I tried really hard NOT to write an article this month about Fantasy Football. My draft is tonight and I still don’t know who I will take with my 8thpick**. The first BIG college football game is in a week (August 24 Miami-UF) and NFL/Draft Kings begins a week later. I have football on the brain!!! I take a lot of inspiration from ESPN’s Mathew Berry and his article this week was about how he got a bit part in the latest Avengers movie (eye roll!!). Of course, then he went into his 2019 Love Em/Hate Em article where he discusses the players that he loves and doesn’t love for the 2019 season. That got me thinking… what do employees love and hate about their jobs? And then…
I was on LinkedIn and saw a post from one of my good friends that works for a company that is near and dear to many of our hearts. The company asked their employees what was their favorite thing about working for the Company. There were many answers – including a keg on tap (which would probably be pretty high up for me as well) – none of which included “I make a ton of money”.
Not surprisingly, as a Recruiter, the topic of money certainly comes up with my candidates. But, what may be surprising is how many of them tell me that it is not the most important thing. Of course, they want to be paid fair, but what is most important? It’s a toss up – and split pretty evenly – between:
- COMPANY CULTURE
- OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH
But – why do they stay? From my days as a Corporate Trainer and Business Coach, I have known for a while that money was not a driver in Employee Retention. That being said, I was curious if the #1 reason was still the same as it was 5-7 years ago. So – I took to Google and started typing… Here is what I found:
- Full-time employees (54%) were more likely to say they stay with current employers because of their co-workers, according to the American Psychology Association. That was even true for 43% of part-time employees,
- 60% of employees feel their relationship with their co-workers positively impacts their focus or productivity, and 44% say it positively impacts stress levels, says a Virgin Pulse survey, and
- A recent MTV Research poll of Millennials revealed that 88% of these future leaders expect to and want to be friends with their coworkers.
And – just because I love statistics…here a couple more to ponder when trying to figure out how to retain your employees:
- 14.9 percent lower turnover rates in companies that implement regular employee feedback.
- 82 percent of employees really appreciate receiving feedback, regardless if it’s positive or negative.
- 27 percent of employees say that the feedback they receive helps them to work better.
- 48 percent of employees say acting on feedback would reduce turnover.
- 42 percent of Millennials want feedback every week.
How does this translate to you and your team? Contrary to our old school work environment, you should encourage your team to make friends and chat with their co-workers. Allow them to budget time during the day for breaks. Financially back a few team bonding events. Be ok if lunch lasts a little longer than an hour. Remember feedback doesn’t always have to come from a manager. Sometimes, just brainstorming an idea (over lunch or coffee in the breakroom) can produce the best results.
I have said this before, but it is worth repeating – there is no way to over communicate!! Whether it is co-workers that are communicating with each other or managers/supervisors/team leads that provide constructive and positive feedback on an ongoing basis. With this in place, your team should STICK TOGETHER like glue!!!
*** For those that may be curious – I took James Connor with my 8thpick. And with the 13thpick, I got Travis Kelce!!
