This Week, In Recruiting - Issue 12

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Open Kitchen: Hybrid, A Bad Idea We Are Going To Do Anyway

The hybrid model of work is a bad idea that will create more problems than it solves and, for most companies, will prove untenable in the medium to long term. Some of my thoughts on this have leaked out on interviews like The Challenge of Hybrid Work with Peakon, and in some private presentations I've given to corporate businesses earlier this year. I'll be articulating the case again in some more depth this Friday, so if you want to join the conversation, you can register here.

It's A Categorisation Error

The first issue I have is that hybrid has been presented as an equivalent choice between comparable alternatives - full remote or full on-premise or hybrid.

This framing presumes that each option is distinct, of the same type, belonging to the same category of thing. However, hybrid is not going to be a unique product of any merger between remote vs on premise working practices, it will be a parallel processing of both of them at the same time. They remain separate ways of operating, with tension whenever the two modes diverge and come back into contact. Putting oil and water together into a single bottle doesn't mean you have a new substance; you have the same two separate substances that just happen to be in the same bottle, incidentally neither one now optimally suited for intended purpose.

The more accurate framing of choice really looks a lot more like this ??

'Hybrid' is Simultaneously Running Two Ways of Working

We can be confident that running two operating systems is a bad idea is because companies who are today fully remote tried hybrid first and only quickly to abandon it. Remember these were companies who made the shift pre-Covid - an intentional choice - not one driven by circumstance. For these culturally innovative pioneers, 'hybrid' was also the obvious thing to do - offer maximum flexibility and maximum utility to the staff - provide both the options and the facilities and let the employees choose. But when the employees inevitably chose to stay home, this left companies with costly commitments to real estate that were simply not being used.

For those staff members who did return to the office (usually the CEO, the management...), the half empty spaces did not replicate the conditions which made the office the attractive place they remember - the social interaction, team camaraderie, chance meetings, what we now know to call 'osmotic knowledge transfer' and yes, the sense of management oversight and control - are not there in these half empty spaces.

Note this is not information that has been inferred by me - the remote-only companies have been quite public and vocal about the reasons why hybrid doesn't work as we think - Gitlab recommends against - we just have decided not to pay attention to them.

Increase In Cultural Overhead

The long list of reasons why hybrid will be untenable for most companies, might be summarised under the heading 'increase of cultural overhead'. Operating two different ways of working, will naturally take more time and energy than operating with just one. This is the increase in reporting, communication load, meeting frequency as well as increase risk of narrative divergence ('being on the same page') which will be require constant monitoring and regular corrections. A huge amount of bureaucratic scaffolding might be needed to maintain some sense of cohesion between working practices which will be constantly diverging. That means lots of work for HR - and lots of opportunity for HR Tech actually - so some perverse silver linings for us here. But for too many companies in competitive markets, this overhead will prove to be too much to be sustainable.

Energy Conservation & Bounded Rationality

All of this begs the question - why has hybrid become the consensus when there are evident flaws to it and ample evidence not to do it from other companies who have tried?

Certainly it has not emerged through any kind of rigorous debate or forensic analysis of the options. The hybrid consensus is curious in how quickly it has been accepted without much in the way of discussion. It puzzled me until I dove a bit deeper into the nature of decision making and realised that a lot of the decisions we make are made based not on the rational optimisation for best outcomes but on energy conservation - finding 'ok outcomes' which causes least immediate trouble.

It's the reason why you eat the same breakfast everyday, why the people of Pompei didn't immediately flee the city, why Al Gore didn't challenge the hanging chads and any number of examples during the global (mis) management of Covid-19. We make decisions not because we seek rational optimisation, but because we seek energy conservation - least hassle. And we are going to do hybrid because we think its least hassle. However, it is a non-choice that merely defers the consequences of the choosing.

There is growing tension between the Bosses vs Workers on what is the ideal case in the world of work post pandemic. Hybrid has emerged as the compromise option which promises at least the deferment of conflict. Whilst kicking the can down the road - as my mother will gladly tell you - is an approach I have plenty of sympathy with, hard decisions will have to made sooner or later. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple made such a decision last week and Apple employees immediately responded with this

We are formally requesting that Apple considers remote and location-flexible work decisions to be as autonomous for a team to decide as are hiring decisions.

It's a conversation - and a conflict - that we will eventually have to come to terms with. I suspect the companies which do it sooner, will be the ones which recover sooner. Lots more to say on this, so let me know if you're interested and I might do a part 2, particularly on how hybrid produces opportunity, precisely because we are going to try and make a bad idea work.

Anyways, enough time in the kitchen, onto the lounge ??

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What's in the News?

G7 agree global corporate tax minimum, last week in a landmark deal which may just be the starting point for global tax reform. Tax harmonisation - and the pooling of sovereignty required to realise it - is a significant achievement.

This will have downstream impact on recruiting, especially as many locations became attractive as tech hubs precisely because they have been able to attract predominantly US tech companies to set up operations due to their 'tax competitiveness'. Interesting challenges and opportunities ahead.

Prosus, the international assets holding arm of Naspers, acquires Stack Overflow in a $1.8BN deal.

Perhaps the best example of online, interest-based community that truly made it in terms of global scale, becoming the go-to source for software developers worldwide for knowledge share, Stack Overflow changed the game on how developers find solutions to problems. As founder Joel Spolsky infers in his announcement post, it basically replaced the coding section in bookstores worldwide. 61 millionaires minted as a result of this deal - hopefully a fair few will go on to seed other initiatives which will have comparable impact in the next era of the Internet.

New Stand raises $40 million Series B funding round, aiming to take advantage of the re-imagining of the office space. In the effort to persuade employees that the office is a decent place to be, this company delivers a physical popup 'newstand' which can vend or serve various products to those employees, kind of a like a pop-up shop in the office. There's definitely going to be enough physical space for this, but will it be enough to transform the office experience? Techcrunch with the report here.

Finally, Malt raise €80 million round to take up a dominating position in Europe as the high value consulting labour marketplace. The gig economy is moving upstream, with marketplaces now effectively competing with traditional employers in the role of connecting highly skilled talent supply with demand. Important to note, that not every gig worker is precariat. PR here

If you are a recruitment service provider or technology business and have any news to share, comment below, this is your application to get into next week's addition of This Week, In Recruiting. Make sure to @ mention me so that I see it

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What's On Offer? (New Segment)

Superb offer from our friends at Swordfish, who have a new offering tailored to the public healthcare sector.

Heartbeat - is now available for extended trial for June and July for all registrations using the code: HUNGLEE100. Need to hire nurses? You might as well try this. Give it a go let me know what you think.

If you are a recruitment service provider or recruitment technology vendor have any exclusive offer for the community, comment below with your offer in order to be included in next week's edition of This Week, In Recruiting. Make sure to @ mention me so that I see it.

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Who is Available?

Hearing a lot about how competitive the TA / HR market is - once again, no takers this week for this slot! How long will it stay open? Does anyone want to take my place here for next week?

PS: After one week of service, I have decided to withdraw from the job market I have no skills (totally unemployable)

If you are on the market or available for extra work, comment below with the ideal type of job you are looking for (job title, type of company, contract type, location). Don't forget to @ mention me in it so that I see it

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What's Going On?

Labs Live - This Time It Is Rituals - June 10th, 1.30-3.30pm BST

BPS World are hosting an interactive workshop focusing on of the most important yet under appreciated aspects of Agile - the Rituals and Ceremonies. Led by the guaranteed-to-be-awesome Perry Timms, this promises to be the type immersive and collaborative experience which will genuinely change the way you work. Register here folks

Brainfood Live On Air - Ep112 - The Problem With Hybrid - June 11th, 12.00pm

'The Hybrid Consensus' has become a thing and it seems inevitable that some form of it will become the default setting for most of our businesses. And yet are we sure that this is a plausible way to efficiently run a business? Capitalism may not be fashionable any more but without profitable businesses...there will be no businesses. We're with Alexandra DePledge, MBE, CEO of Resi, Neil Carberry, CEO of Recruitment & Employment Confederation and Nims Dhawan, Organisational Design at UK Ministry of Defence. Can't miss this one folks. Register here

Recfest, July 16, 09.00am - 20.30pm

Usually I would not promote events so far ahead of time but this one.....this one is different. Recfest has been for my money the No1 recruiting event anywhere, with its unique combination of exceptionally high quality content, taking place within a genuine festival vibe. Best of all? It's always an outside event. At some point, we're going to need to see in-person events back, so get vaccinated, buy a ticket and show up on the 16th July.

If you have an event, webinar or podcast going on next week and want it featured on next week's newsletter, comment below with the link and event details. Don't forget to @ mention me so that I see it

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Who's Hiring?

Massive list of jobs again - and again dominated by German tech startup. Hoovering up a lot of TA talent, in Europe and around the world. Make sure to make your request in a comment below if you are also hiring for TA / HR folks

Head of People, Getir, Berlin, Germany

Talent Acquisition Manager, Qonto, Paris, France

Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Discover Financial Services, Chicago, IL, USA

Active Sourcer (German speaking), b.telligent, Munich, Germany

Global Technical Recruiter , Adyen, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Recruiter, Adyen, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Talent Acquisition Manager, Rush Street Interactive, Toronto, Canada

Talent Acquisition Manager - Business (m/f/d) (German speaking), Personio, Munich, Germany

Senior Talent Acquisition Manager (m/f/d) (German speaking), Personio, Munich, Germany

Talent Sourcer (m/f/d) (German speaking), Personio, Munich or Remote Germany

Talent Acquisition Manager - Product & Analytics (m/f/d), Personio, Munich or Remote Germany

Talent Acquisition Manager Engineering (m/f/d), Personio - Munich or Remote Germany

Recruitment Manager, HelloFresh, Banbury & Nuneaton, UK

Senior Talent Program Manager, HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Senior Talent Acquisition Manager (x/f/d) - Tech, HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Talent Acquisition Manager DACH (w/m/d/x) (German speaking), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Tech Sourcer (m/f/x), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Senior Talent Acquisition Manager - Corporate Functions (m/f/x), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Talent Coordinator & Candidate Experience - Tech (m/f/x), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Talent Sourcing Specialist - Corporate Functions (m/f/x), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Recruiting Manager DACH (w/m/d/x) (German speaking), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Senior Talent Acquisition Manager DACH (w/m/d/x) (German speaking), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Talent Acquisition Manager - Corporate Functions (m/f/x), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Team Lead Talent Acquisition DACH (w/m/d/x) (German speaking) HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Team Lead Talent Acquisition DACH (f/m/d/x) (German speaking), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Tech Recruiter (m/f/x), HelloFresh, Berlin, Germany

Recruiting Partner (Diversity & Program Management), HelloFresh, Boulder, CO, USA

Talent Sourcer (Diversity & Inclusion), HelloFresh, Boulder, CO, USA

Talent Acquisition Specialist (m/f/x), HelloFresh, Copenhagen, Denmark

Talent Acquisition Executive (6 months contract), HelloFresh, London, UK

Talent Acquisition Coordinator, HelloFresh, London, UK

Recruiter (contract), HelloFresh, New York City, NY/NJ, USA

Senior Recruiter, HelloFresh, New York City, NY/NJ, USA

Recruiting Partner (Diversity & Program Management), HelloFresh, New York City, NY/NJ, USA

Talent Sourcer (Diversity & Inclusion), HelloFresh, New York City, NY/NJ, USA

HR & Recruitment Manager (m/f/x) (Japanese speaking), HelloFresh, Tokyo, Japan

Technical Talent Acquisition Partner, HelloFresh, Toronto, Canada

Talent Acquisition Coordinator, HelloFresh, Toronto, Canada

Talent Acquisition Specialist DACH (w/m/d) (German speaking), HelloFresh, Verden an der Aller, Germany

If you want your job freely promoted in this newsletter next week, comment below with the link to the job. No third party jobs or links to third party sites. Don't forget to @ mention me so that I see it

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Who's Moving?

Luke Hextall, joins Dija at Head of Talent Acquisition after two years as Recruitment Operations Lead at Curve. I first met Luke whilst he was a Skyscanner several years - great to see him step into the head honcho role ??

Renita K?sper, joins Teslio as Director of Global Recruiting, after a near 3 year stint as Talent Acquisition Team Lead at Babbel. Has it been nearly that long since Tallinn? Time flies when you are doing good - congrats Renita!

Mark Deubel, joins Gitlab after 3 years with Elastic. Mark has been one of the earliest advocates for the remote working and keen thinker on how the shift to remote will also shift the way in which we recruit. Turns out Brainfood Live was the match maker in this one ??

Denise Pereira, joins to Zendesk as Senior Tech Recruiter after nearly two years with ANZ hiring for tech and engineering. Another great supporter of the brainfood and a popular member of the community.

Finally, congratulations to my good mate Chris Martin, who joins Oyster as Sales Director, EMEA, after sterling work with Workable and Stack Overflow. Few people know the HR tech market better than Chris, this is a great hire.

If you have made a senior exec appointment to your business, and feel the wider community needs to know about it, comment below with the details and see it featured in next weeks issue. Don't forget to @ mention me in it so that I see it

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What Are You Doing?

Rick Gillis, has a new book out - Leveling the Paying Field, A Groundbreaking Approach to Achieving Fair Pay. Valuable for job seekers, long term career managers and hiring managers alike. Pre-order at Amazon here

Pedro Oliveira, Co-founder of tech jobs marketplace Landing Jobs and community organiser of CTO's Portugal, dives into blockchain with his new startup, Talent Protocol.

Support talent via investing in a person's personal token and get rewarded when they succeed. Blockchain is beginning to reveal its true potential in the world of HR - check it out Talent Protocol here

Iwan Gulenko- engineer-turned-tech recruiter - has combined talents to produce perhaps the world's first ATS optimised for the solo agency recruiter. Still in beta stage but Klang looks promising - resume parser, contact CRM, innovative note taking feature, all in single screen interface. This is sort of thing I wish I had when I ventured out in the wild for the first time. Check it out folks - here

Bohdan Khlimonenko is looking for survey responses from tech recruiters, in order to give direction to the product build of Employa, a screener of technical resumes intended to assess candidates the way human recruiters do - focusing on relevancy of experience instead of keywords density. Give it a shot folks, the more quality information product makers have, the greater the chance of better solutions. Survey here

?If you are doing something new, comment below with what it is and share a link to where you want people to go. Don't forget to @ mention me in it so that I see it

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End Notes

That's it for another week. Might start reporting on Brainfood Live and Brainfood Polls on here soon - what do you think? The livestreams usually do 1K+ views and the polls seem to get 1K+ votes - maybe good enough sample size to merit some cautious analysis.

Let me know if you want to see this as a new segment (s).

Hung

Hung Lee is the curator of Recruiting Brainfood, and now This Week In Recruiting. Subscribe to both if you are into recruiting or HR or just interested in world of work.