While the Covid-19 pandemic hits and reshapes companies, industries, and our society in previously unthinkable ways, business leaders need to think beyond survival to the opportunities this crisis might create.
Chief among these is a chance to hire talented people at a time when they might have trouble finding or keeping jobs elsewhere.
With many companies laying off workers and downsizing, an unprecedented number of people, around the world, from new graduates to seasoned veterans, will be looking for employment.
At the same time, a major force that had been fuelling the intensity of the war for talent — globalization — might recede.
As companies revisit their international expansion strategies and cross-border business practices, workers are recalculating their priorities, with serious implications for their geographic and work preferences and travel habits.
The pool of available talent is suddenly both changing and expanding, and visionary leaders can make the most of it, preparing for post-crisis recovery and growth.
So, how should visionary leaders go about capturing this once-in-a-century hiring opportunity?
Harvard Business Review suggests a number of urgent and disciplined initiatives to start with.
To start, ask your top leaders to list three to five great players they would have liked to have hired over the past five years and then check in with those people.
HBR’s complete list of hiring suggestions are listed here.