Employee retention is often approached through salary, benefits, career progression and leadership development. While each of these factors matters, organisations may overlook another powerful influence: the workplace itself.
Why Great Workplaces Retain Great People explores how the physical environment, organisational culture and everyday employee experience shape whether talented people remain with an organisation. The guide explains that retention has become increasingly emotional rather than purely transactional. Employees are no longer considering only what they earn; they are also evaluating how it feels to work within an organisation.
Why people leave
Readers will learn why people often leave because of an accumulation of negative experiences, including poor leadership, limited recognition, weak communication, low trust, workplace frustration, lack of belonging and restricted opportunities for growth.
The workplace as an expression of culture
The guide examines how workplaces reinforce organisational culture. Collaborative, innovative, high-trust and learning cultures all require environments that support the behaviours an organisation wants to encourage. Employees pay close attention to what they experience, making the workplace a physical expression of company values.
Workplace quality, belonging and hybrid working
Further chapters explore workplace quality, belonging, leadership visibility, emotional connection and hybrid working. The guide explains how building condition, environmental comfort, technology, amenities and collaboration spaces communicate whether employees are genuinely valued.
It also considers the new expectations created by hybrid working. The workplace must increasingly offer collaboration, community, learning and culture, becoming a destination that provides meaningful value rather than simply somewhere employees are required to attend.
What the data says
What UK research shows about culture, trust in leaders and sickness absence, and why workplace quality helps organisations keep good people.
- One in three UK managers and workers have left a job because of a negative work culture. Source: Chartered Management Institute (CMI), New study: Bad managers and toxic work culture causing one in three staff to walk, 2023
- Half of employees in large UK organisations (500+ staff) do not trust their CEO or senior leaders. Source: Institute of Internal Communication (with Ipsos Karian and Box), IC Index 2026
- Average sickness absence in UK organisations has increased to 9.4 days per employee per year. Source: CIPD (supported by Simplyhealth), Health and wellbeing at work 2025
- Global employee engagement has dropped to 20%, down from its 2022 peak of 23%. Source: Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026
- 95% of candidates placed by Maxwell Stephens remain in role one year after appointment. Source: Maxwell Stephens, 2026
See it in practice
Office Services Senior Manager Recruitment for Capital Group
Capital Group appointed Maxwell Stephens on an exclusive retained basis to recruit an Office Services Senior Manager for its flagship London office. We ran a comprehensive executive search, assessing candidates against the firm's cultural values as well as their leadership and technical capability. A candidate testimonial, from someone who had spent 20 years with the same employer, describes being well prepared and kept informed throughout. Twenty years with one employer shows the loyalty strong workplaces earn, and why cultural fit matters when hiring.
Read the full case study or browse all case studies.
Related reading
- The Workplace Priorities Employees Value Most
- How to Build Employee Loyalty and Reduce Unwanted Turnover
- How Workplace Design Shapes Employee Experience and Business Success
Practical guides
Free Maxwell Stephens guides on the same subject:
Who this resource is for
Facilities Managers, Heads of Facilities, FM Directors, workplace and estates leaders, HR professionals, people and culture teams, business leaders and organisations seeking to improve employee experience, engagement and retention.
Designed for FM, workplace, HR and business leaders, this resource shows how carefully designed and well-managed workplaces can strengthen employee engagement, reduce avoidable turnover and support stronger organisational performance.
Talk to Maxwell Stephens
Maxwell Stephens is a specialist Facilities Management recruitment consultancy. If you are planning an FM, estates or workplace appointment, contact us for a confidential conversation, or read our case studies to see how comparable searches were run.