Ready to recruit better? Here's what job seekers want

A stack of resumes next to a laptop
Adobe Stock

With a fresh wave of college graduates getting ready to enter the workforce, employers will have plenty of new opportunities to find new talent. But whether they're looking for entry-level workers or more seasoned professionals, it's important their recruiting strategies and benefits are up to the task. 

To help HR leaders, recruiters and job seekers navigate a complex hiring landscape, EBN's new digital magazine tackles everything you need to know — from how long a recruiter will spend reviewing a resume (just six seconds!), to what it's like to really search for a job today (exhausting, says one applicant) — check out all the tips and tools to find the perfect fit. 

Check out EBN's full special report on how to navigate your career in 2024:

Once employees are hired, it's critical employers are offering best-in-class benefits that support them at every stage of their lives. To gather that inspiration, it might be helpful to look beyond what U.S. employers are doing and take a page from employers a bit farther afield. 
Flexible work arrangements, robust parental leave policies and other workplace protections are highly envied by U.S. workers, according to a new survey by law firm Bisnar Chase, which surveyed 3,000 employees, asking them which international labor laws they wish they could adapt in their own states. 

These 10 countries are leading the way when it comes to labor laws and protections: Parental leave, PTO and job protection: 10 countries with the best labor laws

Sometimes, it takes personal experience to improve the workplace — before she was even a mom herself, Abbey Donnell had heard the horror stories about breastfeeding at work. It inspired her to leave her marketing career and launch Work & Mother, which partners with both employers and landlords to create a network of functional and fully-equipped pumping suites by retrofitting existing rooms or consulting with entire buildings to have rooms built. 

"People were being told to use conference rooms, others were roaming the office trying to look for vacant rooms to pop into or using bathrooms and parked cars," Donnell says. "A shared space amenity for the entire office is a win-win — it would solve the legal obligations for every single employer in the building and meet the needs of mothers in a higher caliber way." 

Read more about the benefits of better breastfeeding accommodations: This CEO supports working moms by creating state-of-the-art nursing suites

Employers and employees that feel satisfied with their partnership lead to better business outcomes overall. To keep that connection transparent, it's important to create and sustain a caring work culture. And small efforts have big rewards, says Dr. Kristin Tugman, VP of holistic wellness, health and productivity at Prudential. 

"We get too caught up in all the goals we set out to accomplish from a business perspective and we forget about the human," she says. "How can we create a culture that is supportive of employees regardless of what's happening in their lives?"

Here are four easy ways to start: When employees connect, their wellness improves

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Recruiting Employee benefits Workplace culture
MORE FROM EMPLOYEE BENEFIT NEWS