6 Things You Need to be an Employer of Choice

What is an EOC? An EOC is a term that is thrown around a fair bit. Basically it's earned on recognition that a company is seen to be great place to work and is therefore a top of mind choice for candidates in that given industry. This recognition may be based on general public sentiment, or awards won through magazines and industry institutions.

SAS (the IT software company) has been on Fortune’s Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 14 years running, and has taken out 1st place in 2010 and 2011.

What makes SAS an EOC? Well, it could have something to do with…

• High quality childcare at $410 per month
• Summer camp for kids
• A beauty salon
• State-of-the-art, 66,000-square-foot gym
• Car cleaning

But is it really realistic to implement these things in your business? What if you simply can’t afford these lucrative bonuses?

Well, the video below is a great summary by Will Marre on the key intrinsic factors that go into being an EOC (that anyone can implement). These 6 factors provide a good framework to boost engagement levels and make people want to come and work for you.

1. Self-Determination.
2. Real-time Feedback.
3. Re-direction, reinforcement.
4. Fast, Creative, Casual.
5. New Responsibilities.
6. Coaching, Not Bossing.

Will Marre: “One of the things we’ve learned is that one of the least satisfying things we can do is accomplish someone else’s goals. We might feel a sense of relief, but not joy. Satisfaction… self-motivation, comes from self-selected goals. This doesn’t mean that you can turn everyone lose to do whatever they want, but it does mean that when you're on a team or when you have a strategy to implement that you have some vote in what you're going to work on – that you have some vote in when you're going to accomplish it and how you're going to go about it – that’s at the basis of what it means to be human.”

The list is a reminder of what Stephen Covey said many years ago in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “The greatest need of the of the human being is to be understood, to be affirmed and to be appreciated.” It’s a reminder that even if you can’t afford to give your employees beauty treatments, they will feel pampered if you just appreciate them in the right way.