Jason Dunstone Australian Marketing Institute Government Conference Sydney, Australia September 2008

1. Attracting and retaining the best
Workplace Retention Study

2. What we did
Focus groups were conducted with young
people, to define areas of concern in
retaining staff focussing on professional,
science/tech and trade industries
An internet based survey was then
conducted in September 2007 of 800
employees aged under 40
A thorough cross section of industries was
covered – from defence, mining and trades
to technology, creative and professional

3. Why should you care?

4. Your team

5. Who’s really happy?

6. Who’s really loyal?

7. Only 1 in 20 younger employees are
extremely satisfied and extremely likely
to be in the same job in three years

8. What are they looking for?

9. Challenge
Autonomy
Learning
Creativity
Responsibility
Management
Flexibility
Diversity
Opportunity
Growth
People
Culture

10. What makes a happy employee?

11. 1. Pay and salary package
2. Training and development
3. Responsibility and challenge
4. Employer image
5. Work-life balance
6. Management culture
7. Work environment

12. What is the priority?

13. Impact on overall job satisfaction
Management Culture

14. ‘Management
needs to take a
long hard look at
themselves’

15. ‘It's not just a
job or about
the money’

16. Impact on overall job satisfaction
Management Culture
Responsibility & Challenge
Company Image
Salary Package
Work Environment
Training & Development
Work-Life Balance

17. Impact on staff loyalty
Management Culture
Responsibility & Challenge
Company Image
Salary Package
Work Environment
Training & Development
Work-Life Balance

18. Happy
Management Culture
Responsibility & Challenge
Company Image
66%
81% 83% Salary Package
78%
Work Environment
Training & Development
Work-Life Balance
82% 74%
81%

19. Current employer below average
Management Culture
Responsibility & Challenge
Company Image
35%
42% 55% Salary Package
24%
Work Environment
Training & Development
Work-Life Balance
47% 34%
44%

20. Top 10 Retention Strategies
1. a management style that you respect [73%]
2. future opportunity for advancement and responsibility [70%]
3. reward for successfully completing complex tasks [68%]
4. places its employees needs as essential to business success [68%]
5. a casual and friendly work environment [68%]
6. has a reasonable view of hours worked in an average week [67%]
7. forward thinking and innovative management [67%]
8. well respected and intelligent managers [66%]
9. trustworthy management [65%]
10. allows working from home [65%]

21. Top 10 Don’t Care
1. equity of shares in the business [20%]
2. company paid credit card [19%]
3. discount programs [18%]
4. relocation allowance [18%]
5. school fee subsidy [17%]
6. reimbursement expense account [16%]
7. blackberry paid by employer [16%]
8. job share [14%]
9. gift vouchers [11%]
10. no fixed office / mobile office [9%]

22. The employer of choice …

23. “They provide their employees with
flexibility, a great work environment that
encourages creativity and development”

24. What are the key messages
for employers?

25. 1. Management culture is the greatest area
of weakness and has the strongest
impact on retention
2. Gen X and Y employees are highly
confident and will leave employers
unwilling to nurture and provide future
opportunity
3. Invest in workplace design that
encourages productivity and creativity,
career development and other support
4. Employer image is important

26. But it’s not that easy

27. A 100% increase in overall job
satisfaction will increase staff
loyalty by only 27%

28. Closing quote from the research …

29. “Staff are unhappy
and leaving but
management don't
seem to care”

30. For a copy of the full report visit …
http://www.squareholes.com/reports/GenXYwork.pdf