Five Traits of a Great Employer
Each year, a wide variety of publications and groups release their list of the best employers in the United States, as well as across the globe.
For 2018, Forbes’ top five best employers in America included Michelin, Trader Joe’s, Google, Principal Financial, and Costco. That specific survey asked employees about their perception of their workplace and also to name any other companies they respected.
When looking for a new career, it’s important to understand a company’s culture and know if you’ll be a good fit with what they can offer you over the long-term.
For today’s blog, we’ve put together our list of top five traits of a great employer.
Career Advancement Opportunities
Working for a company you love has its limits if there’s nowhere for you to go in the chain of command.
Career advancement doesn’t always mean working your way from the mailroom to the executive suite, though. It can look different for different types of organization.
Mid-size companies may offer new management opportunities to keep an employee engaged and growing in their organization, while small family-owned companies may provide more life benefits and responsibility if there aren’t available positions that you can reach toward.
Modern Benefits
Increasingly, employees are placing a focus on benefits beyond the traditional company 401(k) and healthcare options. Modern benefits can include:
- Flexible hours: Offering the chance to work remote or flex hours to gain an extra day off in a week.
- Parental leave: Parental leave isn’t necessarily a new benefit, but there is an increased focus today on maternal and parental leave, and it looks like the shift is taking hold. More than one in three U.S. employers now offer paid maternity leave beyond what is required by law, up from one in six earlier this decade.
- Unlimited vacation: With an increased focus on fostering work/life balance, many employers have restructured paid time off to forego the traditional two-weeks a year for a more relaxed policy.
- Paid sabbaticals: In addition to unlimited vacation, employers are also offering the perk of paid sabbaticals. Basically, an extra week of paid vacation every few years to encourage life experiences and help employees recharge.
While there can be many more added to the list, these are the four core benefits truly shaping modern workplaces.
Passion and Purpose
Everyone is passionate about something, and people want to work with purpose as much as they want to live with one.
Companies that know their mission and can effectively communicate it to their people will have a higher retention rate and overall success as they encourage the benefits of a shared purpose among everyone they employ.
Great Management and Leadership
It’s been said that “people don’t leave companies, they leave managers.”
Truly great companies focus on developing good leaders within the firm as one way to be sure they elevate all their employees, not just the executives.
Few things determine job satisfaction like working under a leader who treats their team with respect.
Paid sabbaticals and kegerators won’t cover up for a toxic office environment created by leadership that’s uncaring and demands too much.
Collaborative and Communicative Environment
An open, transparent, and collaborative workplace culture works in tandem with good leadership and passion to create an environment where everyone can feel welcome.
A thriving company culture is ultimately determined by the people at a company, but there are steps each organization can take to ensure that culture is given the atmosphere it needs to thrive.
When each of these five key traits combine, a great employer is often the result.
Looking for an employer that offers a collaborative, open, and modern experience? Click here to find your next job with one that fits these five ideal traits.
If you’re a company looking to hire, you can log into Careerlink now to find candidates who will fit your company culture like a glove.
