All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded to the individual.
Albert Einstein
The number one reason we leave our jobs is because we do not feel appreciated. There is often so much value placed on the results of a company that individual team members who work tirelessly towards this outcome begin to feel overlooked. Outcome and measurable results are important for a company’s long-term success, but the self-esteem and inner-drive of each individual employee play a much larger role in the achievement of these goals than most leaders may realize. More so recently, companies have begun to recognize trends of attrition and wonder what can be done to improve employee retention.
Consider the following statistics:
- Frequent recognition increases individual motivation. We found out that 63% of individuals feel like they do not receive enough recognition while 69% agreed they would work harder if their efforts were better recognized
- People want more opportunities for feedback. 94% of individuals want to have their mistakes and opportunities to improve pointed out in real time and 96% want more regular feedback
- Feedback has a huge impact on retention. Regular constructive feedback reduces employee turnover by 15% and plays a central role in developing highly engaged individuals in the workplace. Consistent recognition also reduces turnover by 31%.
It is quite common for people to think that their coworkers do not want their mistakes or shortcomings highlighted. Leaders also may be hesitant to “call out” their colleagues for fear of “micromanaging” or embarrassing them. In reality, taking the time to engage with coworkers shows that managers value them and makes them feel that they are a crucial part of the process and success of the team. In fact, studies show that frequent feedback helps employees feel fulfilled in their jobs and makes it three times more likely for them to recommend their team or organization to their friends and family, all while improving employee retention.
In a time of transition to remote work for many people across the globe, individuals who may already have felt insignificant in the workplace may feel even more so while working isolated and behind a screen. The missed opportunity for face-to-face interaction with coworkers and leaders robs them of the chance to discuss and address important issues in person, leading to disengaged and unfulfilled employees. The impact this has on a company can be quite costly and does the opposite of improving employee retention, instead leading to higher turnover.
The financial impact of disengaged employees has been studied for some time. The findings show that companies with highly engaged employees have earnings-per-share levels at 2.6 times higher than companies with low engagement scores, and organizations in the bottom percentile of engagement scores experience 41% higher turnover. Turnover of valued employees not only hurts a company financially, but it also impacts its long-term success, as employees that remain are left to pick up the pieces and cope with an erosion of camaraderie. The financial burden that comes along with disengaged employees may be even more significant than that, and rising. Recent studies find unhappy workers cost the U.S. up to $550 billion a year.
So how do you ensure that employees feel appreciated and valued and improve employee retention? Continuous constructive feedback and appreciation messages definitely help. Not only does constructive feedback contribute to an employee’s ongoing professional development, it allows them to reach their full potential, build confidence, and helps them to learn from their mistakes.
A common misunderstanding among employers and managers is that an employee’s annual performance review is the best and only time to communicate with their employees regarding their performance. In reality, people are wanting to get better and more useful continuous feedback. In fact, 96% of employees say that they want to hear feedback more regularly. Frequent communication and provision of feedback can help establish trust between an employee and their manager. It can instill both praise and constructive criticism on a consistent basis so employees can learn and understand expectations set in place by their employer as well as feel more open to receiving feedback.
So with all that is involved with making a company run successfully, how can this necessary feedback be provided on a consistent basis, especially considering how continuous feedback and messages of employee appreciation are so vital to a company’s success? A tool such as Larsen can serve as the perfect stepping stone to open up communication in the workplace.
Larsen is a convenient feedback system that helps your team become more engaged and more performant through continuous employee feedback and appreciation, ultimately improving employee retention. It can be integrated into the tools you already use (such as Slack) to start facilitating feedback between team member. Created to mesh with the remote or hybrid workforce that we now live in, Larsen helps to track and showcase aggregate results for your team health and progression, as well as send tailored recommendations to everyone. It even provides gentle reminders to users who forget to send feedback to coworkers.
The chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and through thoughtful consideration of a teammate’s performance with consistent feedback and messages of appreciation, the chain can continue to remain assured and strong.
