Gallup has released new data in their Global Workplace Report, Edelman have shared their Trust Barometer, Unilever have changed priorities...
Promotions Are At The Top Of The Wishlist
Aligning perspectives is a critical leadership skill. The latest Gartner research identifies what employees want at this day and age. The winner is: being promoted, climbing the hierarchy ladder inside an organization. That´s what 70% of HR Business Managers said recently. Together with the other top two statements (Increased compensation and ability to gain more experiences), the promotion aspect adds up to 98%.
The same study says that only 46% of employees feel satisfied with career development at their organization. That means that talent management leaders can start to close this gap by ensuring employees’ career growth opportunities reflect their personal values and interests.
Interesting fact: when employees have a sense of purpose at work, they are 4.1 times more likely to stay at their organization. The study is based on a survey of 125 HRBPs and 2,280 remote-based employees.
High Engagement Levels Drive Performance Significantly
23% higher profitability - what else can you ask for? That´s what companies with high engagement levels see on their bottom line. But it´s not just profits – it is also about wellbeing – which means thriving employees and participation in the development of the overall organization. “Organizational citizenship” is how Gallup call this.
The biggest driver for high engagement is the role model function of the managers themselves. Here´s what Gallup says: “In 2023, only 30% of managers and 23% of employees overall were engaged globally. When managers are engaged at work, non-managers are also more likely to be engaged. Remarkably, this correlation appears at the country level. Countries in the upper half of manager engagement are two times as likely to have engaged non-managers. While economic prosperity and labor protections have a strong correlation to less misery at work, engagement is more closely tied to interpersonal relationships with one’s manager. Gallup has found that 70% of the variance in team engagement can be attributed to the manager. An effective manager motivates team members, moving them from indifferent to inspired.”
All of this can be found in the latest State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report. State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report.
Quality Onboarding Enhances Chances For Employees To Stay Longer In Any Firm
Gartner have identified the three key onboarding moments that matter for a new hire: During the onboarding phase and ideally within the first few weeks, recruiting leaders must create opportunities for new hires to form trusting relationships by guiding managers to structure early projects around a meaningful shared experience with a colleague.
This is not a nice to have, this is essential to ensure new hires feel welcomed and build on that initial trust that they have made the right choice with that new employer. Sounds like a no-brainer? Yes, but typical onboarding processes result in new hires who are uncommitted to their roles, exhibit low levels of trust and struggle to envision long-term careers at their organizations.
Gartner recommends “to retain new hires in today’s environment, onboarding must create intentional moments of connection that make new hires feel supported within their teams and excited to move forward with the onboarding journey. This process must start in the pre-boarding period, in between candidates accepting an offer and their first day at work. Hiring managers are not taking advantage of the time before candidates’ first day to solidify personal connections with new hires.
Usually, managers are only contacted about logistics, paperwork, systems and processes, if they are contacted at all. This is a missed opportunity.
Coach managers to send correspondence with key information and support before day one, including:
Comparing traditional on-boarding processes with Gartner´s Process Cues looks like night and day. Researchers offer three recommendations for organizations to help new hires feel confident about their future.
What are you waiting for?
Internal Mobility Is A Competitive Advantage – How To Plan For It?
Brian Heger recently published a new template on this important topic – based on a very powerful question: Does your organization’s internal mobility guidelines and policies help or hinder internal movement? His new template helps organizations evaluate the impact of their internal mobility guidelines on internal talent movement.
As he puts it: “Many organizations have internal mobility (IM) policies and guidelines to support career development. These guidelines are intended to facilitate better decision-making, streamline internal processes, ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and minimize business disruption.
IM guidelines often include things such as
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5 Reasons Why Companies Should Launch An Alumni Network
The World Economic Forum has looked into the power of alumni networks. They say that “companies that create alumni networks of former employees can reap benefits when it comes to recruitment, collaboration and improving their offering.”
But there´s more to it: “Keeping in touch can also encourage alumni to return to work for an organization, often bringing new ideas, experience and contacts that they can combine with their existing knowledge of the business to great effect.2
As the World Economic Forum launches its own alumni progamme, here are some great reasons to keep in touch with former employees.
Here are the five main reasons why the World Economic Forum think organizations should consider setting up such a network
Makes sense, doesn´t it?
Trust Is The Most Important Element – Edelman´s Trust Barometer 2024 Is Out
What have South Africa, Sweden, Colombia, France, Ireland, Spain, USA, Germany Sout Korea, Japan and the UK in common? All of them make the group that their general population does not trust. The UK have moved to the last position of 28 countries worldwide. China, India and the UAE are at the top of the list.
But the report lists even more interesting findings. When it comes to companies, the location of their headquarters impacts whether people trust those companies. If their HQ is based in
Edelman title their report “A collision of trust, innovation, and politics”. Here´s their summary: “The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals a new paradox at the heart of society. Rapid innovation offers the promise of a new era of prosperity, but instead risks exacerbating trust issues, leading to further societal instability and political polarization.
In a year where half the global population can vote in new leaders, the acceptance of innovation is essential to the success of our society. While people agree that scientists are essential to the acceptance of innovation, many are concerned that politics has too much influence on science. This perception is contributing to the decline of trust in the institutions responsible for steering us through change and towards a more prosperous future.”
There´s so much more in this report about eroding trust levels, it´s worth a read.
Change Of Priorities At Unilever
Good read: Financial Times recently shared an article about the announcements of Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher who announced “that the company was entering a ´new era for sustainability leadership´, and signaled a shift from the central priority promoted under his predecessor, Alan Jope .
While Jope saw lack of social purpose or environmental sustainability as the way to prune brands from the portfolio, Schumacher has adopted a more balanced approach between purpose and profit. He stresses that Unilever should deliver on both sustainability commitments and financial goals. This approach, which we dub “realistic sustainability”, aims to balance long- and short-term environmental goals, ambition, and delivery.
As a result, Unilever’s refreshed sustainability agenda focuses harder on fewer commitments that the company says remain “very stretching”. In practice, this entails extending deadlines for taking action as well as reducing the scale of its targets for environmental, social and governance measures.” Click here to read the full article.
Gallup Looks At Life Experiences Of Managers And Non-Managers
In 2023, global employee engagement stagnated, and overall employee wellbeing declined. While both measures are at or near record highs, their lack of improvement is notable, as they follow multiple years of steady gains. The result is that the majority of the world’s employees continue to struggle at work and in life, with direct consequences for organizational productivity.
Gallup estimates that low employee engagement costs the global economy US$8.9 trillion, or 9% of global GDP.
One of the results of this survey has been that managers have more negative experiences than non-managers. Here´s what Gallup found out: “The world’s managers are more likely than non-managers to be engaged and thriving in life. Managers are more likely to experience higher pay and higher social status compared to their non-manager peers. They are also more likely to feel their opinions count, to feel connected to their organization and to have manager peers they can rely on for support. All these likely contribute to higher engagement and life evaluations for managers. Nevertheless, managers are more likely to be stressed, angry, sad and lonely than non-managers. Although being a manager has its perks, that does not mean it is easy. Managers experience higher levels of negative emotions than non-managers. They are also more likely to be looking to leave their current job. Because managers often provide emotional support to employees and direct them to mental health resources, any initiative to address employee mental health and wellbeing should recognize that managers are not immune from suffering.”
This has been the 67th edition of the newsletter - let´s make soulless companies a thing of the past this year! The next edition of the Building Corporate Soul newsletter will be in your mailbox on July 7.