16-09-10 Corporate loyalty drops to all-time low in the wake of the crisis measures
15% is actively applying for a job, dissatisfaction with career opportunities on the rise
The second edition of the Acerta Talent-O-Meter, an online survey among more than 2,000 respondents, shows alarming figures with regard to employee loyalty. Never before did an employee survey produce a score of 4 out of 5 with regard to the statement that the respondent regularly thinks of leaving his current employer (agree to strongly agree). Moreover, many employees feel that the so-called ‘psychological contract’ between them and the company was not honoured and respondents are most dissatisfied with the career opportunities and rate of salary increases. According to Acerta there is a great need for internal stability, attention for the Talent that was retained during the crisis and harmonization between internal and external communication.
The Acerta Talent-O-Meter is the sequel to the Great Talent Survey of Acerta in 2009 and aims to regularly map Talent Management in Belgium. Among a previously selected population of + 2,000 online respondents iNostix, commissioned by Acerta, gauges the evaluation of employees with regard to the four pillars of Talent Management: Attracting Talent, Maintaining Talent, Using Talent and Developing Talent.
Two research areas were added to the 2010 autumn edition of the Talent-O-Meter: ‘Employer Branding’ – the manner in which employers implement their external image campaigns on the work floor – and the so-called ‘Psychological Contract’ – the ratio between the promises made to the employee and the manner in which the fulfilment of these promises is experienced. It is important to note that 66.4 percent of the respondents had been employed in the relevant organisation for more than 4 years.
This type of survey has frequently shown that employees harbouring the silent wish to find work elsewhere are more numerous than believed, but the figures put forward today by the Talent-O-Meter give cause for concern. 15 percent of the employees claim to be actively looking for “a suitable alternative for this Organisation”. 22 percent regularly thinks about changing their jobs and 19 percent claims they will leave the organisation as soon as they have the opportunity of doing so. The intention to leave the company scores on average 3 out of 5. Furthermore, the respondents complain about the career opportunities promised to them, the rate at which they can make promotion, the rate of the salary increases and the feedback they receive.
According to Paul De Schepper, Manager HR Consulting, these answers of employees can be explained in part by the impact of the recent crisis measures: “Companies have done the utmost to keep the Talent at their disposal on board during the crisis, but have simultaneously put added pressure on the shoulders of that Talent. In the midst of the crisis the employees were also heavily involved in the corporate survival process. Now the peak of the crisis seems to be behind us, we notice signals of weariness and of reduced involvement. Furthermore, there is a revival in the recruitment efforts and the surviving employees fail to see the connection between promises made to newly recruited co-workers and the efforts expected of the teams in place. In some companies it is just a waste of time as the efforts made to recruit new Talent lose their impact because the available Talent escapes just as readily.” It is therefore particularly important to work on two major conditions: harmonizing internal communication with external communication and targeting the efforts in the field of Talent Management to maintaining and using the available Talent.
