A recent national survey shows the disparity between what employers think and employees know… and the results are a wake-up call to today’s executives and human resource professionals.  Consider the following:

While employers believe one in four of their employees are “extremely satisfied”, only one in seven employees feels the same way.

While 53 percent of directors and above are “satisfied” with their job, only 44 percent of managers and supervisors feel the same way.  Worse yet, only 30 percent of hourly workers are satisfied in their job.

While 63 percent of employers believe their employees are not searching for other jobs, 65 percent of employees admit they are actively or passively searching, even in a difficult hiring environment.

57 percent of employees are more likely to intensify their job search in the next three months, while 78 percent of employers believe their employees are less likely.

And not surprisingly, one in four employees blames a poor relationship with their manager as a major reason why employees leave, while one in five cites “boredom” with the job.

OK, let’s try this again…

First,  employee satisfaction isn’t something you can guess about, it isn’t one of those so-called “soft measures”.  If you haven’t learned that engaged employees make for loyal and committed customers who buy more stuff, you haven’t been listening to my speeches, reading my books, or keeping up with the blog.  Managing employee engagement isn’t a “nice-to-do” in the good times, it’s a “have-to-do” ALL THE TIME.

Have I made myself clear?  Do I need to speak a little louder?  No?  Good.

Second, employees quit a boss, not a company.  It’s why I wrote the second book, Employee Engagement; A guide for managers and supervisors.  There is no more important relationship for an employee and their satisfaction and engagement, no matter what my friends at Gallup think (i have a best friend at work…really?).  Supervisors are engagement agents, the vital lynch-pin that make or break any employee initiative (and therefore customer initiative) deemed important by an organization.  It’s why my organization created STARS - Supervisor Training for Associate Retention and Success.

Finally, employees quit because they are bored and restless.  Perhaps with unemployment nearing double digits their boredom won’t immediately cause their turnover.  But it will immediately lead to lower production, lower throughput, and higher error rates.  Sweet trade-off.

The strongest indicator of employee engagement and retention is “Daily Satisfaction”.  The strongest indicator of daily satisfaction is whether there is a good fit between the skills and interests of the “applicant/worker” and the job.

Employee engagement isn’t that tough.  You just have to come to grips that you “don’t know what you don’t know).

Have a great Monday!