The strength of every successful business is the employees that make everything come together. This could be why businesses tend to invest in human resources as they help find the right employees and keep existing ones happy. However, if you work in the HR department, you know that it isn’t as simple as putting out an ad and hiring people. If it was, every business would have a team full of star employees and be reaching their greatest potential. The types of employees you attract has a lot to do with how your business is perceived. With that being said, here is how you can make your business attractive to prospective employees.
Revisit Your Core Values
The values of a business are like their very own northern star. It directs all business activities and ensures that you’re aligned with your core purpose. For this reason, you should start here if you want to attract the right candidates to your business. People are often looking for a business they can connect with, and it’s values and a vision that tends to do the connecting. To develop core values, try a few steps below.
Understand Where You Are Now: Before making any decisions, evaluate where you are now in terms of your values. Do this by evaluating the present culture of your organization and seeing if it aligns with your original values. This will tell you where you may be going off track and what needs to be fixed.
Affirm Your Values: Once you’ve assessed where you are now, think about the direction your business is attempting to grow in and whether your present values create room for such growth. Remember that your business values should have a purpose, be followed up with action and fit the company’s culture.
Incorporate Them Into Process: After reaffirming your values and identifying any inconsistencies, you can incorporate them into your strategy and business activities. Be sure that they also resonate throughout all of your marketing efforts as this is where prospective employees will see them.
Engage in Social Listening
The good thing about running a business in 2019 is that so many people are online. You no longer have to guess what people are saying about your brand because you can see it all over the internet. If you visit popular review sites and search your business name via social media, you’ll see what people think, both good and bad.
If you use your findings from social listening effectively, it’s a means of controlling the conversation around your brand. Address any negative chatter you’re getting and work on turning them into positives. This can be done by sharing the right content on social media. Social listening can also give you hints on how to better sell your business online, especially if you focus on positive feedback. To learn more about how to use the online world to market your business, take a look at www.tonivans.com.
Get Feedback from Employees
If you can get your employees to give you honest feedback, this can be useful for improving your business image. They are in the best position to tell you the strengths and weaknesses of your business from an employee’s standpoint. You can get feedback from them by having group discussions or getting them to take surveys.
If you want truly candid feedback from your employees, it’s crucial that you make them feel comfortable to say what’s on their mind. You can do so by avoiding being defensive and also owning your mistakes. This feedback can also help you improve employee satisfaction so that you can retain the talent you hire.
Leverage Social Currency
Most people desire to be a part of or associated with something that makes them look and feel important. When they are, they’re more likely to talk about and share it which creates good press for your business. This is what you call social currency or information shared by people in their everyday lives.
To leverage social currency, position your business as a leader in the market as it could help attract the right candidates. Put yourself in the shoes of an intelligent and experienced professional who has a significant amount of value to offer. What kind of company would you want to work for? What would the environment be like? What kind of reputation would they have? The answers to these questions should help you work on specifics of your branding and business image.
Offer the Right Packages
These days, employee packages are becoming increasingly important, so you should make sure you have one that’s competitive. There is a major focus on wellbeing and employers are realizing how holistic health can improve productivity and their output. Creating packages that incorporate wellbeing shows that beyond needing their skills and knowledge, you care about who and how they are. Below are a few benefits to include in your package.
Travel Bonuses: If you asked several people if they would love an all-expense paid trip, most would likely say yes. Employees need a break and change of environment from time to time so that they can refresh and reboot. Perhaps offer to pay for their trip or do a staff vacation where you take all of your employees away once a year.
Flexibility: So that employees don’t feel trapped and restricted, you want to give them enough flexibility to work. You could start to manage your team virtually more often by giving employees a certain number of work from home days or let them come in later as an incentive.
On-Site Healthcare: The better state your employees’ health is in, the more they’re likely going to give to their role. If you can afford it, make provisions for an on-site GP and dental care to make sure they’re happy and healthy.
Be Innovative
Being an innovative business is also vital if you want to attract the best talent. Most individuals would like to be a part of a forward-thinking company as opposed to one that is stuck in the past. Update your technology on a regular basis and be aware of any trends that are happening within your industry. When your business is innovative, employees can rest assured that they’re going to grow as well as gain new knowledge and experiences.