The chapters on Culture and Enlightened Leadership contain insights into what leaders personally and specifically can do to create the kind of organizational environment that is attractive to employees. Those chapters would be useful to those leaders who sincerely want to "walk the talk." The chapters on Growth and Opportunity and Compensation & Benefits provide poignant "how-to" tips for addressing some of the key advancement, development and pay-related reasons that younger employees are defecting to other competitors. The chapters on Care of People and Meaningful Work would be useful to HR officers wanting to improve employee relations and job design to help reduce the skyrocketing cost of undesirable turnover.
In sum, Herman & Gioia's book is a cornucopia of pithy, actionable suggestions based on relevant EOC case examples. Any leader "worth his/her salt" should reap a significant ROI by effectively implementing even a few of those ideas to help attract and retain talented people.
The book starts with a good explanation of why you would want your company to be an employer of choice. One of the nice things in this book is that each chapter is peppered with sidebar anecdotes about real world examples of the concepts being discussed. Most of these anecdotes come from Herman and Gioia's personal research and consulting work, and they are quite helpful.
In the next chapter, there is a survey of the attributes of a company that is an employer of choice. This is probably the least prescriptive of the chapters, but it does offer useful ideas. The succeeding three chapters, on culture, enlightened leadership and care of people give very specific advice about things you can do to work on your company from the inside. There is a wealth of practical material here, and I find much of it as useful for smaller companies as for large ones.
The chapter on growth and opportunity gives excellent advice on nurturing your best people through education. I like the fact that the chapter gives an appropriate balance of suggestions about using both internal and outside educational resources.
The chapter on meaningful work emphasizes the usefulness of measurement and the use of culture to help employees get a sense of satisfaction from their jobs - no matter how small.
In the chapter "Compensation and Benefits" Herman and Gioia offer a wealth of ideas that go beyond the obvious "pay for performance". In particular, the ideas about making the benefits package fit well into your employees' lives are well founded. The whole chapter is a really good survey of ideas for rounding out your benefits package that I have found useful both for my own company and for my strategy clients.
The chapter on "Making a Difference" focuses on community involvement. This creates a strong sense of pride in the companies that do it, and the chapter has a number of excellent ideas for companies of any size or budget.
The last chapter, "Getting Started", unfortunately offers the least practical advice. This is a shame because I think for most of us, the challenge of applying the great ideas in this book will be daunting. Fortunately, there is a great appendix with some techniques for measuring your performance as an employer of choice, so we are left with what I would consider the most important tool for getting started.
Overall, this is a super book with good concepts, supporting anecdotes, and a treasure trove of useable, practical advice on becoming an employer of choice. Even if you are having an easy time with hiring right now, you will be much better off for applying the great stuff in this book!
(Robert Bradford is CEO of the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning and co-author of Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nonsense Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast)
With case studies from a variety of organizations that include actual accounts of what works--and what doesn't, Herman and Gioia have managed to walk the fine line between research and reality. In simple, everyday language, this practical, hands-on how-to guide explains the process of developing an "employee-centered culture" that allows employees and their businesses to thrive. "How To Become an Employer of Choice" is a must-have for any business seeking an edge in today's ever-competitive marketplace.
Dianna BooherAuthor of communicate with Confidence, E-Writing, and Get a Life
Demographic and economic trends have combined to cause unprecedented prosperity . . . and unprecedented labor shortages. In the years ahead, it will be increasingly difficult to attract and hold your good people. Some employers have figured out what it takes. Others are still searching. This book can be your guide.
This book defines "Employer of Choice" and describes how enlightened employers can differentiate themselves in the turbulent world of work. It's packed with scores of practical examples.
Yes, employees are in the driver's seat. Knowing what they're really looking for can help you find and keep the valuable people you'll need in the years ahead. This book is highly recommended for Business Owners, Corporate Leaders, Government Executives, Human Resource Professionals and Future Leaders.