Over 4 million Americans have quit every month for the last 11 months (as of June 2022) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And a recent study by Flexjobs found of 2,202 employees surveyed, the top five reasons employees are thinking of quitting are:
- Toxic company culture (62%)
- Low salary (59%)
- Poor Management (56%)
- Lack of healthy work-life boundaries (49%)
- Not allowing remote work (43%)
Another study of 1,000 employees by ConsumerAffairs reveals the top reasons employees have quit. They are:
- Seeking higher pay (47%)
- Seeking better benefits (42%)
- Insufficient raises (41%)
- Needs not met by pay (40%)
- Pay inequality (39%)
While organizations and employees work out higher compensation, many of them also want more flexibility, community, and an inclusive culture to stay on board. They’re seeking better benefits and hybrid work environments. At a recent GDS HR summit three executives from Sedgwick, University of Southern California, and Amazon shared how they are driving change and enhancing employee experience and performance through rapidly changing workplaces. Here are some key takeaways:
Hybrid is Here to Stay
A recent Gallop poll directly asked workers if they would look for a new job if their employer stopped offering remote-work options going forward. An astounding 54% of employees currently working exclusively from home said they would likely look for another job; 38% of hybrid workers said the same. For HR leaders virtual/in-person managers are key to success in a hybrid working model. Adjunct professor and workplace author of working virtually at the University of Southern California Trina Hoefling told our audience, “What I have found is the desire to work virtually, employees now recognize that it can be done, the connection, that sense of belonging has been lost a little bit, but it can be replaced. Mangers and virtual team leaders need to help their people connect on purpose, formally, which we’ve gotten pretty good at to get the job done and informally to leverage that social capital, which is key to unleash creativity, to unleash collaboration and help people get over that emotional hurdle of being able to feel a part of something bigger than them, even though we’re sitting at home or office.”
The 2020-2021 Hybrid-Work Experiment
The last two years have certainly been a disruptive point in the future of work. Every organization has been forced to look at flexibility and create environments for productivity and innovation. We were all forced into this work from home experiment and as the VP of Talent at Amazon, Michael Arena told the audience, that they’re still learning. “It’s the bridge connections that I worry most about, we saw a 30% drop off in the first 4 months of working in this virtual environment, team connected to team, the reason that’s a problem is because that’s where ingenuity, serendipity, and innovation comes from, that’s where passive learning from a cultural perspective comes and I think what we are losing is some of those exchanges across teams and across organizations. The next part in this overhaul is asking how we continue to learn; how do we continue help maintain a positive culture and then how do we innovate on an ongoing basis?”
A Tailored Hybrid Work Model
For Michelle Hay, Global Chief People Officer at Sedgwick they are looking at the future of work role by role. What does the role entail and how they map it to the three personas, in the office full time, hybrid or agile, or full time remote?
It all comes down to personalizing the employee experience. “I believe the employee experience has forever changed and to look at it from the employee’s perspective, convenience, functionality and well-being and balance that with what does the organization need? If we get the experience right, then that will drive engagement which drives productivity and positive outcomes.”
Building on Employee Satisfaction
Chief People Officers have a lot on their plate right now, building on employee satisfaction. That’s why it’s crucial to better understand the data and sharing that data with your employees to make better decisions. As Trina Hoefling said it comes to a shift in mindset. “There is a shift in our intention around trust, because trust is the operating system of virtual work and we should start with our trust cup full instead of earning that social capital over time, it’s that shift in intention and mindset that’s going to make a big difference for working virtually and our behaviors as an individual help keep that trust cup full or empty it and that little shift makes a big difference in developing social capital in a remote environment.”
Want to learn more about the future of work and find out how your peers are solving these challenges? You can get involved in the conversation.
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