Are You An Employer Of Choice Or Just A Job?

Jul 9th, 2020

What are the perks of working with your company? Ah…a question we ask daily to our many clients. We ask this to make sure that we have the best representation of who you are as an organization and to be able to sell you to potential candidates. Recruiters are salespeople, really.

Here is the typical response…we offer benefits - medical/dental/vision/401k. This is GREAT…but, what makes your company stand out besides traditional benefits? If a candidate has two offers and both companies offer the same benefits, what is going to be the reason they choose one over the other? Most likely the chosen company offers a culture and perks that hold the key to the employee’s hearts!

So, what are we talking about here? Pre-COVID-19, it would have been things like managers cooking and serving their employees, bringing in ice cream or food trucks, going to sporting events as a group, gym membership, car maintenance, lunch/dinner provided in some capacity, company trips and the list can go on and on. But now what? What else would be enticing enough for a candidate to accept an offer?

This is the time to make your company culture shine no matter what the situation. We need to think about how we can convey your culture in a virtual world. Check out these game-changers for your recruitment efforts…

• Can you provide a flexible working schedule? A lot of folks out there are juggling kids during the summertime on top of their job, so a flexible working schedule can go a long way for them. If they are able to get their work done while still being available for very important meetings, then what’s the hold-up? A work/life balance, or blend as we call it, is something that is becoming more and more important to employees these days.

• What types of employee engagement initiatives are you doing these days? Do you do virtual happy hours? Virtual scavenger hunts? Dressing up as your favorite cartoon character from your childhood on Fridays? Are you sending quick care packages that would include the dinner ingredients for a family dinner or perhaps a yummy cookie assortment? Are you doing drive-by’s when an employee hits their 5-year anniversary or on their birthday? What type of recognition program do you have for your top performers? These are all things that would make your company stand out and show that you truly care for your employees.

• Being transparent with potential candidates can go a long way, so please make sure that candidates know what they will be walking into on day one. The worst thing we see is a person being hired and then leaving the company after a few weeks due to the daunting words “the job was not what I signed up for” …This is avoidable!

• Finally, the job description…We all want the purple squirrel that is riding a unicorn, but if your job description reflects that, how many potential candidates are you scaring off? Could be a lot, and the perfect fit might be one of them! Make sure your requirements section is reasonable for what you are looking for. If you want to list everything you want in an ideal candidate, make sure you use a preferred section to list those “tough to find” skills. Be careful in doing so, a lengthy job description could put off a candidate. A short quick video on your company culture can go a long way.