In a recent HBR article, the authors give five things companies need to be doing to retain employees. You might be wondering why employee loyalty is important right now. It is important because they found 40% of employees plan to start looking for a new job and 69% are passively looking for a new job right now. Obviously there is a big difference between looking for a new job and actually leaving a company. However, I have found once someone starts to disconnect by seeing what is available, their loyalty is impacted and they eventually believe the grass is greener somewhere else. I know there are some who find out what they have is pretty good, but I believe many have the perception that somewhere else is better than where they are so they begin to disconnect and ultimately, leave the organization.
The authors give five things (and I think these five are a great summary) to do to keep employees:
1. Responsibility. This does not mean you pile on to what the employee is already doing, but find strategic things that help the company, while developing the employee.
2. Respect. I think this is pretty straightforward conceptually, unfortunately not always executed daily.
3. Revenue-sharing. I have blogged about this before, I love this, and ensures everyone has skin in the game and motivates employees at all levels to help the company be successful.
4. Reward. While this is similar to revenue-sharing, this goes beyond just compensation but finding ways to reward the employee on a more personal level.
5. Relaxation Time. I have blogged about this before with ROWE or in companies that don’t have formal time-off policies. Employees need to have time to get away and relax as it will ultimately make them more productive.
Like I said, I think this is a great, concise way to remember key things that will drive employee loyalty and ultimately organizational success.
