Employer of Choice - Just Another Buzzword?

There's a certain point in your business life where buzzwords become a nonentity. You've heard them all a million times. They soon mean nothing and actually become an annoyance. The list is endless...quality, empowerment, walk-the-talk, open-book management, win-win, Y2K, out-of-the-box, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Growing tired of a buzzword certainly doesn't demean the actual concept, program, or movement described by the buzzword. In fact, it originally gained prominence by virtue of the value it provided to the masses.

Why even discuss buzzwords? There's a new one on the horizon that, by all appearances, will impact the workplace for quite some time to come. It will attract talented employees eagerly to your doorstep or send them directly to your competition, costing you time, effort, and dollars which simply can't be measured.

The new buzzword is simply "Employer of Choice" (EOC) and job-seekers across the nation are hearing it often from schools, counselors, and placement agencies. Newspapers, magazines, and book publishers are jumping on the band-wagon and cutting-edge organizations are striving to meet the ever-increasing requirements to become an "Employer of Choice" (EOC).

However, it is sad to report that many organizations fail to recognize the importance of this effort or simply choose to ignore it. Many others clearly have no idea what it means.

Simply defined, "Employer of Choice" is a term used to designate an organization that, because of its status and reputation, is always the first choice (or at least on the short list) of world-class candidates.

It essentially means being able to provide employees with the most enjoyable and fulfilling working environment as possible and balancing this with their home and personal life. This may sound simple enough to achieve, but upon more scrutiny, it actually requires a dedicated effort on the part of leadership to establish the proper criteria.

We are currently working with several clients to identify and implement the required elements to achieve this "Employer of Choice" status. It is indeed more than just a buzzword; it is representative of a whole new design of corporate culture. It means that people will choose to work for you. It means that people will choose to really dedicate themselves to your success. It means that people will choose to stay with you, even when they are being courted by recruiters from other employers.

A recent report, titled "The War for Talent" stated that over the next 20 years, employee talent will be what differentiates successful companies and those going bust. Will your organization be ready?