This topic generated the most interest amongst the attendees at the summit, especially with a recent report from Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) stating “83% of employees polled said it was somewhat or extremely likely they would seek new employment once the job market and economy improves.”
Initially, the topic was listed as “Retaining Talent”; however, most attendees agreed that the issue is about engagement, not just retention. Whether or not due to a negative connotation, participants highlighted that organizations are not seeking to retain people who don’t want to stay but rather engage their employees. The concept is that through engagement, this will naturally result in retention.
In addition to the trend of engaging talent, attendees noted that people are not just leaving companies, they’re also leaving industries.
The discussion then turned to ways organizations can engage employees.
- Engage employees in the company’s customer feedback process or customer satisfaction survey. This process further engages employees in the process and enables them to see the impact of their work on others. This harkens to the Sears project titled “Customer Service Profit Chain”, which demonstrated that employee satisfaction has a trickle down effect. If employees are happy, customers are served better and will buy more.
- Employee recognition is important. The group brainstormed several ways one could recognize people, such as an icon on an intranet profile, gift certificates or public acknowledgement. One key recommendation is to first ask how a person wants to be recognized as some may prefer less public demonstrations of being recognized.
We want to hear from you!
- What are you recommendations for engaging and retaining employees?
- What programs have been successful at your company?
