The Special Sauce

What do Disney, Southwest Airlines, Google and Apple have in common?

A lineup of job applicants at their doors.

People like to play on winning teams. They see Disney as a leader in entertainment. Southwest is a value leader in the airline industry. For tekkies, there are no (perceived) greater places to work than within the highly innovative walls of Google and Apple.

And so, these companies don't have retention problesms. They don't have trouble attracting talent. They have their "pick of the litter".

My bet is - your company doesn't.

What is it that makes these companies so attractive?

Do these companies pay more than anyone else? Nope.

Better benefits? (In some cases, yes).

Work/Life balance flexibility (definately, but in many cases their employees work longer hours).
Opportunities to work with leading edge ideas, technologies and brilliant people? Definately. In fact Google sets aside a portion of every work week for their employees to experiment, learn, try new things.

All of these companies offer employees the chance to contribute and to make a difference. To build their own personal legacy. To learn. To grow.

Companies like these understand that their ongoing success is based upon keeping that creative and innovative spark alive.

They treat their employees like a big deal.

Because they are.