An Investors in People (IIP) survey of 2,000 employees found that more than half of UK’s workers are thinking about moving, or have actively started looking for a new job in 2020.
The survey also found that 76% reported feeling stressed at work, 64% said their sleep had been impacted and complained they were ‘always on duty’, and 54% said a friendly workplace was more important than the money.
The workplace is changing and employees are demanding more than just their pay packet from employers. Paul Devoy, CEO of IIP, said:
“Six years into our job exodus research, we’re still hearing that people want to be told ‘thank you’. It’s something so simple, so consistently important and potentially the best retention tool we’ve got.”
The employee workplace package is becoming an essential element of recruitment if businesses want to not only hire the best people, but retain them too. So, what do employees want from their workplace?
With so many employees feeling increasingly stressed at work, their health and mental wellbeing is a key responsibility for employers. Initiatives such as the Employee Assistance Programme incorporate a range of benefits, including dental care, free yoga sessions, gym schemes, and health assessments.
The wellness trend is developing in the workplace with more employers providing breakout areas to allow employees to take a break and recharge their batteries.
A growing trend for employees in the workplace, last year, the UK government launched the Flexible Working Task Force to help businesses understand why flexible working opportunities should be available to employees.
The CIPD believe that employers are potentially missing out on the benefits of flexible working due to attitudes that are outdated, if not archaic. Employees want to feel empowered and able to request flexible working patterns that fit in with other commitments, such as family.
Co-working hubs are popping up across major cities in the UK – London, Manchester and Liverpool. Places such as restaurants and shopping malls are partnering with co-working organisations, filling empty spaces that would otherwise be unused.
Deloitte recently said that “Learning is the top-rated challenge among 2019’s Global Human Capital Trends.” With the explosion of technology-related investment by businesses, there is an ever-increasing skills gap in the workplace.
Analytics is the new buzzword, the more businesses analyse data, the better they understand their staff and customers. But this means employees need new, improved knowledge. Learning and development, such as reskilling, is as important today as ever.
Research conducted by the MPA Group in early 2019 showed that certain professions were most likely to provide employees with better opportunities to learn new skills:
More employees are thinking about life after the workplace. A workplace pension is a key consideration and a must in any remuneration package. Businesses are using increased contributions towards an employee pension to not only attract talent, but also retain existing staff.
Not that many years ago, the bonus was seen as a perk for management and not every employee. Today, it has become such a highly attractive salary benefit that as many as 40% of UK businesses are increasing base-level salaries and performance-related bonuses in order to attract the best talent.
2020 is looking to be a changing year. Employees are expecting more from employers but it’s not always the pay packet that they’re looking at, they want a far more rounded, all-encompassing workplace package that looks after them holistically.