Gallup’s Post

Has your company used an RTO mandate "to improve productivity"? See the impact on employee engagement ⬆ vs "intent to stay" ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ Was that worth it? Can you risk losing your highest performers as well as other core groups?

Creating a supportive workplace starts with understanding what our employees need. We asked over 6,000 professionals about their thoughts on compensation and benefits, and their responses were enlightening. The survey results offer a clear path to building workplaces that provide not just competitive pay but also the security and sense of belonging that today’s workforce seeks. By focusing on these areas and developing tailored benefits packages, we can nurture exceptional talent and foster a thriving work environment. Excited to share these insights and build a stronger, more supportive workplace together! Download the report here: https://bit.ly/3zCpNsv Neil D'Silva Nandini Sabanayagam Puneet Prakash Mathur Charu Chawla Subu Boyinapalli Renu Sagar Satya GVK Prem Kumar Saroj M J Clint Thomas Vinay Unnikrishnan Reedhi Mukherjee Ashutosh Bisht Vinay Kalyan Parakala Sharanya Rao #EmployeeFocus #WorkplaceExcellence #CompensationAndBenefits #FutureOfWork

This is such an important conversation that leaders need to lean into and listen. Every C Suite is taking an approach they feel will drive productivity and performance. Opps & challenges exist with every model. Not sure what the workplace will look like in 3-5 years, but it is a dynamic time to track data and stories to learn about employee experience and workforce productivity.

High-performing employees are the people *most* likely to leave when #ReturnToOffice mandates are imposed. We've had evidence for years now that women, caregivers, and Millennials (who are often also caregivers) value flexibility more than men. New research from Gartner confirms that, but also looked at people who are high performers (those promoted more quickly than their peers) and found they're the MOST likely to bolt. That shouldn't be a surprise. Not only does top talent have more choices, they're also the ones where the signal of "we don't #trust you" stings the most. They're already going above and beyond -- capricious policies tell them that appearances matter more. There are some benefits in employee engagement among Gen Z, but there are better ways than forced marches back to the office to make that happen. After all, 85% of employees want some regular time together -- and they want it most for relationship building. Notably, Gartner found (yet again) that mandates did not improve employee performance. There's no mythical #productivity boost. But "losing high-performers to attrition cost organizations in terms of productivity, difficulty in backfilling the role, and the overall loss of high-quality talent available to fill critical positions.” That's from Caitlin Duffy, director of Gartner's HR practice ( 🔗 link to report in comments!) Many CEOs out there are very aware of this. They get that top talent has choices, and that the decisions UPS and Boeing made about coming back into the office full-time will lead to long term damage. It's also why the vast majority of policies rolled out at the 3 and 4 day level aren't enforced. Let's be realistic, you're not going to nuke your top producers. Leadership via policy is all downside, little to no upside. We need to invest in redesigning how we work and focus on outcomes, not appearances. #retention #talent #returntowork #rto #remotework #flexiblework #hybridwork

Did you know that only 16% of workers say they #trust their employer—yet 88% of the leaders surveyed by Deloitte for its #HumanCapitalTrends report say that trust and transparency is important for business success? Building #trust in the workplace should be a priority for leaders, and maintaining that trust is essential to employee performance, retention, and loyalty. Here are some important takeaways from a recent WorkLife article featuring this new research and insights from Susan Cantrell:   1️⃣ When gathering employee data, focus on human outcomes such as progress and quality of work instead of activity and hours logged. 2️⃣ Encourage the entire C-suite to lean in to what employees need and involve workers in decision making. 3️⃣ Pay attention to the employer-employee relationship prioritizing communications and sharing successes with everyone involved.   Check out the article here: https://lnkd.in/ggbR3-Y6

RTO mandates are the last refuge of uninspired managers and leaders who were uninspired before the pandemic. Are there benefits to working together in person? ABSOLUTELY Are there benefits to working remote/hybrid? ABSOLUTELY Top companies will attract and retain top talent by actually doing the hard work to intentionally adopt practices that utilize the best of both.

Excellent insights from Phil Kirschner on the impact of #RTO mandates. The data is compelling. My guess is there is more reflected in the data than just the choice to be flexible in work arrangements vs mandates. Here is my thinking: 👉 RTO mandates are likely a reflection of the larger corporate culture. 👉 Workplace flexibility is likewise a reflection of the larger corporate culture. 👉 Employee satisfaction / retention / engagement / etc are likely a reflection on overall corporate culture, of which choice of work location is one factor. Workplace flexibility vs mandated RTO decisions are products of the workplace culture. Those organizations modeling working norms appealing to their target workforce are going to be more successful in their employee relationships (and in their overall business success) than those stuck in the past. RTO mandates vs workplace flexibility may have become a signal to workers as to the overall corporate culture - do I want to be a part of this team? Agree?

This list might be valuable for job seekers in US. "Companies that create a great workplace are more likely to have engaged workers who care about their jobs. But in April, Gallup reported that U.S. worker engagement hit an 11-year low, falling to 30 percent of full- and part-time employees feeling "highly involved and enthusiastic about their work and workplaces." #workplaces #engagement #jobs #us https://lnkd.in/geUpeZ92

'Only a third of US employees are engaged at work' I think this may be true for many offices. Would you agree? According to a survey from Gallup, more Americans feel detached from their employers, a figure that has been rising over the last decade but peaked in the aftermath of the pandemic. There are many causes, but the survey notes "the disruption of the past few years reduced satisfaction in the workplace, with more employees saying they don’t clearly know what’s expected of them". This links closely to our work at Vlerick Business School and Vlerick Strategy in Action Platform (SIAP) where a key to successful strategy implementation is employee motivation, and specifically intrinsic motivation where employees adopt the goals of the organisation as their own. A very important aspect of this is to use fair decision processes, based on the following three principles: ♻️ Engage - Involve employees in decisions that impact them, allowing their views to be shared and valued. 💡 Explain - Ensure employees understand why a decision is made, and the thinking behind it. - Also ensure employees understand what a decision requires of them and how it translates into their daily activities. 🛠 Evolve - Stay open to new ideas and new information to adapt decisions as needed. While these appear obvious, many managers struggle to instil them in their organisation. This does not only require new processes, it also asks managers to be more inclusive (to hold more regular and engaging discussions across the organisation) and transparent (to collaborate on and share the strategy across the organisation). If you are interested to learn more, then download our whitepaper 👇 https://lnkd.in/eQRjpBF8 Also read more about the Gallup survey in this Bloomberg article 👇 https://lnkd.in/emDqJcpW #strategy #people #hr #talent #motivation #engagement #leadership Carine Peeters Martin Weiss Kurt Verweire Kerstin Fehre Esha Mendiratta Robyn Hanssens (she/her)

Some of the workplace trends for 2024 will allow the most attuned employers to secure an advantage for sustaining their workforce.