The world of work has evolved and yet because of misplaced assumptions, there is a growing disconnect between employers and their people, leading to insufficient career support and ongoing challenges with disengagement.
“Engagement is at an all-time low, the lowest it’s been in decades – but it’s not just that engagement is low, it’s that managers are also not tuned into it.”
- Beth Linderbaum, Ph.D., PCC – Head of Global Coaching Excellence
From recognition gaps, manager blind spots, work overload and a lack of clarity around purpose, the drivers of said disengagement are abundant. But as found by our latest research, what it really boils down to is that leaders are failing to understand what actually drives engagement, and are assuming that the same levers they pulled to attract talent can be used to retain and motivate. Our data, however, says otherwise.
The engagement illusion
The first consequence of this organisational misalignment is a disconnect between leadership and their people. Leaders are blind to the disengagement within their workforce.
Of those surveyed, 53% of leaders believe their workforce is fully engaged, a sentiment that only 37% of employees agree with. In fact, more employees (41%) admit to being disengaged, a reality that less than 1 in 3 (29%) leaders have acknowledged. But why is there such a disconnect between leaders and their people?
The data suggests that many leaders have simply misinterpreted what actually contributes towards workforce engagement.
When asked which aspects of work most influence engagement, employees identified two key drivers – organisational fit and alignment (37%) and a meaningful career (27%) – while pay and benefits ranked last with only 9% of people citing it as a main driver for them.
Now, while leaders also identified fit as the main driver of engagement (23%), they underestimated its importance and ranked it only slightly higher than pay and benefits (21%) and job logistics (17%). This misunderstanding is reflected on a global scale and goes a long way to explaining why so many organisations are struggling to retain key talent – they’ve failed to recognise the value of certain factors and are over relying on others.
“As a worker looking for some kind of safety or continuity, you don’t just focus on the job, you focus on the company and a sense of belonging.”
- Barbera de Graaf – EMEAAP Market Leader
The talent paradox
This becomes even more apparent as you delve further into the data, which shows that the factors influencing attraction are not interchangeable with those that drive engagement. In fact, they’re almost polar opposites.
When considering a new role, employees prioritise pay and benefits (36%) and then job logistics (19%). They want to know what the job entails, what perks are available and how much they’ll be paid. At this point, whether they ‘fit’ within the organisation simply isn’t a priority for a most people.
However, once someone has become established in their role, they’re looking for greater meaning to help them stay engaged.
Where competitive base pay, annual leave and flexibility around work location are high on the wish list when accepting a new role; employees instead want challenging and meaningful work, alignment with business values, and to feel confidence in organisational leadership and strategy in order to find a sustainable sense of belonging and career satisfaction.
In failing to recognise the distinct difference between what attracts and what retains talent, businesses find themselves with an unhappy workforce that is prone to high turnover rates.
“There’s a lot going on in the world, and we now have to mirror our culture within work to match what people are seeing outside the office to keep them engaged, happy and healthy.”
- Patrick McCue – Americas Market Leader
How to engage and keep your people
While the picture right now may appear somewhat bleak, there is a path forward for organisations who are willing to listen to their employees, learn from previous mistakes and lead according to the needs of their workforce:
Rehumanise organisational culture that allows people to perform at their best – assess values, motivations and preferences when hiring, and provide coaching to help managers build skills for meaningful career conversations
Mobilise your workforce by focusing on potential over performance – utilise assessment and workforce data to build success profiles and develop a holistic view of your people, which will then inform talent development decisions
Curate meaningful careers that support ongoing growth – encourage career ownership from your people and upskill line managers to support their team members, helping to generate alignment between individual employees and organisational goals
“The future of work depends on aligning individual career aspirations with business strategy and skills needs.”
- Caroline Pfeiffer Marinho – Global Business Leader
To find out more about the steps your organisation can take to provide meaningful careers that drive engagement and retention, catch up on our webinar.
