The latest Randstad Workmonitor surveyed over 35,000 employees across 34 markets. The findings are clear about the shift in dynamics between employer and employee. Employees have a heightened sense of purpose which is guiding their choice of employer. This is what Randstad termed a “new era of self-determination.”

Most respondents said their personal life was more important than their professional life, they want happiness at work, and they want their values reflected in those of their employer.

The survey also uncovered a major warning that employers need to take note of. “The Great Resignation” is not slowing down. Whilst 83% and &71% said that flexible hours and a flexible workplace are important, respectively, the majority don’t feel they have a choice of where to work and can’t control their hours.

Therefore, what employees want is not being delivered by employers. With the war for talent back on, employers failing to respond and meet the expectations of a self-determined workforce could result in disaster.

Based on the survey results, Randstad suggest there are five areas that require focus if organisations are going to remain in business. These are five areas in which organisations can be ahead of the competition by being an employer of choice.

This is my take on those 5 focus areas.

1.   Attitude

If the pandemic had only last a couple of months rather than over a couple of years, the situation today would be very different. Two years of lockdown, isolation, distancing, loss, grief, and anxiety has led employees to reflect on what they want not only from their personal life but also their professional life. It is the Great Realisation that had led to The Great Resignation.

Employee attitude has changed. As the Microsoft 2022 Work Trends Index found, employees have a new “worth it” equation. Employees are saying “I am worth more”, “I deserve more”, “I can find more.” Their priorities have fundamentally shifted.

Employees are prepared to let their employers know how they feel. Randstad found that 56% of employees aged 18-24 would quit a job that prevented them from enjoying their lives. 39% of those aged 56-67 said the same. The figure is probably lower because of the older generation having concerns over job security and/or retirement benefits. However, nearly two-fifths of a workforce probably containing the most skilled and experienced personnel, prepared to move on, is not to be ignored.

41% of Gen Z and 40% of Millennials surveyed said they had already quit a job as it didn't fit in with their personal life.

33% of all employees surveyed stated they would rather be unemployed than unhappy in a job. Employees are now in the pursuit of happiness at work.

Employees want more meaning from work. They want a sense of purpose, to feel valued, heard and included. Employers need to respond.

Actions

·       Provide employees with both autonomy and flexibility to choose where they work, when they work, and how they work.

·       Ask employees what they want to see in the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and determine if those desires can be met.

·       Make it an intentional and actionable goal to be an employer of choice and win the war on talent.

·       Enable leaders to lead high performing hybrid teams. This entails leading from a foundation of trust, empathy, compassion, inclusivity, empowerment, and establishing a shared sense of purpose.

2.   Values

The values of an organisation are important to employees. Two-fifths of survey respondents said they would not accept a job from an employer who did not proactively work to enhance its equity, diversity and inclusion policies and practices. Nearly half of Generation Z would not accept a job with an employer not actively becoming more sustainable. Across all generations, 39% said the same. Top issues employees care about are climate change, social policy, and corporate social responsibility.

In a Gartner 2021 study 0f 3000 employees, 68% of employees said they would consider quitting their current job and working with an organisation with a stronger viewpoint on the social issues they care about. Many organisations are concerned about choosing a cause that may not align with the perspectives of all employees.

Actions 

·       Employers should revisit their mission, values, and culture and their corporate social responsibility (CSR) model, to ensure they align with the views of their employees. These should be revisited and updated on a regular basis as issues emerge and evolve and ensure they reflect the prevailing thoughts of employees.

 

·       Leaders should gather employee perspectives – across levels, business units, and functions – when determining which societal issues to act on.

·       A societal issues decision framework should be created that enables prioritisation of the issues employees care about aligned with organisational goals. The framework can then be shared across the organisation to provide transparency on the decisions made. This can make employees feel invested as they know they have been heard even if their cause has not been acted upon.

3.   Empowerment

I found the Randstad interpretation of “empowerment” interesting. The report refers to it as leveraging the power of financial and non-monetary incentives to win the loyalties of job seekers and employees. It talks about leveraging various types of incentives to compete for the best workers. The incentives that must be offered in addition to the monetary ones include learning and development, and job flexibility.

I have a very different interpretation of how empowerment can make an employer an employer of choice. This is an organisation in which employees are empowered to make decisions. Empowerment is the opposite of micromanagement. Micromanagement screams “I do not trust you.”

I explored empowerment is some details in my “Future of work Redesigned – Empowerment” article.

When empowered, employees can make independent decisions and act upon them. Unempowered employees are frustrated, demoralised, disengaged, and likely candidates for attrition. People know if an organisation does not have a culture of empowerment through social media platforms and websites such as Glassdoor which contain millions of employee reviews of employers. This means that unless you empower you will be unable to attract talent as you will not be an employer of choice.

Actions

·       Build a culture of trust and responsibility by increasingly delegating tasks, empowering and providing autonomy. This shows your employees that you trust them, they are valued and capable of working independently of you.

·       Empower using guardrails such as the ‘waterline principle’ inspired by W.L.Gore.

·       Ensure clarity of expectations before delegating tasks.

·       Foster an environment in which it is ok to have a setback and a shared belief that if you are not making mistakes, you are not trying hard enough.

4.   Flexibility

The Randstad research makes it clear that we will not return to the way we worked before March 2020. Flexibility is here to stay. Providing employees with both a choice of where they work and when they work has emerged as one of the biggest shifts in the labour market. Expectations of employees has changed since they have proven that remote work can work.

Regarding having a choice about where to work from, the following said they would not accept a job if it did not provide that flexibility.

18-24 years old           40%

25-34 years old           41%

35-44 years old           41%

45-54 years old           33%

55-67 years old           30%

These figures clearly show that flexible working locations is key to attracting and retaining talent. Even though the percentage varies through the age groups there is still a third of employees over the age of 45 that will not be work for you if you do not provide flexibility.

Regarding employees leaving due to a lack of flexibility the following said that they had quit a job due to lack of flexibility.

18-24 years old           36%

25-34 years old           34%

35-44 years old           29%

45-54 years old           22%

55-67 years old           16%

The average of all ages is 27%. Could you afford to lose nearly a third of your workforce?

In an article called “There’s No Going Back” I discussed the fact that leaders must make the office worth the commute. Employers who are dictating the number of days a week, employees must be in the office or which days they must be in the office are missing the whole point of flexibility and the hybrid working model. The ‘true’ hybrid working model offers both the flexibility to work where you want and when you want, and autonomy to make the decision about how to use that flexibility.

Actions

·       Empower leaders and teams to decide when the office is worth the commute

·       Do not dictate the days – delegate the decision

·       Monitor office space usage e.g., hot desks, collaboration spaces, social spaces, deep-thinking focus areas and adjust accordingly to meet demand

5.   Self-improvement

Another Randstad study found that reskilling the global workforce is a priority for employers everywhere. Three quarters said that training and development is an effective way to combat the skills gap but only 29% were investing in this area.

Employees are looking for opportunities to grow and develop and talent retention strategies should be addressing this.

Across all ages 88% would make use of additional skilling opportunities if their employer offered them and 84% said they would speak to a career coach if given the chance.

Investing in workforce learning and development is a prime opportunity for employers to nurture a more engaged and committed, whilst improving retention and achieving higher innovation and productivity.

This reminds me of the cartoon:

CFO asks CEO: “What happens if we invest in training our people and they leave us?”

CEO says: “What happens if we don’t, and they stay?”

Actions

 ·       Conduct a skills audit to determine what competencies you have now and what you will need in the future

·       Put in place learning and development strategies to close the gap

·       Survey employees to find out the sort of learning and development opportunities they are looking for e.g., developing in current role; developing soft skills; developing technical skills etc.

·       Provide career coaching access to all employees

Summary

This is not a time for procrastination. Talent is in the driving seat. They can literally work for any employer anywhere in the world. They have proven it is possible. The war on talent is global and employers who step up now to not only retain their talent but also attract it will be the survivors whilst they watch the demise of the rest.

Employees want to prioritise happiness and purpose in their lives. Listen to what the global workforce is telling you.