The importance of engagement and retention
How can client-focused companies gauge the quality of their workplace culture? Two important indicators they should consider are employee engagement and employee retention. These two metrics can hint at how happy employees are at the company. Are they dedicated, hard-working, and enthusiastic? Are they planning to stick around and grow with the firm? If the answer to either is “no,” it’s time to take a hard look at your company culture.
Many companies could use this kind of soul-searching. Gallup found in a recent survey that about a third of employees are engaged in their workplaces, meaning that a vast majority of workers aren’t very enthusiastic, drag down productivity, and dampen the overall mood. It’s an expensive problem: Lost productivity costs the U.S. economy at least $480 billion each year.
Employees who aren’t engaged will be less likely to stay at a workplace over the long haul. This is why employee retention is such a powerful indicator of whether your culture is working for you and your workers or not.
The most successful companies are those that make it worth their employees’ while to stick around. At the 100 companies with the best workplace culture as identified by Great Place to Work, an average of 87 percent of all employees report a desire “to work here for a long time.”
Retention is of particular concern to client service companies because long-term trusting client relationships are key to their success. Clients like to work with the same professionals again and again, and the higher the turnover in your firm, the less likely you are to be able to satisfy that desire. Clients may wonder why those who serve them seem to rotate so frequently, which can sew doubts about the quality of the company and make it increasingly difficult for new employees to gain clients’ trust.