Given the current war for talent - a war that is set to intensify in its ferocity in the next few years - organisation alignment experts, Corporate Alignment, look at what it takes to keep employees committed to their workplace. The nationwide commitment study (which formed part of a broader organisation alignment investigation) involved over 3,500 employees - from frontline staff through to senior management and CEOs.
According to the findings of the study, these are the FOUR issues critical to maintaining committed employees...
- Employees want the support of their company and direct boss;
- Employees need to know their organisation is committed to maximising their potential;
- Employees need to share the same values and culture as their employer; and
- Employees need to know their organisation is a competent one.
It comes as little surprise that the factor most closely associated with commitment is organisation support.
Employees need to know that their loyalty is reciprocated - that they have the trust of their employer, that their efforts are recognised and rewarded and that they have access to flexible work practices, if and when they need them.
Employees also need to feel that should they make a mistake - as we all do periodically - that their organisation would stand by them.
It is important to point out that the perception of support is often generally less about support from the head of an organisation but more about an employee's relationship with their immediate manager.
With this in mind, it is crucial that leadership training not be confined to executives but also filter down to middle managers and supervisors - effectively to anyone who has people reporting through to them.
Closely related to the notion of being a supportive employer is the belief that employers are helping their staff reach their maximum potential.
People need to be challenged and excited about their work and know that their contribution is making a meaningful difference to the organisation.
So the skill of a manager is to continuously set the level of challenge slightly above the skill level of employees, which means they are never in their comfort zone but always in a greater performance zone.
Another key commitment driver, according to the Corporate Alignment research, is an alignment of values between employer and employee.
Where there is misalignment, employees become dissatisfied as they feel they are compromising their personal values relative to those of the organisation - a belief that can result in unnecessary emotional turmoil and angst.
By way of example, a loans officer from a finance company is reluctant to approve a loan, despite company policies determining that the potential client is not a credit risk. The loan officer's personal view is that the customer is simply digging him or herself deeper into debt.
What does the loan officer do? This is your perennial values' nightmare.
I believe the by-product of values misalignment is a passionless workforce not prepared to go that extra mile.
It is now more important than ever that values fit become a crucial element of employing people. Hiring based on candidate competence is simply not enough. People need to fit the culture of the company - that is, they need to fit the organisation by virtue of their values and work preferences.
It is crucial that an organisation's core values and behaviours are clearly explained at the time of engagement and reinforced at every step of the employment relationship.
I predict that values alignment will increasingly become a critical component of hiring strategies. We've shifted from selecting candidates based on their employee history to a focus on competencies. We're now poised to enter the next era - recruitment based on values alignment.
Our research also shows that perceptions of organisation competence are also closely linked to employee commitment.
People like to be proud of where they work but given that most of us work for organisations which aren't exactly household names, pride comes from the way the organisation is run, the way it handles change and its effectiveness at implementing projects.
Do these well, and companies will earn themselves a committed workforce.