How to attract the perfect employee

Attractive Salary vs. Having a seat at the table – which of these do you think is more important for a candidate.

A recent survey showed that “Attractive Salary” is the most desired aspect of a job.

But, is money everything? In his bestseller Blink, Malcolm Gladwell points out that doctors who don’t listen to patients are more likely to be sued.

So while I think that this infographic is very useful for HR people to read, I think there is a glaring omission? I want to see a top spot for the incentive that staff will be given A SEAT AT THE TABLE.

What are the elements that make a good job into a dream job?  If HR teams knew the precise answer to that wouldn’t it make their lives so much easier?

One of the UK’s leading financial services firm BGL Group, has compiled what looks like a definitive infographic spelling out the magic formula for attracting the perfect employee. But isn’t there a glaring omission? I want to see a top spot for the incentive that staff will be given A SEAT AT THE TABLE.

In his bestseller Blink, Malcolm Gladwell explains the extraordinary fact that nice doctors simply do not get sued. Why? Because when patients feel they have been listened to and treated with respect they like and respect their doctor in return.

Alice Burkin a leading medical malpractice lawyer put it simply, “people just don’t sue doctors they like.”

On the flipside, according to Gladwell:

“What comes up again and again in malpractice cases is that patients say they were rushed or ignored or treated poorly.”

Everyone wants to be heard!  I would even argue that being heard is the most fundamental requirement for a human to feel respected and appreciated.

I mean, it’s pretty cool to offer an on-site gym and a subsidised café serving crushed avocado and quinoa wraps. But would either of those be more enticing than the promise that your work and your opinion will be valued and you will know where the company is heading? And this should matter to HR because of the most important factor of all – creating a sense of JOB SECURITY.

Having a seat at the table makes you feel more secure because it makes you less paranoid about people manoeuvring to get rid of you. It’s hard to be blindsided when you’re at meetings about the project from concept through to review. And it means there is two-way transparency between what your specific role contributes and how that fits into the business.

But on top of those positive outcomes, there’s a bonus. That level of inclusion gives a massive boost to employee loyalty. People don’t sue doctors they like and they don’t leave firms where they feel appreciated and listened to.

I mean, providing a clear career path, productive development reviews and offering an attractive salary are important in finding and keeping good people.

But in a competitive market place the available talent pool may be shallow. HR does not want to spend time and money replacing great people who’ve left the firm because they feel their work has gone unnoticed or unvalued and who therefore have a dismal sense of working in a void. In that scenario people move on because they feel they’re stagnating professionally, learning nothing new and it’s making them less employable in the future.

This is about honestly sharing insight about management strategy, while encouraging suggestions and opinions from the workforce. Offering such a seat at the table makes your people feel valued, rewarded and loyal. It creates a sense of “We’re all in this together”, and it can deliver all this even if the company can’t yet offer morale boosting yoga rooms or juice bars.