuring that the employee population is well are also here to stay,” she says.
To drive the success of these changes, Jarrett urges other CPOs and HR leaders to strengthen their partnerships with the executive team. She recommends using business metrics and data to get C-suite leadership on board with new HR initiatives and programs––especially during uncertain financial times when HR budgets are tighter.
Get more insights into the state of HR today and how employers are modernizing to win top talent by listening to this week’s episode wherever you get your podcasts.