There’s a widespread belief that all leadership needs to do to keep employees satisfied is pay them. And while compensation is no doubt part of the formula that builds an engaged, motivated workforce, it goes well beyond a paycheck. In Money Can’t Buy You Loyalty, the second part of Right Management’s 2024 State of Careers report, we reveal that the right organizational fit, career support, and development opportunities are even more critical than pay.
The Currency of Fit & Development for Employee Retention
For our 2024 State of Careers report, Right Management interviewed more than 1,000 employees and 400 leaders in the United States and Canada. Our findings reveal the five main drivers of employee engagement:
- Organizational & Culture Fit (33.9%)
- Career Support (31.4%)
- Training, Learning, and Development (20%)
- Pay and Benefits (8.3%)
- Job Mechanics and Requirements (6.4%)
Organizational fit encompasses an employee’s ability to work with their peers and leaders, how well they feel valued within the organization, and respect for work-life balance. Because this is the strongest predictor of retention, it’s important to understand the differences between a culture fit and a culture add and how to recruit with these concepts in mind.
Career support includes the belief that there are opportunities to advance within an organization. If an employee sees a well-defined career path ahead of them, it provides something to work for beyond a paycheck. This goes hand in hand with training and development, which provides motivated employees with learning opportunities to help them forge their path forward.
What’s notable about these three main drivers is that leaders are largely underestimating their value. While leaders are more closely aligned in the belief that fit is key for employee retention (32.4%), they broadly put too much stock in the importance of pay and benefits (21.2%) while underestimating the value of career support (20.8%) and learning and development opportunities (15.2%).
Read More in Right Management’s 2024 State of Careers Report
Download a free copy of Money Can’t Buy You Loyalty to explore actionable strategies that can help you foster loyalty and engagement in your workforce. Right Management Florida/Caribbean can help you put these strategies into action—contact our team to learn more.