Trend Shift 7: the focus moves from retention to performance as the Great Attrition ends
Summary
McKinsey's seventh shift holds that with the pandemic-era Great Attrition over and growth slowing, organizations are moving from retaining people to driving their performance, while AI and geopolitical uncertainty add strain to employees.
Classification
Main topicLabor & Future of Work
Region menusGlobal
Impactscope:global
Time horizon0-3 years (2026-07-26)
Last updated2026-07-29 04:49:52
Evidence 2
- The State of Organizations 2026 McKinsey & Company page=49;section=Workforce shifts: Aiming higher with a new performance edge 2026-02 accessed 2026-07-26
- The State of Organizations 2026 McKinsey & Company page=7;section=Nine shifts transforming organizations / Workforce shifts 2026-02 accessed 2026-07-26
Observed signals 13
- Signal45% of leaders see greater employee willingness to aim higher, most in lower-pressure organizations
- Signal64% see linking individual to organizational goals as the key performance lever
- Signal77% of employees with regular development conversations felt motivated against 21% without
- SignalCareer progression (47%) and incentives (43%) top the barriers to a high-performance culture
- SignalCareer progression concern splits by generation and by industry structure
- SignalDisengagement is cited as a barrier by 58% in low-ambition organizations against 31% elsewhere
- SignalImproving organizations use dynamic goals at 46% against 33% of declining ones
- SignalInvesting in employee health could add USD 3.7 to 11.7 trillion in economic value
- SignalOnly 20% of leaders believe nonfinancial rewards meaningfully boost performance
- SignalPeople-and-performance organizations show 5% lower attrition and higher earnings mobility
- SignalPeople-and-performance organizations sustain top-tier financial performance at 4.3 times the rate
- SignalRolls-Royce raised strategy clarity to 82% and performance-update reach to 88%
- SignalThree common conditions each cost US employers over USD 300 per employee annually
Part of issues 1
- IssuePerformance measurement breaks down as knowledge work absorbs AI1 trends · 0 signals
Relation types: constitutes · supports
Public id: fm-b6a033a59787