Employees that Quit and Stay
Posted by Paul Warner, PhD on Mon, Feb 08, 2010 @ 11:05
A DecisionWise study of over 4,000 employees reveals that 14-15 % feel uneasy about the state of their organization and the economy, which translates into a loss of interest in one's job and looking outside the organization for other opportunities.
In the past, these employees would search for greener pastures and would leave the organization. Today, however, unemployment figures and general reductions in hiring have forced these individuals to stay with their current employer.
The 15% of employees who would be looking for other opportunities in a healthy economy end up quitting their job while staying on the job. They quit pscyhologically. When this occurs, they lose the drive, motivation, and engagement to do their work effectively. They waste their time, and ultimately, the organization's investment in their postion.
Here are two solutions to minimize the impact of those that quit and stay and increase employee engagement:
1. Identify who they are: Through formal and informal feedback an organization can assess which employees are actively engaged in their jobs. Feedback tools, such as employee engagement surveys, should be constructed to generate honest feedback from employees while minimizing the risks of individual identification. An engagement profile helps organizations identify the percentage of employees quitting and staying along with what is driving the situation.
2. Find out what makes them tick (and ticked off): Simply understanding the percentage of engaged vs. disengaged employees is not enough to facilitate change in an organization. Analyzing percieved levels of engagement and perceptions about job climate clarifies which factors enage people and which inhibit engagement on an organizational level. The key is to understand the motivations and the drivers, not just the percentage of disengaged employees.
As the economy changes in 2010, so will the employee experience. It will be critical to create valid profiles of engaged and disengaged employees unique to the organization to retain talented employees as job opportunities increase this year. Leveraging engagement profiles and employee opinions will generate change in the right people, change that is cost effective, and change with a significant return on investment.
Understanding employee engagement in 2010 will catalyze changes that curb the quit and stay mentality.
View the recorded webinar:
After the Storm: Forecasting the 2010 Employee Engagement Climate.