Your Workforce Is Keeping a Secret. By the Time You Find Out, It's Too Late.
Most leaders assume they know how their workforce feels. They run annual engagement surveys. They sit in town halls. They read the exit interviews.
But here is what those tools miss: they tell you what happened after the fact. They do not tell you what is happening right now, beneath the surface, before someone makes the decision to disengage or walk out the door.
My research on career agency revealed something every leader needs to understand.
What keeps employees truly engaged comes down to three things, in this order:
First, they need to feel good about themselves at work. That their contributions matter. That they are learning and growing. That they can handle what is coming, including new technologies like AI. That they have real control over where their career is headed. This is career agency, and when it is high, people show up fully.
Second, they need to feel their organization respects them. That their experience is valued. That their voice is heard. That they are treated with dignity. When this breaks down, career agency follows. My research found it is the strongest organizational predictor of whether employees stay engaged or start heading for the door.
Third, financial stability matters, but less than most leaders expect. You can pay someone well and still lose them if they feel invisible.
Here is what makes this complicated: Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and
Gen Z do not experience these three things the same way. What makes a Boomer feel in control of their career is not the same thing that drives a Gen Z employee.
That is exactly what the OWL Cliff™ Career Agency Assessment measures. I survey your workforce and use scientific statistical analysis to identify what your people are actually experiencing, not just what they tell you in a meeting. The findings are broken down by generation so you know exactly where to focus.
Here is my question for you: In your organization, which of these three do you think your workforce is most lacking right now?
Comments