It is well known that the competition for talent is ramping up. Winners will be the companies that meet or exceed their hiring goals. Companies that fail to fulfill their hiring goals will be measured in more subtle ways: declining market share and/or quality of service. What do employees want from an employer? And what can an employer do to address their concerns as part of a broader employment brand strategy? The findings of a number of employee surveys are all consistent: employees want to be valued as contributors to the enterprise. Specifically, employees want:

• Involvement: provide meaningful work and measurable contributions;
• Respect: acknowledge each person as an individual with talent and ability that matters;
• Support: Set the goals, provide the resources and assure fulfillment of people and team commitments to get the results required; and
• Responsiveness: Set an internal standard for addressing employee issues with quick turnaround time to meet their expectations for being heard.

Additionally, there are three broad areas in which employee perceptions of how they want to be valued can be connected to an employment brand strategy.

Job Design: decision-making and autonomy are two key areas for improving employee engagement. Push decisions down to the lowest level of the organization consistent with service quality and delivery, highlight the challenges and get employees involved through greater responsibility.

Staff/Team Development: Engage staff in the success factors of the business. What adds value to the enterprise, why does it matter and who is responsible for performance to fulfill the goals? Focus recognition programs on value added activity and results versus efforts or performance of normal job duties.

Line Management: Management and team leaders aligned with and fully supportive of the job design and staff/team development practices noted are essential for success. It will not happen without management leadership.

A successful employment brand strategy must connect with employee perceptions of how they want to be valued as team members.

Bill Broderick is a partner of Work Ministry and the website, www.workministry.com, which connects job seekers and employers for career success.