As reported by SHRM’s Kathy Gurchiek, the number of U.S. workers who aren’t committed to their organization and who are likely to leave within two years—dubbed “high-risk” employees—is at an all-time high and is outpacing the number of “truly loyal” employees, according to a national report.

The fact that more than one-third (36 percent) of nearly 3,000 full- and part-time workers are considered high-risk employees should concern employers, says Chris Woolard, senior consultant for Walker Information, which released its latest Walker Loyalty Report for the Workplace on Sept. 3, 2007.

The report, a study of employee loyalty at organizations with at least 50 workers, identifies four types of workers—truly loyal, accessible, trapped and high-risk.
An employee’s intent to stay with his or her current organization for two years was seen as a good measure and predictor of employee loyalty, Woolard told SHRM Online.

Most recently, the report found, the number of employees who feel trapped—not committed to their organization but planning to stay the next two years—decreased by the same margin that the percentage of high-risk employees increased. The number of truly loyal workers, 34 percent, remained the same as in 2005.

While in some cases employers are losing workers they’re not interested in retaining, “the problem is when you’re losing people who are key to your organization, and that’s when this high-risk [employee] becomes a problem,” Woolard said.
He cautioned employers not to confuse employee engagement or satisfaction with loyalty.

Engagement tends to be specific to the job and is affected by such things as whether employees get the resources they need, whether they like what they’re doing on a daily basis and whether their job is well-defined, he told SHRM Online.

Employee loyalty, however, goes a bit further, fueled by the organization’s reputation and ethics.

“You could love your job but work for a company that is unethical or has a bad reputation,” and that impacts your loyalty as an employee, he said.

Loyalty is driven, in part, by tenure. Those at an organization less than one year and from three to five years are the least loyal, the report found. Forty-five percent of workers with less than one year are high risk vs. 26 percent who are truly loyal; 12 percent feel trapped and 17 percent are accessible. Accessible employees like the company and model good behavior but haven’t decided whether they will stay the next two years.

The tenure issue tells Woolard that employers are not doing a good job with onboarding or attracting the right people, but they can turn this around by:
• Providing detailed job descriptions to determine skills and abilities for each job.
• Setting realistic expectations in the hiring process.
• Scheduling regular manager-employee meetings to discuss development.
• Receiving support from senior managers to offer time and money for training.

Employers have been making strides in showing care and concern for employees, one of the leading drivers of loyalty. One way this is demonstrated is treating employees fairly. Employee perception of fairness at work tends to revolve around the execution of policies rather than the policies themselves, Woolard said, and since 2005, “people are saying they are treated unfairly less frequently.”
In addition, employees want and expect to be involved in strategy development, to be treated fairly, and for the organization to behave ethically. All are top factors driving loyalty.

Employers can let employees feel involved by holding staff meetings that provide a forum for employees to ask questions of senior leaders, and to have departments contribute toward executing the organization’s strategy.

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