Thinking outside the box – how a change of scenery can change employee and candidate perspective
The key to attracting and retaining the best and brightest staff has always been by keeping them engaged – engaged in their work and the organisation itself. Employers are starting to step up their game when it comes to creating innovative ways to entice potential employees over to their company.
By thinking outside the box when it comes to meetings, benefits and generally how a workday is carried out, employees are being enticed into roles where innovation and creative thinking is not only encouraged, but displayed by employers themselves.
For some forward thinking organisations, the once dreaded meeting has gone from a boring few hours in a conference room to an outdoors epiphany.
“More companies are having meetings outside because being outside an office environment changes the way you engage a problem,” Impact HR Consulting Director Therese Ravell said.
“It encourages creative thinking and innovation.”
Another trend seeing a rise in the workplace is the stand-up meeting – the perfect antidote to the office waffler who always goes on for far too long. The idea behind this type of meeting is that if you have 5 people standing around a table taking for 5 minutes each, everyone’s legs will start getting tired. They are deliberately designed to make sure meetings are fast and effective, with workers back to work and with a more productive outcome than traditional meetings.
Ideas like these, and ones that include sporting events on weekends and outside of work hours, such as participation in team building exercises such as Tough Mudder, show a prospective organisation in a positive light, highlighting that the company is progressive and forward thinking in not only their approach to work but also to work/life balance.
It also benefits the organisation itself by creating higher levels of staff morale, increased efficiency and higher productivity.
By highlighting these benefits in your recruitment advertising, employers can use these tools to attract candidates to their organisation. Demonstrating that your company is different in its approach is a highly attractive selling point to potential employees, and putting your best foot forward in regards to this is the key to hiring in the best.
At Employment Office, we have a strong focus on how important culture is, how we are different in how we act to any other organisation, and how we reward and celebrate our successes as a team every single day. We put a focus on how our people love coming to work, on how they are part of an organisation with heart, and of a team who works hard and plays hard. We participate in fun-runs and team events like Tough Mudder because it not only builds team morale, but shows that it’s an environment like no other. By demonstrating this, we are making sure that potential candidates are aware they are not just applying for a job, but for a career with an organisation that is more like a family.
“Having those benefits made clear to our candidates from the very beginning of the recruitment process means that we are establishing Employment Office as an exciting and revolutionary place to work. That they are part of something bigger than just a standard 9-5 role.” Employment Office Area Leader (Recruitment & Shortlisting) Rachel Palmer said.
“Creating that sense of excitement and belonging means that the right candidate is more likely to apply because they already know they want to work for a company that will give them everything they could want and then some.”
Showing that your organisation is willing to think and act outside the box is an appealing benefit that not only doesn’t cost the organisation anything, but will also bring in candidates who work better in an environment that fosters innovation, while increasing general happiness, productivity and efficiency.
