Less than 1 in 5 employees consider themselves “very engaged” at work and 82% wish they received more recognition for their work.
SAN FRANCISCO and TORONTO, January 30, 2020 — Only one-third of employees surveyed (33%) plan to stay at their jobs this year, compared to 47% who said the same in 2019. That’s according to a new report conducted by Achievers, an industry-leading employee voice and recognition solution that accelerates a culture of performance. Its 3rd annual Employee Engagement & Retention Report recently revealed that in 2020, up to two thirds of employees surveyed could be headed for the door. The likely culprit? Disengagement. In fact, just 19% of employees surveyed consider themselves “very engaged,” while 14% are fully disengaged. Even the 32% surveyed with “average engagement” are open to new job opportunities.
Achievers’ Chief Workforce Scientist, Dr.Natalie Baumgartner said, “Our data shows a substantial portion of today’s workforce already has one foot out the door. This is a huge shift from what we found last year: that despite disengagement, 65% of employees were planning on staying at their jobs. Employers must take immediate action to reverse these feelings of under appreciation and disengagement. If they don’t, the risk of turnover and underperformance in 2020 is immense.”
More key findings from Achievers’ 2020 Employee Engagement & Retention Report include:
Leadership is falling flat on culture-building
- The perception of leadership’s commitment to culture and employee experience declined, with only 23% of employees surveyed stating senior leaders are “very committed” or have “more than average” commitment, compared to 31% who said the same in 2019.
- One-third of employees (33%) surveyed believe leadership is “minimally committed” to culture and employee experience. This raises serious concerns as it’s up by 7% from 2019.
- Twelve percent of employees surveyed believe leadership in their workplace is “not at all committed” to culture and employee
Absence of recognition is a top driver of turnover, after pay and career growth
- “Lack of recognition” (19%) is a top-three reason why employees surveyed are looking for or considering leaving their jobs, after compensation (52%) and career growth (43%).
- Eighty-two percent of employees surveyed “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed they wish they received more recognition at work, and another 30% of employees feel “not very” or “not at all” valued by superiors.
- When asked how their company or manager is at recognizing them, the top response given by employees surveyed was just “okay” (40%) and nearly one in every five employees said their company or manager was “horrible” at recognizing them.
Employees are leaving because they (still) don’t feel heard
- Ninety percent of workers surveyed said they are more likely to stay at a company that takes and acts on feedback, but when asked how good their company was at soliciting feedback, 15% said “horrible” and 43% chose the second lowest grade—just “okay.”
- When it came to acting on feedback, nearly one in four (23%) said their employers were “horrible” and 44% said just “okay.”
- Of those who said their employer is “horrible” at acting on feedback, nearly half surveyed (44%) plan to look for a new job, compared to the 28% of those who called their company “awesome.”
To learn more about the survey results and how to improve company culture to drive engagement and retention, download the full report at this link.
Survey Methodology
Achievers conducted the online survey in October 2019. The sample size included 1,154 responses from across North America. Males represented 47% and females were 53%. Thirteen percent were Gen Z, 46% were Millennials, 21% were Generation X and 20% were Baby Boomers. The most popular company size was less than 50 employees, representing 29% of respondents, followed by 50-249 employees, representing 21%.
About Achievers
Culture is the ultimate driver of organizational success. With Achievers’ employee voice and recognition solutions, bring your organization’s values and strategy to life by activating employee participation and accelerating a culture of performance. Achievers’ solutions leverage the science behind behavior change to deliver sustainable, data-driven business results anywhere in the world. Integrated insights fuel smarter solutions that deliver just-in time nudges to the entire organization and an industry-best customer success and support team guides you on every step of the journey.Visit us at www.achievers.com.
Achievers is a Blackhawk Network company and is headquartered in Toronto and San Francisco.
About Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network delivers branded payment programs to meet our partners’ business objectives. We collaborate with our partners to innovate, translating market trends in branded payments to increase reach, loyalty and revenue. With a presence in over 26 countries, we reliably execute branded payment programs in over 100 countries worldwide. Join us as we shape the future of global branded payments.
