Laws Of Attraction

Planning and putting in place an irresistible company culture will go a long way towards attracting talent.

- Chris Dyer

Candidates who already know the work they want to do face a simple choice: which workplace will have that magnetic ability to stir them from sleep and make them want to return to the job every day?

The answer is ‘not the enterprise with the flashiest ‘stuff’, but the one that produces the kind of satisfaction you cannot see’. It is a place where you can feel an appreciation for the unique ‘gifts’ people bring to the table, where a shared, positive spirit circumvents challenges. It is a place that attracts winners.

On the other hand, free lunch and cushy furniture—no substitute for real culture—draw opportunists, not champions. To reach those who will fight for your customers and your business, you must provide the ‘proven intangibles’ to attract them. If the best workers are to spend the majority of their waking moments in your environment, do things that will empower, enrich, and fulfill them at the most basic, human level.

We do not leave our humanity at the office door in the mornings. As we do our jobs and interact with coworkers, we still have personal needs—not just food and a roof over our desks, but emotional desires that, when met, keep us wanting to do what we do. In the book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, researcher Daniel Pink reveals three needs that underlie the impulse to keep going and doing our best. They are:

- The liberty to make our own choices

- The chance to get better at an activity

- Inclusion in a cause greater than routine tasks