Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas
When employees and their managers are asked about what they value at work, the answers are surprisingly different, says consultant Andrew Botwin SPHR. That disconnect will result in expensive turnover.
Botwin, who is CEO of SPC (Strategy People Culture) Consulting, offered his engagement tips at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium held recently in Las Vegas, Nevada.
What Managers Think Employees Want
In one study by the Labor Relations Institute of NY, managers selected, in order, the following as what employees most value:
- Good wages
- Job security
- Promotion and growth
- Good working conditions
- Interesting work
- Personal loyalty to workers
- Tactful discipline
- Appreciation for work done
- Sympathetic help with personal problems
- Feeling “in” on things
What Employees Say They Want
When employees were asked to rank the same characteristics, the list came out like this:
- Appreciation for work done
- Feeling “in” on things
- Sympathetic help with personal problems
- Job security
- Good wages
- Interesting work
- Personal loyalty to workers
- Promotion and growth
- Good working conditions
- Tactful discipline
Note that the top three on the employees’ list are the bottom three on the managers’ list. What this means, says Botwin, is that unless we recognize what employees value, we are managing to a disconnect.
Why Do We Care?
First of all, turnover is expensive. Estimates vary, but 75% to 200% of annual salary is a common estimate. If you have 1,000 employees and you take $70,000 as an average salary, every 1% of turnover costs you from $525,000 to $1,400,000, says Botwin.
Beyond the direct replacement costs of turnover, says Botwin, consider the following costs:
- Lower productivity (according to one study, “actively disengaged” employees cost U.S. businesses $300 billion in productivity)
- Increased error rates
- Lower client satisfaction
- Higher turnover
- Higher legal expenses
- Less creativity to improve processes
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Engagement Impact on Recruiting
Botwin offers the following impacts of engagement on recruiting new employees:
|
High Engagement |
Low Engagement |
|
Lower recruiting fees |
Increased recruiting fees |
|
Less strain on internal resources to recruit |
high strain on internal resources to recruit |
|
Recruiters have more time to find top talent |
Recruiters simply try to fill job requisitions |
|
Increase in employee referrals of quality candidates |
Less help from staff to find talent |
Engagement Impact on Productivity
|
High Engagement |
Low Engagement |
|
Employees care more about quality of work |
Employees do their job with less care |
|
Employees are more focused on their work |
Employees are more focused on complaining |
|
Employees dot their i’s and cross their t’s |
Employees do the minimum to avoid getting in trouble |
|
Employees identify issues and work towards fixes |
Employees see issues and ignore/complain about them |
|
Employees display more creativity and ownership for quality |
Employee don’t care |
Engagement Impact on Client Service
|
High Engagement |
Low Engagement |
|
Customer sees cohesive team/vendor |
Customer sees vendor as unenthusiastic, disinterested |
|
Positivity about a product or service is contagious |
Customer feel unappreciated |
|
Perception is that the customer is buying something better |
Customers wonder why they are buying from you |
|
Customer enjoys the experience |
Customer can’t wait to leave |
|
Relationships built with clients |
Clients are transactionary |
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Engagement Impact on Sales
|
High Engagement |
Low Engagement |
|
Increased repeat business |
Clients likely to try competition |
|
Increased cross-selling |
Limited cross-selling |
|
Clients more likely to work with you to solve problems |
Clients just return product |
|
Clients happy to hear from you |
Can’t get client on the phone |
|
Better reputation on the street |
Bad news travels fast |
In tomorrow’s Advisor, Botwin’s signs of disengagement, plus an introduction to the all-comp-in-one website, Compensation.BLR.com.
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