Becoming an Employer of choice…

Are you an employer of choice?

A guide on how to build yourself an enviable reputation as a employer everyone wants to work for…

Employers are looking for a new approach to reach their business goals. The ability to attract, optimize, and retain top talent is a vital component to achieving this objective. An ‘employer of choice’ is an organisation recognised for treating its employees exceptionally well, creating opportunities, and instituting work/life policies and benefits to create an enjoyable and fulfilling employment experience. It has been well-documented that employer of choice organisations with innovative programs that build workforce capability and commitment out-perform their competitors in attraction, retention and development of people which is vital during current times when exceptional talent is in such short supply due to the global war for talent.

So where should I start in becoming an employer of choice?
Well, a good place to start is to think about the reasons why top employees leave your business. It is likely to be one or a number of the following:
o 1 Lack of opportunity with the company;
o 2 Dissatisfaction with work conditions;
o 3 Non-competitive pay and benefits;
o 4 Lack of confidence in management or lack of empowerment to successfully perform job tasks.

To become an effective employer of choice you must begin to understand and tackle these issues head on. Employer of choice strategies are by no means a quick fix. They require long term planning and commitment to achieve sustainable a competitive advantage through the people they employ and there is no doubt organisations need to work harder at this. One of the most important things employers can do to attract key staff is to make themselves as attractive an organization as possible, so that highly talented employees want to go to them.

What are the characteristics of an employer of choice?
Employer of Choice strategies are being adopted by a wide range of organisations to affect business performance. We have outlined some important steps which businesses can make to improve its status as an employer of choice:

Stimulating Work – Employees want to perform interesting and challenging jobs. They want to be inspired and stimulated and feel passionate about what they do. To be a great job, it should also be demanding, and should stretch the employee. It’s a good idea to invest time in job design so as to try and create jobs that are interesting and you can also consider having job rotation schemes to provide work variety and a freshness to employees.

Reward Well – People want to rewarded in recognition for the contribution that they have made to the organization. They also want to be rewarded at a level which is on or above market rate. Develop an effective reward strategy which contains an all inclusive and objective way of assessing employee performance. Salary and rewards should be regularly bench-marked against the market averages so you can adjust your salaries and ensure you are always paying close to the market rate.

Training and Development – Employees want to be part of a company that helps them to develop skills so they can excel in their jobs on a day to day basis and eventually progress up the career ladder. Your business should show a commitment to growth and development of staff by providing a training and development framework. This framework would involve an annual skills assessment process in the business, out of which would come a personal development plan for each employee. Employees should be then able to access training and development opportunities according to their development plan.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics – Employees want to work for businesses that are trustworthy, ethical, socially responsible and have a positive corporate culture where staff are treated fairly and with respect. Develop a CSR program in your business which sets out your values and principles on how you want to do business in an ethical way.

Opportunities to Progress – One of the main reasons that employees leave a business is lack of career progression. They go somewhere else to find a higher paying, higher ranking job because they could not achieve this with their previous employer. As a business, you should have a formal internal recruitment program. Jobs should not just be given to “favorite employees”; all jobs should be advertised internally which means that all qualified employees can apply if they wish to. This is how to create a sense of opportunity and potential for career progression

Pay Attention to what employees really want – In order of preference, in a recent survey employees rate their job satisfaction on the following factors: having a good manager: working on challenging projects; being rewarded and recognized for their work; learning and growing on the leading edge of technology, products, ideas and business: collaborative communication, having a degree of control, autonomy in their day – types of projects, dress etc and then salary

Create a corporate culture that isn’t 100% corporate – Customers and clients should feel comfortable that they are being cared for, but let employees set the organisation’s culture. Taking this initiative is best done from within, developed and managed by those who know the company best: employees and managers. Outside experts can give parameters, guidance and tips.

Encourage collaboration. – Share information and involvement across the organisation. Knowledge is power. Employees can and will out perform if they’re empowered.

Clear paths for getting the work done. – Removing obstacles and bureaucracy reduces frustration, which leads the way for employees to be more productive and career progressive. Hire according to company values. Match the employee to your particular culture. Finding employees with the right ‘cultural fit’, personality and attitudes is just as important as skills. It’s the whole package that is important, which is an important factor to retaining them over the long-term.

Foster innovations and new ideas to create a work/life balance environment – Offer flexible hours, telecommuting, compressed working weeks, job sharing, job rotation, pets at work, reward and recognition programs, workplace massages, paid tuition, days off, casual Fridays etc.

Access to Information: Employers of choice share information with employees that range from the company financial progress and results to the success framework referenced above. Employees feel as if they are members of the “in-crowd”, because they know what is happening.

Involvement: At an employer of choice, employees feel as if they have the opportunity to be involved. They can make suggestions, think up new products or service innovations, serve on employee committees to plan events and work processes, and attend appropriate meetings and have input on work processes that affect their jobs.

Performance Culture: An employer of choice finds ways to tie the performance and the interests of employees with those of the company. Two of the ways this can be accomplished is through a compensation system that ties reward to performance and a job plan process that provides regular guidance and feedback.

Commitment: Employers of choice are committed to their employees and to their customers. This is reflected in everything from Human Resources policies to business strategies. This commitment plays out in retention and engagement strategies and perks that can range from free lunches and beverages to monthly employee and family events. Lunch with the president, inclusion in candidate interviews, and a place on an employee selection committee are all things which help cement employee commitment and involvement.

Empowerment and Authority: Employees are empowered to make decisions about and take responsibility for how they do their jobs. Employees are given a strategic framework (company mission, vision, values, goals, feedback) by their department, but they control their choices and how they perform their core functions and make progress on their goals.

These are not all of the characteristics of an employer of choice, but if you’ve implemented a significant number of these factors in your company, you will be well on your way to becoming an employer that attracts and retains superior employees. Your reputation will proceed you and employees will seek you out as a desirable place to work. That has to be the first goal of any effective recruitment strategy….. Be the employer that superior employees choose!!