James Baker: Post-COVID-19 Talent Challenges & Opportunities

For me, I think it's important for businesses to show a statement of intent. Employees, you know, there's some nervousness around, there is some uncertainty about their businesses, some companies have made cuts, some have made reductions in a comp, so I think it's important that the opportunity is to show a statement of intent.

Hiring new people and investing in the team. It's a huge opportunity that companies should take advantage of. The risk is if you don't, people are going to start questioning their involvement. Do they stay with that company? Do they continue to ride out what might be another 12 months of uncertainty and inability?

To be very honest with you, there are companies out there that will take advantage of you if you're not willing to make that investment into your people and continue to grow your organization. We're a headhunting business ourselves. We look for opportunities where people might be tempted to look elsewhere.

So as a business, your risk is if you're not making the right investments in your people, you're not making investments into their happiness, their wellbeing, their engagement and showcasing that you're a strong business that is viable for the long-term, you're at risk of losing some people over the course of the next twelve months.