Increase Job Satisfaction and Commitment by Improving Workplace Culture

Why do employees leave their jobs—and what can workplace leaders do to improve their organization’s culture and compel their employees to stay?

This question was top of mind for Shannon Bayer, senior director of operations for enterprise solutions at SHRM, in her June 25 session at the SHRM Annual Conference & Expo 2024 (SHRM24) in Chicago. Drawing on data from the SHRM Research report The State of Global Workplace Culture in 2023, for which over 11,000 employees in 15 countries were surveyed, Bayer shared insights into which areas of workplace culture employers can focus on most to boost employee satisfaction.

Top 5 Reasons Employees Leave Their Employers

Bayer began the discussion by sharing these top five reasons why employees worldwide plan to leave their employers, according to the report:

1. Inadequate pay
2. Insufficient career growth opportunities
3. Poor management
4. Insufficient learning and professional development opportunities
5. Unfair treatment

“When you put all these together, it comes up with a horrible work experience,” Bayer said.

But she went on to explain how the report outlined consistent themes and practices—regardless of an employee’s location or job level—that workplace leaders can leverage to turn these challenges around.

Top 5 Ways to Improve Workplace Culture

Bayer outlined the five most effective ways—she called them “levers” that leaders can pull—to improve workplace culture and job satisfaction. In turn, these levers can help improve employee retention.

1. Enact more equitable leadership practices.

Focus on such areas as offering more fair performance evaluations, appreciating employees’ unique backgrounds and experiences, and actively soliciting their feedback.

2. Emphasize career fulfillment.

Create more opportunities for employees to grow in their career at your organization so that they can take pride in the work they do.

3. Ensure more respectful workplace interactions.

Stop managers’ inconsiderate behavior and unfair treatment toward workers.

4. Prioritize work/life integration.

Give your employees a more reasonable workload to help them feel like they can manage other responsibilities and hobbies outside of work and not feel exhausted at the end of the day.

5. Improve manager communication.

Build trust by having managers conduct more open and candid conversations and ask for employee input before making decisions.

Bayer acknowledged that no workforce leader can—or should—pull all of these levers simultaneously.

“You really want to look at your culture and decide, ‘What is the most important thing for me to do today that changes who we’re going to be tomorrow'," she said. “And when you’re able to do that, you can create the impact you want.”