How well do you know your employees?

Almost every second person (49 per cent) stated that his boss knows nothing about his career ambition. 

Thirty per cent of the people interviewed mentioned that their boss has no idea how many hours the employee is investing daily in his work.

Every fifth person (22 per cent) thinks that her boss doesn’t know how much she has been contributing in her job to the success of the company.

The strengths (23 per cent) and weaknesses (40 per cent) of the employees are also not well known to their managers.

Employees believe that the main reason for their managers’ insufficient knowledge about them is lack of time (46 per cent). Thirty-seven per cent believe that the managers see their employees only rarely and don’t do much interaction.

Every fifth employee (20 per cent) thinks that his boss is not interested in him.

Not knowing their employees will have a major impact on the loyalty of the employees, since 43 per cent of the persons surveyed want to leave their company. In the 30-39 age group, 53 per cent want to quit.

In the just-published study, the top three reasons for employees wanting to change their job are as follows:

1 Salary too low (63 per cent)

2 Job is not challenging enough (42 per cent)

3 Employees not being developed (34 per cent)

Despite the fact that the study was carried out in Germany, I believe it offers some universal lessons.

If you want a high employee-retention rate, make high employee engagement a priority in your company!

Here are some tips:

Devote time and energy to understanding your employees and to being understood. It’s a wise investment. 

Build strong relationships with your employees. Connect with them not only on a professional level (formal approach), but also privately (informal approach). Care about them not only as professional subordinates, but as human beings too. The way the boss makes the employee feel is a key factor for a successful relationship.

Make them feel appreciated and trusted.

Find out what is important to your employees: their goals on the job (from the business perspective as well as from a career perspective), their growth agenda. That doesn’t have to concern only promotions and raises (although it is obvious that pay has to be fair and competitive), but can also be about giving them recognition and credit for their accomplishments, making them feel valued.

Provide guidance to help them to achieve their work and career goals. Provide leadership for them to succeed. Articulate clearly the vision of the company and help them to understand it. An important issue is to assist them to see how their own work contributes to the overall success of the company.

If you invest enough time in achieving greater knowledge and understanding of one another, you will surely see results in the form of better employee engagement, higher productivity and higher employee retention.

 

Heinz Landau is a former chairman and managing director of Merck Thailand.