Employer of choice egh?
What message is your company really sending out in all its communication material? Most companies are flying their flags sky high to push sales, or shouting out from rooftops about their service or products. Well there is nothing wrong with this strategy, indeed a hearty slap on the back for making the effort, as some companies don’t even get this far. However, the one single message that often gets shuffled beneath all other layers of messages orbiting from companies, is the message concerning the company’s attitude towards its employees.
Let’s explain this notion with the use of an example. Your business is thriving, you are meeting/exceeding your business plan objectives, your bank loves you, other banks want to court you, your shareholders can’t ask for more, your company on the face of it looks like the ‘cat who got the cream’. That’s all fine and dandy until you realise that you need more people to sustain the smiles. So you think to yourself, ‘we will just hire people, everyone will want to work with us’ and you start the recruitment process. However what slowly transpires during your rounds of interviews, is that the intellectual buff sitting opposite you, has been ‘doing his/her own rounds of interviews, and visiting other cats (who by the way, also believe they have got the cream) and that you my friend, are not in sole existence. In fact in suddenly dawns on you, that you have COMPETITION (shock horror), when it comes to enticing talent in your direction. All of sudden you find yourself in a Dutch auction or ‘salary war’ to put it more bluntly. Your ‘key hire’ has the power at this stage, not you. So how can you swing that sea-saw back in your favour? Is it too late at this stage? Or should you have thought about planting those ‘We are the employer of choice’ seeds, long before this interview came to fruition.
Now, with a pinch of luck and if you are a smooth talking interviewer, who can convince this key hire that they should go with you instead of your opposition, then you may stand a chance of them accepting your offer. However beware, desperation and bitterness can often weigh in with this approach if not used elegantly. My advice is to not let it get to this stage in the first place. If you can adopt a strategy that develops your reputation as an "Employer of choice" then you will find people are herding in your direction, wanting to work for you and putting the choices firmly in your hands. This can put your company in a powerful pole position!
Why not try and consider your own impressions of a few household names. If you are a creative, innovative, free spirited kind of person, you may be enticed by a company such as EBay. How about a company with a cutting edge and fresh attitude, someone like Google perhaps? I’m fairly certain you can draw up a list of companies which appeal to you, and many others who wouldn’t stand a hope in hell in getting you through their door.
This in turn begs the question, why is it that people want to work for certain companies over others? The likes of Google and EBay, literally get thousands of job applications and really have the opportunity to get the pick of the crop.
So how do you get your company known as an employer of choice?
It’s fair to say that the big blue chips spend a chunky slice of wonga on their marketing budgets. It’s also fair to say that not all of us have that sort of money to channel on branding, at least not initially. The good news is, that you can still build your brand without robbing Peter to pay Paul. The key is to be creative.
First things first, do you have a company brochure? If not, then invest in some form of company information be it online or off-line. The next task is to review your company brochure, as if you were a potential employee. What messages does your corporate communication send out? Does your company come across as being at the forefront of training and development? Do you come across as a proactive, aggressive or green employer? (None of these images are a bad projection, as you will more than likely attract individuals who function well in that environment)
Are you even aware of the image you're projecting? Are you clients and customers aware that you consider your staff as assets? Clients and customers are the best ambassadors for your company, a positive domino effect is likely if they positively view you as an employer.
Wherever possible you should be making yourself known. There are literally hundreds of opportunities to do this. Universities, career fairs, exhibitions, giving speeches etc. Taking Universities as an example, you should have a presence during the ‘milk rounds’, and remember you are there to paint the picture about your company being an employer of choice. Get it wrong and cold shoulder potential candidates though, and you will find graduates saying they would never work for a company like yours due to the way they were treated at these kinds of events. Then the negative domino effect begins, and they tell another 20 of their friends how bad your company is, over a beer down at the student union.
It basically comes down to the age-old adage of communication. Having a communication strategy gives you a definite edge over the competition.
The person at the top of the tree, the MD or CEO, often sets the “tone”. Essentially it is these individuals who set the culture in place. A hollow mission statement or textbook company values is not enough to attract the talent. You need to ensure that all messages leaving your office, be it online or offline, written, spoken or heard, define your brand and ethos. Whether it’s your letterhead, or the pay slip your employees receive, the message has to be clear, constant and concise, no matter who created it.
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