One in three employees is ready to walk

"Hello, I must be going." With employee loyalty hitting a three-year low, this might be the rallying cry of more and more employees in the coming months.

In its 9th Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends, MetLife reports that one in three workers hopes to find a new job in the next 12 months. And they're confident they'll be successful in their search. According to another study (this time a survey by Glassdoor.com),  four in 10 self-employed, full-time and part-time workers believe it's "likely" they will secure a job that matches their experience and salary in the next six months.

Many factors are to blame for the morale free-fall, including stagnant wages, busted bonuses, longer hours and heavy workloads. The combination is stressing employees out and testing their loyalty to their current employers.

"Businesses are understandably focused on expenses," says Ronald Leopold, vice president of MetLife's U.S. business."But they're taking their eye off the ball with human capital issues, notably what drives employee satisfaction and loyalty."

So now what? Do you resign yourself to the situation at hand -- or get serious about boosting employee satisfaction? Are you ready to tip the balances in favor of your employees, especially those you'd hate to see leave?

Let's dip into the HR Forum vault for some great ways to boost employee morale no matter how tight the budget:

First, give 'em what you can. Even if it's a 1% raise or a one-time bonus, let the hard-working double-duty working employees you still have know you are stretching the limits to give them SOMETHING. Remember, a flat wage means your employees are actually losing money year after year. (A caveat -- make sure your pay increases for senior management are just as flat as those in the rank-and-file. They will find out, no matter how closely you try to guard that secret!)

Second, reward them with cost-free pats on the back. Let them take some time (during work hours, and of course, paid) to learn a new software, take a personal interest class at a local college or community center, or volunteer for a favorite charity. For the parents, make school assemblies, musical productions and end-of-the-year award ceremonies something they can attend without using their leave time. Boost their paid vacation time by one day, or declare their birthdays (or the next working day after it) a paid holiday for each employee.
   
Next, work on what they're called. Give them a title that honors all that they do, even if the pay isn't there just yet. Of course you have to make sure the titles don't get your business into trouble with FLSA rules, but even within those guidelines, there is plenty of room for more impressive (and morale boosting) job labeling.

One in three employees is ready to walk

Better work-life balance improves employee productivity

Second only to compensation, work-life balance is now one of the most important attributes people look for in an employer, according to research by the Corporate Executive Board. In their survey of more than 50,000 global workers, the company also found that employees who feel they have a better work-life balance tend to work 21% harder than those who don’t.

In the BusinessWeek video below, Accenture CHRO Jill Smart explains how her company found a way to make work-life balance work for their organization. By listening to their workforce, from the bottom up, management has created successful programs that work for both employees and the company.

Better work-life balance improves employee productivity

Benefits of hiring older workers

Whether it's from devastated 401(k) accounts, the rising cost of living or uncertainty about the future, more older workers are delaying retirement and some are even leaving retirement for a spot back in the workforce.

More than one-quarter (27 percent) of workers 45 and older were postponing retirement and two-thirds reported having more difficulty paying for essentials such as food, gas and medicine, according to a recent AARP survey.

Additionally, the number of older workers on full-time schedules nearly doubled from 1995 to 2007 and those working part-time increased 19 percent.

Human resources faces unique challenges as more older workers reenter the workplace -- communication across generations, teamwork between coworkers with different work styles, training managers how to work with employees who are much older or younger than they may be.

Still yet, the benefits of hiring older workers greatly outweigh the challenges. Older workers posses the workplace skills businesses need to succeed in today's economy, including:

• Experience. This group of workers understands how business works and what needs to be done in order to succeed, because they've lived it. Depending on the nature of the job, companies will save time and money on less training.
• Work ethic. Older workers in the workplace are more dependable and stay more task-focused than their younger counterparts. They are less distracted by cell phones, mp3 players and social networks, and concerned more with completing the task at hand. Older employees have also proven to be the most self-motivated in the workplace.
• Loyalty. These days, a young worker may have gone through three jobs by the time they turn 25, but that's not the case with senior employees. Older workers grew up during a time where people worked for only one or two companies during their lifetime, building a strong sense of loyalty.
• Pride. Senior employees take personal pride in a job well done. While younger workers may be more concerned with making it out of the office in time to meet friends, older workers are more likely to stick around past closing time to make sure the job is finished and the final product reflects quality work.
• Confidence. With all of their experience and training, older workers have a sense of confidence that younger workers still have yet to develop. Their confidence allows them to make decisions and share ideas that can help companies find ways to save money and run more efficiently.

Hiring older workers, with their unique skills and work styles, has the potential to improve productivity and save companies money during a time when it is needed the most. Tapping into the benefits of a mature workforce can help many businesses through these tough times and into a brighter future.

Benefits of hiring older workers

Improve teams, invest in talent with corporate training in a recession

Businesses are coping with the economic downturn in a number of ways from slashing budgets to downsizing. It is more important than ever to get the best return on investment in every aspect of your business.

Industry experts like George Colony, CEO of Forrester Research, advise companies to deal with the economic recession by investing in existing talent.

At a recent dinner Colony hosted for top CIOs, discussion on politics and the economy led to a list of recession strategies companies can use to successfully ride out an economic slowdown.

In a recap of the dinner on Colony’s blog, some of the best practices for a recession include:

• Outsourcing is not a silver bullet. Use the recession to build internal skills.
• Use a slowdown to improve the team -- look to bring in great people who have been laid off elsewhere.
• Cut training and development last. That resource is critical to success in the post-recession period.

Instead of limiting the development of your team by cutting training programs, learn how to stretch your training dollar in a free webinar from Training Time - Squeezing the Most Out of Your Training Budget: Corporate Training in a Recession.

Training and development should remain a priority during tough times because:

• Trained workers perform more efficiently with less errors and delays
• Training boosts employee loyalty by encouraging career development
• Employees taking on extra work quickly learn how to get up to speed with the right training
• Training improves employee morale and confidence
• Your best asset in business is a well-trained employee

Experienced training professionals will share tips and ideas to find better, more cost-effective training opportunities including the pros and cons of in-house versus outside training, the benefits of group versus individualized training, virtual training and tapping into expert talent within your company.

Good training doesn’t have to be expensive. Join us on Wednesday, October 15, 2008, at 1 p.m. EST for the free webinar - Squeezing the Most Out of Your Training Budget: Corporate Training in a Recession. Space is limited, reserve your seat now.

Improve teams, invest in talent with corporate training in a recession

New study: Employee loyalty weakened by gas prices

As gas prices stay high, workers continue to make sacrifices and many are considering leaving their jobs for opportunities closer to home in order to cut down their commute.

Over one quarter (26%) of employees are considering changing jobs to improve their commutes, according to a study conducted by BusinessWeek Research Services and commissioned by TransitCenter.

Almost half (48%) of employees reported that their commute is getting worse and they’re looking at their employers to ease the pain, according to the study. About 65% of employees are expecting their employers to do something to help tackle the problem.

The top four commuter-related benefits employees find most appealing in a new job are:

• Flextime (79%)
• Telecommuting (72%)
• Pre-tax commuter benefits (54%)
• Subsidies for their pre-tax commuter benefits (47%).

TransitCenter is a not-for-profit organization that provides tax-free transit benefits as a means to promote mass transit use. Visit their website for a copy of the full press release on employee loyalty and gas prices.

New study: Employee loyalty weakened by gas prices

Build employee loyalty with open communication

Employee loyalty is built with open communication, not with monetary rewards like raises, according to the latest Management Action Programs Inc. (MAP) Quarterly CEO Survey.

Open communication, employee recognition and involving personnel in decision making are the top three qualities people value most in a company, according to the MAP survey.

“Clearly, a work environment where employees are recognized as part of the team is more valuable than simply receiving a paycheck,” said to Lee Froschheiser, president and CEO of MAP, in a press release.

The survey revealed “open communication between management and employees” is the number one factor contributing to employee loyalty. Open communication was mentioned almost twice as frequently as “receiving raises.”

The most perceptive business leaders realize the enormous value of motivating employees in non-monetary ways, according to Froschheiser.

“Most of all, clearly communicating the company's vision and mission, as well as making employees feel they're playing an important role in the business' overall success are among these CEO's top employee-retention strategies,” Froshchheiser said.

Effective communication can contribute to a company’s profitability according to the recently released Communication ROI Study by Watson Wyatt.

Companies with the most effective communication programs had a 47% higher total return to shareholders from 2002 to 2006, compared to companies that communicate least effectively.

Those companies with effective communication are four times as likely to report high levels of employee engagement as compared to those with less effective communication.

The Watson Wyatt study identified that the highest-performing companies:

• Focused managers and employees on customer needs.
• Engaged employees in running the business.
• Helped managers communicate more effectively.
• Utilized the communication talents of internal communicators to manage change effectively.
• Measured the impact of employee communication.
• Branded the employee experience.

Build employee loyalty with open communication