Becoming an Employer of Choice – How Can Reward Help You Get There?

How often do you hear companies talking about becoming an employer of choice? This may not be surprising where high levels of engagement typically produce better business performance. As an employer of choice you also expect to be able to attract and recruit candidates of first choice to grow your success. And you can expect to retain your existing staff. However the reality is that employers striving to become an employer of choice do not get there by chance. Furthermore, as the winners of the Best Company awards will testify, there is no guarantee of maintaining that position.

What characteristics do employers of choice commonly share? Key factors such as personal growth, leadership and the organisation's record for giving something back to society feature highly in this year's Best Companies to Work For awards. These are just three of the eight key factors which the Best Companies Awards uses to rate employers. For example, employees at Heat, the 2008 winner for medium sized employers, scored 77% on ‘giving something back' and 81% on employee wellbeing. KPMG, this year's big company winner scored top marks in ‘fair dealing over pay and benefits', ‘relationships with my manager' and personal growth.

Look at the Tips section for information on what steps can help you become an employer of choice.

Tips: What 5 Steps Can Help You Become an Employer of Choice?

• Know your current position – Do you know how effective you are in recruiting your first choice candidates or retaining your key performers? Are you clear on how engaged people are? Why does it vary across the organisation? Gather evidence on key factors that relate to recruitment, retention and engagement to build up a clear picture of your current position.

• Have a clear vision and goals – This may sound an obvious statement though experience shows that it can get overlooked or the rhetoric does not always match the reality. Establish a vision which aligns to your culture, values and business goals. This is the cornerstone of building a successful organisation with a strong reputation.

• Broaden your reward package – It may go without saying that pay and benefits need to be aligned to the relevant market. However, once the financial rewards are right, focus on the total reward offer as a way of differentiating yourself. In practical terms, this includes career and development opportunities; the work environment from the job role to flexible working, autonomy and of course recognition. Don't forget about the importance of great leadership.

• Involve your employees and line managers – To create a great place to work, you need to know what employees like about working for you. If good people are leaving, do you know the reasons why? Find out what your employees and line managers' value when it comes to reward and wider people management practices. Always make sure that feedback is taken into account (especially that of line managers) when designing and implementing reward systems.

• Live up to your employer brand – When it comes to differentiating yourself from the competition, building a credible employer brand that sets you apart is compelling. Make sure your reward policies and practices fully support the brand values. As an example, companies who showcase their green credentials need to ensure their car and travel policies actually support these values. If the policies don't or they actually work against them, rectify this quickly.

Website Of The Month

We look at The 2008 Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work for. It is the biggest annual survey of its kind in the UK. Each year participants are rated on how employees rate their employers against 8 factors. These cover leadership, feelings towards your employer, relationships with managers and colleagues, employee wellbeing, personal growth, fair dealing over pay and benefits to the organisation's record for giving something back to society.

Why look at the site? – If your goal is to become an employer of choice, then the top 100 line-up of the biggest UK survey is important. The survey has 3 employer categories from ‘big' to SME (small & medium enterprises) across all industry from private; pubic and the not-for-profit sector. It shows how employers fare against factors such as employee wellbeing and pay & benefits.

What works well? – It's easy to cross compare employers by criteria such as leadership and there is a summary for each ‘top 100' employer which includes sales; employee turnover as well as the 8-factor rating scores. The winners serve as a useful reminder of what employees' value. The top 2008 SME winner was a Bradford based debt counselling charity whose employees scored 98.2% for senior managers ‘living the values' of the organisation.

What could be improved? – Like any survey, it is worth remembering that while participating companies generally nominate themselves, there is some exemplary employment practice also demonstrated by employers who do not participate.

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