Are we creating a workplace which lets people thrive? In most cases, not yet, says Josh Bersin*. His research, just completed, found a tremendous gap in the area of workforce engagement, stress, and overload. 79% of businesses are worried seriously about engagement and retention (it is their #2 issue after leadership) and two-thirds of business leaders cite “the overwhelmed employee” as a top business challenge. And Gallup research shows that globally only 13% of employees are highly engaged at work.

While most companies haven’t dealt with this issue, some have. Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For have built amazing workplaces — environments where people literally line up to apply for jobs. These organizations have created what we call a Simply Irresistible™ workplace. They not only attract great people, they also create an environment where people can truly thrive.

Josh Bersin concluded there are five key elements of the Simply Irresistible™ organization.

1. Meaningful work
The first and perhaps most important challenge is to give people “good work.” Jobs must give people enough autonomy to be creative and enough time to perform well. Even call center workers want time to learn, improve, and help customers.

2. Great management
Management is one of the most important parts of any organization, and companies have to develop and support great leadership.

3. Growth opportunities
Among the many reasons people leave companies, one of the biggest is for lack of opportunity.

4. An inclusive, flexible, fun environment
Companies that have ping pong tables, free food, and flexible vacation time show that they care. These benefits are fairly inexpensive to provide and they give people the freedom to work as they want to work.

5. Leadership we can trust
The fifth element is inspirational leadership. The days of the hard-nosed, profit-obsessed CEO are slowly coming to an end. While most businesses expect people to work hard, CEOs now realize that it’s the soul of the business that inspires people to contribute.

Were do you stand? Does your company have a mission you can relate to? Do your leaders trust employees to make the right decisions? Do you offer a workplace which lets your people thrive?

Read the full article « Five Elements Of A ‘Simply Irresistible’ Organization » written by *Josh Bersin, Founder and Principal at Bersin by Deloitte, leading provider of research-based membership programs in human resources (HR), talent and learning.