Employee retention platform Peakon published the world’s largest-ever study on employee feedback, through over 11 million comments from employees in 160 countries. The platform asked the following question of survey respondents:
“If you had a magic wand, what’s the one thing you would change about [your organization]?”
The findings were unexpected.
Back to Basics
As research has revealed, employee engagement results in better performance, productivity and employee retention — among other factors. The million-dollar question has always been: What do employees truly want?
According to Peakon, they don’t seem to be asking for magic tricks when it comes to staying happy. The top three responses to the open-ended question of what they would change about their organization if they had a magic wand were:
- pay
- communication
- management
Better Communication: A Priority
Perhaps one of the most telling findings of the report is that employees would use a magic wand to ask for better communication at work.
Previous research shows that effective communication in organizations can have a strong impact on both employee engagement and strategic objectives, because it creates a sense of belonging. When employees feel that there is a two-way dialogue with their organization, it paves the way for transparency, innovation and profitability.
Every group within a company will want to communicate in a different way and through different tools. The key to succeed will be finding what works best for each generation. For example, a collaborative platform such as Slack could be the preferred channel for Millennials, while the email prevails among the elder, according to the report.
To recap, the main takeaway of the study is that employees want universal, basic things in order to be engaged. And, in times of high competition for the best talent, employers need to listen to them.
