Demographic and economic trends have combined to cause unprecedented prosperity and labor shortage. Although when the economy is at the downturn, it is not obvious, trained persons will continue to be difficult to get. The competition between the companies is the competition of who can attract and retain top talented employees.
This essay will discuss the benefits and strategies of becoming an Employer of Choice (EOC). Different companies may have different strategies, we will discuss some general strategies, we will also show some results from some research groups.
Definition "Employer of Choice".
According to Parr (2001), the vice president of Michael Stern Associates Inc., "The term Employer of Choice has been defined as an employer of any size in the public, private or not for profit sector that attracts, optimize and holds talent for long tenure because employees choose to be there".
Benefits of becoming an Employer of Choice.
Being an employer of choice, it means that top talented employees will choose to stay with you as long as they can, even when they are being offered another position by recruiters or head hunters from other employer recruiters, even when the position offered has high salary and other better benefits.
Employees who are working for an EOC are more loyal to the company and have higher commitment. When it comes to 21st century, a lifetime job has dead. Today it's not if employees should begin their second career but rather when to begin their second, third or fourth career. Employees today are more loyal to themselves then to their employers (Harris, 1996: 11). Employees will leave the company if they feel unhappy, as an EOC, the company can retain top talent longer, if not for lifetime.
Commitment is another advantage for an EOC. According to Brewer (1993: 26) in his book "Managing for Employee commitment", committed employees are more productive, take more initiative and thereby help to create a more competitive advantage for the organization.
