Being attractive as a company means having a high level of appeal to potential future employees and being able to retain existing staff in the long term. But what exactly does that mean? How do I know what makes my company attractive, and how can I use this in everyday business life?
Here are 12 common characteristics of a good employer:
- Clear vision of where the company is going and the employee’s journey as part of that.
- Offers flexible working schedules, which fit with the business but can also improve employee wellbeing.
- Strong, consistent communication skills across the company at all levels.
- Offering financial benefits, such as salary increases, bonuses, rewards, and employee access to EAPs.
- Promotes empowerment, so engaging employees in the decision-making process to find solutions.
- Active listener, which requires self-awareness and involves respecting others’ thoughts and opinions.
- Supportive culture, which includes promoting teamwork, building relationships, and encouraging dialogue.
- Encourages personal growth, such as providing employees with positive evaluations of their performance.
- Respect – good employers should show respect in the workplace regardless of circumstances and lead by example.
- Integrity is an important quality for a good employer to have because it demonstrates successful leadership.
- Fairness involves consistently thinking and acting without personal biases, fairness and kindness helps employers to succeed.
- Provide a safe and secure working environment – this is key and involves things such as creating company policies to keep your staff safe, and implementing the correct training and also carrying out risk assessments.
Prospective candidates will often consider the following three points before they commit to accepting an offer of employment, so it is important to ensure that these are communicated clearly as part of your interview process:
- What is the company culture like?
- What are the company’s values?
- How stable would my role be with this company?
How can I shout about how good we are?
All possible channels should be used to publicise the company’s advantages as an employer. An important part of this is to ensure alignment of the company homepage with the organisations vision and values, and continuing this through the design of job advertisements and the professional, active use of social media.
Small everyday stories and the active involvement of employees can be highly effective in getting the attention of potential applicants, especially through social media. Through the personal presentation of what every day working life looks like at your organisation, you convey a sense of belonging to those outside the company.
Your other great selling point is satisfied employees who can automatically increase your visibility! Through word-of-mouth recommendations, such as, “I work at that great company – where everyone knows how great it is” will naturally attract a variety of talent to your business.
At Howarths we offer a wide range of proactive HR strategies to support these points. From helping to create values, completing an employee engagement survey, to supporting you with recruitment. If you need any support, contact our HR Growth Team on 01274 864 999.
