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Building and maintaining an effective employer brand requires striking a balance between what’s good for the organization and what’s good for the organization’s people. There is a sweet spot in there; it can be hard to find, but it’s there, I promise. Who would know better how to locate it than employer brand experts, Glassdoor? The good people at Glassdoor compiled a shortlist of the 5 traits their “Great Places to Work” winners all had in common. Let’s take a look at these traits, and discover what qualities make a company a great place to work.
People Matter
They aren’t talking about employee appreciation; they get around to that later. They are talking about great people knowing and attracting other great people. So, you have to create a pool of quality talent, who are willing and excited to be your employer brand ambassadors. These are the workers who will help you attract more talent like themselves. In order to get your initial pool together, you have to concentrate on talent quality, raising the hiring bar, and establishing cultural fit with every hire. Now you’re ready to implement an amazing employee referral program…
- Referrals are the #1 source for new hire quality
- Referrals are the #1 fastest time to hire (29 days for referrals, 39 days for job boards, and 45 days for career sites)
- Referrals are #1 at 46% retention after one year (compared to 33% from career sites and 22% from job boards).
The fact is candidates will trust what employees are saying, making referrals, reviews and employee testimonials vital to your quality talent attraction initiatives.
People Feel Heard
It is not enough to simply provide employee feedback surveys; Glassdoor considers that the average. What great places to work do is take that feedback and close the loop on their strategy to reconcile any existing issues gathered from the feedback in real-time.
Beyond using the information to improve the organization as a whole, employees really do want feedback on their own performance and professional growth, and they want it immediately. In fact, 71% of employees prefer to get feedback as soon as possible. Additionally, organizations with strong employee feedback processes boast turnover rates that are almost 15% lower than average companies. These details are what make a good employer.
Organizations with strong employee feedback processes have turnover rates 15% lower than average.
People Can Grow
Let’s talk about stagnant workers for a moment. If a worker doesn’t mind being stagnant, that’s not the type of talent you want; they aren’t growing or improving. If a worker doesn’t wish to remain stagnant but does not perceive any growth opportunities, they will leave for greener pastures. Either way, ignoring individual professional growth opportunities is terrible for the employer brand. The #2 reason candidates accept a job is career growth opportunities. Just behind salary, advancement opportunities are extremely important to employees.
The #2 reason candidates accept a job is for career growth opportunities.
Leaders Matter
Leaders must have a clear understanding and embrace the organizational values and goals. Without this compass, they are not able to lead effectively. In order to make confident and informed workforce decisions, they have to be made confident and kept informed. It sounds so common sense, yet as communication trickles down from the top, like a game of telephone, the message becomes distorted and diluted. An Accenture report revealed a full 74% of people would consider finding a new job and 31% of them cite not liking their boss as the main motivator.
It’s frustrating and demotivating to employees when they don’t know how to deliver, they don’t understand their role and they don’t know how to communicate with their boss. What’s more disheartening is that employees can do very little about these issues; the solution has to start from the top.
People Feel Appreciated
Right now, employees are clocking in and out of work every day, and almost 40% of them report not feeling appreciated at work. Employee appreciation is a pretty simple concept, but so many leaders don’t seem to grasp its importance in workplace satisfaction and engagement. It could be they don’t use the tools they need.
Above-average performance management is what makes a company a great place to work. You will probably see a system that alerts leaders on the successes and issues happening in the workplace in real-time. This means they are able to reward and recognize in a timely and effective manner.
Great places to work will often have above-average performance management.
These five traits are what employers should be focusing on regardless of rewards or plaques. Not only do these employer traits create great places to work, but they each also have a positive impact on the bottom line. A strong employer brand just makes sense from every aspect.
Our Talent Success has the power to reshape business, and it all begins with your company mission and goals. The ClearCompany Talent Operating System is the only software that utilizes your organization’s mission, competencies, and goals to hire, retain and engage more top talent; creating unparalleled levels of success.
