2020 has certainly been a year for the books. With a global pandemic that has affected every aspect of our lives, the world of work has been no exception. Our readers have made that clear — from staying motivated to retooling resumes, our most-read blogs this year helped you adapt your work lives to the new normal. So, as we say goodbye to 2020, Adecco takes a look back at the blogs and resources that had the biggest impact on our readers.
Employers
For many employers, lockdown tested work-from-home policies and capabilities. The initial shock of implementing large-scale working from home arrangements meant we had to learn an entirely new way of working with the help of the many home office tips and communication tricks that we’ve come to embrace over the past nine months. But this shock eventually gave way to recognition of the importance of keeping your employees motivated and productive while working from home. If we were going to be in it for the long haul, then embracing the new working normal and planning for virtual growth was going to be the name of the game.
Of course, this also meant we had to start focusing on how we worked remotely. As much as we may want to ignore them, meetings are a necessary part of the success of your workplace. Having virtual meetings every day required a new set of rules for holding effective remote meetings. And in finding that meetings could be conducted successfully, we looked at how organizations were evaluating alternate working arrangements that give workers more flexibility.
The strategic impact of the pandemic cannot be overstated. In “Interning During a Global Pandemic: everything I’ve learned from Adecco,” the Adecco Group’s Canadian CEO for One Month, Danny Elnatour, shared his observations on navigating the pandemic, gained while at the centre of our company shadowing Adecco Canada’s leadership team.
The pandemic wasn’t our readers’ only concern. Life goes on, and no blog captured that sentiment more than our popular guide to navigating maternity leave for employers. Other popular reads looked at issues central to managing a workforce, in a pandemic or not. This included two blogs about choosing the best employees for your particular needs while not overlooking the value of temporary workers. Importantly, we also looked at diversity and inclusion in the workplace and how the upheaval caused by the pandemic presents an opportunity to center diversity and inclusion in your recovery strategy and build your organization back better.
Job Seeker
2020 brought an unprecedented amount of uncertainty to job seekers’ lives. Many of our popular blogs addressed this uncertainty by providing strategies for finding work in 2020. This included encouraging new career opportunities, whether it was the most popular jobs for individuals without a degree, explaining what warehouse work was really like, or giving you all the information you need to become a forklift operator.
The uncertainty of the job market also meant our readers were focused on finding work during the pandemic.
Many of our readers turned to our resume and job search resources for advice on navigating the job market. The first stop was our complete guide to writing your resume – from the research stage to formatting, our guide showed you how to create high-quality resumes to truly stand out. Plus, we also showed you how your resume should change if you’re looking for work in a new industry due to COVID-19 unemployment.
Your resume wasn’t the only thing you wanted to change. Upskilling has been a big topic throughout the pandemic–especially with the abundance of virtual learning opportunities. We showed you how to get started gaining new work skills by upskilling and gave you some hints at which skills would make you more employable after COVID-19. Then, we helped you ace that interview with the 15 most common interview questions you’ll be asked and how to answer them.
Looking Forward
With the end of the pandemic a distant but increasingly tangible point in the future, we know work may never go back to the way it was before. But we’re optimistic that the lessons learned throughout this pandemic will make the future of work an inclusive and supportive environment that works for everyone.
And we’ll be here to tell you about it. Thank you for your continued support. Keep safe and healthy.