More employers are looking to expand their overall workforce, according to new data from Mercer. However, current employee engagement is low, so employers are turning to rewards to help increase engagement and to help hold on to their talent.
Mercer’s 2012 Attraction and Retention Survey indicates that 40% of participating organizations from Canada and the U.S. expect to increase their overall workforce in 2012. In 2010, only 27% were doing so. Also, only 16% of organizations are making “selective reductions” to their workforce, down from the 25% that were doing so in 2010. Yet almost twice as many organizations are reporting reduced levels of employee engagement compared with two years ago (24% versus 13%, respectively).
Retention and rewards
Turnover is one factor contributing to the attention employers are placing on employee engagement. Almost 60% of participating organizations anticipate increases in voluntary turnover as the job market and economy continue to improve.
Cash and non-cash rewards are continuing to play an important role in fostering employee engagement and retention, particularly in times of reduced base pay increases and smaller bonuses. According to Mercer’s survey, merit increases are back, with 95% of organizations providing some form of increase for 2012.
Organizations are continuing to enhance the use of non-cash rewards to drive employee retention and engagement, particularly during times of limited merit budgets. The most prevalent non-cash reward programs implemented by organizations over the past 18 months include the following:
- communication of total reward value to employees (offered by more than 25% of participating organizations);use of social media to boost the employee work experience (25%);
- formalized career paths (22%);
- internal/external training (22%); and
- special recognition (22%).