The day after Thanksgiving is known for two things:
1) Thanksgiving Day Leftovers (yum!)
and
2) Black Friday
What is Black Friday? Black Friday is the day that most retailers offer discounted merchandise and customers flock in herds to take advantage of the savings.
This got me thinking… Can employers learn something about Black Friday and adopt some of the principles to help become an employer of choice? I think so and would like to here your thoughts on my Top 3 Ways to Become a “Black Friday” Employer:
Reputation is EVERYTHING. If you want to have a business that builds buzz as a company to work for, you have to be known for it. Having a reputation for treating employees with respect, developing an open and transparent culture and always taking (and considering) suggestions from staff members can go a long way. With recent stats saying 26% of jobs are filled by employee referrals, it will serve you well to have your employees serve as some of your greatest advocate.
Give the people what they want. To the degree possible, it would be of great benefit to you to consider some of the more “in-demand” benefits. These include telecommuting, flex scheduling, tuition remission and lower health care premiums. All of these benefits have been shown to increase productivity, retention and employee satisfaction. Happier employees are more productive employees and this increases your bottom line. If you aren’t sure, how about asking? Create a survey for your employees to see what benefits they would like to see offered during the new year.
Flex your tech muscles. No one wants to be known as a tech dinosaur. As more Gen Y enter the workplace, there is becoming an increasing demand for technology in the workplace. In HR alone, technology plays a role in making work easy by way of social recruitment, ATS (applicant tracking system), HRIS databases and online administered benefits. At this point, paper-intensive processes are a thing of the past and can serve as a point of reservation for potential new employees. Show that you are forward thinking in the area of technology and your employees with thank you. If you are reading this and have no idea what a LinkedIn account is then it may be time for immediate help!
If you follow these principles, you can take your company culture from this:
To this:
What are your thoughts?
