A new survey in the U.S. finds that although salary and benefits are among the top factors that influence whether jewelry staffers remain with a company, they are not the only issues that motivate them.

 

The opportunity to engage in challenging, rewarding work, combined with a chance to grow and a feeling of recognition and appreciation from employers, are also key retention factors for jewelry employees, according to the survey carried out by Diamond Staffing Solutions SM, a major jewelry industry staffing agency.

 

The company polled its current job candidates in the U.S. on a variety of retention-related issues to get a better picture of what factors motivate jewelry employees to stay with their current employers – and what would cause them to move on. Roughly 100 candidates completed the survey.  

 

Asked to name the five most important factors that would make them stay in their job, 77 percent cited Good Pay/Compensation, while 66 percent said Opportunities for Career Growth and 65 percent said Challenging, Rewarding or Interesting Work. Meanwhile, more than half (55 percent) cited a Good Benefits Package, while 42 percent are looking for Recognition/Respect from the Company.

 

As for the top five factors that would cause them to leave a job, two-thirds (67 percent) said ‘insufficient pay/compensation’, while 58 percent cited ‘insufficient opportunities for career growth and advancement’, and 38 percent said ‘insufficient recognition/respect from the company’. Around a third (35 percent) said ‘work that wasn’t challenging, rewarding or interesting enough’ and 34 percent said ‘job instability’.

 

“There is a common theme here: while employees definitely want their employers to ‘show them the money,’ they also want to feel secure and valued at work,” says Suzanne DeVries, President and Founder of Diamond Staffing Solutions SM. “They also want to be challenged and stimulated, and expect their loyalty and performance to earn them a chance to move up in the company. If you, the store owner, do not deliver in these key areas, these employees will move on to another job without hesitation.”

 

Offering challenges and growth potential does more than just keep a jewelry employee on the job; these factors also may be the biggest catalysts driving an employee’s long-term job motivation and performance.

 

When asked “What really motivates you about a position,” 30 percent of candidates indicated that “opportunities for personal career growth” was the leading factor, while a close second was “job challenge,” selected by 27 percent of candidates, followed by “the chance to make a difference,” chosen by 26 percent of those surveyed. “Money” as the primary job motivator was selected by only 16 percent of respondents.

 

One of the clear indicators of how difficult it is to retain jewelry employees long-term is seen in how often they change jobs. Candidates were asked how many companies they have worked for. More than a third of respondents (35 percent) have worked for 4-5 different firms, while 27 percent have worked for more than five different companies. This means that 62 percent of respondents have held positions with at least four different firms.

 

Despite the jewelry industry’s historically high rate of employee turnover, the good news for jewelers is that most candidates 82 percent love the jewelry business and said they planned to spend the rest of their career in the sector.

 

Seasonality plays a significant role in determining when people start looking for a new position. Nearly a third of the candidates polled (31 percent) said they typically start feeling like they might want to change jobs in the beginning of the year, while 30 percent indicated that spring is the time they begin looking for a job change. By contrast, only 9 percent of candidates indicated they would start a job search in the fall.

 

According to DeVries, this is explained by most candidates not wanting to lose out on year-end bonuses or other annual incentives. In addition, with the fall season accounting for as much as 50 percent of many stores’ annual volume, salespeople do not want to jeopardize their biggest commission opportunities of the year – and many employees prefer to wait until after the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over before beginning a job search.

 

“These results should be a real wake-up call for jewelers,” DeVries warns. “If you want to keep your people happy, loyal, motivated and operating at peak performance, you need to have a comprehensive, flexible system in place that includes a competitive compensation plan, a significant recognition program, paid training, a culture of promoting from within, and a commitment to empowering employees to keep them challenged."