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Identify an employer of choice

What is an employer of choice?

Employer of Choice is a key employment strategy designed to position an organisation as a "great place to work". Employers of Choice distinguish themselves from other employers in the areas of pay/benefits, career and personal development opportunities, business ethics and ethical products and services, job security, pride in work, work/life balance, strong leadership and progressive management, flexible work environment, organizational culture that values learning and caring, openness/fairness and friendliness.

How do you identify an employer of choice?

The following are ways to help your next career be with your Employer of Choice:

Collaborate with your recruitment consultant
Recruitment consultants gather intimate knowledge of their clients' organisational culture and values, company structure, career opportunities available, employee benefits and employment details. By collaborating with your consultant as much as you can, it will give you a better insight to the company and assist you when deciding to either accept or reject the position you are being interviewed for. It may also be helpful to ask:

What position the person who has been in this role you are being interviewed for moved onto? This provides you insight into promotion and career development prospects.
What kind of internal and external trainings are provided and available?
Whether their HR practices match the national standard?
How they would describe the management and leadership style within the internal hierarchy of the organization?
Whether the salary package for the position is close to the market rate?

Company interviews - a two-way process
Always remember that the purpose of interviews is not only for the organization to assess the candidate, but also for the candidate to find more about the company they may be working for. During the interview process it is important to identify that the company has a strong and well-defined culture, employees and their contributions are valued, career progression is available, there is succession planning and learning and development and the organisation, its products and services have a positive impact on the community. An additional strategy that you can use when 'choosing' an employer is to assess whether the interviewers style projects the values the company stand for. By also paying attention to your surroundings in the interview in terms of facilities will generally give you an insight to how much importance the organisation gives to working conditions.
Do your homework and research
Research the company website - gives you information on any awards received by the organisation, the organisational culture, vision, mission and values and their products and services. Search for press releases about the company or their products and services. Look for company's advertisements and the messages they give to their customers as they project a lot about the company's values and its products and services.
Ask your network
Just by talking and asking your immediate network about the company you are going for a job with, you will end up finding someone who is working for or previously has worked for the company. Insiders will generally give you better insight into what the organisational culture is like.
Know what you are looking for
Many companies set out to become an Employer of Choice and few have succeeded in taking all the actions needed to become one. Yet again, you will find that most of the organisations have some good practices in place and some in still in progress. If you know what your priorities are, you can make more informed decisions by matching your priorities with what the organisation has to offer.
Find survey results
Internet and industry associations are the best places to look for surveys conducted on for example 'best companies to work for' or 'employer of the year'.

Remember the above criteria and ask your Atomic Recruitment Consultant if there are any roles that will suit what you are looking for in an Employer. Contact us for more information.