By Mel Kleiman, founder Humetrics

How many times do we have to hear this to believe it?

It’s something that most HR executives have learned over the years, but that most managers have yet to figure out…

Whenever managers are polled about the most effective employee retention tools, money and benefits always top the list. In stark contrast, whenever employees are polled on the same subject, the results are quite different.

Case in point, a recent poll found the most important values to employees were:

• The ability to balance work and life. (We call this a family-friendly environment.)
• The meaningfulness of the work. (Does every employee – top to bottom – understand why their job is important to the overall success of the organization? This is what gives work meaning.)
• Trust among employees. (This is what makes relationships and teamwork work.)
• The employees’ relationships with their supervisors or managers.

In short, people go to work for a company, but they end up staying or leaving based on the way they perceive and relate to their managers.