Feature
A whopping 95% of workers are currently looking or plan to look for a new job in 2024, according to a recent Monster poll.
During the past four years, employers have struggled with employee retention — and productivity. But new research from BCG brings a glimmer of hope for both employers and employees.
Joy Belongs in the Workplace
According to the BCG research findings: employees who enjoy their work are 49% less likely to consider a new position than employees who don’t. Perhaps companies can solve the employee retention problem by thinking strategically about whether their employees find their work interesting, rewarding or even fun.
“Joy is part of the human experience, and the employee experience is a critical extension of the human experience,” said Rashada Whitehead, national managing principal for culture, immersion & inclusion at accounting firm Grant Thornton.
Without joy in the workplace, companies risk losing their best and brightest, and their competitive advantage, said Steve Cody, CEO and founder of Peppercomm, a Manhattan-based public relations agency, and co-author of “The ROI of LOL,” a book on creating enviable cultures in the workplace.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PGE) is betting on the theory. The leadership team collects data points from employees to create a “joy” score, explained Spencer Mains, the company’s head of digital workplace experience. Employees are asked questions like, “Are you proud to work here? Do you feel like you’re known, loved, contributing?”
Some company leaders struggle with the use of the word “love” and question what it has to do with work, Mains said. It’s an intimate word, but it ties back to whether employees believe their colleagues have each other's backs and whether their manager practices true empathy.
Last year, PGE’s joy score was 70%. This year, the company has set a goal to increase it to 77%.
“Our mission is to keep our neighborhoods safe from catastrophe,” Mains said. “When our workforce feels safe, they show up differently and take pride in what they’re delivering.”
Related Article: The ABCs of a Most Loved Workplace
3 Ways to Cultivate Happier Employees
While the PGE joy poll provides valuable data to the leadership team, simply conducting an employee survey won’t bring your employees joy, Mains warned. Companies must act on that feedback or risk alienating their employees.
“If you ask in a survey and you see a trend or something illuminating and then act on the opportunity, you will get trust and respect,” agreed Whitehead.
Here are three ways to potentially bring more joy to the workplace.
1. Remove Digital Friction
PGE discovered that its employees’ digital experience plays a role in their productivity and overall enjoyment at work. For instance, Mains said, the company’s ability to deliver hardware to new employees on their first day of work has increased workplace joy. In the past, new hires waited five to seven days for their equipment. Today, they receive it in their first eight hours on the job.
Through employee surveys, the company was able to identify the delayed delivery of technology as an encroachment on employee joy. “It can make a difference in how employees feel about their decision to join the company,” Mains said.
PGE analyzed how long it took hiring managers to order equipment for new employees and discovered they had to answer 36 questions, which took at least 3.5 minutes, Mains said. After streamlining the process, it takes about 5 seconds, he said.
The company then measured how hiring managers and new employees feel about the new onboarding experience. The result: 98% of new hires and about 80% of hiring managers had a positive experience. That’s a stark contrast to last year, Mains s
Related Article: Is Your Experience Management Strategy Facing Forward or Backward?
2. Teach an Unusual Skill
Peppercomm has found a unique way to create deeper employee connections. Twice a year, the firm offers training in standup comedy.
After Cody took an improv class for fun, he realized how the comedy skills could be applied to the workplace and improve teamwork. “I use it to be a better listener, create a deeper rapport, deal with silence and objections,” he said. “You can apply all those skills to all the things you run into in a business situation.”
So, twice a year, Peppercomm rents out New York City’s Westside Comedy Club for an afternoon, and Cody and Clayton Fletcher, a professional stand-up comedian, teach a course in standup, helping each employee put together a two-minute routine that they practice and perform on the spot.
“Our people learn so much about each other from their standup routines — their Netflix binging habits, the commute from hell, the business trip that took four days instead of four hours — it brings us together in a completely different way,” Cody said.
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3. Make Coming Into the Office Matter
A Grant Thornton employee survey revealed that employees wanted a reason to come into the office, and they wanted to see their colleagues and managers in the office when they were there. In response, the firm set up training and culture days — moments and experiences specifically designed to amplify being in the office and increase engagement, Whitehead said.
“People are not opposed to coming to the office,” Whitehead said. But when employees come in, they want it to be worth their time, she said.
Based on employee feedback, Grant Thornton decided to focus less on mechanics of when people would come in and instead on the what and the how, Whitehead explained. Instead of issuing a three-day or five-day a week office mandate, the firm allows teams and employees to decide when they will collaborate in the office.
“We inherently trust that our employees will be in the right places at the same time,” Whitehead said.
