I am sure that wherever you live there are publications that yearly publish their list of Best Companies to Work For. Both OC Metro and the OC Register do in my hood. CNN and Fortune have their lists as well.
We have all read about the great perks like free food, on site gyms, day care centers, free massages, basketball courts, dry cleaners on premise, Foosball games in the office, free laundry, and the company day at Disney.
I used to look at the cover story of employees jumping on trampolines and everyone in happy cubes.
Many of the companies that won those awards in 2008, 2009 or even 2010 are half their size. Some aren’t around anymore.
The perks didn’t really mean much in the end when it came to the value of keeping employees.
So what are the best companies to work for in the New Normal where we can’t all be Google? In a world of tepid hiring and quick downsizing?
I have already written about the new Employer-Employee Dance.
I think that the best companies to work for are the ones that train their employees to be more marketable in the world of today. They are companies that watch their employees’ back the best they can.
Companies that embrace a new employer-employee partnership. I will make you the best so at the same time your efforts will be the best.
They may have to let you go one day but if they do the next day you will be better equipped to move on with your life rather than being a deer in the headlights of transition.
An organization that really cares for its employees will train them to network. It will hire a photographer so all employees can have a professional photo on their Linkedin profile.
It will provide training on Linkedin and networking. It will provide recommendations for their employees on their Linkedin profiles.
The best companies to work for are the ones that allow their employees access to social media during working hours. We live in a world where the company leash is tethered to employees 24/7. The first thing that people do when the wake up in the morning is check their emails. Often it is the last thing they do at night. And you won’t let them check in on social media during office hours? These aren’t the days where employees are sitting around goofing off.
The best companies to work for realize that today’s companies empower their employees to be connected and marketable.
Today that is a lot better than letting them play Foosball.
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I had the privilege to work for a company that cared for us and made us be the best amongst our peers in that job market that is Dubai. The leadership was constantly mentoring us on best practices, how to position ourselves, how to netowrk and how to perform. If we are presenting something to the senior management, they would challenge us and make us sweat but at the same time they gave us tips on how to present better or how to convey the message better or what are the misssing elements that we should have thought about. They pushed us to the edge and now we each one of us know what we can do. It grew to 1200 employee by 2008 Unfortunately this company doesn’t exist anymore after the crisis that hit Dubai end of 2008. I created a group on FB kind of alumni, in 2 days 400 people joined it including the Chairman himself. People were sharing photos, stories, some they still keep their ID someother told us that the cell number holds the same ID number. He/the leadership had a vision to make that company one of the most 50 admired companies in the world. Trust me if it wasn’t for the crisis we would have been there by now. Thanks for this blog. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatweer
Excellent information, Hank. I am working on a similar topic for my blog around employee development and how valuable it is to the organization. I once worked under a leader who would get angry if you moved on to a position of advancement. He was in his position for over 20 years and it was his only one since college. I attributed his poor leadership skills to the fact the he never had anyone model good leadership for him. In a way, he did make me a better leader because I also used the experience as one of many “what not to do” experiences.