QWL: the key to a successful employer brand and employee retention

Perceived as secondary a few years ago, QWL now appears to reveal the employer brand and an excellent lever for employee loyalty. It is increasingly the foundation of the employee experience within companies.

QWL is a dimension of human resources that is attracting renewed interest because of the multiple benefits it has to offer. Many companies are slowly starting to implement it as part of their HR strategy.

What exactly is QWL? How to set up a good QWL in a company? This article answers these questions and presents the effects that QWL can have on employer branding and employee retention.

QWL: What is it?

QWL or Quality of Life at Work is a concept that has been propelled to the forefront in recent years. This, in particular because of the generalization of teleworking and the sudden changes that employees are experiencing in companies.

Often associated with the employer brand, QWL was defined in the framework of the National Interprofessional Agreement (ANI) of 2013, as all actions promoting the improvement of employees’ working conditions and the general performance of companies.

Putting people back at the heart of the organization, it is now an excellent solution for employee loyalty and the enhancement of companies’ employer brand.

Although it can be expensive to spend money, it is an excellent investment for the future.

Many companies have understood this very well and are integrating it into their employer branding strategy. They do not hesitate to recruit specialists dedicated exclusively to the implementation of a good QWL.

With the tough competition in the market today, attracting and retaining the best talent is becoming a major challenge for companies. The development of an employer branding strategy that focuses on QWL becomes necessary for employee recruitment and retention.

In this sense, many companies allow their employees more modern and unusual practices such as the possibility:

• Bring your pet to work;
• To practice lighting design;
• To rollerblade in the corridors;
• To do pre-work, etc.

QWL is the solution to adapt to new ways of working based mainly on the employee experience. It aligns employees’ experiences and their daily well-being at work with the company’s values and growth.

Its advantages in terms of promoting the employer brand and employee loyalty are multiple.

QWL: Vector for the development of the employer brand

QWL, before being a lever for employee loyalty, is first and foremost an excellent strategy to develop a company’s employer brand.

What candidates want today is no longer just a company or a key position. They are also looking for a caring work environment through which they can flourish. In short, they are looking for a company with a good employer brand.

QWL-oriented management can allow companies to enhance their employer brand to attract talent and obtain a high rate of employee retention.

Indeed, a good employer branding strategy is a strategy that places employees at the center of the company’s communication.

This is a strategy widely used in companies because employees are the actors best able to promote the image of a company to potential candidates.

However, for this strategy to be successful, it is essential that employees’ messages about the company are positive. Opting for QWL-oriented management is precisely the best way to guarantee this.

In short, it is not possible to dissociate employer brand and quality of life at work. The more a company invests in creating a pleasant environment for its employees, the more it gets good publicity from them.

Its employer brand is therefore all the more valued and its results in terms of recruitment and employee retention also benefit.

QWL: An excellent way to retain employees

The more loyal employees are to a company, the more motivated and involved they are. They then become a major asset on which a manager can rely.

To achieve this result, we must first understand that employee loyalty necessarily requires a good employer branding strategy.

However, a good employer branding strategy is a strategy that aims to provide concrete answers to the expectations expressed by employees. To do this, we must obviously listen to them.

Managers are the best placed actors to accomplish this task since they are carriers of a large number of processes in structures.

In short, the strength of a management focused on QWL is found in its ability to provide answers to both substantive issues and concrete needs. The following two examples illustrate this conclusion very well.

According to a 2015 survey by Éditions Tissot conducted by Opinion Way, 39% of employees surveyed do not change companies because of the proximity between their workplace and their home.

For 30% of employees surveyed, the reason is the quality of relationships with colleagues, i.e. a pleasant working atmosphere. The analysis of these two figures reveals two problems.

The first is concrete and relates to the time lost by employees in transport. The second, however, is much broader and concerns management and organization aimed at creating a good working atmosphere.

With regard to the first point, one solution could be to introduce teleworking in a supervised way. This may, for example, be just one day of telecommuting per week, but it will already have a positive impact on employees struggling with commute time.

As for the second point, it is directly related to the quality of management and work organization. Once again, the most important thing to create a good working atmosphere is to listen to employees.

This allows each of them to feel at home and to make the necessary efforts to ensure that the good working atmosphere continues.

In summary, an employer branding strategy with a QWL-oriented approach is one of the best solutions for employee loyalty.

How to establish a good Quality of Life at Work?

It is clear that a good quality of life at work influences a company’s employer brand image and contributes to employee loyalty. It can be achieved by carrying out certain concrete actions.

Creating an ergonomic work environment

Regardless of the sector of activity to which the company belongs, the employer must ensure that employees have the necessary equipment to do the job correctly and easily.

While ergonomics in the workplace are very important, other factors can improve workers’ well-being. These include the level of lighting in the workplace.

Although there are lighting level standards for different occupations, some studies suggest that natural light improves workers’ health.

Involve the entire organization in QWL-related activities

Each employee must be involved in QWL-related activities in order to understand their issues. Only an environment that supports the development of new initiatives will have a greater impact on employee well-being in the workplace.

It is also necessary to provide for long-term measures to improve the quality of life at work. One-off measures are only effective for a limited period of time and their benefits can quickly fade.

Finally, while it is self-evident, it is important to consider measures to improve quality of life by setting specific and achievable goals.

Providing employee benefits

The provision of social benefits is one of the main measures that can improve the quality of life at work.

Meal vouchers are highly valued among employees and potential recruits, but there are many other benefits that can promote employee well-being.

Pet sitting, free transportation, company bikes, gym memberships among others. Some employers go to great lengths to stand out and develop an attractive employer brand image for employee loyalty.

The employer must also be careful not to cause dissatisfaction among some employees. Taking into account workers with disabilities, temporary workers or even workers of foreign origin is essential to put in place a fair and inclusive QWL policy.

It is possible to measure employee satisfaction via reviews, in particular to ensure that the QWL policy is effective.

Promote good employee relations

Everyone agrees that good relationships between colleagues are one of the prerequisites for fulfillment and well-being at work. It is a powerful lever for employee loyalty and therefore for the development of a good employer brand image.

Managers play a key role in promoting a good understanding within the team and in preventing and resolving conflicts. Thus, QWL is essential to strengthening the employer brand image of a company and, therefore, contributes to employee loyalty.