by We are hearing a lot about employee engagement at the moment in particular, the amount of people not only changing jobs, but changing careers.
I was speaking to a group of 18 CEO’s recently and the burning issues they wanted to discuss were the increase in people leaving their companies, managing performance of those still there and the resulting need to recruit.
Industry statistics show that companies are losing their people at a much higher rate than in the past, and industries are losing highly-trained people who are choosing to change careers or move to another company who they feel have better conditions.
During these conversations, each CEO was really asking the underlying questions:
WHY are they leaving? and HOW can we change this trend?
The bottom line is that the loss of highly-trained people is killing their bottom line.
Let’s break it down, when we lose highly-trained people the following costs add up:
the loss of knowledge and productivity and,
the time and dollars invested into trying to source, on board and train new people
revenue
In my experience, knowing what drives your employee loyalty and employee engagement and understanding why people want to stay at a company or join a company is the key.
When we research employees one of the first questions we ask is this “How likely would you recommend your company to a friend or a colleague as a great place to work with 10 being you would definitely recommend and 0 being you definitely would not recommend?”
When we look at the employees who scored a 9 and 10, NPS Promoters of their company we know they are extremely unlikely to leave, and we know we can trust exactly what they tell us about those areas that drives those experiences and therefore employee loyalty.
Generally, we find about eight key areas are pretty consistently mentioned when we do employee research – here’s the list in the order that it appears. 1 being the most mentioned to 8 being the least mentioned.
This determines Employee Loyalty BEST PRACTICE
1. People
They talk about – How the team engage each other, how they treat each other with respect, how easy it is to get along with other team members and the leadership teams, how everyone respects each other‘s capabilities, that everyone is friendly and have positive attitudes.
2. Support
They talk about – The support they get from the leadership teams, the support they get from fellow team members, how everyone works well together, that managers are accommodating with their needs and are available if they need them.
3. Management
They talk about – trust; management allowing them to work autonomously, the hands on approach when managers need to, they make sure we are looked after, they coach and encourage us, they are working towards and share clear goals and a vision for the company’s future.
4. Culture
They talk about – family; It feels like it’s a family, everyone is supportive and committed to doing things the right way, there’s equality between lower and high higher paid employees, we all feel included.
5. Communication
The leadership teams ask us for our input on ideas, there’s excellent communication between management and employees, they are very clear about company policies and procedures and it’s easy to speak to leaders if there are problems.
6. Hours of work
They assign us clear and easy tasks to complete, there is always a good variety of work, they provide a very flexible work environment, they understand if we need to take time off, they don’t pressure us to come back during sick days.
7. Pay
They compensate every employee well, they pay us a very reasonable salary, they give us small but special bonuses, the pay rate acknowledges our hard work and commitment.
8. Training
They provide us with very useful training courses and with excellent coaching, they are always happy for us to improve our skills and upgrade our knowledge.
The above 8 areas are the main reasons employees scored a 9 or 10.
Not rocket science! Right? When reading the best practice loyalty drivers above, you will notice that pay is not number one and it’s never been a number one loyalty driver on any promotors research that I’ve seen.
So, what are the most important improvements for the team members who don’t score 9 or 10? NPS Passive and Detractors.
Interestingly, the list is actually very similar to the best practice list above, except the order changes so here’s the order from highest to lowest. Again, 1 being the most mentioned to 4 being the least mentioned.
1. Communication
The most spoken about need for improvement is communication between departments, the communication channels need to improve, other departments don’t listen or take action on our ideas that I provide, they don’t provide enough information to employees outside of head office.
2. Pay
They should provide a better pay rate, they need to increase the wages of departments that require highly skilled people, they offer very little chance of promotion, the compensation is not enough for the work we do.
3. Management
They don’t review our performance or provide us with any feedback, they have very loose goals for the company and nobody drives them, the business plan is ambiguous, they don’t have efficient operating procedures.
4. Culture
They are more focused on the corporate world, they are losing the family-focused culture, there is a lot of diversity among the staff but no inclusion, they should be more aware of everyone’s background.
Again, Not rocket science! Right? When reading the improvement drivers above, you will notice one underlying factor – these employees do not feel appreciated or valued.
You have to ask yourself why would they want to stay? Would you?
To note, I’m not saying that we must bend to every employees whim, grumble or complaint, there will always be a small percentage of employee detractors, no matter how well you implement and focus on best practice, and that in itself, is another conversation.
Why am I sharing this with you? Because this information is critical. We must know what drives our employees loyalty – to have any chance of generating a high-level of employee engagement.
I believe, knowing this will provide you with key access to minimising the increase in people leaving your company and therefore the impact on your bottom line and, help you win new employees – via word of mouth referrals from your loyal employees and because you can demonstrate the value you place on your employees and the culture they are joining.
To note, that is only if you have a high NPS score. It’s a BIG problem if you don’t!!!
To understand more about employee research and best practice click on the following links to my previous blogs.
Actions To Discover Your Employee Engagement
https://www.theloyaltyzone.com/5-actions-to-discover-your-employee-engagement/
Actions To Improve Your Teams Engagement
https://www.theloyaltyzone.com/6-actions-to-improve-your-teams-engagement/
If you would like to have a chat with me about ‘Employee Loyalty Research and Best Practice’ contact me I look forward to hearing from you
Warm regards,
Craig