What Do Great Employers Have in Common?

What Do Great Employers Have in Common?

Whether it's high tech or high fashion, healthcare or software, the best places to work share a common trait.

If you read any of the articles about the most desirable places to work, you will find a wide variety of employers. Google is there along with Wegman's grocery stores. Apple shares a roster with Baptist Health.

They all hire different types of people, with completely different skills, using different processes and myriad tools. So the common element of greatness is not dependent on the talent or the tools these employers use to find and keep the best and brightest.

Social media is gaining popularity with many employers and job seekers, but even that is not found in every example. Apple, for one, is notoriously secretive and discourages social media use among its employees.

Give up?

The common trait all great employers share is that each of them has a great story.

Facebook has a story so compelling they already made a movie about it ("The Social Network"). Apple has the story of the two "Steves" - Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak - who sold a VW bus and took on IBM in the early 80s. And, yes, they're in production on that movie, too.

Google? Sergei Brin and Larry Page, two Stanford grad students, develop a better algorithm for searching the Web and become billionaires overnight, then create an corporate environment that resembles a student union more than publicly-traded company.

The Nike story about Phil Knight making his first pair running shoes using a household waffle iron is mythic in athletic circles.

I could go on, but you get the idea. And the importance of stories is that they give people something in which to believe. Without them, people lack inspiration. They begin to work for the money, which makes them mercenary and frustrated because they lack greater meaning in their lives.

Bookmark this blog if you want to learn more about the importance of stories to attracting, hiring, and retaining the best talent. The proliferation of channels has made it paramount for employers to understand their stories and how those stories play out on the various platforms, e.g., Facebook, career Web sites, Twitter, Google+. and even antediluvian print (which Google is a master at using).