"Why should I work for you?"
If you are a hiring manager of any kind, have you asked yourself this question from the perspective of your target employee?
"Why should I work for you?"
In terms of Administrative Professionals, statistics say 79% of employers will be hiring Administrative Assistants of some kind in 2016. For a moment, think of the options a job seeker has to consider at this point in time...
- Schedule, Culture Fit, Benefits, Vacation, Compensation, Location, Flexibility with Child Care, Long-Term Opportunity....
These are just a few of the considerations we make as we consider taking a position. If we consider 79% of companies are all competing for your target employee, it is absolutely a valid exercise to consider why someone should work for your company when there are so many options in the labor market.
My goal is not to answer the question for you. My goal is to encourage you to take some time to self-examine, or maybe gather your leadership team and challenge each other on this question. Some tips for this exercise...
- Be brave enough to be honest. Sugar coating how great you are will simply be a waste of time for all involved. In fact, if you to have employees brave enough to speak up and you ignore their feedback or minimize their comments, it could actually erode loyalty.
- Ask your team! If you want to know why people should work for you, ask your current employees. However, sometimes what they don't say is more telling than what they do say. Be thoughtful in your process and be appreciative of a thorough sincere answer even if you don't particularly agree.
- Own it! If turnover is high, understand what is causing people to leave. Understand it and own it so you can make appropriate changes.
- Simply throwing money at a problem is not a valid solution. If you have a negative work environment (for example), sooner or later everyone is going to look at the balance and money will not tip the scale in your direction. Is compensation important? Yes. But few people will stay long term at a job they hate...regardless of the money.
A good friend of mine Kelly Walz shared a comment with me years ago in a training session. She said we all have a perspective. It's not about right or wrong its about "the way you see it, the way I see it, and the way it is." You need to understand "The Way It Is" respective to how attractive you are to employees. If you don't like they way it is, change it so you can keep those rock-star employees happy and satisfied.