To Retain Employees, Give Them a Sense of Purpose and Community 5/9/22, 5:15 PM

Employee Retention

To Retain Employees, Give

Them a Sense of Purpose and
Community
by Ron Carucci

October 11, 2021

Mr. Nelson Design

Summary. Leaders determined to stem the tide of talent defections during the
Great Resignation could be surprised to learn they’re barking up the wrong tree by
simply throwing money or perks at the problem. The author spoke with six human
resource executives... more

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To Retain Employees, Give Them a Sense of Purpose and Community 5/9/22, 5:15 PM

Most employers are anxious about the mass exodus happening

from today’s workplaces. Widespread conjecture about what’s
behind “the Great Resignation” ranges from people wanting more
work flexibility and higher-paying jobs to simply being utterly
exhausted from pandemic burnout. According to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, more than 15 million people quit their jobs
since April in the U.S. alone. Microsoft’s recent research suggests
that 41% of workers across the world are thinking about quitting
their jobs.

That means 59% of workers aren’t thinking about quitting. What

can we learn from the organizations that are retaining their
employees in this environment?

I recently spoke with six human resource executives from

companies reporting that their organizations are not experiencing
higher-than-normal attrition. I wanted to find out if there were
any common patterns that shed light on what it really takes to
retain talent in such a volatile time. Among the many insightful
perspectives I heard, three practices appeared to be universal
across these companies.

Leaders determined to stem the tide of talent defections by

simply throwing money or perks at the problem could be
surprised to learn they’re barking up the wrong tree. If you’re
genuinely committed to retaining your talent, you’re going to
have to dig a bit deeper.

Build a culture of solidarity

The last 18 months have sharply awakened our innate hunger for
meaning and purpose. Forced into self-reflection during extended
WFH, workers have questioned the value of their work and the
sense of meaning it provides. On top of that, the isolation of the

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pandemic has intensified our desire for authentic belonging.

Recent research from McKinsey confirms that these two factors
are playing a substantial role in the current spike in attrition. The
top two reasons employees cited for leaving (or considering
leaving) were that they didn’t feel their work was valued by the
organization (54%) or that they lacked a sense of belonging at
work (51%).

One HR executive I spoke with shed light on the importance of

both:

In our organization, we’ve emphasized both purpose and

belonging because they must go hand in hand. We want
people to feel like everything they do matters not just to the
organization, but to each other. We want people to feel a
shared sense of purpose as well as fulfillment in their own
purpose. We refer to it as solidarity.

All of the HR executives cited purpose as fundamental to a culture

that retains top talent. My own research bears this out. In my 15-
year study of more than 3,200 leaders, when purpose was
activated in actions, not just words, an organization was three
times more likely to have people treat each other fairly and serve
the greater good.

One important factor that jumped out at me among the HR

leaders I spoke with was that they all emphasized that their
cultures of solidarity were established long before the pandemic
struck. One said, “If you didn’t have a purposeful culture, you

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definitely were caught short. And if you were, there’s no quick

panacea to fix it. But for goodness’ sake, don’t waste another
minute waiting to start creating one.”

When I asked what practical things their organizations had done

to manifest cultures of solidarity, they offered the following ideas:

Make personal aspiration a routine part of manager

conversations. While many organizations are busy purpose
washing to create the illusion of meaning, genuinely purposeful
organizations embed solidarity right into management practices.
Create simple approaches that teach managers how to shape
meaningful conversations, asking how their people are
progressing with their professional or personal aspirations.

One HR leader told the story of a manager whose team member

had a side hustle as a beekeeper. During one-on-one
conversations, the manager made a point of asking, “How’s the
honey business going?” Taking interest in an employee’s whole
life strengthens their sense of belonging and belief that they
matter. Rather than worrying that such personal interests might
distract from work efforts, smart managers realize that by taking
an interest in the whole employee, you ensure that they bring that
same creativity and energy to their day jobs.

Spotlight lived purpose in action. Employees’ connection to your

organization’s purpose is as unique as the employee themselves.
Acknowledging when someone personally embodies your
organizational purpose provides wonderful reinforcement and
reminds others to be intentional about doing the same. One HR
leader got emotional telling me the story of an employee who did
just that:

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We’re in healthcare [pharmaceutical], so everything here is

about patients. One of our employees, whose mom had
recently lost a long battle with cancer, volunteered at a local
hospice center, and advocated to our corporate philanthropy
group to donate funds to upgrade the facility. And they did.
That kind of thing happens regularly here. Our corporate
communications group did a video interview on the story so
our 40,000 employees could feel good.

Double down on social connection for remote workers. The

isolation of working from home has fractured our sense of
community. Fostering belonging requires creative efforts to help
people feel connected without adding to “zoom fatigue.” Worse,
because we’ve lost many of the spontaneous interactions that can
happen in common gathering places, remote work has narrowed
our digital interactions to almost entirely with the colleagues we
work with most, further fragmenting our organizations. One
company paid for coffee gift cards for employees to reach out
across team boundaries and make connections with new
colleagues, broadening their networks and helping them
maintain a wider organizational perspective.

Let employees co-create your workplace experience

According to the McKinsey research noted above, many

employers are mistakenly assuming the primary motivations
behind mass departures are employees’ desire for higher-paying
jobs or greater work-life balance and flexibility. But those factors
weren’t nearly as important to people as employers thought,
compared to the more relational factors like a sense of belonging

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or having trusting teammates. That said, employers who

mishandle the design of workplace experiences may be asking for
trouble.

While nearly 60% of employees in the McKinsey survey said they

were unlikely to look for new jobs, it doesn’t mean they won’t
start. Sixty-four percent of employers expect the current level of
attrition to stay the same or increase in the next six months. And
with more companies offering remote work opportunities that
don’t require people to relocate from homes and communities
they cherish, poaching talent will be easier. One HR executive
told me, “I’ve heard horror stories from my peers at other
companies botching the transition to hybrid work with irrational
one-size-fits-all mandates and policies for return-to-office
requirements. All that does is signal to your employees that their
needs don’t matter.” Another said:

This is a time to listen to your employees to understand their

deeper needs. You can’t have the same policy for a single
mom with young children as you do for the older,
extroverted employee going stir crazy at home. The
organization should set parameters for what’s best for the
business, and then allow local managers to use as much
discretion as possible, engaging their teams in how best to
meet the requirements of the business while also meeting
the needs for flexibility on the team.

Here are the practical ways these organizations are involving their
employees in creating a positive workplace experience:

Have flexible policies clearly tied to the business. It’s critical

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that any policy you put in place has a direct tie to the customers
you serve. If your WFH policy offers minimal or no flexibility and
your justification for requiring everyone to be back in the office is
something vague like, “It’s better for our culture if people are
physically together,” expect people to resent — and likely resist —
it. If you want to minimize disappointment, tie whatever
guidelines you put in place to how you serve customers and how
you make or deliver products or services, and demonstrate how
certain forms of collaboration are measurably enhanced by in-
person work.

Enhance solidarity through ownership of policy. People feel

greater ownership over policies they help create, which
strengthens adherence across the organization. Further, when
others don’t adhere, peers are more likely to graciously call it out.
One HR leader said:

Our leadership team crafted a set of broad guidelines around

the minimum degree of in-person collaboration we felt was
needed to ensure our customer responsiveness and speed to
market. We trained department heads and managers on how
to interpret those guidelines for their respective work, and
then empowered them to use their discretion. We gave them
tools to engage their teams in defining practices they felt
were fair and flexible while still adhering to our corporate
guidelines. It’s worked beautifully.

Design development into everyday experience. Instead of making

career and professional development a “separate” experience,
build learning and advancement right into people’s roles. One
organization started a program they called “Walk in their shoes,”

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intended to strengthen connections between employees from

different parts of the organization. It consisted of weekly peer-
mentoring sessions between people in adjacent functions that
regularly worked together. The HR executive from that company
told me, “Our initial intention was to make sure cross-functional
collaboration remained strong despite remote work. What we
hadn’t planned on was how much people would learn in the
process, changing how people perform their own jobs, and
opening lateral career paths we hadn’t considered.” Building on
the unexpected success, they now offer job shadowing of higher-
level jobs and training programs taught by those who’ve
completed rotations. It’s become a regular part of the company’s
career-development efforts.

Coach managers on how to genuinely care for others

“If there’s anything the last 18 months have taught us, it’s how
impactful even the smallest acts of kindness can be,” one HR
executive told me. The pandemic has created a greater
appreciation for our shared humanity, offering endless
opportunities to care for those who are struggling. But in the
workplace, it’s not always natural or comfortable for managers to
express care — they may feel awkward or unclear on boundaries.
But demonstrating care doesn’t have to be intrusive, and not
every employee will want or need the same degree of care.

Another HR leader reflected, “Our people are really hurting.

They’re tired. Showing compassion had to become central to our
leadership almost overnight. We’ve empowered our managers to
step up: sending meals to people’s houses, helping with rent or
childcare, or allowing someone to cry when they reach their wits’
end.” For leaders today, empathy and care are now table stakes.
Here are some ways to enable leaders at all levels to do it well:

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Encourage gestures of kindness and support. Give managers

discretion and resources to offer small acts of care as the need
arises. Gift cards for food-delivery apps, handwritten notes of
appreciation or concern, and acknowledging moments like
birthdays or anniversaries all send messages that you see people
as more than workers.

Model vulnerability to make it safe for others. Many people will

keep a positive game face, hiding their struggles, not wanting to
ask for help. For some, it’s pride. For others, they don’t want to
burden already stressed teammates with their concerns. When
others see you asking for help or appropriately acknowledging
difficulties, it shows them it’s okay for them to do so.

In the McKinsey research cited above, when asked, “Are you

experiencing higher-than-normal voluntary turnover?”, 47% of
employers said no. If you’re fortunate enough to be in that group,
don’t assume things can’t shift. Find out what it is that’s keeping
people with you and do more. And if you’re not in that group, look
deeper at why not. Stop throwing money or superficial perks at
the problem and start shifting your culture to one people are
thrilled to work in instead of one they can’t wait to leave.

Ron Carucci is co-founder and managing

partner at Navalent, working with CEOs and
executives pursuing transformational change.
He is the bestselling author of eight books,
including To Be Honest and Rising to
Power. Connect with him on Linked In
at RonCarucci, and download his free “How
Honest is My Team?” assessment.

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