How to Make a Business More Attractive to Employees
New startups, small companies, big giants, and everyone in between need one thing to stay afloat – a dedicated workforce. If you’re a business owner, your employees are the backbone of your operation. The people you hire to work for and represent your company can make the difference between running a profitable brand and losing revenue.
Regardless of what field of business you’re in, your employees need to feel happy, satisfied, and respected at work. To keep hold of your team and to create a positive work culture, here are some tips on how to make your business more attractive to employees.
Offer Flexible Working
Flexible working has become increasingly popular in recent years, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If your team has worked from home over the last year, you may find that some of them (or all) want to stay put. As restrictions begin to lift and life gets back to normal, rather than bringing everyone back into the office full-time, finding a balance between the two may be beneficial for employees.
Having the option to work from home on some days, starting later and finishing earlier is very attractive to employees. If your company can afford to provide this option, it’s wise to do so. If you use the right tech to keep in touch with your team, flexible working is one of the best ways to make your company more appealing to your team and new recruits.
Define Your Benefits
One of the best ways to make your company stand out from the crowd and appealing to employees is by defining your employee benefits. These can come in all shapes and sizes and include the likes of pension schemes, family leave support, and employee benefits insurance. When recruiting new people to the team, you need to offer tantalizing benefits. This will entice new hires into working for your brand.
You’ll find that new and existing employees will compare your benefits to other businesses. Therefore, offering incentives that match or beat your rivals is key. If you look after your employees, they’re likely to be more productive with their work.
Offer Competitive Pay Levels
While it may sound like an obvious tip, you’ll be surprised how many businesses think they can offer lower wages in the hope of bringing new hires to the team. Your employees should be on a healthy salary that correlates with their duties and responsibilities. If you’re not sure what to offer, it’s wise to conduct research and examine what other employers are paying for positions similar to yours. Then you can match the salary or increase it to lure more people in.
It doesn’t pay off to scrimp and save when it comes to an employee’s salary. If a prospective candidate finds a similar role with more money attached, they’re likely to go for it, rather than sticking to your company.
Create a Positive Workplace Culture
When employees rock into the office, they want to feel motivated, happy, and ready to get stuck into their workload. The environment employees work in needs to be a positive one, so if you’ve noticed a decline in productivity, it’s time to take action. For companies who want to attract the best employees, you need to have a workplace culture that stands out.
There are all kinds of incentives and activities you can put on which will encourage a positive atmosphere amongst staff while ensuring standards don’t slip. These can include casual days, office parties, and drinks after work. Employees spend more time in the workplace than anywhere else, so you’ll want to create a workplace culture that keeps everyone happy and content.
Empower Your Team
As the head of a business, how you conduct yourself matters. Instead of making your team feel like they’re puppets on a string who adhere to everything management want, you should give them more freedom and have faith in their abilities. If you’re constantly looking over your team’s shoulders as they work, this can cause stress and anxiety.
Knowing how to motivate, inspire and lead your team towards success is vital, especially when it comes to retaining employees. Make sure you hold regular group and individual meetings that can serve as a perfect opportunity to run through projects and tasks and provide words of wisdom.
Make Your Workplace Accessible to All
In the modern world we live in, there are no excuses for not offering a welcoming workplace to employees. This includes individuals with mobility issues or disabilities. You need to ensure your workplace has the correct facilities, so anyone and everyone can join and work for your business. Simple measures like installing ramps and having a disabled lift will go a long way. Making such adaptions will help you attract a broader range of talent, as well as boost your business reputation.
When employees feel respected, they’re likely to tell their friends and family about your brand, which will improve your public profile too.
Prioritize Health and Safety
Understandably, when employees step into the office, they want to know they’re in an environment where their health and safety are paramount. As we maneuver through unprecedented times, it’s more important than ever to prioritize your team’s health and wellbeing. When navigating through the recruiting process, you need to show potential employees that you have gone to great lengths in regards to hygiene, cleanliness, and accountability. If someone is on the fence about working for your brand, they may go in the opposite direction if they don’t believe you’re taking health and safety seriously enough.
All new and existing employees should receive on-the-job training, so they’re aware of any hazards in the workplace. When you put your employees’ needs first, this will keep your operation afloat.
To keep hold of your top talent, you’re going to need to pull out all the stops to show your value and appreciation. There are lots of simple yet effective strategies like those above which can transform your workplace for the better and reduce staff turnover.
