Complete with the latest 2024 employee survey data and trends, this guide is designed to help you transform your workplace into one that resonates with the expectations and values of today’s modern workforce.
Good employees understand their value in the market. So when your business makes a mistake, your team’s best will likely be the first to flee.
Many rules and policies are created with good intentions. But over time, they’ve become outdated. There’s a good chance they’re squandering employee engagement.
If you can’t keep your best employees engaged, you’ll end up with a team composed of your weakest hires. Here are a few policies and rules you can probably cut from your employee handbook to retain your top talent.
Salaried employees should be paid for their work, not their time. So if the top performers at your companies are penalized for showing up a few minutes after 9am, or leaving a bit early one Friday, they may be less inclined to stick around.
This isn’t just a new trend that arrived with Millennials, a survey of baby-boomers showed that 33% reported having left a job, and 14% said they’ve considered leaving one because they didn’t have access to flexible work options.
Stop taking frequent flyer miles. Our bodies and personal lives take a beating when we’re constantly on the road and in the air for our companies. The frequent-flyer miles earned are one of the few perks that make it tolerable.
Employees may feel underappreciated when their miles are stripped from them after a long trip. Most importantly, this isn’t a common practice anymore. A SHRM study shows that 65% of companies allow their employees to keep frequent flyer miles. If your company is keeping the miles, it’s like that your competitors are not.
Letting your employees show others who they are is important, yet many companies control what people can display at their desks.
Sure, some things should be off limits. You don’t want someone displaying Orleans’ 1976 album Waking and Dreaming, but self-expression in the workplace is important. Eliminate your clean desk policy, because studies show that employees who put at least one picture or a plant in their cubicle are 15% more productive than those who don’t.
People will always find a time and a place to text with family and friends during the workday. Banning mobile phones in the office will likely lead to your employees spending more time away from their desks to have these conversations. It can also demoralizes good employees who need to check their phones periodically due to pressing family or health issues or as an appropriate break from work.
A Bank of America study shows that 93% of millennials reported that their smartphones were “very” or “somewhat” important, making it that age group’s most prized possession.
Ask yourself: Who’s going to stick around if you take away their most prized possession for 8 hours per day?
Many companies require six months of continuous service before employees are eligible to apply for open positions or promotions. But if an employee is strong and qualified, why wait?
You may not think you need to promote an employee who’s already so happy and invested, but great talent tends to have big career goals. If they feel like you’re holding them back, they’ll find a job that lets them take the next step.
Can you think of any policies at your company that are outdated? Eliminating them from the handbook could result in keeping your best employees at the company longer.
Interested in increasing employee engagement? Did you know that 67% of full-time employees say they are “extremely” or “very” happy with their current job when they have access to free food?
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