Motivating and retaining employees is a very broad topic. Employers and their leaders are obviously the best people to meet the challenges they face in their particular situation. But since labor scarcity is a recurring hot topic, it’s good to get back to basics.
Being able to calculate the retention rate of its employees is an asset for any executive and any leader to have a good idea of its ability to keep its employees. This makes it possible to compare with other companies in its sector and to draw the necessary conclusions.
If your retention rate is really lower than your industry average, you have to ask yourself what the cause is. Any senior executive who wants to improve the retention rate of the company for which he invests so much of his energies and talent will ask himself the inevitable question: “But why are they leaving?” This, of course, excludes “natural departures” caused by retirements.
What are the top 5 factors that encourage employees to stay loyal to their business? Note:
- recognition of the work done
- attractive opportunities for advancement
- a fair and realistic workload
- a sense of organizational fairness
- competitive total compensation
To understand the importance of these five issues, let’s put the problem differently. Let’s go ahead in the negative. What are the top 5 factors that motivate employees to leave their company (or at least consider leaving it because their commitment and motivation decrease)?
- lack of recognition for the work done
- the lack of concrete opportunities for advancement
- work overload causing pervasive stress
- the presence of inequities and favoritism in the company
- lower total compensation than the competition
You will have noticed that the salary or remuneration is last in the list and it is voluntarily that it is there. All studies show that money is a determining factor in keeping employees in place, but it is not an absolute factor. Money is not the ONLY factor that motivates an employee to stay in the employer’s job because motivation is based on a set of variables related to corporate well-being and social life.
In other words, no one will keep a job that makes them unhappy, if they find better or even the equivalent. This is even more true in situations of labour shortage or scarcity. In the meantime, the employee who is unmotivated, disappointed or disillusioned may be presentee, but he will keep an eye on the exit. A “seemingly hasty” departure is often a personal decision made after a long period of reflection and/or frustration because one’s financial security is at stake. Since we are talking about it, let’s start with the inevitable subject of remuneration.
1. Establishing competitive total compensation
Jacques Forest, CHRP and research professor, ESG-UQAM is a human resources specialist who has studied the issue of compensation for several years. The The main conclusions that emerge from his research (and other authoritative authors on the subject) can be summarized in these three fairly fundamental sub-questions:
- Is money the main motivation at work?
In most cases, no. Surprisingly, more than 70% of those asked if they would continue to work if they had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives said yes. It is not certain that they would continue to work for the same company, however, nor would they continue to do the same work under the same conditions.
- Are you happier at work if you earn more?
That depends. According to the author, obtaining a salary has a particularly powerful motivational impact on employees whose incomes are low or non-existent since it allows them to have access to significantly better living conditions. But, beyond this threshold (which varies according to the social system in which the person evolves), money has no impact on well-being at work. Well-being at work is a key factor in employee retention.
- Can money buy performance?
While total compensation can be an important motivational element in an employment relationship, the researcher indicates that money, past a certain threshold, motivates an employee very little or even poorly to performance. “Performance or performance bonus” pay also has harmful effects, often underestimated, by the employer, especially for complex tasks.
In short, money is therefore an important motivating factor to ensure that you keep your employees in the company, but it is not an absolute determinant. No employee will keep a job that makes them dissatisfied, frustrated or unhappy. This is even more true in a context of labour scarcity.
2. Show appreciation for the work done
The lack of recognition for the work done leads to the loss of meaning of the work. An employee who does not receive enough support or feedback from their superiors will feel that they are working for nothing or are not being appreciated. He will wonder if his work makes sense.
Even though there is a lot of talk about it, many employees feel they don’t have recognition for their work. Many employers often simply give them feedback once a year during an “annual personal assessment”. This is often too little. And sometimes too late.
The reasons that lead an employee to feel “devalued” can arise when the individual does not feel treated with respect for his or her skills or person, does not receive the technical resources or training necessary to perform his or her job to the best of his or her ability, when he or she sees inequities (such as differences in treatment for similar or similar jobs), or simply because he or she finds on a day-to-day basis that he or she is not “essential”. Organizational equity is at the heart of this search for recognition, which remains silent for the most part.
To better understand the role of feedback, the recognition of the work done and its virtues to motivate an employee, it may be interesting to consult a document of the Order of CHRP entitled The virtues of feedback, the tool of choice of the manager-coach.
Any executive, manager or team leader can positively influence the valuation of their employees and thus give more meaning to their work, the worst feedback being silence. If there is not a strong bond of trust between an employee, managers and leaders, this bond of trust can quickly deteriorate, even if the organization is very successful. The employee simply won’t feel like they’re part of it.
Choosing the right middle or senior executive for the right team is essential in management positions. It is important to have executives or managers who show empathy, interpersonal skills, communicate with employees, listen to them and recognize their personal value to make sense of “the 35 hours a week” they spend together. The loss of trust in leaders and executives is an important factor of demotivation and communication remains the best antidote to this situation. We often hear “that we do not leave a company, but its director”.
3. Create different opportunities for advancement
Over time, many employees look for opportunities for advancement that suit them in the company.
The “pyramidal” hierarchy is usually established to lead “upwards” to more senior positions, executives or executives. We all know the story of the little employee who started at the bottom of the ladder and became the boss of the box (or pyramid).
But this pretty story has a moral that doesn’t inspire everyone. She says, “Everyone is the same. Everyone wants to become a boss. One size fits all. Yet, as they evolve and learn new skills at work, some ambitious employees will have hierarchy-based organizational ambitions, but others won’t.
Even as they continue to evolve and gain new skills and work experiences, these employees only want to become experts, mentors or coaches. These same employees are not interested in becoming executives, managing teams or even bosses. They want to become better at what they do best and pass on their know-how. Is there room for them in your business because they don’t have a socially ambitious profile?
Companies with a strong internal promotion plan tend to have happier and more motivated employees. It can therefore be advantageous to create multiple paths of advancement in the company because the career plans of your employees are not all the same. These “multi-track” advancement programs take into account expertise strictly related to human resources management and more technical or expert expertise. And of course the motivations specific to each of these two groups.
Creating “modulated” and well-paid opportunities for advancement as an expert, mentor, coach or “transmitter of know-how” is a great way to keep some employees who do not have the ambition to “climb the pyramid”, but remain essential to the smooth running of your business. An excellent technician will not necessarily make a great setting. If this essential technician feels left out in the hierarchy, he may consider trying his luck elsewhere.
It is not always easy to set up a modulated advancement system, especially for SMEs. But it is by listening to its employees that it is possible to offer everyone more stimulating opportunities for advancement. A blocked horizon is an important factor of demotivation and departure.
4. Develop a realistic portrait of the job description
One of the major sources of stress for an employee in the course of his work is the fact of producing a task, a good or a service within the allotted time, that is, the work for which he is paid. Some industries are more demanding than others, there are off-peak periods and more intense seasons of activity, etc. The overload of work, the many overtime hours, the excessive pressure to achieve goals that are impossible to achieve and the risk of dismissal that would follow can cause an employee to reduce his or her opportunities for advancement in this company. Stress and uncertainty are demotivating factors at work.
It is of course up to the employer to ensure that the environment in which his employees evolve is an environment favorable to performance, but also favorable to a certain quality of life at work and outside work. If the job or work environment is not what the employee has been informed about and there is a gap between the first impression and the reality of the task or tasks to be performed, this can lead to serious questioning in the employee.
When an employee starts in a new company, they expect to have to perform certain tasks or responsibilities. This is what he read in the job offer or what he was informed of orally in an interview. There is a kind of established moral contract and if the expectations do not correspond at all to reality once the person is in office, it can call into question the hiring. While some employees eventually adapt, this is not the case for all. Many will instead choose to quit their jobs, forcing the company to reinvest time and resources in recruitment.
In order to ensure that a candidate’s expectations fit as closely as possible to reality, it is important that the day-to-day job is presented in the most realistic way possible, and this from the job description. During interviews, it is important to “tell the real deals” and be specific about the tasks to be accomplished on a daily basis. We also need to talk about existing staff, corporate culture, executives and how they work and evaluate employees.
5. Practice organizational fairness and avoid favoritism
Over time, if an employee finds that his work task is getting heavier while that of his office or workshop neighbor is getting heavier, he will gradually be demotivated by this situation of perceived or real inequity. Why would it be any different? If some adapt to the discomfort of favoritism, it is really not the best way to keep your employees motivated at work!
An executive must be neutral and fair in the treatment of his team and okay, this is easier said than done. This is not always easy since some affinities are natural between certain people or personalities.
How does this favoritism manifest itself in the company? By an unequal division of labour, by a promotion offered without reasonable justification, by longer breaks for certain teams, by delays passed over in silence or telework authorized for certain employees only, by passes on an atypical schedule, by an unjustified increase or promotion, by a chalet lent during the holidays to so-and-so or any other privilege, by a larger, more lit or corner office… You see the picture, the variations on the theme of iniquity are endless. Organizational hell is paved with good intentions. All motives are good to create discord, jealousy and envy in the heart of the employee who considers himself a victim of inequity at work.
Any wise manager, team leader or leader will avoid putting his finger in this dangerous gear like the plague if he wants to keep the motivation of his best employees in good shape. Some decisions can have an unfortunate impact on the work environment and productivity of one or more employees, and create a climate of insidious jealousy.
What is your strategy to increase employee engagement?
Actions that clearly define opportunities for advancement, the distribution of tasks and the recognition of the work done can have a real impact on the retention of your employees. All this is based on good communication between senior staff and employees. The most effective tailor-made strategies are those that increase the well-being of every employee within your company.
A good headhunter can help you find the frameworks you need to motivate your employees. Learn more about our expertise in direct recruitment to find the best executives and leaders. Contact us !
