Becoming an employer of choice – running a place where people want to work, where they want to devote their time and energy and the place they are prepared to commit to for prolonged periods – is critical for resellers competing for talent in a skills shortage.
To get there, employers need a number of strategies.
Surveys indicate employers of choice invest in the learning and development of their people. They reward and recognise them for jobs well done, and have family-friendly policies. Employers of choice give their staff challenging and interesting work, leaving employees inspired and passionate.
The work is demanding and it stretches employees so they end up feeling they have achieved something. That requires managers to put some thought into designing the job.
At many of these companies, jobs are rotated so more employees are given new opportunities. Managers at these companies are passionate and supportive. They encourage everyone and even show empathy when employees screw up.
Even when they make mistakes, they always weave something positive about what the employees have done into the conversation. That builds confidence and aligns the employee closer with the organisation.
It’s also important to set clear goals for everyone. They need to be written down and measured. Employers of choice never leave employees guessing what they have to do. Once employees know what their role is, and know it is measured and assessed in annual performance reviews, they will step up to the plate.
The best employers also invest in training and development. The bottom line is that employees want to be part of a company that has a vested interest in their development so they can build skills that will help them progress their career path. So they send employees to conferences to help them advance both the company and their careers.
This will help keep employees engaged with the company. All this requires managers to put together training and development programs for everyone. It also means having a personal development plan for each employee and an annual assessment program to evaluate their skills, where they can be sharpened up and see whether they need any new skills.
Those development programs need to be created in consultation with the employee. That will give them some ownership of the process.
As part of that, the companies need to look at mentoring programs that will allow employees to develop. Managers might need to be trained for mentoring.
It is also critical for managers to reward employees well. Employees want to be rewarded at a level which is on or above market rate. Salary should be regularly benchmarked against the market averages. That allows managers to adjust salaries and ensure they are always paying close to the market rate. But this not only means paying them appropriately.
Other methods can achieve similar results without spending any money. Recognising their achievements for example and publicly acknowledging them will go a long way to making them feel valued. In tough times it’s worth thanking them for their effort and their ability to stick with the task during a difficult period. It lets them know other managers have noticed their efforts.
Establishing clear career paths is critical. One of the main reasons employees quit and move on is because they feel their career is not going anywhere. They go to another company, usually a competitor, to find the kind of higher paying, higher ranking job they could not obtain with their previous employer. As part of that career path development strategy, companies need a formal internal recruitment program.
This means jobs should not just be given to favourites or people with stronger connections in the organisation. Every job should be advertised internally so all qualified employees can apply. A strategy like that creates a sense of opportunity and potential for career progression.
The best employers have their managers spending time with everyone in the organisation. The aim is to understand their career aspirations and personal goals. It means working out with them what their professional development goals should be.
Creating individual career pathways, along with training and development strategies for each person in the organisation, provides employees with greater certainty and reassurance about the future. They are more likely to stay knowing that their employer has a stake in their future.
It is also critical for an organisation to demonstrate strong ethics and a real sense of corporate responsibility. Employees these days want to work for businesses that are trustworthy, ethical and socially responsible. They want to have a positive corporate culture, one where employees are treated fairly and with respect. Having family-friendly policies is also critical.
These policies would include initiatives such as workplace flexibility including flexi time, parental leave, paternity leave, compassionate leave, job sharing, letting people work at or from home during normal working hours, having the ability to change from full to part-time hours, providing workplace crèches and helping with child care costs.
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