Don’t Ignore This Part of the Remote Work Conversation
Remote work is without a doubt the hottest topic in talent attraction and economic development right now. It comes up in every conversation we have with cities and EDOs across the country. Nearly every day there’s a new headline about a major company going fully remote, freeing their thousands of employees from the clutches of Silicon Valley or Seattle or NYC. And creative incentive programs are being announced at a dizzying rate, as cities, regions and states compete for a growing pool of talent that suddenly has the freedom to live anywhere.
Smaller cities are doing everything they can to lure newly remote workers away from big cities, as they should: the remote work revolution has created a truly unprecedented opportunity for places outside of NYC, SF, and LA to draw tech workers and grow their talent pool. Understanding what remote workers want and how to attract them can make or break the future of your city. Targeting remote workers, marketing to them, and creating a remote worker pipeline is an essential piece of talent attraction in 2021. (BTW, we can help with this.)
But there’s another angle of the remote work conversation that isn’t being discussed as much, and for some cities, isn’t being considered until it’s too late.
It’s not about attracting new remote workers to your city. It’s this:
When your city’s major employer makes the decision to allow their employees to work remotely, what actions are you taking to ensure those workers will stay?
Most cities and regions are focusing on a single direction of the remote worker exodus: drawing them in from other places. As more and more companies allow their workers to work from anywhere, however, talent attraction efforts must not ignore the very real risk of the flip side of this coin: remote workers leaving your city.
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A major company in your city deciding to go fully remote isn’t as economically devastating as the company leaving or going out of business, but if all the employees instantly scatter, it can be. And if those employees’ only meaningful tie to your city was the zipcode of the office they were required to be in Monday-Friday, why would they stay?
Before we founded RoleCall, one of the first conversations my co-founder Tim and I had was about the power of someone choosing a place before a job. If a person decides to move somewhere because they want to live in that place, and they find a job there, the chances of them being a happy, engaged, long-term resident is infinitely greater than if they move to a random place because they got a job offer. When someone’s reason for living where they live isn’t based solely on their job, if something happens to that job, they are still anchored in that place. They’re there because of the community, the culture, the friendships, the weekend adventures, the feeling they get when they run into their child’s teacher in the cereal aisle, or seeing how the city came together to take care of each other over the past year.
So how do you keep remote workers from leaving when (not if) their company gives them the green light to go? You take tangible steps now to make them feel like this city is their city. You communicate proactively about how grateful you are to have them here, and what an asset they are to the community. You have honest conversations with them about what they need and how the city can support them. You facilitate connections that help them professionally and socially. You creatively incentivize them to not only stay, but get engaged in building the future of this place, and invested in its success.
Read More: Why Your City Needs a ‘Buy Now’ Button
Another strategy we highly recommend: work directly with the company that’s transitioning to remote work to help engage their employees. These employers should have a vested interest in keeping their talent local. Remote work is a trend that is going to stick around. But we also believe that there are some things about office work that can’t be replaced with virtual meetings: Camaraderie. Teamwork. That water cooler chit chat that feels inconsequential but makes us feel like we’re part of something. So find ways to engage the company in retention.
We know that people crave community, so prioritize and support co-working spaces. Cities are also making sure that wifi is available outdoors — in parks and downtowns. Your citizens have what they need right to work there at home, but it’s your job to remind them.
Talent attraction doesn’t just mean attracting talent from other places. It means making sure the talent you already have is engaged, happy, and anchored here.
When a company sends out the announcement that they’re going fully remote, it gives every employee the freedom to dream about their ideal place. They’re able to ask themselves honestly, “If I can live anywhere I want, where do I want to live?” Other cities are doing everything they can to woo them away.
What are you doing today to make sure their answer is “right here”?