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  • March 30, 2022
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review (website)

To Retain Employees, Support Their Passions Outside Work

By: Lauren C Howe, Jon M. Jachimowicz and Jochen I. Menges
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

With more and more people quitting, leaders need to find new ways to boost retention. One under-recognized way to keep employees on board is to give them the flexibility and resources they need to pursue their out-of-work passions. Drawing on their research, the authors offer practical strategies for creating “passion opportunities” so that you can attract and retain employees who want to pursue their passions outside of work. Beyond simply providing employees with flexibility, leaders need to make sure that employees feel comfortable actually using this flexibility. Given longstanding ideas about the “ideal worker,” or the notion prevalent in the U.S. that a good employee is one who dedicates their time and energy solely to work, embracing non-work passions requires igniting a mindset shift, including explicit endorsement from leaders.

Keywords

Passion; Employees; Retention; Interests; Work-Life Balance; Human Resources; Strategy

Citation

Howe, Lauren C., Jon M. Jachimowicz, and Jochen I. Menges. "To Retain Employees, Support Their Passions Outside Work." Harvard Business Review (website) (March 30, 2022).
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About The Author

Jon M. Jachimowicz

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

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    • July 2022
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    Inequality in Researchers' Minds: Four Guiding Questions for Studying Subjective Perceptions of Economic Inequality

    By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Shai Davidai, Daniela Goya-Tocchetto, Barnabas Szaszi, Martin Day, Stephanie Tepper, L. Taylor Phillips, M. Usman Mirza, Nailya Ordabayeva and Oliver P. Hauser
More from the Authors
  • The Passionate Pygmalion Effect: Passionate Employees Attain Better Outcomes in Part Because of More Preferential Treatment by Others By: Ke Wang, Erica R. Bailey and Jon M. Jachimowicz
  • Embracing Field Studies as a Tool for Learning By: Jon M. Jachimowicz
  • Inequality in Researchers' Minds: Four Guiding Questions for Studying Subjective Perceptions of Economic Inequality By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Shai Davidai, Daniela Goya-Tocchetto, Barnabas Szaszi, Martin Day, Stephanie Tepper, L. Taylor Phillips, M. Usman Mirza, Nailya Ordabayeva and Oliver P. Hauser
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