An article in June 19th’s Boston Sunday Globe reported on a Deloitte Human Capital Trends report that nearly two-thirds of employees are testing the job market. Another study by Metropolitan Life Insurance found that 1 in 3 people want to quit their jobs this year. What’s happening?
Apparently, as the economy slowly recovers, employees are now ready to jump ship because many of them are unhappy with their current employer. The down economy required many companies to lay off employees thus adding an increased burden on those employees that remained. In addition, many of the programs designed to engage employees were reduced or cut altogether. Though this approach by companies may have made sense in the short term, it has a negative impact in the long run by reducing an employee’s sense of loyalty to the company.
In fact, Met Life indicates that employees who feel a very strong sense of loyalty to their companies decreased from a high of 59% in 2008 to a low of 47% in 2010. Compare this to the percentage of employers who think their workers have a very strong sense of loyalty to them which was at 50% in 2008 and is now at 51% in 2010. This means employers are out of touch with how their employees feel about the company and the desire to remain employed with that company.
Engaging employees is important and should be an ongoing strategic initiative. So if your company has discarded mentoring or coaching or other forms of employee engagement, it is time to bring those back in order to re-engage your employees who might be thinking of leaving. In today’s competitive market, no employer can afford to lose the best to a competitor.