The New Laws of Attraction for Hiring & Retaining Talent

Remember the movie The Secret, it concludes that the new law of attraction is based on "likes attract likes". The “secret sauce” for a company trying to hire the right talent often involves creating the best workplace culture to attract the best talent. There is no doubt that combining a highly-engaged workplace culture, a unique brand message, and data-driven talent acquisition strategy will improve a companies ability to hire and retain key talent.

First things first, companies should consider reviewing their employee value proposition, creating a balance of rewards and recognition for employees in return for their contribution and performance. Next determine how workplace culture is viewed internally.  Once your workplace culture framework has been agreed on by both employees and the leadership team, it is time to reveal your employer brand message to a targeted audience of talent that you would like to attract. The following information identifies the new laws of talent attraction and employee retention.

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"Great companies in the way they work, start with great leaders"   - Steve Ballmer,Former CEO Microsoft

The Employer Brand Experience Attracts and Retains Talent

A company’s employer brand experience determines employee engagement levels and the anticipated experience of candidates who are interviewing for open positions.  The days of employees performing at a high-level by solely relying on increased compensation methods is becoming an historical footnote.  Highly-engaged employees are becoming one of the biggest competitive differentiators in today's business marketplace.(need source/data to support) Many talented professionals today are searching for the 3 T's in their next career opportunity.

1. Transparency… creates openness in the workplace.

2. Trust… creates relationship building with both the executive team & co-workers.

3. Training… creates opportunity and challenge.

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Key Steps to Increase Employee Engagement

1. CEO's and the executive team members need to lead a “trust-based” workplace culture initiative that supports both the minds and hearts of employees.

2. Line managers and directors endowed with emotional intelligence are well suited for the role of employee engagement leaders.

3. Every employee is an individual, determine as early as possible what motivates them and their career objectives.

4. Infuse a socially conscious purpose as part of your employer brand that aligns with your workplace culture. 

5. Develop cross-training and mentorship programs to share workplace intellectual capital and create a culture that rewards performance and *employee leadership contributions.

6. (this is not really a step, it is a result of the steps) Once a transparent and highly engaged workplace culture has been established, key employees will reciprocate by increasing their engagement levels and commitment to your employer brand.

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"Hiring Mistakes Cost Zappos.com

100 Million"   - Tony Hsieh

Great Company Cultures need an Irresistible Employer Brand Message to Attract Talent; Creative Interviewing Strategies Determine Hiring the Right Talent

Finding compatible talent with the the skill-set your company needs to grow is both time consuming and costly.  Many companies don't take the time to develop the right employer brand message, target the right talent communities, or develop a comprehensive interview strategy. Finding and hiring the right talent will not only enhance your workplace culture, but it can also be critical to your company’s long term success.

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Key Steps in Attracting and Hiring the Talent for your Workplace Culture.

1. Create a workplace branding partnership between your marketing, communications and talent acquisition leaders to develop a compelling employer brand message and strategy.  

2. Recruit key employees to become Employer Brand Ambassadors tasked with promoting your workplace culture message through social media.

3. Develop a diverse talent sourcing strategy (traditional, social media, internal referrals to name a few) to target and attract compatible talent. 

4. Talent acquisition and human resource leaders should oversee the interview process strategies and hiring metrics to determine available talent, compensation, the ratio of accepted offers and successful hires. 

5. Good Interviewing skills based on asking well-thought-out questions to determine skill levels and most importantly the candidates compatibility with your workplace culture is critical.

6. The interview team should  share a unified employer brand message and what differentiate their brand from other companies.

7. The goal should be to hire compatible talent who have the skills and emotional intelligence to add real value to your workplace culture and your company’s success.

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ROEE (Return on Employee Engagement) is the new ROI.  

- Win-Win@Work

Employer Brand Management Strategies Retains Key Employees 

Once the workplace culture and employer brand message has been established, managing the day-to-day employment experience is important. Retaining key employees by utilizing sound employee engagement strategies saves money, time and workplace intellectual capital. Various estimates point out the cost of losing a middle manager can cost an organization up to 25 to 50% of his or her salary. Key employee retention is critical to the long term success of your companies growth.

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Key steps in retaining key employees:

1. Creating a framework on how employees can succeed and clarity on day-to-day expectations are key management initiatives for retaining key employees.

2. Coaching and promoting employee leadership* principles to encourage employee engagement.

3. Listen to your employees, do not take them for granted. Highly engaged employees are motivated to get things done vs. going through the motions.

4. Encourage work/life balance in the workplace, show appreciation for hard work,  allow employees to make a difference above and beyond their job description.

5. Fun and laughter are an important part of a successful workplace culture, it is all about being productive and creative with the feeling of time just flying by.

6. Continuous improvement of your workplace culture, connected to a shared common purpose is a powerful combination for hiring and retaining compatible employees.

7. Consider utilizing an employee engagement software platform that offers gamification strategies, engagement surveys, online learning, and employee referral incentives.

*Win-Win@Work defines employee leadership (individual contributors and line managers) as taking personal responsibility for how your daily decisions and actions effect workplace engagement levels for both yourself and your co-workers.  It can be best described as your ability to influence your co-workers to be more engaged (productive and creative) in the workplace by building relationships based on showing appreciation for your co-workers efforts, accountability, and leading by example. We believe employee leadership skills are critical in creating a highly-engaged workplace.

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Please contact Win-Win@Work if you have any questions on attracting and retaining top talent. Win-Win@Work is a talent acquisition, employer

branding and employee engagement advisory service.

visit winwinatwork.com