Today’s job market is highly competitive—but not for the reason you might think. These days, it’s employers who are having to compete for top talent. Attracting highly skilled employees has become a challenge for many companies, and retaining those employees is another major concern.
Creating a sense of loyalty is crucial for businesses that want to retain their employees, and employee loyalty is largely dependent on company culture. Companies with strong cultures tend to create loyal employees. So what can companies do to build strong cultures and create loyal workers? To find out, let’s look at some statistics.
Older generations frequently characterize Millennials and Gen Zers as lazy, entitled, apathetic, and fickle. Is it true that employees of the younger generations are disloyal to their employers and don’t take their jobs seriously? Statistics show the opposite: young employees are in fact incredibly dedicated to their jobs.
When it comes to employment, millennials are more loyal than people think: three out of four work in knowledge-based or managerial roles and the majority plan to remain with their company for at least 10 years.
In comparison, most Gen Zers plan to stay with their current company for at least six years, meaning the millennial turnover rate is lower than many people think.
Gen Z and Millennials consider decent technology crucial to job performance. Around 70% of young managers say they won’t hire someone if they lack basic computer skills, and around 80% of them encourage their direct reports to use technology when solving problems.
It’s clear from career development statistics that employees from younger generations take their commitment to their jobs seriously. Perhaps this is why so many of them are so loyal to their employers.
Millennials and Gen Zers get a lot of flack from the older generations for constantly being on their phones, but it turns out that a lot of what they’re doing is work-related.
In 2020, more than one-third of Gen Z employees and almost 40% of Millennial employees said they check work-related communication channels more frequently than social media, and according to employee engagement statistics, 2022 will see younger employees continuing this trend. About 60% of employees from both generations say they expect teammates to communicate with them outside of regular working hours.
Approximately 40% of millennials have chosen one job over another because of the company’s commitment to sustainability. Additionally, nearly 70% of millennials say that they consider a company’s sustainability a factor when deciding whether to stay in the position long-term.
Employee engagement is a strong indicator of employee turnover. Employees who don’t feel engaged and motivated at work aren’t likely to stick around. Companies that focus on improving employee engagement see much higher productivity and profitability than those that don’t. What are some of the reasons that employees feel disengaged and unmotivated at work? Let’s look at some employee motivation statistics to find out.
Financially stressed employees are also nine times more likely to have difficult relationships with colleagues, and two times more likely to be looking for other employment, according to unhappy employee statistics. They are about 1.6 times more likely than their fellow employees to be unhappy with their current position but planning to stay in it.
According to employee recognition statistics, employee engagement is critical to a company’s success: disengaged employees cost US businesses $450–500 billion every year! The interesting thing is that improving employee engagement isn’t difficult: all companies need to do is let their employees know that they’re valued.
Successful businesses know that high employee engagement is crucial to their profitability. Companies that implement employee engagement strategies see about 21% higher levels of profitability and 17% more productivity than those that don’t.
According to employee loyalty and profitability statistics, engagement strategies include making sure employees have the proper tools to perform their jobs and making sure their employees feel appreciated.
According to a report from Gallup, only 20% of employees worldwide report feeling engaged at work. Reports from other organizations indicate higher levels of engagement, but they also likely measure disengagement differently.
Employee morale statistics show that approximately 73% of employees say they would consider leaving their current role if the right offer came along, even if they are not actively looking for another job. Their motivations are not completely financial: 74% of younger employees would accept a pay cut if it meant they got to work their ideal job, and 23% of people would not need a pay increase to take on a new role.
Employee retention is one of the largest issues facing companies today. Highly skilled employees can demand more from employers now, particularly with the increased prevalence of remote and flexible work options. Employee turnover can be a major cost for many industries, and it’s one that should be easily avoidable. What can businesses do to prevent employee attrition? These employee retention statistics will give you some idea.
A good onboarding program is an important part of the hiring process and is likely to lead to lower employee turnover rates. One study showed that 9% of employees left their jobs because of bad onboarding, and almost 40% said that their manager was not part of their onboarding. A good onboarding experience, on the other hand, is responsible for 69% of employees staying with a company for at least three years.
About 44% of employees who feel their company does not do a good job of acting on employee feedback said they plan to look for a new job. Employee retention rate is higher in companies that do act on employee feedback: only 28% of employees who feel their company does act on their feedback said they were planning to look for another position.
Career progress and opportunity for advancement are key components of what makes employees stick around. About 20% of employees are more likely to be with a company after a year if they feel there is an opportunity for them to grow.
More than 70% of employees that are considered “high-retention-risk” believe they will be forced to leave their current position in order to advance their careers, according to employee turnover statistics.
That number is high, but it drops to about 25% when you look at voluntary turnover only (i.e., employees deciding to leave of their own accord), and becomes 29% when considering involuntary turnover. For most industries, it’s reasonable to assume a turnover rate of about 19%.
Employee retention cost is low, but employee attrition cost can be very high: when an employee leaves a company, the company isn’t just losing out on their productivity. It costs money to replace an employee—from advertising the position to interviewing new candidates and training a new employee. Additionally, companies must factor in the cost of the lost institutional knowledge and the amount of time it will take a replacement employee to become fully productive in the role.
A majority of employees indicate that a company’s culture is one of the things they consider most closely when applying for a new position. A strong company culture creates happier, more productive, and most importantly more loyal employees. Companies that invest time and effort in creating a culture that fosters learning, career advancement, and two-way communication are more likely to retain employees than those that don’t, according to company culture statistics.
Happy employees statistics indicate that the majority of employees consider company culture crucial to producing their best work. Another 74% see a strong correlation between the culture of their company and their ability to serve their customers effectively. Unfortunately, many employees experience a gap between their expectations of company culture and their experience of it in their daily lives.
A strong learning culture is apparently a major factor in employee retention, according to employee training statistics. Such an environment encourages employees to continually improve their performance and the company as a whole by seeking out new knowledge and sharing that knowledge with their peers.
Almost 70% of employees said they would quit their job if they didn’t feel supported by the more senior employees at their company. Additionally, many professionals consider support from managers to be the most important aspect of company culture.
According to employee benefit statistics, benefits are not always the most important thing to potential employees. Approximately 45% of workers from the older generation see inspirational colleagues and company culture as particularly important factors when considering a new workplace. Millennials are the least concerned with culture, with 41% considering it a top factor for a new role. About 43% of Gen Xers and 42% of Gen Zers think culture is crucial.
Effective communication statistics show that a culture that encourages “upward feedback” (that is, the ability for employees to give direct feedback to their superiors) is important in employee retention.
Feedback should flow both ways, and, more importantly, should be acted upon. Around 60% of employees report having channels through which to provide feedback, but only 30% said they felt that their feedback was implemented.
Some of the other challenges that executives face include managing expenses and cash (28% report this as one of their biggest challenges), fostering a good work environment (27%), finding top talent (25%), and creating more efficient workflows (23%).
According to employee turnover statistics, managers that aren’t rated well by their reports are more likely to see turnover. About 40% of employees who don’t rate their manager’s performance well have interviewed for a new job in the last three months, compared with just 10% of employees who think their manager is doing a good job.
The areas of the world with the next-highest levels of engagement are the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region and the United States, both with 72%. Asia follows at 71%, and Sub-Saharan Africa shows about 62% of employee engagement, according to employee engagement statistics.
The industries with the top five best retention rates in 2019 were the government, finance and insurance, manufacturing, educational services, and wholesale trade. The industry with the worst employee retention rate was arts and entertainment, followed by leisure and hospitality, accommodation and food services, construction, and professional and business services.
In addition to improving retention, 71% of HR professionals feel that improving employee experience will increase productivity, while 40% think doing so will meet the expectations of younger employees. About 29% of talent professionals focus on employee experience as a way to attract more candidates.
Attracting and retaining highly skilled employees is a challenge for many businesses. Employee loyalty is incredibly important, not only for maintaining an engaged and knowledgeable workforce but also for keeping down costs associated with hiring and training new employees. Unfortunately, many companies fail to follow the simple steps that employees perceive as important when deciding to remain in a job.
There are many things that companies can do to create loyal employees, including building a culture that encourages two-way feedback and learning, acting on employee feedback, ensuring that employees know they are valued, and providing employees with the tools and technology they need to perform their jobs well.
There are many ways you can measure the loyalty of your employees. The easiest stat to look at is attrition. If your company has a high rate of employee turnover, it’s an indicator that your employees are not happy in their roles or loyal to the company.
Another way to measure loyalty, according to job satisfaction statistics, is by looking at your Net Promoter (eNPS) score. Ask your employees how likely they would be to recommend working for you to a friend on a 10 point scale. The results will tell you how many of your employees are promoters of your company, vs how many are passive or detractors.
One of the best indicators of employee loyalty is company culture: a strong culture typically fosters loyal employees. If your employees know they are valued, feel that their voices are heard, and feel they have the opportunity to learn and advance in their careers, they’re likely to stay with the company for many years.
Surprisingly, financial incentives are not usually correlated with company loyalty. Many employees would take a decrease in pay for the chance to work at their dream job, and the majority of employees would recommend their company based on well-being initiatives rather than salary.
Employee satisfaction is usually not calculated by a percentage. It’s calculated using something called eNPS. eNPS asks your employees to rate how likely they are to recommend working at the company to a friend, on a scale of one to 10. Once all employees have given their rating, an eNPS can be determined by totaling all the employees ratings. An employee who responds with a 9 or 10 is considered a promoter, one who gives a 7 or 8 is considered neutral, and anyone who responds below 7 is considered a detractor. Take the percentage of promoters you have and subtract the percentage of detractors (ignore the neutrals) and you have your eNPS. Anything over 0 is positive. 30 is a good satisfaction score and 40 is excellent.
In the United States, 65% of people report being satisfied with their jobs, while 20% report being passionate about their jobs. One of the major contributing factors to employee satisfaction is coworkers, with 60% of employees saying that their coworkers are the biggest factor in their job satisfaction. Another key factor is recognition, with job satisfaction statistics showing that employees who feel respected are 63% more satisfied with their jobs. About 74% of employees in the US feel that company culture is the biggest factor in job satisfaction, according to employee loyalty statistics.
Sources:
Access Perks, Access Perks, Apollo Technical, Benefit News, Everyone Social, People Managing People, PR News Wire, Smarp, TD, Tiny Pulse, Zapier