At the moment, employers and employees alike are facing an incredibly testing time.
Employers are having to make difficult decisions regarding staff headcounts and plans about how they can keep the business financially afloat going forwards.
Sadly, some employees have been laid off as a result of the uncertainties that the pandemic has caused, while other workers face various uncertainties regarding their tenure going forwards.
But in times like this, when employers are having to make difficult decisions, employees will not be afraid to vocalise how their organisation is going about handling the crisis, according to Glassdoor's Community Expert, Jo Cresswell.
This is something that one people leader referenced to in a recent LinkedIn post.
Gymshark’s Head of People Projects, Amanda Webb, took to LinkedIn sharing that, currently, the actions of employers are ‘speaking a thousand words’ about the way that they treat their staff.
With some employees looking to switch roles – or looking for a role after they have been laid off – Webb explained that it is important to find an employer that genuinely cares about its staff, particularly during an anxiety-inducing time like this.
To help candidates assess the genuine nature of a prospective employer, Webb shared a list of potential questions that she would encourage jobseekers to ask their interviewer during the hiring process.
The flipside being, HR should have good answers to these questions. If it is worried it hasn’t then it should make sure it is influencing decisions in a way that allows it to provide positive answers to potential questions from prospective talent.
That said, Webb’s questions included:
What initiatives did you put in place for your employees during COVID-19?
What business values were most represented during COVID-19?
What behaviours did the leadership team demonstrate when making difficult business decisions during COVID-19?
How did you communicate with your employees during COVID-19?
Asking questions like this would help candidates gauge a sense of how an employer supports staff during difficult periods and whether the business decisions that are being made are people-centric.
This post attracted several comments from other LinkedIn users who shared additional questions for candidates to consider.
Dr Naomi Irvine, a consultant, shared on the professional networking site some questions that she said aren’t necessarily intended to be asked at an interview, but questions to consider in general:
What was the biggest challenge this [pandemic] presented?
Who challenged your leadership and how did you respond?
How many people left and did you ask why?
Who did [the organisation] look to for guidance and inspiration?
Getting answers to some of these questions will give prospective employees with greater clarity within their job search.
Do you have any questions that job candidates should be asking employers throughout this period? Let us know in the comments below…
