This week's Talent and HR News Weekly Update focuses on employees because, why not? Most of us are or have been an employee of somewhere, so these articles highlight the environment where employees work, relationships with employees, and recruiting employees. Enjoy!

1) 7 LinkedIn Tools for Recruiting New Employees from Entrepreneur

"In his book Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business, search engine optimization and online marketing expert consultant Ted Prodromou explains how you can use LinkedIn to quickly engage with ideal customers, partners, and employees, showcase your company and attract new opportunities. In this edited excerpt, the author briefly describes the seven different ways you can use LinkedIn to attract new job applicants. LinkedIn offers a number of paid solutions for companies who do a lot of recruiting. Let’s explore these options in more detail, so you can see how they can help you build a premier organization with the very best employees."

2) Closing the Deal: Create a Winning Environment from New Hampshire Union Leader

"Corporate culture is such an important element of successful companies and winning teams. It's also a major factor in how people grow, develop and succeed within an organization. When we think of corporate culture, we often think about the fun that takes place at work and the dynamics associated with day-to-day life in the office. But there's much more to it. Whenever I talk about culture in an organization, I sum it up in one sentence. Culture is all about creating an environment that fosters growth and gives people the opportunity to be successful. It's as simple as that. And when you have that, you have a winning culture."

3) The Surprising Perk Employees Want That Costs the Company Nothing from Entrepreneur

"Ping-pong tables, daily catered lunches and company happy hours grace many of today’s startups. However, perks like these aren’t as important to employees as employers might think. While no one is likely to turn down free food or a ping-pong challenge, there’s one thing in particular employees value above fun work perks. Based on a recent 15Five survey of more than 1,000 workers nationwide, 81 percent of employees said they would rather join a company that values “open communication” than one that offers great perks such as free food, gym memberships and the like. What’s more, the same survey found that only 15 percent of employees are satisfied with the quality of communication within their companies."

4) Is your trust factor slipping? 5 tips to increase employee trust from SmartBlog on Leadership

"Trust is a key element in all human interactions. Nowhere is it more important than in a work environment. Yet, often leaders pay little attention to how actions affect trust. If leaders aren’t mindful of these actions, they can soon lose the trust of their employees. When that happens, teamwork, communications and performance suffer. Employee dissatisfaction, lower productivity and higher turnovers increase company costs. When leaders consciously strive to improve trust, they’ll see an increase in communication. People will reveal more to you and you’ll have greater insight into what’s really happening in your organization. This will help your employees succeed."

Lexi Gordon is a Lead Consultant for exaqueo, a workforce consultancy that helps organizations build their cultures, employer brands and talent strategies. Contact exaqueo to learn more about how we can help you build a workforce that’s aligned with your company culture and develop an employer brand that will allow your business to scale the right way.