The Workplace Word: Declining loyalty, Employee Experience design and the downside of working remotely

Every month, we’re highlighting stories, trends and tips related to employee engagement and workplace culture that organizations should be keeping top-of-mind in order to engage, retain and recruit top talent.

1.  Employee loyalty is on the decline. TINYpulse recently released their 2019 Employee Engagement report titled “The End of Employee Loyalty.” The biggest finding: 43 percent of employees said that they would be likely to leave their current companies if they were offered a 10 percent pay raise elsewhere – and that’s an 18 percent increase in that number since their 2017 survey. TINYpulse blames weak company cultures for this drop in loyalty, though the healthy job market may be a reason as well. Key takeaway: Companies today need to work harder than ever to retain top employees – and employees want to work for companies with good cultures. Here are five questions to ask yourself when considering whether your company has a culture that’s working for you.

2.  It’s all about the employee experience now. It’s more than just the latest buzz phrase – employee experience (or “EX”) encompasses everything from onboarding to milestones to simple day-to-day activities, and is a vital piece of the employee engagement puzzle. And while companies have always focused on designing the best customer experience, many are now applying the same design thinking principles to the employee experience in order to increase retention. Key takeaway: Organizations can and should be purposeful about designing the employee experience, and tactics like journey mapping can help you understand what matters most to employees, their pain points and how to make the biggest impact.

3. More people are working remotely, but they’re also feeling left out. Regardless of your feelings about the pros and cons of working from home, more and more people are taking advantage of – or even seeking out – this level of flexibility. A 2018 International Workplace Group study found that 70 percent of employees worldwide telecommute at least once a week. However, according to a 2019 State of the Digital Workspace report by Igloo, 70 percent of remote employees feel left out of the workplace. It can be hard to build relationships when you’re not in the same location, and that lack of camaraderie can have a big impact on engagement. Key takeaway: As the number of remote workers continues to rise, people who manage these employees need to make sure they’re doing everything they can to make them still feel like part of the team. Here are some tips.

What are some trends that you’re seeing in the workplace? We’d love to share them in a future post! Check back next month for more.


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