How EirGrid and Lennox Are Rethinking Employee Retention

Employee retention has become one of the most significant challenges facing organisations today. As workforce expectations continue to evolve and organisations navigate growth, transformation, and increasing competition for talent, retaining great people requires more than competitive pay or benefits alone.

The organisations that retain talent most successfully are often those that create environments where employees feel valued, supported, and connected to a meaningful purpose. Retention is rarely the result of one programme or policy. Instead, it is built through culture, communication, leadership, and the everyday experiences that shape how employees feel about their work.

Building Trust Through Change

Organisational change is rarely comfortable. Whether it comes in the form of growth, acquisitions, restructuring, new ways of working, or changing business priorities, periods of transformation can create uncertainty for employees. Even when change is necessary and ultimately positive, employees often want reassurance that they understand what is happening, why it is happening, and what it means for them.

This is where communication becomes critical. Employees do not expect leaders to have all the answers immediately. What they do expect is transparency. They want honesty about challenges, clarity around decisions, and confidence that they will not be left behind as the organisation evolves. When communication is absent, uncertainty tends to fill the gap. Assumptions are made, rumours emerge, and trust can quickly begin to erode.

For organisations navigating significant transformation, bringing employees along on the journey is often just as important as the change itself. This has been particularly relevant for Lennox. In recent years, the organisation has experienced acquisitions, significant growth, and the challenge of integrating new teams while maintaining a consistent culture. While systems, processes, and structures can often be implemented relatively quickly, building connection, trust, and alignment across people takes considerably longer.

Throughout these periods of change, Lennox has placed a strong emphasis on communication and visibility. Regular all-hands meetings, ongoing engagement surveys, and open conversations with employees have helped create opportunities for feedback and discussion during times when uncertainty could easily take hold. Rather than viewing communication as something reserved for major announcements, Lennox has focused on creating a consistent dialogue that helps employees understand both the direction of the business and the role they play within it.

That observation speaks to a broader reality facing organisations today. Employees are increasingly evaluating their workplace experience as a whole. They want to understand the direction of the business, feel confident in leadership decisions, and believe they have the support needed to succeed. When those foundations are present, employees are often more willing to embrace change because they trust the organisation's intentions.

Equally important is ensuring employees understand why change is happening in the first place. Organisational growth often requires businesses to rethink structures, responsibilities, and ways of working. While these decisions may make sense strategically, they can be difficult for employees if they feel disconnected from the process.

Employees are far more likely to engage with change when they understand the rationale behind it. Communication is not simply about sharing information, but about creating understanding. It is about helping people see how they fit into the future of the organisation and giving them confidence that they remain part of that journey.

Trust is built through consistency. Employees pay close attention to whether leaders follow through on commitments, whether organisational values are reflected in decision-making, and whether actions align with what has been communicated. Retention becomes stronger when employees feel they can rely on leadership not only during periods of stability, but also during periods of uncertainty.

As organisations continue to navigate changing market conditions and workforce expectations, this relationship between communication, trust, and retention is likely to become even more important than it already is. Employees may not always welcome change, but they are far more likely to support it when they feel informed, included, and respected throughout the process.

Employee Voice Creates Stronger Organisations

One of the most significant shifts taking place across workplaces is the growing expectation that employees should have a meaningful voice in shaping their experience. The traditional model of leadership making decisions and communicating them downward is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain in modern organisations. Employees want to contribute. They want to share ideas. They want opportunities to influence the way their organisations evolve.

This is particularly important when considering retention. Employees are more likely to remain committed to organisations where they feel heard. When people believe their opinions matter and their experiences are valued, they often develop a stronger sense of ownership and connection to the organisation. Conversely, when feedback disappears into a void, employees can quickly become disengaged.

Listening, however, is only the starting point. Many organisations have no shortage of feedback mechanisms. Surveys, pulse checks, focus groups, listening sessions, and engagement initiatives are now common features of organisational life. The real challenge lies in what happens afterwards. Employees increasingly expect organisations to act on what they hear and demonstrate that feedback leads to meaningful change.

For Sarah Downing, Chief People & Capability Officer of EirGrid, creating a strong employee experience begins with understanding what employees are already saying.

As EirGrid continues through a period of rapid growth, listening has become an important way of understanding how employees are experiencing that transformation. Growth creates opportunities, but it also introduces complexity. New structures emerge, onboarding requirements increase, communication challenges become more pronounced, and employee needs continue to evolve. Listening helps organisations stay connected to those realities and identify where additional support may be needed.

Importantly, EirGrid's approach extends beyond simply gathering feedback. Employees are actively involved in shaping solutions. Following feedback from employees, the organisation introduced employee engagement groups focused on specific areas of the employee experience, giving employees an opportunity to contribute ideas and help drive improvements. Staff also established an internal newsletter to improve communication and create greater visibility across the organisation, while innovation groups were created to encourage collaboration and provide employees with a platform to share ideas and influence change. By involving employees directly in these initiatives, EirGrid has sought to ensure that employee voice becomes an active part of decision-making rather than a periodic exercise in feedback collection.

These examples highlight an important shift in how organisations think about employee engagement. Increasingly, engagement is not something that is delivered to employees. It is something that is created with them.

Employees do not necessarily expect every suggestion to be implemented, nor do they expect every challenge to have an immediate solution. What they do expect is evidence that their perspectives are being considered and that leaders are genuinely interested in understanding their experience.

At Lennox, employee feedback has become an important part of shaping organisational improvements and strengthening communication between leadership and employees.

For Brett, one of the greatest benefits of Great Place to Work® has been creating a structured way for employee feedback to influence decision-making through their Great Place to Work® team. By maintaining a close connection to the day-to-day experiences of employees, the team helps ensure that employee voice remains part of organisational conversations and that initiatives are focused on the areas that matter most to people.

When organisations create opportunities for employees to contribute, collaborate, and influence change, they often strengthen something far more valuable than engagement scores. They strengthen trust, ownership, and a shared sense of responsibility for the organisation's future. Those feelings can become powerful drivers of long-term commitment.

Purpose Gives People a Reason to Stay

While retention is often discussed in practical terms, one of the strongest drivers of long-term commitment is often emotional rather than transactional. Employees want opportunities to develop, competitive compensation, and flexibility that supports their lives, but they also want to feel that their work matters. They want to understand how their role contributes to something larger than themselves and why the work they do every day is important.

This has become increasingly significant as organisations compete for talent. Employees today have more choice than ever before. They can compare opportunities, explore different career paths, and move between organisations more easily than previous generations. In that environment, purpose can become a powerful differentiator.

Purpose creates connection. It helps employees understand not only what they are doing, but why they are doing it. It provides context during periods of change and can create a stronger sense of belonging when organisations are growing rapidly.

This has been particularly important for EirGrid. Over recent years, the organisation has experienced extraordinary growth, expanding from approximately 400 employees and continuing to scale as Ireland's energy infrastructure evolves. Such rapid growth creates opportunities, but it also presents challenges. As organisations become larger and more complex, maintaining a strong culture becomes increasingly difficult. Employees can feel further removed from decision-making, new hires can struggle to integrate into established teams, and leaders must work harder to ensure people remain connected to the organisation's mission.

As EirGrid's profile has grown, the organisation has worked to strengthen its employer brand and communicate the impact employees can have through their work. For many candidates, the opportunity to contribute to something that will shape Ireland's future is a compelling proposition, highlighting how a strong employer brand can help organisations attract people who connect with their purpose and values. For existing employees, it provides a reason to remain engaged during periods of transformation and change.

Purpose also has an important role to play in creating alignment. When employees understand the broader mission of an organisation, it becomes easier to connect individual contributions to organisational outcomes. People are often more willing to adapt, learn new skills, embrace change, and support new initiatives when they understand how those efforts contribute to a larger goal.

Importantly, purpose is not something that can simply be written into a mission statement or displayed on a wall. Employees experience purpose through their day-to-day work. It becomes visible through leadership decisions, organisational priorities, and the stories employees tell about their experiences.

Employees who feel connected to their work often bring greater energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to what they do. They are more likely to advocate for the organisation, support colleagues, and see a future for themselves within the business.

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