In other words, happy employees now may mean less turnover later. The MetLife study revealed a startling statistic: “One in three employees hopes to be working elsewhere in the next 12 months.” This is a high level of dissatisfaction and implicit disloyalty. But the study also revealed a disconnect. Employers perceive employees to be more loyal than they are, and are oblivious to the looming retention challenge.

 

Here are the key numbers from the MetLife study:

 

- Just 44 percent of small business employees felt loyal to their company in 2010.

- By comparison, 62 percent of the same category of employees felt loyal in 2008.

- Meanwhile, 54 percent of employers believe their employees feel a strong sense of loyalty to their firm.

 

Do you see a problem with perception and the reality? I do! So how do you go about fixing this situation? You start building relationships with your staff. Does that mean they are all coming over for Sunday dinner? No. It means they should be known at an individual level. That will take an investment of your time, getting to know what turns them on. I like to call it the “Key,” and everyone has one. 

 

All of the people in your company have something that is uniquely exciting to them. I really mean engaging, where they’re truly and fully engaged. 

 

It could be hang-gliding, paintball, go-carting, painting houses, building bird cages, anything. The point is that if you do not know what it is and somehow figure out how to acknowledge it, thus validating that person, you are not building a satisfied employee.

 

I will give you an example. Yesterday a client was showing me how he did this by simply watching his employees’ eating habits. He saw one tech that was very conscientious in eating fresh fruit. On occasion my client brought him some oranges, pears or some fruit saying, “I just bought a case of these and my family cannot eat all of them before they go bad, so please take these off my hands and enjoy. They are really good.” 

 

In doing so, he communicated so much to the employee about his recognized individuality because he was the one that received the item that he valued more than others. So look for something your individual employees hold as unique and recognize that. Be conscious of outstanding behavior that supports the company’s goals and recognize them in front of the others with a “Tim’s” card or some token of your appreciation. Do you have an Employee of the Month? Why not? It doesn’t have to be big, it just has to be. It’s the recognition, not the size of the prize, that will keep you the one who is driving!