Companies, many well meaning, are failing to meet the needs of their most talented employees – the very people who can “make or break” an organization.

It’s one of the key findings in a recent research study of more than 3,600 employees conducted by Right Management Consultants Inc.

“We measured what top talent wants, and found that across the board that companies weren’t delivering,” says Donna Van Alstine, a Toronto-based senior VP with Right Management, a multinational human resources company with more than 200 offices worldwide.

“The companies that we took our findings to were taken aback.”

Research shows talented employees feel their company leaders aren't listening effectively.

The study focused on “highly valued” employees of 26 companies in North America and Asia.

These are the people who are critical to a company’s bottom line, says Van Alstine, because research shows the top 20 per cent in any job position typically out-perform and out-produce their average co-workers by 50 to 125 per cent.

Speaking in Calgary recently, Van Alstine said that many companies are trying to satisfy their talented people, but are spending money, time and energy on all the wrong things.

Statistics which caught researchers’ eyes included: 50 per cent of respondents felt that the company they worked for truly didn’t care about them; 51 per cent said enthusiasm and morale was low; and only 24 per cent said the company was allowing them to achieve balance between work and home.

The statistics floored some companies that felt they understood – and were meeting – employee needs. They just aren’t listening effectively, nor do they have the tools to find out what employees want, says Van Alstine.

For example, top talent wants flexibility in terms of how and where they work, she says. Talented workers want to make their own decisions. At the same time, they also want visionary leadership. “What happens is these top talents fall out of the loop because they are not around,” explains Van Alstine. “If companies haven’t found a way of communicating properly, the employees feel cut off and isolated.”

The research study identified a number of components that talented workers valued and suggested would help attract and retain their services:

* They wanted organizations that are honest and have integrity;

* They like companies that are identified as good places for talented people, with a reputation built around quality;

* They want autonomous work environments, but with a lifeline that keeps them in the loop;

* They want a place where creativity and innovation are valued;

* And they want a leadership structure with a vision that is expressed clearly and often.

Van Alstine says that companies must learn to listen to their top talents, or eventually lose them. (Twelve per cent of study respondents said they were actively looking for new work, while 22 per cent have thought about quitting.)

The findings come at a crucial time, says Van Alstine.

Demographics show the workforce is aging, which means the talent pool, especially in the critical 25-44 age group, is thinning.

Smart companies, she says, must develop, or use their existing reputations to ensure they have the right leaders in place.

“One way to attract the right people for your organization is by having people . . . before they even talk to you, say: ‘That’s the place I want to work.’ ”

Companies such as WestJet and Southwest Airlines, for example, have created a reputation, or “employment brands,” that suggest an atmosphere of fun and freedom – staff wear shorts and even the pilots tell jokes from the cockpits.

General Electric, on the other hand, invests $1 billion a year in developing its human capital, creating an environment where leaders must stretch, perform and fit the company values – or leave.

Companies that can create the proper brand and attract the talent that fits their company are best suited for the future, she says. In those companies, satisfied employees become great advocates.

When organizations hire, they have one year to live up to their promises. “If you as a company can connect with those people in the first year you can really keep them,” she says. “Employees have to choose to join your company, choose to stay, then choose to grow and to contribute.”

It’s the latter stage where companies see the greatest opportunity for a return on investment. Employees are giving all they have to the company and wanting to develop their skills, which means they can contribute more, says Van Alstine. Conversely, disillusioned employees may take the opposite path.

If they don’t feel the company cares for them – and the survey suggested that one in two workers believe that’s the case – those top talents won’t be contributing.

In fact, says Van Alstine, they may cut back their hours, and learn new skills that don’t necessarily contribute to the company, but give the worker the wherewithal to become an independent contractor.

In a time of dwindling talent that’s not a scenario most companies can afford to live with.