2021 Recap, and Looking Forward to 2022

You’ve heard it time and again—this year and last have brought unprecedented changes to the world and to work as we know it.

In the midst of these shifts, Mindseeker has taken the time to dive deep into each of our business lines, take a critical look at our operations and processes, and determine the most efficient and effective ways to move forward.

Lessons from the past couple of years loom large. What better way to close out 2021 than to reflect on some of our biggest takeaways from the year?

New remote and hybrid work standards

There’s no avoiding it. In 2020, the world observed major shifts in how we work, how we live, and how we view technology. If they hadn’t already, most business had to adopt remote or hybrid work practices and technologies, as if overnight.

Mindseeker has always functioned as a mostly remote workforce, but we’ve had to do quite a bit of adapting, still. A shock of this scale inevitably and acutely affected the expectations of our employees and our customers. Maintaining a cohesive culture and learning to apply our strengths throughout such difficult times was a huge challenge.

Alongside the rest of the world, we had to take a step back and effectively reimagine the way we functioned as an employer and partner. After a thorough ‘gut check,’ we defined opportunities to improve our internal and external communications through digital channels.

We are glad to say we’ve had positive outcomes thus far and continue to work at it each day. We’re fortunate to have a team of incredible people who make it possible for us to forge ahead in our purpose through the most trying times.

Benefits of the digital workplace

In the last year and a half, we’ve learned through various industry surveys and state of work reports that, after its initial setbacks, remote work actually resulted in many benefits to both the employee and employer. At Mindseeker, we’ve experienced many of these benefits ourselves.

Remote work has led to increases in productivity, employee happiness, and trust among IC’s (individual contributors) and managers. Additionally, and notably, companies are able to recruit and retain talent outside of their typical candidate pool, leading to higher paid, better qualified employees. And the benefits of that extend even further.

Though the pandemic has caused career setbacks in many ways, often disproportionately, companies can turn that around by leveraging the opportunities remote work creates to adopt more inclusive, equitable hiring practices. Positively, applicants can now consider any job, anywhere without being restricted by factors such as geography, caregiving responsibilities, or the limits of ‘traditional’ employment hubs that they may have faced before.

Looking forward

The world of work is at an inflection point. At Mindseeker, we continue to seek new lanes of access and opportunity to make our establishment more inclusive and help others benefit from a digital future. We remain steadfast in our commitment to foster an environment where our employees feel they can contribute as welcome and valued individuals, every day.

Our industry was not immune to the challenges of this year and last, and it’s impossible to know what’s next. What we do know is this: Mindseeker will continue to work tirelessly to embrace change, keeping our eyes, ears, and minds open for new ways to improve the way we do things. We will continue to lead with a purpose, hoping to better the lives of our team and the various communities we serve along the way.

Finally, we want to close out the year by offering some pieces of advice we have found helpful and that we hope will help others leading amid uncertainty:

• • Take time to pause and assess before acting on any major decisions.
  • Communicate frequently and allow your employees to be part of the solution.
  • You can’t have a predetermined plan during unstable times. What you can do is adopt a mindset and behaviors that help you stay nimble and look ahead.
  • Demonstrate empathy and accept it in return. Be attentive of your own well-being so that you may remain level-headed for however long a crisis can entail.