Becoming an Employer of Choice

Strategies for becoming a 2024 employer of choice

Over the past few years, employees have gained the power to choose where they work. It’s up to employers to create cultures where candidates want to be.

People have had enough of management hierarchy and mandates, and they no longer have to accept them. The continuing scarcity of talent as we head into 2024 means employers need both well-thought-out strategies and the right implementation tools to successfully compete for top talent. Exceptional companies build their cultures around putting people first. They know that with the right people, everything else falls into place.

Focus on three strategic trends

In 2024, enhance your recruitment and retention success by developing strategies in three areas: AI, remote and hybrid work options, and skills-based hiring.

AI

AI has become essential. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that 79 percent of employers are currently using AI or another form of automation for recruiting and hiring. Candidates are using it too.

In addition to enhancing recruiting efforts, employers find AI an effective retention tool. They are using AI to: recommend learning and training opportunities and suggest career paths for current employees; aid in performance management; and identify employees who are no longer engaged or are at risk of leaving.

The critical element in any use of AI is how to make it human. Companies that try to replace people entirely with technologies like AI risk losing candidates and customers. Without a human touch, bots can cause endless circles of stress and frustration rather than resolve problems.

AI is a powerful tool that strengthens human capabilities, generating possibility, and achieving the full potential of people and organizations. It’s not just a trend, it’s here to stay. Leaders who evolve their thinking and adapt to this new technology are already outperforming their competition. Those who understand that nothing can replace humanity and continue to integrate it with AI will be unbeatable.

Remote/hybrid work options

Remote and hybrid work options are at the center of a deep values divide between traditional company practices and current employee expectations. Employers and employees across the country are frustrated and even angry over how much flexibility should be allowed, especially around when and where to work.

Employees are demanding that employers consider their overall wellbeing and respect their personal needs and choices. While we know employee expectations have changed dramatically over the past few years, it’s clear that employers are often failing to meet people where they are.

Flexibility has become one of three main criteria by which employees judge companies (along with career progression and compensation). If flexible work options are difficult or impossible to accomplish in your business or industry, try being creative to find other ways to offer flexibility. Longer workdays with shorter work weeks? Job sharing? Choice of workdays or work groups? Friday afternoons off?

Many employers look for a one-size-fits-all solution to flexibility. They won’t find it. Each individual and every company is unique, which means there is no optimal remote solution to apply. But hybrid is here to stay. What is no longer working are mandates to work full time on site.

Skills-based hiring

Skills-based hiring considers candidates’ abilities, knowledge, and experience in a specific area rather than focusing mainly on education and employee history. In other words, it means going beyond what’s included in the typical resume. This is important because it helps assess candidates based on what they can do, rather than what they’ve done in the past.

The process emphasizes skills that can be demonstrated and evaluated using things like assessments, tests, and simulations. It benefits organizations, in part, by reducing bias and increasing diversity in hiring. It also increases retention by enabling internal mobility. Employees are able to demonstrate their skills in order to move up or take on new roles.

Skills-based hiring has become more widely accepted because of the difficulty companies are having finding people for technical roles. By looking at the underlying skills needed to do the job and eliminating formal job requirements, they’re more easily finding the talent they need. The World Economic Forum estimates that we will need to re-skill more than 1 billion people globally by 2030. 

Strategies plus the right tools

TalenTrust recently released its 2024 Recruiting and Retention Tool Kit to help find and keep the top talent you need to compete and thrive. The tools are designed to help you implement the trending strategies essential to today’s employers of choice.

With the Tool Kit, we help you understand what it means to create a positive experience for the people interested in being on your team. Our insights and guidance show you how to improve each step of the experience. There are also eight free resources and templates scattered throughout so you can immediately begin implementing improvements.

Topics include:

• The candidate and employee journey
• Employment branding
• Lead generation
• Candidate engagement
• Screening and assessments
• Candidate interviews
• Candidate offers

This resource provides the foundation to ensure you are a successful competitor in a tough talent market. Take advantage of free access to the full Tool Kit, which you can choose to read from beginning to end or jump in wherever it suits you.

Every organization is competing for talent. Companies and leaders who try to hold on to outdated practices and ways of being may temporarily find some comfort level to hold onto, but they are actually putting a lid on their success. The right strategies and tools offer an entirely new and sustainable sort of comfort.