I want to work there: how can you make your workplace into a place that people aspire to work in during their careers? In today’s diverse and flexible job market, your prospective employees might be able to create their own organizations or act as consultants, working for many different organizations at a time. How can you make your organization a destination and attract talent that will stay?
Create an irresistible company culture.
Develop Your Reputation
When you’re developing a reputation as an innovator in your field, you’re creating a place where people want to work. Those ideal and innovative employees want to work in a cutting edge company that’s doing respected work. However, they’ll also hear about the way that you work with your employees. If you treat employees fairly, listen well, and have fun together, the way that you work together will complement the way you work in the world, and you’ll develop a reputation as a company with a thriving and positive corporate culture.
According to Clear Company, job seekers “want to find a place they fit, and stay there.” Your company culture should be visible, audible, and tangible as soon as a potential employee walks in your door.
Hire the Right People
The people who work at your organization already are one of your business’s greatest selling points. If your organization is known for its fantastic staff, more fantastic people will want to come and work with them. Hire for traits and aptitude rather than solely for experience, and you’ll develop an emerging culture of greatness. These great people will add to that developing culture over time as they move into management and have the power to hire and train as well. According to Hubspot, “when you hire great people, they hire great people too.”
Make an Investment
When you give to your employees, they commit to your organization. Instead of constantly asking what your employees could do better or do more, hire those who naturally want to do more, then train them. Provide mentorship programs, online or in-person training opportunities, and time for employees to pursue their own projects. Give employees the opportunities to job swap to see how others in the company function, and give perks such as paid tuition for ongoing training.
Listen to Your Employees
A healthy relationship involves talking, but it also involves listening. When you’re working with your employees, actively listen to what they are saying, and paraphrase to ensure that you’re really getting the point. Then move forward on your employees’ requests, or look for answers to their questions. This makes those you work with feel heard and valued.
Encourage Autonomy
You want to hire employees who can work independently, without a lot of micro-management. Do you provide enough space for these employees to grow in their jobs? Successful companies help their employees become successful as well. Allow your employees to have time to pursue their passions and integrate them into their work life. If your administrator has an idea for an amazing web portal for your clients that would make life easier for both clients and employees, give that person some time to expand upon that idea.
Facilitate Work-Life Balance
You might live for your work, but you can’t expect all of your employees to share that same enthusiasm. Instead, help them love their jobs and encourage them to take time off as well. Provide flex days, job sharing, and telecommuting options to help them balance caretaking duties such as parenting or elder care with their jobs. At work, provide excellent exercise programs, relaxation programs, healthy snacks, and places where employees can engage socially and have fun together. A workplace is a place to work hard, but it also needs to feel like a connected community, and nurturing your employees’ work-life balance should be part of that community culture.