Becoming an Employer of Choice – Part II

FIRST STEPS IN BECOMING AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE (EOC)

Do a preliminary survey of top management to identify possible support or resistance.

Do a benchmark study of current EOC firms that you wish to emulate. Place special focus on firms that have “recently” begun/successfully completed the transition to an EOC.
Do an external PR analysis of the company’s image to assess its current status.
Appoint a task force to lead the effort.
Develop a list of the steps others have used to become an EOC.
Do an internal assessment (gap analysis) of each of our programs that would have to be upgraded including:
1. Analyze the PR strategy and PR team. Product ads must make us appear as a great place to work. Our sales force and employees must be involved in “spreading the word.”
2. Assess the CEO’s capabilities and interest in being a “public figure.” They need to give speeches, get written up in leading business magazines and perhaps write a book.
3. Do surveys of college students, business writers, academics, our employees, executive recruiters and influential business leaders to assess our perceived strengths and weaknesses and their view of our corporate culture and image.
4. Analyze our recruitment strategy and team capabilities.
5. Reassess our corporate values and culture. Must it change and can it be changed?
6. Analyze our product strategy especially as it relates to public visibility and world-class (W.C.) quality and customer service standards.
7. Hire “Best Place To Work List” consultants to coach you on additional things you must do to get on the best lists and to achieve EOC status. Hire the best HR people to drive the strategy.
8. Analyze your compensation and benefit strategies and team to assess your ability to attract, motivate, and retain W.C. employees. Measure and reward managers for great people results.
9. Assess your training strategies and our training team especially in the areas of PR and management/leadership styles for managers.
10. Develop a W.C. competency list for managers and employees. Do an assessment of the gap between where we are and where we need to be for all “key” managers and employees.
11. Do an assessment of the gap between where we are and where we need to be for all “key” managers and employees. Analyze the results, make a cost/risk assessment.
12. Get top management and employee feedback and buy-in. Revise and develop measurement standards and milestones.
Get your CEO to write a book
Develop a plan to get corporate officers to go on speaking tours and industry events
Add “lifestyle” benefits and on-site amenities to give your employees something to talk about
Develop affinity groups and family friendly policies
Survey applicants and employees to identify what they expect at an EOC (and periodically assess your success in meeting those needs)
Train and reward managers for excellent “people” management performance
Coordinate product advertising with employment and PR efforts to ensure the EOC image is maintained in all three
Revise recruiting practices to include “WOW” (pizzazz) elements to make a lasting impression. Continually review our recruitment strategy and team capabilities.
Develop a WOW web presence and do a competitive advantage assessment to ensure that you maintain an advantage
Hire the best employment staff with “outside the box” marketing talent. Reward them for maintaining EOC status
Get EE’s to put decals on their license plates on their vehicles to broadcast their loyalty
Get mentioned in movies/video games
Get written up as a business success case study
Have movie stars/athletes endorse us

POSSIBLE DISADVANTAGES OF BEING AN EOC:

Executive recruiters often target your firm’s management and its employees.
The strength of the corporate culture makes changing it (and many operational changes) difficult.
Because of their “fame,” the firms’ employees have a tendency to become overconfident. Performance measurement and the acceptance of criticism often diminish due to this confidence.
The company’s image must be continually defended. Minor errors can be blown out of proportion by the press (i.e. Intel’s Pentium).
Pay levels (and thus costs of production) can be high due to the high cost of maintaining a world-class workforce.
New recruits may have unrealistic expectations based of image and PR that can turn to disillusionment if everyday reality does not match “the image.”
EOC helps a firm grow and this increase in size makes maintaining the culture and EOC status difficult over time.

Becoming an EOC is not for everyone but if you are in an industry where getting the very best employees is the top factor contributing to firm’s success it may be for you. Even if you do not adopt the total strategy using parts of it may result in an increased applicant flow.