Becoming an Employer of Choice: Building the Best for the Best
Being an employer of choice isn’t about the number of awards your organisation collects. Instead, it’s about the ongoing dialogue with your audience—a commitment to understanding priorities and finding points of alignment. It’s at these points that you can begin building a workplace where the right candidates will thrive.
My motto is simple: build the place for the best people, not to catch those who are underperforming.
If your HR activities are done right—if recruitment is integrated into a wider, thoughtful strategy—you can give your employees the benefit of the doubt. Assume that underperformance doesn’t stem from malicious intent. Your first reaction should align with how you’d support your best performers during a rough patch. Think underperformance marks the end of the road? It’s actually the start of a meaningful journey where you truly get to know your employees.
Know Your Team Like Your Market
Consider how much effort you put into understanding your customers. You study their interests, behaviours, and preferences, all to tailor marketing campaigns that resonate. But what about your teams? Too often, we assume that what worked at another organisation will work here. If only it were that simple! (Though if it were, you might not need my help.)
Here’s the truth: your business’s success depends on getting a few things right:
Solutions to the problems you aim to solve
Finances and budget
People
Tools and operations
People are an integral part of your success. Even with the right budget, tools, and ideas, you will struggle without the people who can bring your vision to life.
Treat Your People Like Assets, Not Afterthoughts
Imagine replacing laptops or machinery monthly because they kept breaking down. Wouldn’t you investigate the issue to find a sustainable solution? Yet, when it comes to people, many businesses don’t take the same approach. Employees leave, and instead of looking into the operations, tools, finances, or management practices contributing to the turnover, we overlook the root cause.
Invest the same attention in your team as you do in your finances and operations. Even if your workforce includes manual labour roles you believe are easy to replace, consider the frustration and costs involved in high turnover. Sustainable businesses focus on retention and development—it’s a smarter, more cost-effective approach in the long run.
Beyond the Bare Minimum
Employment laws, standard policies, and procedures exist to set the bare minimum for organisational standards. But surely you’re striving to hire the best, so the bare minimum isn’t enough for you. To attract and retain top talent, you need to offer more:
A supportive, growth-oriented culture
Opportunities for meaningful dialogue
A willingness to adapt and learn from your teams
Your business, your team, and your vision deserve better than “good enough.”
