Employees ‘Sheltering In Their Job’

One of the most challenging aspects of the sheltering-in-job phenomenon is you don’t know exactly who these employees are and have no real means of finding out for certain. Very few people would confess to their boss that they’re just biding their time in their current role, waiting for better opportunities.

However, there are certain indicators that can help. These indicators will typically identify themselves through the employee’s performance in their job or behaviour in the workplace – e.g. 

• Being consistently late for work
• A pattern of absences where this didn’t previously occur
• Falling behind on projects or missing deadlines
• Changing the quality of work for the worse
• Reducing interest in their work or the company
• Lacking accountability or ownership of their work
• Withdrawing from colleagues and management
• Collaborating less frequently
• Complaining consistently
• Less initiative or desire for new work
• Not participating in meetings and video calls
• Seeming distracted

If an employee works remotely, it is harder to assess the employee’s behaviour. In this instance, you will need to hone your leadership skills to support leading from a distance – e.g.

• Getting to know everyone on an individual basis
• Regularly checking in
• Gauging levels of stress, engagement and motivation
• Understanding when shifts in normal behaviour and mindset have taken place

Impacts On A Company

Although some employees who shelter in their jobs do take advantage of their remaining time at a company to develop their skills and strengthen relationships, there is real potential for a negative atmosphere that can become contagious and toxic to your workplace. 

As we all know, an employee’s poor attitude, lack of interest and unhappiness are detrimental to team dynamics and the culture as a whole. The other likely outcomes are loss of productivity and reduced quality of work and output.

In addition, customers can detect employees’ attitudes as well. An employee who seems complacent and doesn’t make much of an effort has the very real potential of tarnishing your company’s reputation and driving customers away.

If you miss the warning signs and are caught by surprise when an employee suddenly leaves, your company will now have to deal with the fallout, including:

• The tight labour market 
• Potentially dissatisfied customers
• High cost of employee turnover (estimated at around 1.5 times the annual salary of the relevant employee),
• Knowledge gaps left by the employee as that information goes out the door with them.

If many of your employees are sheltering in jobs, you’ll have to do this frequently… and the cost of employee turnover is increasing every day.

How To Identify And Reduce Sheltering In A Job

It is the natural course of events that employees will leave your employment and sometimes for reasons you can’t control. 

However, there are steps you can take to mitigate employee sheltering-in-job and overall retention problems:

1. Engagement surveys

Ask employees to complete an employee engagement survey (usually annually) that asks questions about their level of engagement and satisfaction and their perceptions of the workplace environment, leadership and communication. You can also use them to gauge the feasibility or popularity of a major change or new idea.

The survey can be completed online or via a paper form and should be anonymous to get the most honest answers. These surveys can be critical in understanding what your employees are thinking, identifying potential problems and discovering in which areas your workplace can improve.

2. Pulse surveys

These are similar to engagement surveys; however, they are much shorter, focused on two or three specific matters and conducted more frequently throughout the year. Their purpose is to get a quick “pulse” on employee opinion.

3. Regular, one-on-one check-ins with employees

If you’re trying to discover what an employee is thinking, sometimes you need to ask them directly. Schedule one-on-one meetings regularly to ascertain what’s going on from their perspective and address potential problems proactively.

Topics of conversation may include:

• What’s working
• What’s not working
• Is your communication clear enough (or does it cause confusion)
• Are there ways you can better assist them in achieving what they need to
• Any personal issues they want you to be aware of

4. Consistent evaluation of workplace culture

In addition to the insight gleaned from employee surveys, regularly reflect on what your workplace culture is like – and what you’re doing to enhance its positivity.

Ask yourself:

• What does your company do to promote work/life balance or improve the workplace environment?
• How much autonomy does your company give employees?
• How transparent is leadership?
• How well do team members collaborate?
• On average, what are relationships like between peers?
• Most importantly, what about the relationship between managers and their team members?

The managerial relationship especially impacts employee retention. People do stick with their jobs and perform well if they have good relationships with their managers. Remember this old saying: People don’t leave jobs. They leave managers.

Do you frequently promote from within – and give employees the opportunity to gain the experience necessary for consideration?

Other areas for thought include:

• How diverse and inclusive is your organisation?
  • Do you encourage diversity in thought and express openness to new ideas?
  • Does everyone feel welcome?
  • Does everyone feel valued and free to speak up and share their opinions?
• How equitable is your organisation?
  • Do all policies and rules apply to everyone, regardless of status and seniority?
  • Is compensation fair according to skill level and competencies?
• How do you show employees you care about them and value them… do you?
  • Recognise and reward employees for good work?
  • Encourage a learning and development culture with professional development and training opportunities?
  • Have any employee assistance program (EAP) or other wellness programs?
  • Find ways to accommodate them, on a case-by-case basis, when personal or family obligations conflict with work

5. Marketplace and competitor analysis

Compare how your company aligns with others in terms of salary and benefits, including:

• Leave options
• Options for a flexible work arrangement or, where appropriate, a hybrid work arrangement
• Unique perks – e.g. study leave, annual allowance for health and well-being.

If you’re in step with what the marketplace and fellow industry players offer, your risk of employees leaving for greener pastures is reduced.

Summing It All Up

Sheltering in jobs is an increasingly common employee retention problem in which people want to leave a workplace and find a new job – but won’t, at least in the short term, for a variety of personal and professional reasons, as well as external conditions related to the economy.

They’re hanging out, waiting to make a move, while enjoying the security and stability of their current job. The problem for your company is that disengaged employees can spread negativity, and you’ll eventually have to deal with recruiting and hiring replacements.

So… what are the steps you can take to assess employees’ mindset and re-engage them to reduce your risks:

• Survey employees
• Talk with employees one-on-one
• Evaluate your workplace culture and forms of employee support, and consider how to improve
• Determine how competitive your company is in terms of salary, benefits and perks.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Akyra for a free 30-minute consultation.