Become an Employer of Choice

January 18, 2023

The pandemic shook the recruitment landscape. 

According to the Where Are The Workers? study by the Fund for Our Economic Future, people are quitting their jobs in record numbers and choosing to work somewhere else, work part-time, take on freelance work, or dive into new career paths. On top of that, workers are becoming more selective about which company to work for—and many workers are rethinking what meaningful work looks like.

So, how can you position your organization as an employer of choice?

We hate to break it to you, but bragging about your company perks isn’t enough anymore. Now, just as customers look to brands to speak out about key social issues, so do job seekers. The pandemic forced employers to do more for their employees. Your candidates want to know that their future employer takes their concerns seriously.

To win at post-pandemic recruitment, you need to change your workplace policies—and that means tackling talent challenges, prioritizing your workers, and building an authentic employer brand to become an employer of choice. 

Ready to get started? Ignite your recruitment efforts with these powerful hiring strategies.

 


 

Cultivate a Positive Work Environment

You’ve probably already noticed that the pandemic shifted worker priorities. Today, as more companies compete for qualified workers in a candidate-driven market, your top picks are less tolerant of negative work environments. Instead of dealing with disrespectful managers and long hours, they’re searching for opportunities that align with their personal values and professional goals.

Sure, a competitive wage and increased flexibility are key ingredients to employee satisfaction and retention. But for many workers, those benefits don’t outweigh the costs if their work environment is unpleasant, uncomfortable, or unsafe.

Negativity can come from different places, and there’s no one-size-fits-all definition of a negative work environment.

In many cases, though, negativity stems from racial, gender, or other forms of discrimination. According to a recent study, over 55 percent of workers have experienced discrimination at their current workplace, while 43 percent have left a job due to unaddressed discrimination.

No matter what your workplace looks like, it’s time to cultivate a better environment for your employees.

To carve the path forward, start holding roundtable discussions to encourage open communication. Your workplace policies should focus on employee respect—whether that looks like “open door” policies, buddy programs where new hires pair up with senior employees, or incentive programs to boost engagement and morale.

 


 

Provide Career Development Opportunities

Your white-collar workers are working at a strategic level, helping you maximize profit and show off your best side. Meanwhile, your blue-collar workers are working at the grassroots level. They’re growing your business, connecting with customers, and putting a face to your brand. Why not invest in them?

Truth is, many workers feel underprepared and undertrained for their current positions.

In the Where are the Workers? survey, almost one-quarter of respondents said they needed more training or education to further their job or career. At the same time, 18 percent said it’s difficult to pursue additional training, while nearly 42 percent said they weren’t aware of opportunities to pursue additional training.

How can you support your employees? Invest in their professional development with career development opportunities. Before their first day on the job, start your relationship on the right foot with thorough and hands-on onboarding.

Make sure new hires have all the resources they need to succeed—from required paperwork to contact information of their department members. A solid onboarding strategy might seem like a major investment, but it’ll pay off over time. In fact, studies show that successful onboarding can boost new hire retention by a whopping 82 percent.

Of course, your investment in employees shouldn’t end after onboarding.

Help your employees tackle their goals by laying out a clear career path for each position. Map out advancement opportunities and provide on-the-job training to support your workers along their career journey. This way, you’ll also invest in internal training opportunities so employees can easily switch departments or fill in for absences as needed.

 


Be Upfront About Your Benefits Package

In today’s competitive recruitment landscape, you’re competing with countless other companies to hire skilled candidates. Your candidates want to know exactly what to expect from you, and they want to know how your company values their work/life balance. If you want them to take the next step and hit the Apply button, you should never leave them guessing about benefits or wages.

What’s the best way to communicate your wage and benefits package?

Write it in the job description. A competitive wage is essential: 81 percent of workers said it’s very important to them, while only three percent said it wasn’t at all. You need to communicate the value you’re going to provide to workers in exchange for their skills, time, and expertise. 

Instead of diving into technical language surrounding health insurance, retirement plans, and other traditional benefits, keep it concise with straightforward benefits summaries. This can be especially helpful for some candidates (think: contract workers and younger workers) who have less familiarity with traditional workplace benefits.

 


Stand Behind Your Company Values

Your employees want meaningful work. If they’re lacking purpose in their job, they’re not going to be productive—and that’s going to take a toll on your organization. Research shows that when employees see meaning in their work, their performance improves by 33 percent. They’re also 75 percent more committed to their organization and 49 percent less likely to leave.

But that’s not all: Over the past 30 years, U.S. workers have identified meaningful work as the most important aspect of a job—surpassing income, job security, and the number of hours worked. So, how can you amplify your company values and help employees find meaning in their work?

Let’s take a step back. “Meaningful” can be defined differently depending on the person, but today’s workers want clarity on their purpose—the purpose of the work itself and their role in it.

Even if you don’t stand behind a humanitarian cause, you need a visible mission statement, clear company goals, and key performance indicators to drive engagement and create purpose.

Not sure where to start? Consider your employer value proposition and take actionable steps to live it. You might take steps to foster a more sustainable workplace, clarify your equity and inclusion policy, or create a shared sense of purpose through volunteer opportunities. From the first interview to the last day of work, you should constantly remind employees that core values form the basis for every decision your company makes.

 


 

Upgrade Employee Feedback Policies

The best way to prioritize your current employees? Ask them what they want, need, and recommend for your company—and be ready to take action.

If you want to regularly improve your workplace policies, you’ll need to build ways to collect employee feedback. Instead of speculating why workers are quitting, put your assumptions to rest with real answers from your current employees.

Why does employee feedback matter?

It’s simple: When you evaluate and improve your current processes for collecting feedback, you’ll encourage employees to share ideas to strengthen the workplace. It can also help you identify existing policies that contribute to a negative work environment.

Once you’ve collected employee feedback through surveys or roundtable meetings, it’s time to go deeper and tackle specific issues. You might take the next step by running a company-wide survey, like a benefits or career development survey, to identify potential areas and strategies for improvement. This way, you’ll gain insights into your employees’ expectations and learn how to best direct your resources.

 


 

Seize the Moment

Worker sentiment is changing, and you need to upgrade your recruitment strategy to avoid falling behind. With more candidates searching for meaningful work, it’s time to lay the groundwork so you can make your workplace work better for people.

Remember: With crisis comes opportunity.

To win the war for talent and compete in today’s fierce hiring landscape, you need to seize the moment and carve the path forward. Download our self-audit checklist and schedule a discovery call with our team to transform your organization into an employer of choice.

 

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