An employee retention survey won’t stop people leaving. This will.

Employee retention surveys help you understand how willing and likely people are to stay in your organisation. They also show what you can do to reduce staff churn. 

However, while they provide great data and insights, a survey alone won’t fix your employee staff retention challenge. 

**New research** How leadership impacts employee retention

A number of factors influence why employees choose to stay or leave, or as we’ve learned recently to take part in “quiet quitting“. Staff turnover in the UK reached a record high during Covid-19 with 4.7% of workers quitting their jobs during the Great Resignation. Some wanted a new career, others re-evaluated their priorities during the pandemic, but many more were influenced by their employer’s response to the pandemic.  

Ultimately, workers stayed with leaders who treated them with compassion and empathy and left those who didn’t.  

Empathetic leadership continues to drive retention post-pandemic. According to new data from Catalyst, leaders who show empathy and connect with their employees improve employee engagement and retention particularly amongst minority groups. In addition, women of colour are twice as likely to stay and white women are 4 times less likely to consider leaving with an empathetic leader. 

With this in mind, how can you improve leader and manager empathy?

First, identify how employees feel about leadership performance and where it could be improved. Look at your employee survey result scores for questions relating to leadership and line management. How do they perform against historic/external benchmarks? Are there differences by team or department? What can open-text comments tell you?

Secondly, use 360 feedback surveys to help your leaders understand their impact on engagement and retention. 360 feedback identifies blind spots, development areas and helps map out a development plan.

Thirdly, engage a qualified external coach who can help turn 360 feedback reports into actionable development plans.

Finally, measure progress! Use your annual employee engagement survey or ad-hoc pulse surveys to track how scores for leadership and line management improve over time.

Learn more about People Insight 360 feedback surveys.

Why should you prioritise employee retention?

Alarmingly, only 16% of UK companies say they are making their employee retention strategy a priority. Yet, in these competitive times, staff turnover is an expense companies can’t afford to spare.

The costs soon add up when you consider recruitment fees and costs of equipment and training alongside the difficulty of finding the right skills.  

Once new employees are onboard, there are often further productivity losses as they get to grips with their new role and learn the ropes. The average time it takes an employee to become productive is 32 weeks. 

According to one source, every time a company replaces a salaried employee, it costs six to nine months’ salary, on average. The Telegraph estimates replacing staff costs British businesses £4 billion each year. 

Why do people stay in organisations?

If you are considering running an employee retention survey, you might have identified an issue with staff turnover but need more insight into why people are choosing to leave. 

An anonymous employee survey is a great way to gather this data. Armed with the results, you can improve the factors that make a difference to the employee experience. 

While reasons for retention vary, there are universal factors that influence whether employees will stay or leave. These are a good basis for an employee retention strategy. By improving these areas, you’re likely to encourage your people to stay.  

In a recent staff retention study, People Insight used our extensive employee survey database to explore what drives people to stay in organisations. Our employee surveys use five indicators of employee engagement, as defined by the PEARL employee engagement model. One of these is measured by the statement “I’d still like to be working here in two years’ time”.  

Our research explored which aspect of the employee experience has the greatest influence on people’s intention to stay. The answer might surprise you.  

The key to employee retention

The number one reason driving employee retention isn’t related to money, perks or rewards. Instead, it’s to do with company purpose and how strongly employees feel connected to it.  

Employees are seeking fulfilment and meaning from their work. They want it to provide value and for their organisation to stand for something important. 

Of course, this combines with other factors to encourage employee loyalty. Our analysis also showed a second and third important driver of intention to stay:  

2) I find my work interesting and challenging  

3) My career aspirations are being met here 

What’s clear is managers and leaders have a lot to consider when it comes to recruitment and staff retention. Employees aren’t just thinking about salary but also opportunities for advancement, training and development, flexibility, company brand and, importantly, a purpose-driven career. 

To attract and keep the best talent, you’ll need to get creative with your employee retention strategy. 

Download the new study retention report here, to understand the key to staff retention.

Running an employee retention survey

An employee retention survey can help you understand what motivates people’s decision to stay at your organisation. It also tells you which areas need improvement.  

In order to give a clear picture of how employees feel, your survey questions need to be carefully designed. Find out more here about how to write effective survey questions. 

Once your survey has closed, it is vital to identify the key areas to focus on i.e. the ones with the biggest influence on retention. A smart employee survey platform, like People Insight’s, helps with this and even suggests actions you could take to improve each area.  

Below we recommend a selection of employee retention survey questions to ask, and what you should look out for in their responses. 

Employee retention survey questions – and what their responses tell you 

Question to ask: I’d still like to be working here in two years’ time 

Theme: Overall engagement  

What can it tell you? This question gives a good overview of people’s intention to stay and can be used to predict staff turnover and retention rates. Use the data to see if this score varies by department, team or location. This will tell you where to focus employee retention efforts. Also consider the key drivers in your survey results. Key Drivers are the survey items with the biggest influence on how engaged or disengaged your people feel. For example, your survey results may identify Leadership as a key driver. By improving this area, you might encourage more people to stay. 

Question to ask: Company X makes sure all people are treated fairly and equally 

Theme: Purpose 

What can it tell you? Whilst improving D&I should be a priority in itself, exit survey data shows that a major factor for leaving a job is lacking a sense of belonging. To improve this, your organisation needs to create a space where people feel truly able to bring their whole selves to work. Filter your survey data to look at how survey responses to this question vary by teams, departments and protected characteristics. You could also look at the response of these groups to ‘I’d still like to be working here in two year’s time’ to understand the implications of D&I for employee retention.   

Additional survey questions 

Question to ask: The purpose of [my company] makes me feel good about my work  

Theme: Purpose  

What can it tell you? Our research has shown the correlation between purpose and intention to stay. At People Insight we define company purpose as the positive and worthwhile reason the organisation exists. It’s what your organisation stands for and where it is going. Low scores for this question suggest employees feel disconnected from your organisation’s purpose and values. To improve this, go back to your mission and values. Do they reflect your organisation? How apparent are they in the behaviours of your leaders and managers? Is your purpose clearly communicated to employees from day one?   

Question to ask: I find my work interesting and challenging 

Theme: Reward  

What can it tell you? The second most highly correlated factor for intention to stay, responses to this indicate how stretching, motivating and satisfying people find their roles. It’s a useful one to look at alongside responses to the above question about purpose. By looking at how connected people feel to your company purpose and how enjoyable individual roles are, you should spot a trend that can show you what action to take. To improve employee retention, you may need to rethink your process for objectives and appraisals. Does it allow room for people to learn new skills, do what they love and grow in their role? This investigation may require focus groups to understand employee responses in more detail.  

Question to ask: I feel valued and recognised for the work that I do  

Theme: Reward  

What can it tell you? Feeling undervalued and feeling disengaged go hand in hand. We typically see below average scores for this question in survey results – colleagues really care about this. An employee may be tempted to look elsewhere if they feel like their efforts and skills are left unacknowledged. Consider how your managers and leaders can better acknowledge employees for their hard work. This doesn’t just mean expensive perks or prizes. Praising great work, encouraging peer recognition or sharing achievements on your intranet or Slack channel can go a long way. Check out our article for remote employee recognition ideas. 

**A note about these questions**  

These are examples of closed questions and use a five-point Likert scale to show the extent to which employees agree or disagree with each statement.  

In addition to these, your employee retention survey can include open text questions where people explain their feelings in more detail. For example, ‘What is the best thing about working for (Your organisation)?’