By: Matthew Murry

Time Is The Most Important Commodity 
Time is the one thing that you cannot gain back when it is lost. You can recover money, possessions, etc. but you can never recover lost time. Millennials and Gen Zers have come to the realization that their time is what they have. They don’t have money because of student loans and impulsive spending habits which came from the mindset of “if you want great things now you need to get it now”. We now exchange X number of life hours for X amount of money to get what we want or need. 
“Flexibility wins wars” was a phrase my father would say often. Maybe you can’t get your way 100% of the time but if you get what you request 80% of the time, that should be considered victory. A flexible work schedule in manufacturing says, we know we have X number of hours of work and between employees a, b, and c who want to work d, e, and f hours that will equal X. It takes out the penalty of coming in late, leaving early, and taking long lunch breaks. As long as X amount of work is done within the necessary time, mission accomplished. 
This carries over well into remote work. It is important that work is calculated like an auto shop calculates labor. If you determine independent tasks A, B, and C take 40 hours a week, the particular time during the week it is done shouldn’t matter as long as it is done before a set deadline. Instead of making someone work 8am-5pm 5 days per week; if they are remote and work 12pm-9pm the same amount of work is done. The pressure comes from adding more responsibilities to that individual without added compensation or hours per week budgeted. The Great Resignation happened because people realized that rather than being held captive in an office, working remotely they could spend less than 40 hours per week, accomplish the same amount of work, and have more control of their time. The rule is if work can be done remotely and the job is truly a 40 hour per week position AND the employee is a solid performer (minimum 1 year of service) let the job stay remote. This is a VERY strong and attractive retention strategy. 
Attracting the next generation will require policies such as unlimited paid time off.. Why would a company pay someone to stay off work without limits when the job requires them to be at the office? The idea is unlimited PTO should not cause an undue hardship to the company AND the company should still dictate how long someone could be off. The key is that the policy should always state “with manager approval”. For example, some years, business success and proper staffing (coverage) may indicate someone could be off 6 weeks instead of 4. That's good business and very attractive to bringing in talent. A healthy culture indicates healthy retention levels which causes less time and money spent on training.

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By: Dr. Brian O'Rear

God spoke, and He created … everything. 

It is striking that entrepreneurs, too, are fascinated with creating, making something from nothing. Where once there was no product, now it exists. Where once no employment thrived, new opportunities arise. Out of nothing, suddenly we have something. This is not the ex nihilo of Scripture, of course – something from literally nothing - but an entrepreneur's creation satisfies a deep urge to build, strive, and make things better. Entrepreneurs build up in an era of tearing down. They are eternal optimists, confident they can please customers, satisfy the market, improve the community, and provide for their families and others along the way.

Entrepreneurs come in all sizes and have visions that range from the small (think of a street vendor) to bigger than life (journey to Mars, anybody?). After rubbing shoulders with small business owners and studying entrepreneurs for two decades, I have observed they are not one and the same. That is, one can be a successful business owner and not be an entrepreneur. In my view, entrepreneurs possess at least three distinct characteristics that set them apart from the crowd:

Vision – entrepreneurs have a clear idea of where they want the company to go. Although initial details of the journey may be fuzzy, entrepreneurs are laser-focused on the distant horizon. Envisioning where they are headed helps them concentrate, and it also brings clarity to the organization, casting a vision for others. These leaders have spent countless hours thinking, dreaming, contemplating, and pondering, and as a result, they know where they are headed. Their contagious enthusiasm attracts others and spurs them to get on the train and head there, too.

Hope – entrepreneurs are optimists and dream ambitious plans. Their optimism is rooted in hope for a better tomorrow, and they see their enterprise as a part of that bright future. To outsiders, entrepreneurs seem driven as if they are on a mission. They are. A friend of mine owned a landscaping business and modeled this passion with spotless trucks, an ever-expanding professional workforce, and customer service rivaling Ritz hotels. His optimism infected everyone in his company, his clients, and even his competitors, who stepped up their game to compete. Who knew landscaping could be such a blessing to so many?

Grit – entrepreneurs can get knocked to the canvas, get back up, get pummeled again, and continue to rise each time. Small business is tricky, and an entrepreneur with a vision and hope must possess tenacity in equal measure. Inevitable storm clouds will darken the horizon, and tornadoes sometimes smash plans all to pieces. Yet when these storms come, the entrepreneur takes a deep breath, rolls up his sleeves, and huddles with his team to figure out how to put it back together again, better and stronger than before.

The rewards are enormous for a successful entrepreneur: a better community, opportunities for employees, satisfied customers, and a cared-for family. And the ultimate satisfaction of having created something from nothing is pretty good, too.

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If you’ve had a hand in recruitment over the past year and 10 months then you know that the labor market has changed in a way that we’ve never seen before.  You hear of small businesses having to shut down due to lack of staff, of employers who say they can’t find good people that want to work, and it doesn’t seem like there are enough candidates to go around for all of the openings companies now face. 
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Recently, we decided to try a different approach to recruitment.  Rather than just list out a traditional job description as a posting, we decided to try advertising the companies'’ culture and perks instead.  We wanted to let job seekers know not only that the company was hiring and what the job would entail, but also, what made that employer stand out from their competition. 

What we learned from this process is that companies are still giving the standard answer: ‘People should want to work for us because of our pay, benefits, and growth opportunities’.  While this answer may have worked in the past, this is no longer enough.  Legally, companies are required to pay people for their time, and provide affordable healthcare.  At this point they are meeting the bare minimum, or being the Legal Guardian.  Say for instance on one hand you have the parent that clothes, feeds, and shelters their child (The legal requirements), then on the other hand you have the parent that cooks their favorite meal on their birthday, writes notes in their packed lunch each day, goes to the movies with them, etc.  You’re going to pick the fun parent that makes you feel special.  Job Seekers want that same experience.
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As recruiters we should be showcasing all the awesome things that our companies do to make our employees feel special and want to come to work each day.  If that’s weekly cookouts or holiday parties, or swag then advertise that as a reason someone should want to work for your company.  There’s always going to be a company that pays better, offers better benefits, and has more growth opportunities than you do, but your culture will always be unique.