There is one employee benefit that is sorely lacking in U.S. businesses. While the state of vacation and sick leave, medical and dental benefits may fluctuate across industries, the benefit I am referring to permeates (or in this case doesn't) companies regardless of size, product or geography, and it may be the one benefit that your employees want the most. So, why aren't they getting it?
It's a great question, since involving employees in your decision making process is, compared to the other benefits you dole out, quite cost effective. I ran across a study in BusinessWeek that addresses this issue, so let's start there.
The study, commissioned by CO2 Partners, examines who exactly managers go to when seeking advice from employees. Workers were grouped into educational classifications and salary classifications: those with a high school diploma or less v. college graduates, and those earning less than $25,000 annually v. those earning more than $75,000 annually. What the research found was that managers routinely seek advice from the high school diploma group roughly 24 percent of the time, while looking to college graduates 54 percent of the time. Similarly, those in the lower income bracket were asked for advice 30 percent of the time while those in the higher bracket were sought after on 52 percent of occasions. So, it's not that all employees lack opportunity for input, just those whose economic or academic credentials don't rival their coworkers.
As I read these figures, I thought how unwise. Recently, we have heard from our members that employee retention is a significant concern, and, from what we've all heard about the economy growing while the labor market tightens, it seems natural that this is an issue right now. What does not seem natural is the way employers are approaching this problem. If (and I am presuming this could be your case) the workers you are finding difficulty keeping are involved in the production positions in your business, that's where quality time and effort need to be invested. I don't mean with elaborate gimmicks and incentives, I do mean asking people what they think. The things that are important in one's personal life - respect, acknowledgement, support - are equally if not more key in the working environment. If I am in a relationship with someone who repeatedly ignores my opinion, I will end that relationship sooner or later. Why is it any different at the office?
If you are concerned about a customer service issue and want to know how to improve it, you can ask the desk job person who has a degree in organizational management, sure, but when you want more than theory, you'll want to talk to the people who are working with the customers. As far as the nuts and bolts of their jobs go, they'll know better than you because they do it every day, and you don't. You can take these recommendations, and, as a business manager, find a way to incorporate them into the overall strategy of the company, because that's what you do best. When an employee sees a recommendation going somewhere, you send the message that contributions are valuable. And meaningful contribution is a great indicator of job satisfaction and, in turn, retention.
Lest I sound like one of those desk people spewing theory, here's an example from a meeting I had yesterday with some colleagues - let's call what we were discussing 'intercultural communication.' One gentlemen stated that the problem in communicating across cultures, be it through business, military, political means or whatnot, is that the leaders always " talk a level above the average person" in the other culture. No, someone countered, it isn't that the average person doesn't understand. In fact, the particular policies we were discussing, she said, were very clear. " That concept is a simple word in my language," she explained; the problem is that "we do not believe that the policies are based on what is really happening to us."
I see a striking parallel here between the conversation among my colleagues and the communications gap within US businesses. If your employees are unhappy in their jobs, could it be that you are structuring their positions and creating policies without feedback from them, the very people these structures will directly affect? Let's be clear: these employees know what the issues in their position are, and they know whether or not your policy will fix it. The question is, do you? If you have not asked for feedback from the people on the front-lines of your business, I'd venture to say you should start there when searching for the root of your retention problems.
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