WINTER PARK, Fla. – TalentKeepers today announced the release of Workplace America, its 13th annual report of employee engagement and retention trends, now the longest continuously running study of engagement and retention in the US. Over 550 organizations participated for 2017, with 54% employing over 1,000 employees.
Employee engagement is gaining respect as a key strategy for many organizations. For four years running, over 70% of US employers rank employee engagement as a strategic priority. Yet the number of organizations rating themselves as very effective in engaging employees dropped from 35% in 2016 to just 27% in 2017. This is a surprisingly large gap given the consequences of poor engagement.
“Morale and Culture” was cited as the top category impacted by poor engagement and turnover among employees. This number grew from 50% in 2014 to 72% in 2017 — well ahead of productivity and team performance. “This reflects a growing awareness of the significant impact poor engagement can have on an organization’s performance. In fact, three of the top issues linked to poor engagement were directly related to bottom-line performance,” said Christopher Mulligan, TalentKeepers CEO.
In a troubling trend, employee engagement budgets across America have fallen for the fourth straight year. In 2014, 71% of all employees had some level of funding but it is now down to 50% in 2017. “What we also see is best-in-class organizations all dedicate some of the highest percentages of their labor and operations budgets to engagement strategies,” shared Craig Taylor, a vice president at TalentKeepers and the report’s lead author.
From 2011 to 2017 unmanaged attrition has been fueled by “Job and Career” issues, however, also notable is ‘Leadership” steadily growing for the past five years as a stimulus for turnover. This emerging trend should motivate us to refocus efforts on making leaders the primary reason people stay.
Contact press@talentkeepers.com to receive a copy of the full report.
About TalentKeepers
TalentKeepers(R) is celebrating 17 years of providing award-winning employee engagement and retention solutions to help companies around the globe increase their performance. We’re a recognized leader in innovative onboarding tools, employee engagement surveys that drive growth and accountability, HRCI and SHRM certified training for HR professionals, unique eLearning leadership programs, teambuilding tools and much more. Twice we have won HR Executive Magazine’s Product of the Year award. Re-energize your efforts and expect more from your engagement and retention partner. Contact us today at solutions@talentkeepers.com
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