Low trust levels in senior management, job dissatisfaction and excessive amounts of daily stress are the key reasons why employers lose top talent.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s quarterly Employee Outlook survey, staff are, unsurprisingly, much more likely to position themselves among the 22% currently looking for a new job if they feel disillusioned – even with the state of today’s employment market. This is despite the fact that they cite pay as the key reason for wanting to switch.
Claire McCartney, the CIPD’s resourcing and talent adviser, said: “With many organisations struggling to compete and survive, the issue of organisation culture and values can take a back seat. Some employers may also feel that they don’t have to work as hard to keep their people because there are fewer opportunities in the labour market that will allow employees to jump ship.”
But there were always vacancies for motivated and skilled personnel and if employers adopted such attitudes, they risked losing their most valued talent, that is those who were best able to compete in a tough jobs market, she added.
The survey revealed that a huge 57% of workers who were dissatisfied with their job were looking for a new one compared with only 8% who were happy.
Some 47% of workers who strongly distrusted their senior management team were likewise looking for alternative employment compared to only 8% who trusted them deeply. People subjected to excessive amounts of daily pressure in their jobs (39%) were also more likely to look for new work compared with those who only experienced such stress once or twice a month (21%).
“Trust forms a key part of the employment relationship and if employees feel there is a gap between what directors say and do, or that there is a lack of transparency or fairness in terms of how people are recognised and rewarded, they are likely to feel disenchanted,” McCartney said.
The openness, quality and frequency of communication from the top were also critical to trust, as was the extent to which any consultation was meaningful and happened before decisions were taken, she added.
But there were clear regional variations in terms of the trust levels felt by workers, McCartney pointed out. While employees in Wales (-26) and the North East of England (-25) had the least faith in senior managers, the South West (+13) and East of England (-6) were the most trusting of those in authority.
