A new survey has found that employees who experience healthy and productive working relationships with their manager, have high levels of trust in their leadership, and the believe that they are being listened to are much more likely to remain with their employer.
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Employees with a high confidence level in their company’s senior leadership are 5 times as likely to remain with their employer more than 2 years compared to employees with no confidence. And companies that not only encourage—but act upon—employee feedback are much more likely to keep employees, according to a new 2017 US Employee Pulse Survey by Qualtrics, conducted among 5,000 employees across different industries.
When it comes to feedback, 60% of U.S. employees said their employer gave them a way to provide feedback about their own employee experience—but only 30% said their feedback was acted upon. For any employer that thinks simply providing employees an opportunity to be heard will suffice as a retention effort, the survey found that employees who believed their company acted on their feedback were four times as likely to stay with a company than employees who “don’t think their feedback changes anything.”
And relationships with managers are paramount to employee retention according to the survey results, with employees who claim their managers regularly acknowledge them for good work are five times more likely to stay. Meanwhile, employees who say their manager consistently helps them manage their workload reported they were eight times as likely to stay with their current employer.
“Regular recognition and supervisory support in the form of identifying and removing roadblocks as well as balancing workload demands are fundamental aspects of an engaged workplace,” Gunnar Schrah, Principal Consultant, Employee Experience at Qualtrics, commented in the survey report. “As it turns out, direct managers can impact these areas with minimal investment of time and resources. Making a point to observe, evaluate and recognize employee contributions on a regular basis or even encouraging team member recognition can go a long way towards making employees feel valued.
“Conducting regular check-ins with employees on their progress towards goals and collaborating on strategies and tactics to deal with obstacles can empower employees to resolve issues on their own,” Schrah continued. “From a bigger picture standpoint, progressive organizations are reaping the rewards of a continual performance management approach whereby employees are provided with regular feedback and an opportunity to revisit goals in light of evolving priorities and challenges.”
And how do employees say their managers are actually doing? More than half (56%) report their employer consistently praises them for good work, and 54% say their manager is effective at helping resolve work-related issues, but just 44% say their manager regularly helps them manage their workload.
For full survey results, visit Qualtrics.com.