Good leaders want to find ways to improve the work experience for employees, and also improve employee engagement and retention. Whether that means gathering data through 360 review software or company-wide meetings, employee feedback is a valuable tool for improving work conditions and increasing employee engagement and retention.
The right work environment and a positive culture will help you do more than create a work experience that is easier for employees to tolerate. These are also measures that can go a long way toward boosting productivity and reducing turnover.
Most managers realize the benefits of having a better workplace, but they rarely recognize many of the issues that lead to things like low job satisfaction and high turnover. This post will highlight statistics that can provide insight for company leaders that want to create a better workplace.
Why Employees Leave
When asked, most employers will tell you that money is the main reason employees leave their jobs. In fact, research from the Saratoga Institute showed that 89% of managers expressed this opinion.
The truth is, though, that money is very low on the list of reasons why people change jobs. In surveys, only about 12% of respondents cited more money as the reason for leaving a job. Money can be important for workers, but there are several other factors that can be more meaningful to employees when they think about leaving one job for another.
Why People Really Leave
With money being lower down the list of priorities for most employees, you have to consider several other factors that may increase an employee’s loyalty to the company. One point that’s likely to keep people around is appreciation. In a global survey of more than 200,000 workers, 79% said a lack of appreciation was the primary reason for leaving their previous job. Making sure people feel valued and appreciated is a key driver of employee engagement and retention.
Problems with Job Satisfaction
Most managers probably believe the majority of their employees are satisfied while only a select few are unhappy in their work. Unfortunately, this is another area in which the statistics do not support the opinions of most company leaders.
According to research from The Conference Board, only 50.8% of employees say they are satisfied with their jobs. From 2016, these numbers were a high for the decade.
Lack of Trust in Leadership
Trust is an important part of workplace relationships. Company leaders need to be able to trust their employees, and workers need to be able to trust each other and the people in charge. Sadly, research suggests that this level of trust is much lower than you might expect. In one survey, most employees said they would trust a complete stranger before trusting their boss. People tend to fire their bosses by quitting their jobs, so increasing trust corresponds directly to employee engagement and retention.
No Management Training
A quality leader can do a lot to mitigate many of the problems employees have with their workplace. However, research has shown that most companies are doing very little to prepare managers for leadership. In a survey from CareerBuilder, 58% of managers said they received no training before moving into a leadership role.
While some of these statistics can help shed light on the common problems that exist in many workplaces, it is up to company leaders to find solutions. In some cases, it might be as simple as providing better training for new managers and improving communication in the workplace. But, there also will certainly be leaders that will need to take a hard look at their company culture and commit to changes that can help turn things around.
