Very interesting, and I appreciate someone who is taking the right step in finding out what will be beneficial to one's career in the future. While wishing you my very best, I'd suggest you take up "Employee Engagement."
Employee Engagement and Employee Retention
By: Michael Savitt, PR/Communications Marketing Manager
From recruiting new employees and keeping them engaged to offering effective professional development opportunities and retaining top talent, HR professionals play a significant role in fulfilling an organization's day-to-day operations. Several recent studies have found that Employee Engagement and employee retention are the two greatest concerns currently facing HR leaders.
In the September 2nd issue of Human Resource Executive magazine, a publication focused on strategic issues in HR, a study was conducted citing the top concerns of HR professionals. The study found that Employee Engagement and retaining talent were the first and second most important issues, respectively.
The study surveyed 802 Human Resource Executive readers about some of the work-related issues that are keeping them up at night. When asked how concerned HR professionals are about losing talent as an economic recovery takes hold, 19 percent said extremely concerned, and 39 percent said very concerned. Readers were also asked what steps their organizations are taking in the next 12 months to boost employee retention.
The responses were as follows:
- 64 percent said increasing employee communication.
- 55 percent said providing employees with additional training and development.
- 45 percent said assisting employees in their career development.
- 30 percent said improving work/life policies and initiatives.
- 21 percent said changing compensation.
- 16 percent said enhancing employee benefit offerings.
- 12 percent said none of the above.
- 5 percent said other.
*Note: Respondents were able to select more than one answer, so the responses do not add up to 100 percent.
As the economy soured over the past few years and many organizations asked employees to do more with less, employee morale took a hit. Beyond insight provided in regards to challenges and concerns, readers were also asked about the current state of employee morale and engagement at their organization. Interestingly, nearly half of readers (48 percent) responded neutral to the question. Such ambivalence should be of great concern to HR professionals now that the economy is beginning to rebound. If employees are not engaged in their jobs and morale is low, they are more likely to pursue other job opportunities.
Smart organizations are beginning to include a survey item on their regular Employee Survey that asks about one's thoughts of resignation to help pre-empt voluntary turnover. For example, HR Solutions' Surveys allow organizations to ask current employees whether they have thought of resigning in the last six months. Analyzing the data from this question in HR Solutions' International Normative Database verifies that almost half (46 percent) of employees have thought of resigning in the last six months, a key predictor of future turnover.
Based on this data, HR leaders should implement several tactics to alleviate their concerns and prepare their organizations for the post-recession environment by building an engaged workforce.
First, HR professionals should communicate their biggest concerns with senior management. Then, both parties can establish a plan for easing such concerns and work together to create an action plan that will bring about lasting change.
Second, HR professionals should use an annual Employee Engagement Survey to regularly evaluate Employee Engagement levels within their organization. Such a survey will yield both short-term and long-term returns. Understanding employees' commitment to organizational goals and to their work is necessary to create and sustain an effective, loyal workforce. By continuously monitoring and improving Employee Engagement, organizations will also be in a better position to retain high performers.
Finally, HR professionals should determine what their organization's key retention factors are and promote them (e.g., compensation, benefits, work/life balance, etc.). These can be easily determined from Employee Engagement Survey data. Reducing employee turnover not only saves organizations money but also helps them avoid spending countless hours recruiting and training new employees. Retaining key talent promotes a positive workplace culture, boosting employee productivity and efficiency.
By carrying out the aforementioned tactics and other best practices, organizations will be better prepared to engage and retain their workforce.
HR Solutions' International Normative Database contains survey responses from over 3.3 million employees at more than 2,400 companies and organizations across various industries.
Regards,