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What Employees Want…

Why Engagement and Retention strategies are not necessarily the same

The workplace is changing faster than we have ever known. Where companies once relied on raw materials, they now rely on knowledge – in other words, the accumulated knowledge of their talent. This talent, ever more aware of its own worth, is adapting to a digital world that is more agile and more open than before. Research shows that many businesses are getting it wrong when it comes to engaging and retaining their people, in fact, some don’t know what their people really want.

Research, published by the Centre for Effective Organisations in cooperation with Korn/Ferry International, highlights the gap between perception and reality. The paper looks at what employees say makes them stay in a job, and the real impact of retention factors.

Firstly, satisfaction with a work/life balance is valued by all employees, of all ages. However, it has next to no statistical impact on retention. The same is true for strategic clarity. All employees, regardless of age, feel more commitment to an organisation if they understand its strategic direction. This does not mean that they are any more likely to stay.

Finally, paying individuals for organisational performance has next to no positive impact on retention for European employees (while in the United States, the inverse is true). On the other hand, paying people for individual performance has a positive impact on retention.

So what really drives retention?

The paper claims that innovation is a major driver; people want to work for organisations that are innovating, cutting down bureaucracy and differentiating themselves as employers.

Employees want to develop their skills and be given financial reward for their own achievements. And, the more development opportunities they are given, the more likely they are to stay.

They equally value their role as part of their overall career progression. This does not mean ‘moving up the ladder’ within the same business, but increasingly means ‘moving up the ladder’ in a global sense – with any organisation.

And here’s the problem: how do you retain employees who view work/life balance as a given, and who view your organisation as a step on the global employment ladder? You can increase engagement by providing a good work/life balance, and you can gain further commitment by giving them strategic clarity, but neither of these will help you actually retain talented people.

It’s time for businesses to create an employer brand fit for the 21st century. Employees are seeking individual reward packages linked to performance, with a clear view of their own personal development and progression. They are in search of innovative businesses that offer them greater autonomy – not just in their working environment, but in how they work: flatter structures, more responsibility, and more taxing work.

And that’s the new challenge – building an employer brand that meets the expectations of a more demanding workforce, and a strategy that views engagement and retention as two distinct end results.