What is Employer of Choice? Why is it important?

Having an excellent Employer Brand campaign does not mean that the company is the Employer of Choice for all candidates. We often confuse the two, but more factors matter than visibility in the external job market. For example, company culture plays a much bigger role in ultimately deciding whether or not we want to work for that company. What is important to us is a sense of security, personal satisfaction and, all in all, a certain well-being at work. And this is something that an excellent company image cannot provide, it goes beyond it. Nor is it possible to strive to make an organisation the employer of first choice for everyone.

Take the example of a company that everyone knows today - Google. No one probably doubts that it is an excellent company that is innovative, stays at the top of its field, provides a wide range of benefits and its wage policy will certainly be above the market median. And yet - it won’t be the employer of first choice for all the top candidates available in the job market. Why?

Of course, Google is also notorious for not adhering to corporate standards of relatively small teams where everyone has clearly defined roles in which they move. Instead, Google has focused on an open corporate culture where open communication, fun in the workplace, and limited supervisor supervision are important.

If someone prefers to consult all their actions and decisions with their direct supervisor, they will be unhappy in such an environment and company culture because it goes against their nature. A relatively flat organizational structure and a lot of personal responsibility is not for everyone, some people are better suited and others suffer in such a set-up because they lack a sense of security.

Commonly used components

Becoming an employer of first choice requires the implementation of many specific HR tools and is therefore often part of a long-term HR strategy.

Subsequently, it is necessary to cleverly integrate HR tools with marketing communications and build a strong external and internal image of the company as the best choice for a successful and long term career.

Job security

The notion of lifetime employment has long been a thing of the past, but we all need a degree of job security in our lives. We have financial commitments and we need to be sure that we will be able to meet them. That’s why it’s important for an employer to provide a basic level of job security. If an employee has job security, they get the space to pursue tasks and goals.

If a company guarantees basic job security, it will also unlock the creativity and loyalty of employees. This, of course, has a great impact on the overall morale in the organization.

Freedom to act and decide

A desirable employer gives people a relatively high level of autonomy; they have the ability to make decisions and influence the course of things in the company. Of course, the company has clearly defined rules about what decisions employees have the power to make, but it no longer controls how they handle them on a case-by-case basis. They assume that everybody makes decisions within the scope of authority.

To reinforce this important role, it is usually accompanied by the right to make mistakes. If this rule is absent, then everyone is afraid to make decisions because it may have a negative impact on their working relationship.

The company supports employees in their innovative ideas and actively encourages them to put small innovations into operation immediately. It doesn’t require much permission to try to do things differently, better, faster or cheaper.

Opportunity for growth

A valued employer offers equal opportunities for career growth. Every employee has a chance to change positions, and often employees are even required to move to different positions because it keeps the entire organization moving and avoids dangerous concentrations of know-how in employees.

However, it is not an obligation for everyone to only have to rise in their positions, they also have the opportunity to change positions vertically, learn new things and thus increase their value in the job market.

Commitment to open and fair communication

And the important thing lastly, open communication about everything within the company. Not just about business and financial results, but also about employee awards, what challenges the company or organization has to overcome.

What changes can be expected, how the competition is doing and how the company plans to beat the competition.