Is there a beauty secret?
Rarely has the professional world experienced such upheaval as in recent years. A positive side effect: young professionals, high potentials, and skilled workers who were previously difficult to attract are actively looking for jobs. Those who now understand how to seize the opportunity within the crisis and win over the best of the best will secure a clear and sustainable competitive advantage.
Now more than ever, it is crucial to position oneself as an attractive employer. But what exactly makes an employer attractive? Is there a "beauty ideal" – THE ideal employer? What specifically needs to be done to win the "war for talents"? There are plenty of surveys and studies on the topic, and in principle, one would only need to follow their results. Annoyingly, they vary quite a bit depending on who is surveyed, when, and how. So we took a look at current study results in German-speaking regions and listed all the criteria that determine employer attractiveness. And here is the result.
In summary, an outstanding employer must offer the following:
An exciting range of tasks, a pleasant working atmosphere, career opportunities, creative freedom, flexible working hour models, decision-making autonomy, long-term job security, provisions, stable core values, a well-equipped workplace, appropriate salary, social benefits, work-life balance, short commutes, a good image, appreciation, recognition, a matching corporate culture, meaningful work, talent management, personal responsibility, creativity, challenges, participation offers, team-oriented work, flexibility, talent management, cutting-edge technology, further training opportunities, security, additional benefits, an international environment, innovation, varied tasks, empowerment, family-friendly working hours, a leadership style at eye level, benefits, digitalization, individual support, a family-friendly environment, health promotion, development opportunities, and a clear vision for the future.
In principle, this could be our checklist now (checklists that you can tick off point by point are wonderful!) and bam – most attractive employer in the world! Only… unfortunately, it's not quite that simple – on the one hand, because we can only work with the resources we have: There is nothing we would rather do than add a zero to our employees' paychecks and align working hours with their individual biorhythms. On the other hand, we are not even sure whether everyone should find us equally attractive. Actually, we want a team that is not only top-notch professionally, but also fits our mindset. And people can only find us if we show ourselves as we are. But one thing at a time…
FIRST step of our beauty project: Creating order – Categorizing
First, we need a logical pattern so that we can work through one point after another. This is where PERSENTIS comes into play: The analytical tool for targeted attraction & retention management emotional (which includes working atmosphere, loyalty/responsibility, and identification), calculative (e.g., salary and working hours), and growth-oriented (factors concerning professional and personal development). A little bit of structure makes things much clearer.
SECOND step: A look in the mirror – Reflecting
Before we deal with our appeal and consider how best to present ourselves on the job market, we take a close look in the mirror and survey our employees, because externally, you can only credibly stand for something that is actually lived internally.
THIRD step: Debits and credits – Prioritizing & Optimizing
First, we look at what we can already move to the credit side (a few ticks on the checklist instantly put you in a good mood). If our PERSENTIS results show that employees particularly appreciate the training opportunities, for example, we put a big green checkmark next to it and make sure it stays that way.
Then we take an unsparing look at our flaws – we don't want to say popping pimples now – but yes, that's exactly what it is like. Sources of inflammation need to be treated; that is the only way we can create the basis for positive development.
After that, we check if there are things we are not far away from putting on the credit side and that can be achieved with little effort. We put these right at the top of our to-do list. This allows us to improve step by step and build up or expand a credible, positive employer image.
FOURTH step: Showing what you've got – Presenting
Now it's time to "flirt": A subtle make-up is fine, after all, you want to shine and show off your assets when you want to win someone over. Special highlights – the points that really set us apart from others – are our precision weapons in the "war for talents". You can find out which ones these are in your PERSENTIS results under "Top Recruiting Arguments".
CONCLUSION:
There is no universally valid standard recipe for employer attractiveness. But that doesn't matter at all, because then everyone would be "beautiful" to the same extent and in the same way. It is neither possible nor sensible to be attractive to all job seekers. Rather, it's about making the most of yourself, figuring out your special features – the small things that give character and that you can "fall in love" with. This is how what belongs together comes together. A strong, consistent, loyal team can emerge and grow together. And don't forget: True beauty comes from within!
