It’s a jobseekers market, and with more information available than ever before, talent is armed with the data they need to make an informed decision about where they want to work. It’s up to hiring managers to win their fealty by presenting the kind of workplace their candidates will think of as modern and nurturing. Remember, when candidates sign on the dotted line and accept a new job, they’re making a decision as impactful on their day-to-day happiness as the choice of a new apartment or signifiant other. So here are 11 ways to make that choice easier for them.
1) Competitive Compensation– Even in late stage capitalism, money is the brass ring, and as stated most jobseekers are looking for more of it. New avenues of information (like Comparably) mean the old days of salaries being closely-guarded secrets – even among the employees of the same company – are fading fast. Jobseekers can easily find out how much they should make in a particular role, as well as how much they should make at your company compared to other salary records they have access to.
2) Location– When you’re a jobseeker in a market like this, first impressions on the part of the potential employer are very important. If your candidate can drive up and park at a seaside, well-kept, modern office park before their interview, you can consider a good percentage of the battle won. If, however, they have to drive across train tracks into a dusty fenced-in parking lot paired with a stumpy, non-descript industrial building, you better hope you’ve got some exciting, must-have perks indoors.
3) Benefits– The spread of perks & benefits offered by modern startups is quite extensive, with more office bonuses being dreamed up all the time. Point being, a jobseeker will put a lot of weight on the benefits offered by a respective employer, as that new suite of perks is comparably to the new push-button devices one finds most attractive in a new automobile (“My last car didn’t have power windows, but just look at how fast these babies slide!”). Consider health and vacation and even maternity benefits as expected, and work to come up with a few extras specific to your business or industry. A newly hatched idea for a perk or benefit can be undeniably appealing to a jobseeker.
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4) Positive Work Environment– How American companies were able to get away for so long (and many still do) by offering shabby, unloved, uncomfortable workplaces to their workforces is a mystery, but the most basic tenets of psychology maintain that if you want your workers to do a good job and be happy, make sure the place that you’re asking them to spend half their lives is an appealing place for them to work away those hours. What you want is a workspace that feels upbeat and encouraging, with the space for jobseekers to spread their wings and prove to you their value.
5) Commute time– In a jobseekers’ market, commute time becomes hugely important. If you’re not desperately hunting for a job in order to make ends meet, chances are the jobseeker is looking to improve their experiencing of working on the fronts of salary, benefits, and even seemingly banal elements like how long it takes to get back and forth to and from work each day. If you can offer your candidate a 15-minute ride to the office in the morning, that can be a major perk that could – at the outset of a new job – supersede several other more traditional ones.
6) Sense of Purpose – Some sense of civil duty has awakened in the people of the U.S., and they no longer are as easily satisfied by their employer just because they can afford to sign their paychecks and manage to stay above water. Modern jobseekers want their lives to be about more than just buying a house and getting a vacation in the Gulf of Mexico every year. They want their companies to have a sense of purpose when it comes to improving the world, and jobseekers want to join a crusade they can believe in. The American Dream has grown up, in a way, to include more than simple amenities or security for the individual and their families. It has become the dream of a better world for everyone, and modern businesses looking to hire the best talent need to understand the stakes.
7) Good corporate citizenship – Along those same lines, today’s jobseekers want to hitch their star to a company that behaves with social responsibility, and not just as a standalone moneymaker. This is becoming increasingly important to investors as well as jobseekers. This doesn’t mean that jobseekers don’t want to work for a profitable company, but also one that cares about the community that surrounds it.
8) Shared values – Company values are easy to pay lip-service to, but companies that really walk the values walk do a better job of attracting just the kind of employees everyone wants: ethical, dedicated candidates that will invest themselves in a company for the long haul.
9) Employee reviews– Jobseekers are also interested in sites like Comparably, because that’s where they can read anonymous review of a company left by current employees who have a sense of what its like to work for the company in question right now. If your company has unhappy employees (not to mention ex-employees), its no longer as easy to keep that information from the curious public.
10) Flexibility– Another widely offered perk available to many jobseekers is a flexible schedule. Whether this means employees keep their own unique hours in the office or work entirely from home, the concept that work means sitting at your desk for the same 8 hours a day every day (while everyone else does the same thing) is beginning to erode as the norm, in favor of an arrangement that puts more trust on the employee to get their work done.
11) Autonomy– The appeal of job autonomy tends to waver generationally. Gen X likes to work alone, but Millennial like to work in groups, or so goes the cliché. But no worker doesn’t appreciate the kind of employer who trusts them to get their jobs done without too much oversight.
