The New Reality of Employee Loyalty

Various studies calculated millennials were three times more likely than non-millennials to change jobs in the last year, and 91 percent do not expect to remain with their current organizations longer than three years, reports Forbes . A Workforce poll estimated 80 percent of respondents saw a change in their definition of loyalty in the workplace. Employees increasingly define loyalty as it relates to the job at hand, and once they feel they have mastered the job, they will look for a new opportunity in order to gain more responsibility and/or higher pay. To retain top performers in the company in the face of the new reality of workplace loyalty, it is first critical for managers to know the employee value proposition (EVP) for each role and ensure it aligns with the workers in that role. Included in the EVP are compensation, rewards, benefits, mentorship, employee brand, and the work product itself. A second tip is for managers to ensure that employee reviews include time spent understanding how workers perceive their own careers evolving. Realistic expectations should be adopted, even if it entails mentoring an employee knowing they are going to be leaving when the right position comes along. A third suggestion is to adequately prepare for a three-year window of tenure for employees with a succession plan, assuming they will depart for another organization by the end of that time unless a longer-term career strategy can be envisioned for them.