Start the clock! T minus 12 months to engage staff

Employers have an increasingly short amount of time to engage their new employees before the novelty factor of the new role wears off, and the grace period may even be less than one year.

That was the conclusion of a recent global study by rogenSi into the mindset of new and existing employees which found that employees with more than one year’s service with an organisation are feeling unenthusiastic, underappreciated, uninspired and unmotivated by their leaders.

“If this sentiment is allowed to fester, retaining new staff after the first year of service will become a monumental and costly task –  the average cost of replacing them is 150% of the departing employee’s annual salary,” Dr Clark Perry, psychologist and director of rogenSi said.

If the study is representative, leaders need to be aware they have only a 12-month window to consolidate new employees’ commitment and alignment with the organisation’s brand and vision if they hope to retain them in the long term.

The study found that employees who had been with an organisation for less than one year appreciated their leaders significantly more than their colleagues who had been with the company for two to 10 years.

The study also revealed an alarmingly low rate of motivation in workplaces: only 1 in 11 people thought their leaders were creating a motivational work environment.

Perry advised leaders to devise strategies which effectively communicate the company’s vision and ultimately help employees understand their role in the organisation. “Ensure that the focus in on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ we will achieve results, so that employees have a sense of purpose and connection to the process required to achieve the results,” he said.