Attraction Plans Made Easy ~ By Christina

Let's talk about attraction! Employers: Have you heard of attraction? It’s the stage that comes before actively recruiting in order to fill open positions. It’s about how you attract those future superstar employees into your organization and how you get them interested in working for you before you even a have a role to fill. A sound attraction plan will set you up for success to entice those future fantastic employees into becoming interested your organization once there is an opening.

There are a few steps that you need to take.

First, you need to look inward. You need to ask yourself: “What is it that I offer?” Think about what a job seeker in your industry and in your community is looking for in their work. Then come up with a list of all the things that an employee might be attracted to in your organization. For example, do you reward and recognize employees with trips to Las Vegas? That’s definitely something that an employee is going to be interested in. Do you offer Netflix memberships or gym memberships or flexible working hours? Any of the things that a job seeker is going to look for in an organization are the things that are going to attract them in.  Come up with a list of the things that you yourself do as an employer. Remember it doesn’t have to be fancy. Do you pay fairly? That's definitely something that a job seeker will be attracted to.  Are you on a bus route that makes it easy for people to take transit? That can be a huge plus for some employees.

Here are a few more ideas to get you thinking:

·         Pay for Performance

·         Pay at or above Market

·         Reward & Recognize good performance

·         Show Clear Career Paths

·         Give Opportunities for Improvement

·         Frequent Feedback and Reviews

·         Offer Flexible Working Hours

·         Ownership Shares

·         Provide Wellness Opportunities

·         Develop into Leadership

·         Company Retreats

·         Time with the Boss

·         Career Planning and progression

·         Training, Coaching, and Development

·         Benefits

·         Stability

·         Significance in their work (are you saving the world with your business? – employees will get excited by that! But even if you are just offering spectacular customer service – employee can get excited by that too!)

Second, now that you’ve got your list, it isn’t going to do you much good unless you tell people. So, let everybody know. Start incorporating your list of attractors into all your recruitment efforts. Putting them in job postings is non-negotiable but it goes beyond that. Make sure it’s on your website, remind current employees (who are a great source for future employees!) about all the wonderful reasons they should be happy to work for you. Are you speaking in a podcast? Talk about what you offer employees, are you blogging? Share it in a blog or a vlog.  Look for opportunities to let the world know what sorts of reasons a person would want to wok with you. Sharing your list on your social media channels is a wonderful way to get the word out. You should be sharing information about your employees and who you are as an employer at a ratio of about 10 to 1 – 10 posts about other things to 1 post about employment. So, drop an occasional photo on Instagram that speaks to your attraction strategies. You never know who might see it and be enticed to apply a for role with you down the road.

Third and finally: Always be Attracting! You never know when you’re going to need to fill a vacancy, so continually be looking at your list of attractors, adding more, and sharing them with the world!