The easiest way to increase employee loyalty and engagement? Hint, it’s probably not what you think.
New research has found that the average employee entering the workforce today will work for more than 7 organisations over their working career. While many employers complain about lack of loyalty from their employees, it’s fairly understandable given the lack of loyalty that many organisations have shown their employees in the past.
Employees (especially the Gen Ys and Millennials) want to maximise their chances of remaining employable, so they often look to work for multiple employers to rapidly grow their skill and knowledge base.
One of the unwritten rules of leadership (and life) is that you get what you give. The more value you give, the more value will come back in return.
So how is this relevant in this situation?
Simple. Stop looking at your employees with the perspective of what they can give you. Instead, take some time to reflect on what you can give to them.
Employees don’t leave companies, they leave their managers and colleagues. If you create an environment where employees
- enjoy coming to work,
- get the ability to use their skills in a meaningful way, AND
- are given the opportunity to learn, grow and master new skills then they are very unlikely to want to go anywhere else.
Or if they do, they will quickly come back when they realise the things they had been taking for granted working for your organisation.
So what does this all come down to?
Leadership, pure and simple. As a leader you need to be able to articulate the vision of where your organisation is headed and the role that the team members need to play in making it a reality. You need to know your employees and to see the potential that lies within them and help them see the potential that lies within them and how you are willing to invest time and money to help them achieve this. Show me any organisation with a turnover problem and I can show you how it is a leadership and communication problem.
Developing leadership in your organisation takes time and requires investment. However, for your organisation to be able to attract and retain great employees, you have to build a leadership culture to do this. At Rapport Leadership International, our passion is in developing better leaders and helping organisations to reach their fullest potential.
If you’d like to find out more about how we do this, check out some of our leadership skills development programs here, or simply drop us a line and we’ll be in touch.
Until next time, have a great day.
