A Measure Of Happiness

While turnover is expensive, it is arguably inevitable in an age of the gig economy. Motivated employees are undeniably more diligent and produce better results than their disengaged counterparts, who either leave quickly or drain valuable resources by staying too long.

- Rohit Mathur

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” - Stephen R. Covey

Managers, especially those working with millennials, have obviously been observing that there is a drop in their retention rate, and that the younger employees come and go with increasing frequency - and the issue of high churn certainly overlaps with the global decline in employee engagement. And, an exit interview can hardly be the right manner to diagnose the problem, since the employee is already a step too far away from the door. While turnover is expensive, it is arguably inevitable in an age of the gig economy. Motivated employees are undeniably more diligent and produce better results than their disengaged counterparts, who either leave quickly or drain valuable resources by staying too long.

However, these positive traits will not translate to a ten-year tenure. And, instead of obsessing over staff longevity - or worse, implementing punitive measures - a company's overall focus should instead be on driving engagement in order to strengthen their employer brand and continue attracting fresh talent. This means creating a work culture that is collaborative, result-driven and empathetic; one that imbues staff with a sense of belonging and inspires them to help achieve a shared vision, thereby enhancing employee retention. That said, measuring employee happiness is a complex and subjective affair, and it takes efforts and tools to calibrate and break down an abstract emotion into tangible, objective results.

Employee Surveys: A thing of the past