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Employment

What makes a good employer?

What makes for a good employer and how do you spot one? As an employee looking at thousands of job adverts, and even after an hour or two of job interviews, it’s hard to tell which companies are the shining stars who’ll go the extra mile to look after their people through thick and thin and which are the nightmare employers who do the minimum they can get away with. Here are our top five things to look for in choosing a good employer based on our own experience as employees and employers.

And employers take note, if you want to stand out from the pack and attract the best job seekers, take these as five top tips to make yourself a genuinely attractive employment option for candidates.

1) Honest and straightforward

It is usually a good sign if a company that is up front and honest in the recruiting process about what the job involves and how the company works. Job ads that clearly explain the role, how it fits in with the company and what’s needed to be successful are a good start. An interview process that gives you time to ask questions and find out what working there is really like. And people that answer questions honestly – give you the bad as well as the good.

Big screaming alarm bells should go off in your head if the employer is evasive about the company’s prospects, previous employees or exactly what they want you to do when you join them. If in doubt, chat to some of the company’s current and more junior employees who are not trying to sell you on anything and ask them what they think and see if it’s the same as management told you – over a quiet pint or glass of wine if necessary.

2) Good pay and benefits

It’s obvious that you should only consider joining an employer if they pay well for the job. Check other job advertisements for similar positions and see if others are paying more, less or the same for the same kind of work. If it’s a lot more or less you should make sure you understand why – they could be trying it on, or alternatively there could be something that is ‘too good to be true’ about this job. You should also look at the lowest paid people in the organisation – are they paid the minimum the company can get away with or a more reasonable living wage?

Pay is about a lot more than just the basic salary. Is there a bonus scheme and does it usually pay out? Is there a pension scheme and does the company contribute to it? What about life insurance, health insurance, charity schemes or even childcare and gym membership discounts? For any but the smallest companies, the provision of these benefits may not be worth that much in itself, but they can be an important signal that the company believes in investing in its people.

3) Good working environment

A good working environment is key to people being happy and productive at work. In an office environment, this might mean having decent computer equipment, comfortable chairs or separating noisy sales people from finance and technology workers. In a factory environment, it might mean having the right equipment or playing music. Some modern media companies take this to extremes, from space hoppers to pool tables and fussball in the office, Google’s New York office is a good example, although not every employer can be expected to go quite this far!

What sets aside the best employers again is that they listen and care about these issues. They are not in business to make a quick buck at their staff’s expense, but understand that improving the working environment will ultimately mean a more successful organisation that brings rewards for employer and employee.

4) Properly meets legal obligations

A good employer goes beyond the absolute minimum, and takes the spirit as well as the letter of their obligations, but a bad employer may not even do the legal minimum. There is a lot of government legislation and regulations affecting jobs, much of it designed to protect workers, and you can see a useful summary around terms and conditions, health and safety and family rights on the direct.gov website.

Good employers will tend to know about the most common of these regulations (if not the detail of every one) and be able to talk about how they interpret and publicise them to the benefit of their staff. They might have health and safety information on the wall, an employee handbook that outlines parental or compassionate leave policies, or training and development schemes that go well beyond the minimum requirements. Bad employers will tend do the legal minimum, and often only do that grudgingly and if prompted.

5) Shares in the upside

If things go badly in a company or employer, it is often the staff as well as management who suffer, through low morale or even redundancy, so it is important for the good employer to share in success as well. In a small rapidly-growing business or one backed by private equity firms this is typically done by issuing shares or stock options to employees so that they literally become owners in the company. This benefits workers as they share in profits and success, but also benefits the company because staff are motivated to act like owners.

But this can also be done by large companies and other organisations in a number of different ways. See for example Tesco’s staff share scheme where employees can put some of their salary into company shares, or the more generous set up at John Lewis, where the employees actually own the company. Even if they can’t give away shares, an organisation can pay bonuses for meeting overall targets, or even just put on a party with a glass of champagne to celebrate successes with those who made it happen.

What makes a good employee

When hiring for any size business, it’s not what the candidates know today. Information can always be taught. The most intelligent companies hire on future success and heavily weigh personality when determining the most apt employees.

Regardless of industry, pay, age or sex, all ideal employees share some common traits. These include, but are not limited to individuals who can be described as or possess the following:

1. Action-oriented – Hire employees who take action and take chances. While chances may lead to failure, they will more often lead to success and mould confidence while generating new ideas. Stagnant employees won’t make your company money; action-oriented employees will.
2. Intelligent – Intelligence is not the only thing, but it’s a strong foundation for success. While there are many variables you can be flexible on when hiring, intelligence is a must or you’re going to be spending an abundance of time proofing work, micromanaging and dealing with heightened stress levels.
3. Ambitious – Employees can only help your company if they want to help themselves have a better career. Ambition is what makes a company innovative, it’s what spawns creative ideas and what generates candour and openness amongst employees.
4. Autonomous – You are hiring an employee who can get the job done without extensive hand-holding. As the owner of the company, you have your own tasks to take care of and, when you delegate activities to the individual whom you’re hiring, you don’t want 20 questions, rather you want execution.
5. Display Leadership – Do you see this individual being a significant part of your company and leading future employees of the firm? Leadership begins with self-confidence, is moulded by positive reinforcement and repetitive success.
6. Cultural Fit – Are you going to enjoy working with this individual on a daily basis? Are your employees going to enjoy working with this individual? When recruiting, personality can mean the difference between an employee who doesn’t stay long and fails to produce vs. an all-star who is going to significantly increase your competitive advantage.
7. Upbeat – Employees who come into work fresh and energetic everyday are going to out produce workers who think negatively and easily burn-out when they encounter defeat. Upbeat and optimistic employees create a working environment that is unique, spawns new ideas and, just as important is enjoyable for the other people involved.
8. Confident – Confidence produces results and encourages employees to take on challenges that others shy away from. The best companies are highly confident in their abilities to provide a superior product or service and this belief spawns a culture of improvement and client confidence.
9. Successful – One of the most effective ways to predict future success in a candidate is their past success at other firms. Have they remained at companies for a prolonged period? Have they met company goals? What achievements have these individuals accomplished? If one looks closely, a lot can be deciphered from a resume.
10. Honest – An employee can have all the talent in the world, but without integrity and authenticity, nothing great will be accomplished. If nothing else, you want honest, forthright employees at your organization, otherwise your company will turn off clients and, ultimately won’t survive.
11. Detail Oriented – Attention to detail is crucial or mistakes will be made within your company. Detail-oriented employees take pride in their work. They dot the “i’s”, cross the “t’s” and get the job done.
12. Modest – The most sought after employees shout their value not through their words, but rather through their work. They are humble, don’t need to pump themselves up in front of others and quietly out produce those who do.
13. Hard working – Nothing great is accomplished easily. Nothing great is accomplished via hiring 9 – 5 employees. Rather, the foundation of an effective organization lies in its ability to recruit results oriented, hard working employees who execute.
14. Marketable – By marketable, I mean presentable to clients. Business is not a fashion contest nor do looks dictate success, however most successful applicants are well put together and, when dealing with clients are going to represent your organization as professional and organized.
15. Passionate – Employees who are passionate about their job never work a day in their life. While money should be a motivator in all individuals whom you hire, make sure that they enjoy the journey when pursuing that end-goal.

In the End

You can train on an employee on your product or service, but you can’t train someone to have integrity, resiliency, self-confidence and work ethic. The smaller the business, the more crucial any hire is. Be flexible on background requirements, but continue to be stringent on personality traits.

Great employees are reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders, and great followers. They possess a wide range of easily defined-;but hard-to-find-;qualities.

A few hit the next level. Some employees are remarkable, possessing qualities that may not appear on performance appraisals but nonetheless make a major impact on performance.

Here are eight qualities of remarkable employees:

1. They ignore job descriptions. The smaller the company, the more important it is that employees can think on their feet, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes, regardless of role or position, to get things done.

When a key customer's project is in jeopardy, remarkable employees know without being told there's a problem and they jump in without being asked-;even if it's not their job.

2. They’re eccentric... The best employees are often a little different: quirky, sometimes irreverent, even delighted to be unusual. They seem slightly odd, but in a really good way. Unusual personalities shake things up, make work more fun, and transform a plain-vanilla group into a team with flair and flavour.

People who aren't afraid to be different naturally stretch boundaries and challenge the status quo, and they often come up with the best ideas.

3. But they know when to dial it back. An unusual personality is a lot of fun ... until it isn't. When a major challenge pops up or a situation gets stressful, the best employees stop expressing their individuality and fit seamlessly into the team.

Remarkable employees know when to play and when to be serious; when to be irreverent and when to conform; and when to challenge and when to back off. It’s a tough balance to strike, but a rare few can walk that fine line with ease.

4. They publicly praise... Praise from a boss feels good. Praise from a peer feels awesome, especially when you look up to that person.

Remarkable employees recognize the contributions of others, especially in group settings where the impact of their words is even greater.

5. And they privately complain. We all want employees to bring issues forward, but some problems are better handled in private. Great employees often get more latitude to bring up controversial subjects in a group setting because their performance allows greater freedom.

Remarkable employees come to you before or after a meeting to discuss a sensitive issue, knowing that bringing it up in a group setting could set off a firestorm.

6. They speak when others won’t. Some employees are hesitant to speak up in meetings. Some are even hesitant to speak up privately.

An employee once asked me a question about potential layoffs. After the meeting I said to him, “Why did you ask about that? You already know what's going on.” He said, “I do, but a lot of other people don't, and they're afraid to ask. I thought it would help if they heard the answer from you.”

Remarkable employees have an innate feel for the issues and concerns of those around them, and step up to ask questions or raise important issues when others hesitate.

7. They like to prove others wrong. Self-motivation often springs from a desire to show that doubters are wrong. The kid without a college degree or the woman who was told she didn't have leadership potential often possesses a burning desire to prove other people wrong.

Education, intelligence, talent, and skill are important, but drive is critical. Remarkable employees are driven by something deeper and more personal than just the desire to do a good job.

8. They’re always fiddling. Some people are rarely satisfied (I mean that in a good way) and are constantly tinkering with something: Reworking a timeline, adjusting a process, tweaking a workflow.

Great employees follow processes. Remarkable employees find ways to make those processes even better, not only because they are expected to, but because they just can't help it.

The Intranet Home Page is a window to the functionality, tasks and content within your corporate intranet. First impressions are so important when users visit your intranet, along with utility and speedy access to information. Your Intranet Home Page is also critical in terms of setting the tone for your intranet and the culture of your company. Is it engaging? Is it interactive for employees? Is content easy to find? Is it attractive? Our Corporate Intranet Home Page is easily designed with our Multi-Variable Feeds and no coding knowledge or IT experience required, making it simple to create an engaging, attractive and user-friendly home page for your employees.

Creating the right Intranet Home Page for your employees is critical in attracting employees and quick intranet adoption, as well as emphasizing employee engagement throughout your corporate intranet. It all starts with the home page.

Two Reasons Why You Should Consider an Intranet

A properly designed and developed Intranet can save your organization both time and money; the larger the organization, the more money you save.

How can an Intranet save time? Most organizations are run by people working together. Your employees typically communicate by phone, voice mail, email, fax or by person to person meetings.

An Intranet can cut down the time your employees spend on routine communication tasks. If you are using email internally you already know the benefits over trying to get someone over the phone. The one problem with using email is that the entire message is usually not conveyed in the first communication. One email usually starts a string of emails back and forth until the other part completely understands your request or message. Instead, consider putting forms on your Intranet. Design forms for frequently requested tasks within your organization. Examples of forms that could be available on the Intranet include requests for PC repair, stationary reorder from supply room, and telephone messages. When staff fill out forms, all of the critical information will be required by data validation. This will provide the recipient with an email that is complete with all the required information, eliminating the necessity of engaging in a lengthy discussion.

How much time do your employees spend answering routinely asked questions? You can cut down the time significantly by putting the information on an Intranet. In addition to this, you can refer all your internal callers to your Intranet. For example, before your travel office answers the phone, play a short recorded message saying "For routine questions check our pages on the company Intranet at www....."

Do your employees spend time hunting down paper forms, reports, documents or microfilm? Consider converting these documents to electronic formats using scanners, OCR software or other means and posting them to the Intranet, and then provide a search interface to these documents. Once users know how easily accessible these documents are over the Intranet, they will prefer the faster solution resulting in a huge savings in time.

4 Advantages of an Intranet

Successful communication is the foundation of a flourishing business.

And while there are many ways to foster communication, the intranet is at the top of the list because of the advantages it brings. While we could give you a “101 Advantages to Using an Intranet” list, we believe that these four intranet advantages will let you know if an intranet is right for your business, organization, or municipality.

Intranets are Rich in Content And this content is at the tip of everyone’s fingers. When you think of content, plain text pages come to mind, but with intranets you can upload documents of various formats (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and more), video, audio, training material, available jobs, and message boards.

Intranets Save Time Your time is valuable. Once time is lost, you can’t recover it, which is why an intranet is the most valuable communication and technology investment you can make for your business. For example, you could save $40K a year if your staff of 50 saved 10 minutes a day looking for information outside of your intranet. Once you find this information, you can quickly distribute it to other employees.

Intranets Strengthen Collaboration and Productivity When you use your intranet to its full potential, your employees can collaborate on projects proficiently, thus producing results faster and with less stress. Bottom line is that employees are able to finish tasks resourcefully.

Intranets Reduce Costs The ability to distribute information is extremely low. And you’ve already seen the savings from a mere 10 minutes per employee per day will save, but what about printing costs? Intranets reduce the need for printers, toner, and paper, potentially saving thousands of dollars per month.