A recent survey from MetLife found that 47 percent of employee feel strong loyalty to their employers, compared with 59 percent three years ago. But many employers believe their employees feel the same loyalty toward them today as they did three years ago.
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The implication is that the economy is no longer a guarantee that employees will stay put. It's something to think about as you create a plan to rebuild or strengthen your work force over the next year to keep up with increasing demand.
One reason for the loyalty shift, according to MetLife? Increases in productivity gains in the past 12 months. While employers may be happy that they were able to do more with less, employees may feel strained. As the economy improves, those employees may be looking for new employment opportunities.
The survey, focused mostly on financial benefits, found that employees who report that they are very satisfied with their workplace benefits are about three times as likely to indicate they are highly satisfied with their current job and feel more loyal toward their employer. Among employees who are highly satisfied with their benefits, 76 percent report being satisfied with their jobs and 71 percent report feeling loyal to their employers, compared to only 24 percent and 25 percent, respectively, for employees who are very dissatisfied with their benefits.
Salary and wages were the most important drivers of employee loyalty; but retirement benefits also contribute significantly to loyalty, contrary to what employers in the survey believed. Non-medical benefits such as dental or life insurance were less important than many employers in the survey believed.
In addition to the financial benefits outlined above, I would argue that other benefits, such as the opportunity to advance, training opportunities and flexible work schedules also contribute to loyalty in the workplace. MDM outlined what younger workers are looking for in A Demographic Shift in Distribution.
