Here is your June guide to the latest trends impacting the world of work. Every month, we provide perspective on the biggest news affecting the industry and explain what to expect as new trends continue to emerge.
GALLUP SURVEY REVEALS LOW ‘PULSE’ FOR EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND WELLBEING
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2022 report highlights how 68,000 employees across 140+ countries felt about work and life in 2021. The report states that “the pulse of the global workplace is driven by wellbeing and engagement and that pulse is dangerously low.”
Pre-pandemic, wellbeing and engagement had been rising globally for over a decade, but now they remain flat. Employee stress reached a record high for the second year running, and while these employees might not have been stressed about work, they were stressed at work. And for the second year in a row, women consistently reported higher levels of stress than men around the world.
The job market made a better recovery in the US and Canada than most other regions, with 71% of these workers saying it was a good time to find a job (the highest of any region by far). The report also found those in the US and Canada were most likely to be living comfortably, be the most engaged employees, have access to the best job opportunities and were second overall when it came to wellbeing.
Is the role of the employer changing?
“Organizations need to think about the whole person, not just the worker,” says Gallup. Employee wellbeing needs to be a top priority for business leaders, and talent acquisition teams need to ensure they clearly convey how they are meeting the wellbeing needs of employees at primary candidate touchpoints, such as the careers site, social media, CRM communications and advertising channels, to name a few.
“Organizations who take responsibility for the wellbeing of their employees are more likely to attract top talent, retain workers, see high productivity and performance and improve the lives of the individuals, families and communities they serve.”
State of the Global Workplace 2022 Report, Gallup [Video]
Examples of how you can highlight wellbeing on your careers site
Here are a few examples of employers who have communicated their wellbeing support for employees in different ways:
- BDO UK highlights their five ways of wellbeing and achieving Gold Excellence in Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Index
- The Adecco Group and Banfield Pet Hospital have dedicated wellbeing pages
- Unilever features wellbeing prominently on their careers site, as well as on their corporate site
- Barclays’ Health and Wellbeing team provides advice and guidance on reducing and responding to stress on their career site blog
- USAA features employee wellbeing blog posts
- Google has created a dedicated microsite just to showcase employee benefits, featuring stories from employees on health and wellness, financial wellbeing, flexibility and time off, and much more
PWC RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS EMPLOYEES’ ‘HOPES AND FEARS’ ABOUT WORK TODAY
In March 2022, PwC surveyed 52,195 individuals who are in work or active in the labor market in 44 countries and territories, across a range of industries, demographics and working patterns.
The key theme that emerged from the survey is the increasing power that the workforce is gaining, driven by a multitude of factors. The report states: “many companies risk taking employees for granted — whether it’s by not paying close enough attention to skilled workers who are at elevated risk of quitting, by failing to support workers who seek personal fulfilment and meaning at work, or by missing opportunities to build the trust that so often leads to positive outcomes at the personal, professional and even societal levels.”
Employees who have specialized training or scarce skills feel the most empowered and are far more likely to ask for a raise or promotion in the next 12 months. However, they are also significantly more likely to recommend their employer as a place to work.
As well as proactively discussing career progression opportunities on career sites, employers should capitalize on this increased likelihood of employee advocacy through a solid employee referral program (ERP).
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Other notable highlights from the survey include:
- More than a third of workers plan to ask for a raise and one in five said they are extremely or very likely to switch employers in the next 12 months
- Pay, fulfilment and being yourself at work were ranked as the most important factors for job seekers
- Political and societal conversations are an everyday feature of the workplace and should not be ignored by the employer
- Workers are looking to develop their skills
- Hybrid working is set to continue – of those whose job can be done remotely, 63% prefer a hybrid model
Read the summary from PwC’s survey or download the full report
DELOITTE SURVEY FINDS GEN Z AND MILLENNIALS ARE STRIVING FOR BALANCE AND CHANGE
Now in its 11th year, Deloitte’s Gen Z and Millennial Survey (2022) offers insights into what motivates these cohorts, but also what employers can do to attract and retain them. The survey, of 14,808 ‘Gen Zers’ and 8,412 ‘Millennials,’ found that they are ‘striving for balance and advocating for change.’
The highlights from the research identified that Gen Zers and Millennials are:
- Deeply worried about the state of the world
- Struggling with financial anxiety
- Trying to invest in environmentally sustainable choices
- Feeling burned out, but many are taking on second jobs
- Pushing for more meaningful – and more flexible – work
- Are not always comfortable talking about workplace mental health or taking advantage of available resources, despite having inspired organizations to address the issue
Gen Z have been proponents of change in recent years and now form key strategies that employers need to deploy to attract and retain talent. These key requirements and desires should therefore feature prominently on employers’ career sites, be conveyed through EVP messaging and underpin the content strategy. Specifically called out in the research are the following (along with some tips from Radancy):
- Higher compensation. Tip: Employers should be as transparent as possible regarding pay, ideally publishing salary ranges on job advertisements, sharing pay equity goals and results and considering how to communicate the ‘total compensation’ offer (more than just pay), including any global, localized and team-specific benefits at the level of the job on your career site.
- More flexibility and better work/life balance. Tip: Be clear about your hybrid working arrangements, but don’t just focus on the ‘where.’ Also highlight your flexible options when it comes to when people can work, what projects they can work on, how they can work and even whom they might get to work with.
- Increased learning and development opportunities. Tip: As well as communicating your organization-wide learning and development commitment to employees, try and make the content as relevant as possible to the candidate journey on your career site. Show career paths at the level of the job, even if they’re not linear (which many aren’t) and have employees tell their career journey to date (even consider including their jobs at previous employers – it will help potential candidates resonate).
- Better mental health and wellness support. Tip: Highlighting your commitment to mental health and wellbeing support is a good start, but if you can communicate this through the voice of your employees (ideally through video or audio), it will be more authentic.
- A greater commitment from businesses to make a more positive societal impact. Tip: ESG content likely lives on the corporate site or a dedicated ESG website, so be sure to audit this and bring highlights into the career site to make it easily accessible. Consider sharing relevant employee stories that have an ESG lens.
Read the Deloitte Global 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey Exec Summary, view the summary infographic or download the full report.
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