Economic cycles regularly impact the job market, often influencing who – employers or employees –controls hiring and retention trends. But what engages workers and drives loyalty doesn’t change with the economy. Bright Horizons’ new Building a Sustainable Workforce study reinforces this point. The study provides insight into how companies can create a sustainable workplace culture to nurture employee engagement and productivity and ride out economic waves.
As workplace stress levels and burnout rates climb, fostering an environment where people thrive is critical. Data gathered in the new study indicates that the core attributes of a sustainable culture are surprisingly consistent – and broadly applicable – for developing a workforce that’s more engaged, more productive, and less likely to leave.
The Building a Sustainable Workforce study also tracks how an organization’s culture, policies, and programs shape employee motivation and loyalty, based on their own experiences. From this unique lens – the traits that employees in sustainable workplaces exhibit – the study provides specific guidance on how HR teams can replicate retention results and increase the loyalty, productivity, and engagement of their own workforces.
The study identifies three common ingredients of a sustainable workforce:
- Autonomy: Employees in sustainable organizations are significantly more likely to report high trust in their managers and in company leadership and have a sense of control over their work. They feel trusted to work flexibly and autonomously while accomplishing shared goals.
- Expertise: Employees in sustainable organizations have higher confidence in their skills, and a greater capacity than their peers to perform the work required of them. These results positively correlate with employees’ ratings of their organization’s educational programs and career development tracks.
- Connection: Employees in sustainable organizations report a greater sense of belonging in their organizations and a closer affinity with their work and colleagues. This sense of connection is correlated with a work-life balance, and to the availability of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) programs.
The new study reinforces results from an earlier Bright Horizons report that showed an organization’s culture, policies, and programs play a larger role over job-specific traits in shaping employees’ motivation and desire to stay. The collective research coalesces around key employer capabilities that increase sustainability: providing work-life balance, career advancement opportunities, well-being programs, and DEIB support.
How professional development impacts retention
When the ground beneath employees feels unstable, professional advancement can provide a sense of control over one’s career trajectory. That may explain why career development ranks so highly on the list of sustainable practices. According to the study, its absence can be costly for employers, as “lack of career advancement/promotion” is the top non-pay-related reason people plan to leave their current jobs.
Career advancement is especially key to retaining Gen Z employees, who have the highest flight risk among today’s workforce. The study says that nearly a third of Gen Zs who plan to leave do so to find jobs that help them advance their education. Also, few Gen Zs indicate having professional development opportunities available to them.
Engagement’s effects on productivity
Engaged workers get things done – and done right. The study charts a stark performance drop in partially engaged employees, which tracks across motivation, confidence, and discretionary effort. Engaged employees are significantly more likely to say they are working at their highest levels, feel confident in the quality of their work, are personally motivated to get the work done, and put in extra time.
Sustainability across remote, hybrid, and on-site
One of the study findings indicates how the common ingredients of a sustainable workforce – autonomy, expertise, and connection – differed across remote, hybrid, and on-site settings.
While on-site workers reported higher levels of engagement and stronger avenues for advancement, remote employees cited the highest levels of work-life balance. In contrast, burnout and a desire for better work-life balance are reasons many on-site workers look to leave their current organization.
The new HR mandate: Build a workforce to last
HR leaders operate across a set of contradictory challenges today. But one mandate is clear: their need to cultivate and maintain human capital, a principal source of competitive advantage. Being successful will require a more holistic approach to human capital management, one that accounts for an employee’s motivation and productivity while also increasing their likelihood of staying. Investing in programs that foster employee autonomy, expertise, and connection will allow employers to build a resilient and adaptable workforce capable of sustaining long-term success across changing market conditions.
Data from the Building a Sustainable Workforce study provides the insights HR professionals need on:
- The benefits and supports that motivate modern employees
- Actions you can take today to preserve that motivation
- How to build a sustainable work environment across ever-changing economic cycles
Want to learn more? Download the study today by filling out the form above.
