Recent posts have discussed the importance of matching what individuals really enjoy about work with the experience a company can realistically provide -- and the role that signature experiences can play in communicating those connections. Here are a few examples of signature experiences that can signal people who prefer each Lure that an organization is the right place for them.

Expressive Legacy: To attract and retain people who place high priority on the nature of the work itself -- on creating something with lasting value, a companys signature experiences need to reflect the companys heritage, values and ambitions in unique and memorable ways. Bright Horizons, a provider of employer-sponsored child care, uses a high touch recruiting process that emphasizes the lasting impact an early childhood educator can have on young lives. A walk through Xilinxs hall of patents and past the mural depicting the founders early vision for programmable logic devices leaves any visitor with a sense of the firms grand ambition.

Secure Progress: If your firm can offer a predictable, upward path to success and economic security (and note that many today simply cant make this promise), your signature experiences should that demonstrate that commitment. ExxonMobil made the decision to stick with defined benefit pension plans several years ago, recognizing the importance security played in the firms employee experience. The Container Stores investment in training -- more than five times the industry average -- and clearly articulated progressions emphasize its strong commitment to career development.

Individual Expertise and Team Victory: Firms whose operating model requires team-based behavior benefit from signature experiences that drive that point home. Royal Bank of Scotland is well-known for its every morning management meetings, in which goals for the day are set collaboratively by the top executives. Whole Foods hiring and compensation processes are team-based; candidates are on probation until the team votes that they may be hired full time.

Risk with Reward: To attract and retain people who are drawn to challenge, change, learning, and the possibility of wealth, the employee experience needs to reinforce these attributes at every turn. Trilogy, a software firm, uses a highly challenging orientation process, similar to the description of Company Two (see October 10s post) to create this culture from the start.

Flexible Support: Many great employees are juggling personal situations today that place work behind other pressing priorities. Signature experiences that emphasize an organizations flexibility and empathy can often attract top talent, perhaps even at below-market compensation. JetBlues system for its reservation agents allows them to work at home and self-schedule within their work group, an example of competing for talent on the basis of maximum flexibility.

To develop or highlight a strong signature experience for your company, consider these questions.
1. What is your current employee value proposition?
* What do you tell candidates who are considering joining your firm today?
* What is your greatest distinction as an employer?

2. How appropriate is that value proposition for the future?
* Can you realistically continue to make good on the promises that you have been using over the past decade, or are changes in your company or industry forcing you to rethink the psychological contract with your employees?
* How are your business talent needs changing?

3. What is the dominant Lifes Lure of your current employees?
* What do your current employees really care about?
* What is their generational profile and underlying assumptions about work?

4. What attributes of the current (or past) employee experience are unique to your firm?
* Do the legends that surround the companys earlier history provide the seeds of a relevant signature experience for today?
* What is the best part of the current employee experience?

5. What would represent a distinctive and powerful signature experience for your firm?
* What attributes represent a Lure for the major of your current and future employees?
* What processes are most visible and important to your firms success?

6. Do you need to align any element of the overall employee experience to create a more cohesive message?
* Is there any aspect of the current employee experience that doesnt seem to fit peoples expectations or preferences?

If youd like more information on this process, my newsletter this month is devoted to this topic. You can sign up to receive it at www.tammyerickson.com.

What are the best elements of the employee experience at your company? Do you have a signature process that reflects your current and future employees preferences?

Read all of Tammy Erickson's Across the Ages posts.

MORE ON EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE AND THE WORKPLACE:
Mass Career Customization: Aligning the Workplace with Today's Nontraditional Workforce (Hardcover)
Build a Motivated Workforce, 2nd Edition (HBR Article Collection)
What It Means to Work Here (HBR Article)