The Retention Disconnect: Are You Prioritizing What Matters?

Why do people stay at their jobs?

If you ask employees, their answers are refreshingly straightforward: job security, fair pay and a healthy workplace culture. But if you ask HR leaders? You’ll often hear about wellness programs, employer branding and purpose-led initiatives.

These aren't mutually exclusive ideas - but they are often misaligned.

According to Mercer’s 2024 Global Talent Trends report, there’s a growing gap between what employees say keeps them in a role and what HR teams think matters most. This disconnect can result in missed opportunities, especially in today’s market where retention is more critical than ever.

The Disconnect: HR Leaders vs. Employees

Mercer’s data highlights this divide clearly. While job security, fair pay and positive work culture rank as the top three reasons employees stay, HR professionals tend to over-index on well-being programs, flexible work and employer brand reputation​.

Here’s the catch: those HR initiatives are valuable - but they’re not what most employees are using to evaluate whether they stay or go. Employees are asking a different question entirely: Does it pay to stay?

And for them, “pay” isn’t just about salary - it’s about feeling supported, having manageable workloads, being treated fairly and knowing they’re growing within the organization.

The Top Reasons Employees Stay – According to Mercer

Let’s look at the data Mercer collected from over 12,000 global respondents:

The bottom of the list is just as telling: items like manager relationships, career advancement and innovation were deprioritized by HR, even though employees are increasingly citing them as important retention factors​.

Why This Matters for Retention

Retention isn't about throwing more perks at employees. It’s about aligning with their lived experience.

More than 40% of employees say their employer is not meeting their needs, a stark increase from just 19% in 2022​. And more troubling? Fewer employees report feeling “energized” at work or optimistic about their organization’s future.

The result? A workforce that feels overworked, undervalued and quietly disengaged.

Mercer also found that 42% of employees point to excessive “busy work” and 32% point to unsustainable workloads as major productivity drains - far outweighing a lack of well-being programs or flashy benefits​.

Rethinking What Drives Loyalty

Here’s where HR teams can take action:

• Redesign the employee value proposition (EVP) to reflect what employees actually care about - like transparent pay practices, equitable promotions and recognition that feels meaningful.

• Invest in leadership training, especially at the mid-manager level. Managers directly shape daily experiences, and yet they’re often left out of the retention strategy.

• Simplify and humanize HR practices - think fewer platforms, more people-first policies and increased autonomy over how and when work gets done.

• Close the feedback loop. Employees want to know their voices matter. Continuous listening tools are a start, but real progress requires acting on what’s heard.

As Mercer puts it, “Retention isn’t about convincing people to stay. It’s about making work worth staying for.”

Final Thought: Is Your Organization Prioritizing What Really Matters?

If your retention strategy is built around surface-level benefits while ignoring deeper employee needs, it may be time for a reset.

Start by asking:

• Are we overvaluing perks while undervaluing people?

• Do our policies reflect what employees actually want?

• Is our EVP meaningful - or just marketing?

At Orion HR, we help organizations uncover these gaps and develop talent strategies rooted in evidence, equity and employee voice. Because when people feel seen, supported and secure, they don’t have to ask whether it pays to stay - they already know the answer.

Ready to align your retention strategy with what employees really want? Let’s talk. We’ll help you build a people-first workplace that works.

Source: Mercer. (2024). Global Talent Trends Report 2024: Unlocking Human Potential in a Machine-Augmented World. Link to full report.