#rehire
The Rehire Project — aka why relationships matter most.
I find it difficult to open any writing these days without some sense of acknowledgement of the tragedy faced, the dedication shown and admiration for our health care professionals during the worst crisis to beset society in decades. We won’t be able to celebrate their unbelievable commitment to their cause for some time, yet we are rightly with them in spirit and support in any way we can.
And in any way we can is the mantra for all others not directly in this fight (the key workers). Because those of us not on the frontline is why there is a frontline. All of us, in it together and being helped by others.
So I was delighted to learn about an initiative that I can only describe as being the spirit of in any way we can.
I’ve known Jonny Dunning for a while and we’ve exchanged some calls and gotten to respect each other’s business spirit. And then he tells me about the rapid production of a platform called Rehire Project and he immediately got my attention. Then he asked me to write this and in that spirit of in any way we can how could I refuse? Quite the contrary, I was honoured to be asked.
I’ve not used this product, I’ve only seen a few snapshots of it. So instead of a product endorsement, let me share why I think this is a positive, practical and people-oriented thing to see happen so quickly.
We’ve already seen businesses crumble and we’re all probably fighting back in some way to retain a sense of something we can do to keep our livelihoods going. As a result, though, people are being laid-off, furloughed (which many of us hadn’t come across before this) plus unpaid leave and more.
Yet, many of us are involved in this reluctantly. This isn’t about mismanagement this is about a collapse, overnight, of an economic engine tuned to just-in-time service, demand, scale and operation. Now that just-in-time has ground to a halt, the wheels are turning no more. So is that a reason to let go of your driver, mechanic, valet or parts supplier? What about when the engine needs to be turned and tuned again? Where are the people who you need to operate the machinery of work?
That’s where the Rehire Project fits the bill.
Many employers have had to sever their ties to their own people whilst in social distancing/isolation measures in order to qualify for Government assistance and to show they are being prudent with finances and not over-reacting and dismissing everyone in a harsh act of severance.
Many businesses are needed now, and many more, post-pandemic, to reinvent this world of work that keeps us all in a standard of living we’ve worked hard to attain.
When we’ve invested years in finding, developing and deploying those wonderful people who help our enterprise come to life, why do we want to off-load them and lose them because we have the handbrake on for an extended period like everyone else?
When we have to shut off their email or Slack channel access, and can’t communicate with them in case it looks like they’re working (and discounts the furloughed Government offer), that’s a hard act to comply with.
How do we keep our duty of care, connection and updates going so they still feel part of us, whilst being apart from us?
This appears to be where the Rehire Project bridges that gap.
An additional space to host people and their relationships with their employer to create a distinct, but related, point of contact when the reinvention machine then needs firing up.
Why have to jump back into hiring when your own people have been stood down simply because of that handbrake we have on now?
Rehiring may not be a thing forever, but during and post-pandemic, we could all use a place where we can engage, update and help our people feel connected to our places of work that once held strong, trusted and stable places to be. And then rehire them when we’re able to.
This Rehire Project platform may just be the bridge you need to maintain that purposeful, ethical and strong connection to your people and plan for rehire in an optimal, planned and considerate way.
My work involves people — and the enterprises they work in — build more flourishing, purposeful relationships together. At times of enforced separation, I can only admire what the people behind the Rehire Project in what have done here to maintain this relationship.
Because when all is said and done, it’s always our relationships that matter the most.
