Leave me underused, unloved, with a poor manager and no room for personal growth and I’ll leave. Use me to my full potential, love me, give me strong support and room to grow and I’ll stay. This is the sentiment coming from the UK’s employees. The recipe for talent retention is clear.
Earlier this year, the biggest employee engagement survey from across the UK was published in The Sunday Times, researching the views of over 291,000 employees in different sectors throughout the UK. Companies gain prestigious recognition for their work within employee engagement by achieving a place on this list, but this research also provides a wealth of information about how UK employees are feeling about their workplace.
The company behind the research, Best Companies, have been surveying and feeding back the results to companies since 2000 and they have given The People Bulletin an insight into the minds of the UK’s workforce.
Positive futures
This year’s research shows us that employee engagement has a key involvement in talent retention, you may think that this is old news but with quantifiable results from the mouths of the UK’s workforce this point shouldn’t be glibly ignored.
When asked the question "I think I have a positive future ahead of me in this organisation" 92% of employees in Three Star organisations (the highest level of accreditation Best Companies gives to companies with an ‘extraordinary’ commitment to engagement) agreed, for companies that entered but did not achieve accreditation only 61% of employees agreed. When researchers looked at the relationship between responses to the question "I think I have a positive future ahead of me in this organisation" and "I would leave tomorrow if I had another job" only 2.9% who feel they have a positive future within their organisation would leave if they had another job.
The employees who feel they have a future in the organisation are, unsurprisingly, less likely to want to leave, but they also show that they have a certain emotional connection to their company. When asked if they have a positive future ahead of them at the organisation, out of those who strongly agreed, 99.11% agreed that they loved working for this organisation.
But how can HR professionals and managers work to have an effect on this emotional connection - this intangible force? By looking at the relationships (correlations) between questions, researchers at Best Companies identified two key areas that affect this elusive ‘emotional connection’. It is employees who are flourishing with their own personal growth and that are getting support from their managers who feel most positive toward their future within their organisation.
Ninety seven per cent of employees who strongly agreed to the statement ‘This job is good for my personal growth’ agreed that they had a positive future in the organisation. This strong correlation shows a clear link between personal growth and growth of the organisation they work for. Customer service and engaged employees are inextricably linked, no matter who the customer is or what market organisations work in. It’s a well known fact that engaged employees will deliver a better service, and therefore a happier customer and in turn increased ROI. So not only does this emotional connection have an impact on talent retention but also customer retention and growth.
The other closely correlated element is managers; managers have a key part to play in employee engagement. The well known adage that employees leave their managers not their companies is a scary but true fact. For the employees who strongly agreed that ‘My manager helps me fulfil my potential’ 96.7% also agreed that they have a positive future in their organisation; on the flipside out of those who felt that they don’t get the level of support from their manager only 18.7% agreed that they have a positive future ahead of them at their organisation.
Unused and unloved
The alignment of personal growth and fulfilment with the aims of the company is one of the most powerful drivers for success. If employees are left feeling frustrated and undervalued the company loses out by not using their skills and they can quickly become de-motivated, potentially wanting to leave the company. From employees who strongly agreed to the statement "I have the skills that my organisation could use but doesn’t" 67.9% would leave tomorrow if they had another job, while only 6.76% who have the opportunities to use all their skills would leave tomorrow if they had another job.
Unsurprisingly, there is also a strong correlation between the statements "I have skills that my organisation could use but doesn’t" and "there are limited opportunities for me to learn and grow within this organisation"; with 76.8% of employees that feel strongly underused stating that there are limited opportunities to learn and grow in their company.
Anyone could tell you that being underused will result, eventually, in boredom. But from the research, you can see clearly the link between boredom and underuse, and vice versa being used to your full potential and interested in the work that you are doing. We’ve all put off the work we find boring, and welcome the interesting and often distracting jobs to take us away from work we find boring.
When employees were asked if they have skills that the organisation could but doesn’t use, out of those who strongly disagreed only 6.76% said that they are bored with the job they do. This strong relationship quantified in the data shows that this needs to be an area addressed when looking at retaining talent.
So, what does it take to put all this in action? Clear leadership, a good support structure and empowerment for managers, clear personal growth strategies and speaking to your employees and asking them if they feel valued and used to their full potential. Every company has clear strategies for growing as a company, growing financially and growing a customer base. But sometimes growing the employees is left out, you don’t want employees to feel like a mushroom, they need nurture, they need to feel cared for, loved and they need room to grow.
Unless otherwise stated the data represented is from the mid-sized companies eligible for The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For list 2011.