As an employer, you should invest in training and development programs to foster employee growth. You should also respect employees' needs for work-life balance by offering flexible work arrangements and family benefits. Finally, you should create a favorable work environment through amenities like recreation areas and healthy cafeterias to promote well-being and maximize employee satisfaction.
1. 1. Invest in training and development:
As an employer, you are expected to increasingly recognize the importance of fostering an environment of growth and learning to bring out
the best in everyone and truly advance the stars. You can develop in-house training departments, ally your company with special training
houses and universities, send employees to relevant external training programs identified by themselves in conjunction with their
supervisors, offer internal rotational programs and overseas assignments as a key career development opportunity and commit to your
employees learning and development in a multitude of other creative and meaningful ways. Besides the company's training activities, career
plans and professional development opportunities ought to be routinely discussed and formalized. One your employees feel your company
has invested in them in this manner, they are far more likely to uphold its best interests and keep an eye to furthering its goals and enhancing
its welfare.
2. Respect employee's needs for work/life balance:
The days of clocking in 24 hour days to pay your dues and earn your company stripes have thankfully given way to a nicer, gentler culture at
most of today's organizations as more and more employees have made it clear that achieving work/life balance is an overriding priority for
them. As a top employer today, you should be cutting no corners in ensuring you do nurture and retain top talent by taking a more holistic
approach to your employees' welfare. Work arrangements increasingly available at leading corporations – and which you should aim to
implement - include flexible hours, part-time, job-sharing, telecommuting in additions to sabbaticals for long-serving personnel or those
pursuing special outside interests and extended leave periods for new parents. To cater to the latter specifically, more and more companies
are also offering on-site day care, vital family support hotlines and more comprehensive family benefits (Why not consider looking into some
of those?) Make sure you are doing what it takes - within the realms of reason and sound business practice - to respect and cater to your key
employees’ priorities outside of the office and take into consideration the full circumstances of their lives and the outside demands on those
lives.
3. Create favorable work conditions:
A vital responsibility in being the Top Employer that you are today consists of increasingly employing creative measures to invest in your
employees’ well-being and this extends to providing workplaces and work conditions that are pleasant and conducive to innovation, hard
work, creativity and productivity. Besides generous vacation schemes which employees should be actively encouraged to take and frequent
offsites to get away from the grind, wellbeing during office hours could also be nurtured with onsite recreation areas, gyms, office sports
teams and friendly company cafeterias that offer wholesome, healthy foods. Meetings, communication flow, company activities, office and
communal area layouts should all be designed to promote a sense of inclusion and well-being and to maximize employees' level of
satisfaction and encourage their active participation. As a top employer yourself you are undoubtedly aware that employees who feel your
company cares for them and respects them are in turn far more committed and more likely to contribute positively to the company’s welfare
and bottom line.
4. Maintain open channels of communication:
As a top employer firmly entrenched in the “most efficient employers” zone, you are also undoubtedly aware of the importance of allowing a
smooth and unhampered flow of information and communications across layers and functions. Make sure you are encouraging employees at
all times to articulate their ideas, aspirations and concerns; and also keep them up to date, through regular communications, with regards to
the company's direction, vision, mission, objectives, performance and new initiatives. Conducting regular employee appraisals is a must as is
allowing for 360 degree feedback (where employees are also permitted to voice their concerns with and expectations of the organisation and
their immediate management). Ask employees routinely during these appraisals - and in other forums - what extra responsibilities they would
like to assume. Discuss their goals, aspirations and short and long-term objectives and factor them into the unit's planning activities.
Listening to employees, even when their requests cannot be met, is a vital ingredient in enhancing employee loyalty. Successful employee
engagement also requires honest and constructive feedback on a routine basis. This feedback is vital both as a motivational tool and in
channeling talent in the right direction, building on strengths and addressing weaknesses.
5. Create an environment of diversity and inclusion:
Employees who feel valued, respected and included are more likely to contribute positively to your company's bottom line and display loyalty
and commitment to the company. Many companies have taken concrete steps to foster an atmosphere where employees of every rank are
included in the decision-making process and their input on all matters big and small is valued and appreciated – why not follow their steps
and look into diversity programs, cross-cultural hiring practices and culture committees which promote emotional well-being across the
organisation (through social and team-building events)? These are all increasingly important tools in the human resources lexicon of today's
progressive organizations. Many leading corporations have also formalized coaching programs whereby trained psychologists and/or
coaches work with top employees to help them understand their own strengths and priorities and consequently to map their potential
contributions to the corporation and their own professional advancement over the short, medium and long term.
6. Formalize reward and recognition programs:
Studies have shown, time and time again, that employees who feel valued, recognized and appreciated are the most loyal. As a Top
Employer, you must make sure formal mechanisms for evaluating and rewarding employees are in place, are competitive and are in sync
with industry norms. Do recognize outstanding performance and reward it on a periodic basis. Do set regular special initiatives that identify,
celebrate, motivate and incentivize your star employees and promote their loyalty and retention. A meritocratic environment where driven,
career-minded professionals earn the rewards and recognition they deserve for their special efforts is one that will be most successful in
retaining key personnel over the long-term.
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2. 7. Participate in community outreach programs:
Corporate philanthropy has shown to increase employee loyalty. Why not adopt CSR programs- not just as a means to give back and to
participate in your larger communities but also as a measure to win the support and respect of your employees? Employees feel a greater
sense of pride and purpose working with an employer that is publicly committed to altruism, particularly when the causes the company is
committed to are in line with theirs and benefit the greater community in a tangible manner.
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