What Does It Take To Be An Employer Of Choice?

Posted by MEC Mining on

I often get asked “What does it take to become an employer of choice?”, interesting question when you reflect on what this actually means?

What makes employees view a company as being at the pinnacle of their industry where working there becomes a statement about a persons ability, a sign of quality and employees who work there wear the company’s logo as a badge of honour.

There is no doubt that the company culture is a critical part of achieving this, and for the people who work for the company already, they know this, they live it, they love it on a daily basis. But what about those who aren’t part of the team yet, people on the outside looking in, wondering what it would be like to be on the inside. How do they get the same cultural feel for a business without actually being part of it? Solving this problem will put you well on the way to having employees seek you out for the right reasons.

Here are some tips we have learnt on our journey towards becoming an employer of choice:

  • Making Relationships Count – People learn a lot about what it would be like to work for you when they have had an opportunity to work with you. How you value the relationships you have with your clients says a lot to the outside world about how you are likely to treat people as employees.
  • Diversity – Businesses that respect and value the benefits of diversity of thought, background and experience are often the ones that attract the best candidates. Do the discussions in your boardroom convert to walking the talk when it comes to diversity?
  • Selectivity – Being part of a business is about working with others who share your underlying beliefs. What does your business believe in, have you selected people who share the same values? The John West ads saying sums it up pretty well, “its the ones that John West rejects that makes John West the best”.
  • Brand – Having a clear purpose gives something for people to align around, get this right and people will follow, lead and be an advocate for you far beyond your wildest expectations. Couple the purpose with giving people the autonomy to create their own path and the opportunity to master something they are passionate about and people will line up to be part of your company.

Written by Simon Cohn (Managing Director)