Better be sure whatever is planted is fast growing! It seems that the concept of a career has changed dramatically. 78% of Gen Z employees and 43% of Millennials plan to leave their jobs within the next two years. When asked how long recent graduates would stay at a job, the answer was 4 years!
When you compare this to previous generations where whole communities worked for and depended on the “mill” or the “plant” for the lifeblood of the community and families had two or three generations employed at the same company - the current “career” goals are a big problem for employers. Hiring and training are very expensive. In many businesses by the time an employee is properly trained, they are looking to leave.
About one-third of Millennials feel that the only way to increase their income is to change employers. While many businesses give regular increases there is a declining number of jobs as you ascend a corporate structure. If the majority of hourly workers and first-tier managers are unhappy staying in their positions, the only real alternative is to find a different job.
So what is a business to do? It seems that talking to you, a specialist in promotional products media might be the answer! 79% of Gen Z and Millennial employees said that an increase in recognition rewards would improve their loyalty to their employer. 70% say they would stay on a job for another full year if they received rewards that calculated to be only $150 for the year.
There are hundreds of data points regarding Gen Z and Millennials in the workplace. What can be seen from all the statistics and surveys is that in a situation where the employee feels they are valued by the employer, has good training and sees their company as a good corporate citizen, they will stay with that employer longer. With modest awards, rewards and public recognition, 56% of Millennials think a person might stay at the same company for 20 years or longer!
Helping your clients design and maintain continuous programs to recognize and reward their employees will have value to the business many times the investment. The average cost to hire a new employee is currently about $4,000. When you consider the loss of efficiency losing a trained employee and training the new one, that hiring cost is much higher. Utilizing promotional products media to demonstrate that the business cares and appreciates their employees will keep employees on the job longer and bring value well in excess to the investment.
What works best? Each situation will be different as will be budgets and the number of people in the program, but keep in mind that items that display both the employee name and the company name are highly effective. They build a sense of belonging and ownership. Personalized apparel is excellent. Also, consider things that move the inclusive feeling from the workplace into the home. Simple things like kitchen gadgets are well received. Safety is also a great category to use as a first aid kit tells an employee that the company cares about the health and safety of the worker’s family.
On the ‘corporate citizen’ side, sponsorships bring a company into the spotlight. Many communities have annual events like cleaning up parks, riverbanks, lakes, etc. Fielding a corporate ‘team’ with appropriate shirts and caps is an excellent way to build camaraderie, increase the visibility of the company and strengthen loyalty.
What doesn’t work are sporadic attempts that are not coordinated and well-conceived. Just giving employees something without the ability to tie it to achievement, length of service or special situations will diminish the value and may even be seen as disingenuous.
Finally, to focus on length of service, the old model no longer works. The old one year, five years, ten years - etc. plans would likely not need too many awards past the first one! Today think in months. An employee might receive a ball cap after one month, a sports shirt at 4 months and a jacket at 6 months. From there every 6 months provides another opportunity to connect and recognize the employee. When you consider that heightened recognition will be an investment of about 1% of what employees earn - it is a fantastic bargain for the employer. They might think if it as planting seeds.
Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president at Kaeser & Blair, Inc. He has more than 40 years experience in marketing and the promotional products industry. His outside consultancy provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses and has been a useful knowledge base for K&B Dealers. Contact Gregg at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.