Are You an Employer of Choice? 5 Things You Need to Know
What is an employer of choice?
According to a 2019 article from The Balance, it’s “an employer that offers a fantastic work culture and workplace environment that attracts and retains superior employees. The features of the environment available at an employer of choice favor the well-being of employees and customers.”
As an employer or HR professional, you might read that and think that it’s fairly subjective. For example, not every “employer of choice” would fit every potential employee’s definition of “fantastic work culture,” and other criteria.
You would be right, and it’s entirely situational. And yet, most employers of choice do share some qualities that ensure that they grab the attention of job hunters in line with their goals.
After all, most will seek to offer the best compensation (including benefits) above market rate. Most will have health insurance and holidays, beyond the corporate standard too. They’ll have a mission that appeals to their teams.
Let’s look at five further traits of employers of choice and how they line up with traits in modern job hunters:
They Offer Job Security – You may be surprised to know that modern job hunters often take some time to do a bit of research on the financial conditions of the companies they consider. Most want to be sure they won’t get laid off and can instead focus entirely on the work without any further worries.
They Offer Growth – The Millennial generation is the largest segment of the labor pool and is very focused on unique issues. One of the most significant (and something that causes a Millennial to leave a job) is the absence of growth opportunity. They want to see the ability to move (eventually) into leadership roles. They want to have some upskilling and education, and they want to know their company seeks to help them grow.
They Ensure Work-Life Balance – Modern job hunters are eager to see that there are existing opportunities for a bit more control over their personal lives than many jobs of the past offered. For example, providing flexible work scheduling (come in at 5 and leave at 1 if that works better), remote work options, paid leave for family issues are among their desires.
They Focus on Performance – In line with the desire for growth, lots of modern job hunters want their employer to focus on performance and to compensate based on that standard. As that article noted, “An employer of choice finds ways to tie the performance and the interests of employees with those of the employer — two of the ways that employers accomplish this are through their variable compensation system that ties rewards to performance and a job plan process that provides regular guidance and feedback.”
They Engage – Whether you use words like commitment or dedication to staff, it should be made clear to recruits or candidates that the company has a lot of engagement strategies. Partnering with mentors, events with leadership, boot camps and training events…these are all engagement strategies that will attract the modern job hunter.
It’s difficult to always align your mission or HR policies with the needs of all potential employees, but these general ideas are considered key among the modern workforce and can help you to become an employer of choice.