Do you take care of your employee’s emotional bank account?

You make sure to pay your employees well and on time. On top of that, you ensure that they have best benefits possible — Fancy Italian espresso machine, beer on tap, ergonomic office interiors, inspiring meeting spaces, best-in-class insurance, pension plans, paternity leaves, paid sabbaticals, company outings, company guest houses, bar discounts, care rental discounts, etc. I bet that even after all these benefits, good people leave your company periodically. To put things into perspective, according to Business Insider, here’s how long people are staying at the 10 biggest tech companies.

Facebook — 2.02 years
Google — 1.90 years
Oracle — 1.89 years
Apple — 1.85 years
Amazon — 1.84 years
Twitter — 1.83 years
Microsoft — 1.81 years
AirBnB — 1.62 years
Uber — 1.23 years

All these companies boast of best in class benefits and salary, they have great brand value, long waiting lines for new talent and also, long lines of people desperate to get out. Why is this happening? Is an employee’s dollar bank account the only one to take care of?

It is common to hear employees complain about their managers, their companies and vice versa but at the end of the day the harsh truth is that employees are quitting despite massive benefits. The common denominator to this is that the employee’s emotional bank account reads 0.00.

Now, I’m not talking about taking care of each employee’s marital problems or drug problems. I’m talking about whether you are providing an environment that makes employees feel safe, cared for and nurtured, an environment that makes an employee feel that the company is acting not only in its best interest but also in theirs. Once again, I’m not talking about the company taking care of an employee’s marital problem.

An employee’s emotional bank account is driven by trust in one’s environment, a sense of autonomy, a sensation of improvement, whether their work adds meaning to their lives and to those of others, whether they have access to people, tools and resources to deliver their work, whether they can experiment with new ideas, whether they bond with people around them, etc. When we feel good about ourselves while doing something we do it more because we like to feel good. When an employee feels good about the place they work at they will stay and they will encourage others to hop on board.

So, all the owners, CEOs and managers out there — remember to top up your employee’s emotional bank account!