Subscribers to The Wise Marketer know that we occasionally cover the Employee Loyalty space. We do so because of a long-standing belief that regardless of audience – consumer, B2B, employee, etc. – the foundational principles and practices of reward and recognition remain the same. Of course, the audience nuances and different market structures will alter the design of the member value proposition. But, loyalty fundamentals will always apply.
This story caught our eye this week and reinforces the premise that great loyalty program chemistry is a sound element in the Employee sector.
As if finding and retaining good employees was not hard enough, a new survey published by Workforce reports that Millennials were three times more likely than non-millennials to change jobs in the last year. To further compound the challenges, 91% don't expect to stay with their current organizations longer than three years. The survey went on to report that 80% of respondents agreed that their definition of loyalty in the workplace had changed over time.
Writing for the Forbes Human Resources Council, veteran recruiting executive Peter Murdock suggests that “employees define loyalty as it pertains to the job at hand. They are hired to perform specific tasks and will learn and do them the very best they can. Once they feel they have mastered this role, they will seek out a new opportunity in order to have more responsibility and/or higher wages.”
This attitude appears in sharp contrast to the generations that preceded them – thank you for the job, the opportunities, the pay and I owe you loyalty for the support. The new mentality appears to be saying that "You pay me to do X, I do X, and we are even." Hence, whether they stay and move up or leave to pursue other opportunities, “they have fulfilled their obligation and were loyal in doing so.”
Murdock goes on to reckon “the workplace has become transactional for the employee. More and more workers are taking the view (and rightfully so) that they are the sole drivers of their own careers. The concept of climbing the corporate ladder leaves too much of that control in the hands of others. In the traditional corporate ladder model, growth (either in skills, leadership or compensation) can be too easily hindered.”
Like a good loyalty marketing design professional, Murdock offers some sound advice.
“Know your employee value proposition (EVP) for each role and make sure it aligns with the employees in that role. EVP is inclusive of many pieces, including compensation, rewards, benefits, mentorship, employee brand and the work product itself, among other components. Know the EVP for each position.”
The inclusion of rewards in the value prop certainly caught our attention. But so did the underlying concepts of segmentation by position and the wholistic view of both hard and soft benefits as components of the value proposition. One size does not fit all in loyalty marketing – consumer or employee. When you have a mismatch and your value proposition is out of alignment with the member’s expectations, it is highly likely you will lose that customer (employee).
