Jenn Bouyoukos is VP of People at Bench.co, with 25 years of experience delivering modern, high-impact HR strategies worldwide.
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The world of work has come a long way. Companies finally understand the importance of work-life balance, company culture and treating their employees as whole human beings to attract and retain top talent. For the past decade, companies have been transforming their workplaces into fun and inviting spaces with perks such as cereal stations, foosball tables, smoothie bars and more.
However, today’s employees are realizing those camera-friendly perks are often a lot of sizzle and no steak. Sure, they look fun and interesting, but employees have discovered those perks don’t actually signify an employer’s commitment to employee wellness, nor are they for everyone. After all, what’s the point of a foosball table if you’re too overworked to use it?
Today, companies that want to attract and retain top talent need to personalize the job experience to each employee, and it’s not that difficult to do. With a few easy tweaks, any organization can tailor the work experience to its employees so they feel recognized as full human beings with intricate lives and personalities outside work.
Personalize Job Plans So Employees Can Own Their Work
Job descriptions rarely fit the true day-to-day activities of each new hire, which can lead to feelings of dissonance and dissatisfaction for the employee. They tell us the “what” but leave out the “how.”
Once an employee is hired, work together to create a personalized job plan. This outlines what skills need to be learned, what relationships need to be built, what support the candidate will need and how they will leverage their own talents and strengths to perform the job well. Including the candidate in the job planning process provides a feeling of autonomy and ownership because they can make the job their own.
Know Each Employee’s Unique EVP
Your organization’s employee value proposition encompasses everything that makes an employee want to work for your company. This usually includes pay, benefits, company culture, flexible scheduling, the potential for growth, etc.
But those aren’t the only things that motivate employees to do their best work. Each employee has their own set of job aspects that they truly value. For example, working parents tend to treasure a flexible schedule. Others will love working on innovative technology or helping solve a global problem.
It’s important for managers to know each employee’s unique EVP because this makes the employee feel seen, heard and valued, and it can also help the manager motivate the employee through tough times. For example, an employee who values working with interesting clients probably won’t be motivated by a discussion about the company’s balance sheets. When motivation is tailored to the specific individual’s EVP, it’s more likely to hit home.
The best way to find out each employee’s unique EVP is to ask, either individually or through company surveys, and check in often, as an employee’s EVP could change throughout their career with your organization.
Set Up Support Systems For Your Employees
Setting up support systems for employees and their families is not a gimmick. It’s a real demonstration that your organization cares.
The days of a health benefit plan being good enough to keep employees happy are over. Your employees are more than their health, vision and dental plans. Today’s employees want more robust and comprehensive support for their whole being and their families. Adding an employee assistance program to your benefits package is one way to help.
EAPs are work-based benefits programs that offer a wide variety of services at low or no cost for employees. EAPs often include services such as financial planning, legal help, elder care assistance, help finding childcare, mental health services, professional coaching and more. By offering your employees an EAP, you show that you recognize they have intricate lives outside work and want to offer support for the whole person.
Support Nontraditional Career Continuums
Unconventional career moves are no longer all that unconventional. Today’s employees, especially younger generations, go up, down, over, back out and in again. Job hopping has become the norm.
If you want to keep your employees, and you do, because employee acquisition and hiring are a drain on company resources, create a system to support career continuums whichever way they go within your organization.
Allow your employees to try different positions within your organization, so they can expand their horizons without putting in their notices. While you’re holding their original positions for them during the trial period, hire freelancers or contractors to fill the gap. This is an extra cost, but it is far less expensive than the cost of finding and hiring someone new if an employee leaves to obtain the new experience they want somewhere else.
Tailoring The Work Experience Is The New Company Culture
If you want to attract and retain great employees, foosball tables don’t cut it anymore. Today, employee acquisition and retention are all about giving employees what they really need: support, opportunity and recognition as a whole person.
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