CASE STUDY

5 Ways That HR Leaders Can Create a Better Workplace That Attracts Employees

If you've been to a destination wedding, you understand the attraction. A celebrated event taking place in a dreamy location you may never wish to leave.

In today's job market, many organizations aspire to become "destination workplaces".

They create an environment where employees personally and professionally grow and prosper. Creating such a culture helps businesses of all shapes and sizes attract and retain top talent. To paraphrase a heartwarming baseball movie: If you build it, they will come.

Read more about five methods that progressive public sector employers are deploying. They're geared toward assisting the recruitment of employees who show up on the first day and stick around for the long term.  

1. Define Your Brand and Values

Building a better brand and defining desirable company values helps you evolve into a destination workplace.

When you promote certain concepts and programs, qualified candidates join, stay and advance. Consider what employees value most:

  • Mobility: A chance to rise through the ranks.
  • Financial security: Opportunities to earn higher levels of pay.
  • Professional fulfillment: An internal path to career enhancement.

Incorporate all these growth-oriented planks into the platform of your corporate culture. The resultant win-win outcomes benefit your workforce and your bottom line.

2. Focus on the Employee Experience

To help enhance employee engagement, you can include the following steps in your strategy:

Improve onboarding experiences. Employers would do well to "mind the gap". The period between when a candidate accepts an offer and that new employee's first day on the job. Make employees immediately feel like a teammate by communicating frequently. Mail packets with some branded promotional items can help a new hire feel welcome.

Implement flexible work arrangements. When you promote work-life balance, you need to fulfill promises. Hybrid work-from-home arrangements and generous PTO allotments are a must. These give new hires tangible proof that family-first principles aren't merely promises posted in an employee handbook.

3. Foster a Culture of Learning and Growth

Human resource leaders must endeavor to promote growth from the inside and outside.

Top talent wants educational opportunities and clearly navigable paths to company advancement. Allow learning pursuits to take place within the organization. Employees might also explore career growth through mentorship programs. Workers should also be able to seek degrees or certifications through universities or technical schools. Encouraging a quest for knowledge strengthens employee loyalty and helps define a culture of support.

Sharing the cost for such employee possibilities translates into a prudent business investment. Return on that investment gets realized through the growth of your personnel and the health of your balance sheet.

4. Prioritize Employee Well-being and Work-Life Balance

Wellness programs offered on a standalone basis or through health insurance carriers can help employees manage physical health and well-being. These endeavors encourage activities like exercise and judicious eating habits.

More evolved employee assistance programs (EAP) have begun to gain greater traction with innovative employers. They focus more on maintaining healthy spirits and minds. EAPs grant easy virtual or physical access to providers who can help employees manage stress and find deeper meaning.

Work-life balance can be enhanced through a more flexible paid time off policy. For employees with family, consider designing leave scenarios that extend beyond Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guidelines.

5. Build a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace

You want to pull from the broadest possible talent pool available.

One way to find the most promising candidates involves setting standards for inclusive hiring practices. Establish diversity goals for hiring-- and meet them. Fulfilling this objective sends a message to prospects and current employees. The message conveys that eliminating hiring bias and discrimination is actionable and not just lip service.

The positivity of an inclusive culture pervades the organization. It begins during the hiring process and sinks deep into the fabric of your existing workforce.

Key Takeaways

Becoming a destination employer-- like destination life events and celebrations-- involves transporting employees to an ideal place for a long-term stay.

To create that environment, you must:

  • First, understand the ideals and values that most recruits seek in a new employer.
  • Provide a seamless and welcoming onboarding experience as well as flexible work schedules that appear on top of prospects' priority lists.
  • Offer educational opportunities inside and outside the organization to help increase employee engagement and loyalty.
  • Give access to both physical and mental employer-sponsored health initiatives.
  • Create a culture of diversity and inclusion by eliminating bias and discrimination in the hiring process.
RegisterDOWNLOAD PRESENTATION
Human resources departments can land skilled and productive recruits by putting together cutting-edge packages of alluring fringe benefits and captivating perks.
5 Ways That HR Leaders Can Create a Better Workplace That Attracts EmployeesDOWNLOAD
No items found.

About CPS HR Consulting

CPS HR Consulting is a self-supporting public agency providing a full range of integrated HR solutions to government and nonprofit clients across the country.  Our strategic approach to increasing the effectiveness of human resources results in improved organizational performance for our clients.  We have a deep expertise and unmatched perspective in guiding our clients in the areas of organizational strategy, recruitment and selection, classification and compensation, and training and development.