Tom Short, president of Rare Method Interactive Corp., knew that one of his senior staffers was worried about the company's stability and how she fit into its future.
No wonder. With layoffs and attrition, the Calgary-based interactive marketing firm's work force had been sliced in half from about 100 to 50 in a year. That churn had prompted a few other uneasy workers to jump ship for other opportunities.
Reluctant to see more good workers leave, Mr. Short sat his employee down for a frank, one-on-one chat, reiterating his vision for the business and how her contributions tied into overall company goals. He also sought her input on how she felt about her job, management and the company itself.
"She went from being worried to completely engaged," Mr. Short says. "She started contributing great ideas on how we could change and streamline processes. She even took on extra duties. She felt like part of the team and knew just how she added value to the company."
In his effort to increase worker loyalty, he's had similar conversations with other employees, simply letting them know how they've helped the firm and how much he appreciates their work.
"It's about re-earning trust," Mr. Short says. "You want to retain your good people, because they are the ones who can always get a job anywhere."
Re-earning the trust of workers should be top of mind for every employer, experts say. After a year and a half of layoffs, wage freezes and increased workloads, employees are feeling weary, dispirited, fed up - and ready to seek other pastures. As Canada shakes off the recession and the turnaround picks up speed, it will be employees who do the dumping, not employers.
That means employers have to take real measures to retain employees who are preparing to jump ship, the pros say.
Six in 10 employees intend to pursue new job opportunities in 2010, according to a recent survey, and another 21 per cent said "maybe" and are already networking toward it. Another 6 per cent of the 904 North American workers polled by staffing service provider Right Management Inc. said a move is unlikely, but they've nevertheless updated their résumés. Just 13 per cent said they intend to stay put.
You want to retain your good people, because they are the ones who can always get a job anywhere. — Tom Short, president of Rare Method Interactive Corp.
Employers may be starting to take notice. More than half - 54 per cent - see retention of high-value employees as a top talent priority this year, according to a separate survey of 2,107 senior Canadian executives by Right Management. That is a huge jump from the 15 per cent in 2008 who saw talent retention as a major focus, according to Right.
"Companies have an implicit contract with employees, and there's been a ton of stress on that relationship. Many firms have had to break that contract," says Henryk Krajewski, vice-president and national practice leader for Right Management in Toronto.
"Employees who kept their jobs feel like they're the ones who have been penalized, and people have long memories when it comes to how they've been treated," adds Heather Stockton, a partner in Deloitte & Touche's human capital practice in Toronto.
Two out of five workers - 40 per cent - say they have had difficulty staying motivated at work in the past year, and 24 per cent say they do not feel loyal to their employer, according to an online survey of 7,200 U.S. employers and employees by CareerBuilder.com.
What's more, few organizations have a clear understanding of the negative effect that increased turnover will have on their company's ability to perform, Ms. Stockton says. A recent Deloitte survey found that nearly half of managers polled believed that turnover will increase their company's profitability.
