While staff might not be making the plunge today, they are thinking about it, which may mean their mind is elsewhere leading them to be less productive at work. Employers shouldn’t stick their heads in the sand and need to tackle this head on. Luckily, there are ways to keep staff engaged which in turn can stop them looking elsewhere, make them happier and improve productivity levels.
We took a look at the top reasons staff leave and reveal how an effective employee benefits programme can stop these issues from arising.
Reason number 1: I’m not paid enough
With 64% of British workers in full-time employment feeling like they are underpaid, it is no wonder that they set their sights on other jobs in the hope to earn more money. Of course, it is unrealistic to expect every employer to implement a blanket pay rise across the organisation in an attempt to get them to stick around.
One way to combat this issue is to help staff make their pay go further. There are many ways organisations can do this. This can include financial education, the offer of fair value loans, to offering discounts on their weekly shop. These useful benefits will encourage staff to spend smarter and save money where it matters most.
At Personal Group, we believe that a well-structured discounts and rewards scheme can save an employee earning the average UK salary up to £1000 per year. That’s equivalent to a 5% pay rise at a fraction of the cost.
Yet the most important thing here is often not the discounts, vouchers or offers themselves. Rather, it is how effective the communication of these benefits is. Adoption and usage are vital to their success. Staff are not going to be grateful for all of the benefits you provide if they don’t know that they exist. Organisations need to consider which are the best ways to communicate these benefits to staff and make sure that employees know what they are, where they are and how to access them.
Reason number 2: I don’t feel appreciated
In a survey conducted by CV-Library, 30.5% of respondents admitted that they don’t feel appreciated in their job. Reward and Recognition is so important and organisations need to make the effort to show staff that they are happy to have their employees working for them. There are so many ways to show appreciation. Annual Awards are fantastic but by the time they roll around, people have often forgotten about the work they did and the impact is lost. In the moment recognition programmes are a fantastic way to show appreciation and they shine a light on the little things that staff do every day to make a big difference within the company. A little thank you can go a long way.
At Personal Group, we have Cheers. It is a system where all staff can award their peers with thank you points for different levels of gratitude. Whether it is a handshake, high five or fist bump, these points are sent to staff who can save them towards treats, ranging froma free cup of coffee to a spa day. These tangible benefits are often better appreciated and they work tocreate a culture of celebration within the office that helps staff feel valued more than ever.
Reason number 3: No one cares what I think
In a large organisation, it is often hard for every member of staff to feel like their voice is heard. Your biggest innovators could shy away from the spotlight if they don’t feel like their opinions are valued, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Why wait until the annual survey to get feedback on how your staff are feeling? By the time you have ploughed through all of the survey results, that employee could be further disengaged or may even have left in favour of a company where they feel more appreciated and listened to. It is crucial that your staff feel valued day to day, not just once a year.
The development of Employee Benefits Technology now means that you can host all of your employee services together in an app, making it available to all staff on their mobile phones. If they are checking their phones all of the time anyway, why not tap into this opportunity to send in the moment pulse surveys or to share some company news? This is a fantastic way to engage with staff who aren’t office based and may not have the opportunity for a quick one to one to get their voices heard.
The quicker you access and action feedback, the quicker changes can be made. This also shows that you value the opinions of your staff and can help demonstrate that you do really care what they think. Engaging with staff through their phone is one of the best ways to encourage participation, boost engagement and create a happier work environment.
The challenge of reducing staff turnover will only increase as more job-hopping Millennials enter the workforce. Turnover can never be reduced to nothing, be it is possible to get it to a level you are happy with. is the key is to correctly identify the reasons staff are leaving and work to combat these in order to retain them longer.
After all, happier staff are more productive. So it makes perfect business sense to review your benefits and how these are communicated. That way you can make work a happier place for everyone.