It’s not always easy to retain employees, and have them thrive while remaining in the organisation. A challenge that grows clearer if we take a look at a recent report from Tiny Pulse, that shows this issue and points to a connection to the company culture.
According to the above-mentioned report (the 2019 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT REPORT, that was based on data from some 25 000 people over 1000 companies), employee loyalty has taken a serious hit lately. Where a whopping 43 % of employees would consider leaving their organisation for a meagre 10 % extra pay – a number that was around 23 % in Tiny Pulse’s priorly published analysis, back in 2015. Something that can (at the very least) be partly blamed on company cultures that aren’t quite that amazing – especially when employees hold more and more power, and it takes a culture beyond the ordinary to get them to stay. Which poses a challenge, when the report also showed that less than 1/3 of employees claim their organisations have “a strong culture”.
Additionally, the report showed a number of other factors to take into consideration, namely that:
Transparency and self-awareness are in dire need of a boost: 39 % of managers are super sure that their organisation’s management is transparent, but only 22 % of employees agree. I.e. there needs to be more transparency, and leaders need to objectively asses just how transparent they’re being.
There isn’t nearly as much recognition as is needed: While only 33 % of employees were actually recognised the last time they went above and beyond what their work entails, the % of employees who feel “highly valued at work” is even lower – coming in at 25 %. Which can be seen as an especially substantial issue, when said employees are growing more and more used to being recognised in their personal lives – with the rise of social media and all.
The Take-Away
These figures obviously entail that culture should be focused on. Which may mean a large, transformative culture journey where you move from your current place to a dream situation somewhere off in the horizon.
How this can be done is an entirely different question, but what we can see is that said culture can beneficially be based on proper transparency, 360-degree conversations (as opposed to top-down monologues) that form the basis for future actions, as well as the celebration of good work and behavior. Where employees and managers are encouraged to recognize and endorse colleagues who have done something great, and where there’s a sense of unity that ties the employees together.
Odds are that this work won’t go unrewarded, and that you’ll find that loyalty rises alongside recognition and transparency. Which will also help give you an opportunity to improve overall engagement levels, and benefit from the great force that can come from that.
Sources: https://www.tinypulse.com/hubfs/EE%20Report%202019.pdf
