A study by Adecco Group—as reported by Business Times– conducted with 8000 office-based workers found that 74 percent would like a mix of office-based and remote work in the future and 79 percent of C-suite leaders believe that business will benefit from allowing more flexibility. Such attitudes point to how companies are adapting to the future of hiring– workplace restructuring, employee experience management, and appraisal management.

In yet another Business Times article, some hiring practices that are outdated should be changed in order for companies to win the war for talent in a tight labour market. Firstly, age discrimination against mature workers should be abolished due to our longer lifespans. Secondly, hiring managers should remove the insistence to hire talents based on past experience, instead, they should look to hire candidates who show the ability to learn and adapt. Thirdly, there should not be rigid adherence to traditional employment arrangements to cater to the varying needs of employees. Moreover, structural support and policies changes should also be in place to remove the gender pay gap prevalent in Singapore now.

Therefore, leaders first need to rethink appraisals for employees who are working from home and those who are working in the office. Performance should be evaluated based on holistic and defined principles that not only include hard KPIs but also corporate values and self-development. Next, there should be streamlined, quantifiable metrics that are clearly communicated with employees to help them better understand how they are being evaluated. Feedback should also be timely and frequent so as to engage employees and improve their productivity throughout the year.

Besides, companies should also avoid assessing employees unfairly for their use of sick leave as such measures are detrimental to employees’ well-being and morale.

Are you ready for the future of hiring? How does your company adapt to become more flexible in hiring and retaining employees?