How to become an employer of choice is the core of what all HR activity is about.
Any people-focused strategy or scheme — be it a new performance management approach or even investing in new ergonomic office furniture — is always designed with becoming an employer choice in mind, due to the continuous need to attract and retain top talent.
With HR operating in volatile and changeable times — whether that’s Covid impacting work-as-usual, labor market upheavals, or the explosion of AI — it’s a top talent that will underlie future success.
However, attracting and acquiring top talent requires standing out from competitors. As such, for HR functions that want to attract this talent, they will be rightly asking themselves how to become an employer of choice.
This article will:
● Explain the employer of choice definition.
● Dive deeper into the business benefits of becoming an employer of choice.
● Showcase how to become an employer of choice.
What does it mean to be the employer of choice?
Defining the employer of choice is simple: it’s about an organization transforming into a workplace where talent wants to be employed. Of course, it’s also about retaining this talent for the long term.
This not a single strategy for becoming an employer of choice but contributing factors that could help include include:
- fostering a positive organizational environment (through skills and career development opportunities, purposeful work, compensation and benefits, on-the-job empowerment, and positive candidate and employee experiences)
- having a positive workplace culture (by driving DEI and good communication, well-being, and mental health adaptions, and individualizing work where appropriate, including maintaining a balanced work-life balance).
- fostering strong values (aligning with candidate and workforce priorities and wants, driven by purpose outside of profit such as inclusivity and sustainability, and communicating this in the external and internal employer brand)
This is what I want to see: the target keyword right after the title. Although, in this specific case, when the keyword contain the word definition, repeating the exact match keyword is not the best move: Google will pay attention to the definition itself rather than the exact match keyword
How to become an employer of choice means ensuring the people strategy considers all of these critical factors.
The benefits of being an employer of choice
Before understanding what actions are necessary for becoming an employer of choice it’s critical to understand how this drives the organization’s success. Read on below to find out more.
- Becoming an employer of choice makes recruitment easier.
HR needs to attract top talent. That much is clear. As per Harvard Business Review reporting, it’s this critical top talent that will have an outsized impact on business performance. Research shows that the top 1% of talent accounts for 10% of organizational output.
But how does becoming an employer of choice benefit this? Well by making the employee experience top tie, having a values-led organization, and focusing on giving your employees a choice and skills, you are likely to have a workforce that advocates for your organization to the wider market i.e. you’ve become the employer of choice.
Indeed, academic research, shared by the CIPD, finds that by becoming an employer that has a good reputation and talent wants to work for firms that outrank competitors.
- The benefits of becoming an employer of mean boosted productivity and bottom-line
Employers of choice are where top talent wants to head to. And where top talent also wants to stay. By focusing on becoming an employer of choice — by improving the employee experience, focussing on reward, inclusivity, digital tools, communication, and career progression, to name but a few aspects — organizations will better attract the staff they need and boost productivity. Indeed, keeping top staff around means better knowledge, better skills, and better delivery for clients. The proof is in the stats. Glassdoor research shows companies with satisfied employees experience higher profit growth than competitors.
- Improved customer satisfaction linked to being an employer of choice
ASCI found that a boost to a company’s Glassdoor rating results in a direct uptick in customer satisfaction levels. How does this work? Well focussing on improving life for employees, through their work experiences, boosts the employer brand. But the employer and the consumer brand are linked? When customers see employees are engaged, hard-working, and passionate about a product or service they’re more likely to want to inquire about what’s on offer.
Indeed, engaged employees can deliver exceptional client services and are more likely to advocate to customers about the business and what it offers
How to become an employer of choice
Employers have to act quickly on becoming an employer of choice. 2024 CIPD data found that over 80% of employers are taking action to improve how desirable are meaning the competition is on
If you want to act, read below to find out more.
1. Developing a people strategy
One of the clear first steps to take to become an employer with a desirable reputation is to develop a people strategy. Why? With the definition of an employer of choice involving the whole breadth of HR’s remit — from reward to how communication channels work at an organization — it’s important to align all HR practice areas strategically and coherently in order to provide deliver for your people, showcasing to outside candidates they need to work for you.
This people strategy needs to align with the business and should also involve reviewing each facet of HR practice (from L&D to leadership impact) to see how this might bring about the employer of choice benefits.
These are strategic-minded questions that can help ensure becoming an employer of choice.
2. Being strategic with employer branding
It’s critical to get branding right when trying to stand out in the recruitment landscape. Career Arc statistics show that 75% of candidates consider branding before applying while LinkedIn figures show that the companies with the best employer brands reduce their cost per hire.
By positioning the organizational brand effectively — communicating why it is an employer of choice, why it’s a great culture, why your EVP works, and how you’re improving the employee experience — you can more effectively access top talent, and get the edge over competitors while enhancing the organizational culture.
3.Improving the employee experience
Focusing on improving the employee experience is critical. But how to do this? There’s a long list of ways to improve the employee experience: from giving employees financial stability for work undertaken, to job security or even meaningful work and appreciation.
It could mean having regular reward strategy reviews, which include the employee voice, considering individualizing jobs and projects and understanding the benefits of performance reviews.
Many employers now try and personalize the experience, critical in a multi-generational, multi-cultural workforce, focus on wellbeing (through flexible work and fair time off) and offer wide professional development opportunities.
Why is this good? It means improving every interaction the individual has with the employer, which is how organizations will get the benefits of being an employer of choice. Examples include improving communication, uprating pay, ensuring diversity and ensuring development opportunities.It could also mean focusing on trying to drive employee engagement benefits.
4. Upskilling, reskilling, focusing on reward
Showcasing you are truly becoming an employer of choice means delivering on the total employee experience once a candidate has chosen you. It means ensuring employees understand you are delivering organizational values, help with career development opportunities, and create reward which is fair for the work undertaken. It could involve bonuses, internal gig opportunities, or even an employer award.
And with so much change – the World Economic Forum found that 85 million jobs will change due to AI by next year – employees want to know that they can grow and adapt as jobs and markets do around them. To do this organizations will provide reskilling or upskilling opportunities. Not forgetting the importance of fair and adequate reward.
The latter is particularly important: Glassdoor stats show money is still the top motivator for over two-thirds of jobseekers. The subtext? How to become an employer of choice will mean investment.
Become an employer of choice with Top Employer Institute
So what next? This article has looked at truly becoming an employer of choice, detailing what is the employer of definition is, the benefits and the important strategic steps.
Indeed, making the leap to standing out to top talent will involve making the employee experience stand out, engaging employees and being strategic with it. HR has to understanding what makes your organization appealing to candidates and turning this into a strategic win.
This will involve measuring, industry and competitor benchmarking, and information gathering in order to drive to become an employer of choice.
Indeed, becoming an employer of choice involves:
● Understanding your employer brand, how this compares to competitors, and what impacts how top talent perceives you.
● Building a brilliant employee experience – from development opportunities to how values impact their work, to reward and awards – drives engagement and resonates inside and outside the organization.
● Learning how all HR initiatives drive business success and how they need to continuously evolve for future success
It’s here that Top Employer’s Certification program, driven by data-led insights and advisory expertise, can improve your people practices by benchmarking your organization’s performance against other Top Employers around the globe through data-driven research and case studies.
The Certification Program also gives dedicated employers a chance to showcase how they deliver for employees and why candidates should consider them an employer of choice, giving them a Certification Seal to stand out against peers in a tough recruitment market.
So if you are ready to learn more about what is an employer of choice and join the likes of PepsiCo, Takeda, and Volkswagen (to name but a few) start on the path of becoming an employer of choice today.