New report reveals disconnect between employers, workers on what's fuelling retention
A significant gap exists between what employers and employees perceive as the key factors driving workplace retention, according to a new report.
Nearly three in four respondents (72%) ranked remuneration and benefits as the most important driver for retention, revealed The Employee Insights Report 2024.
But the report, commissioned by Origin 360 EV, also said that this factor is at the top of mind of only 53% of employers.
Source: The Employee Insights Report 2024
Chau Le, general manager of Origin 360 EV eMobility, said it's not surprising that employees would rank remuneration and benefits highly given the current challenges with the cost of living.
"This is actually only ranking fifth in terms of employers' focus on their retention strategy," Le told HRD. "From the employers' perspective, this is probably due to budget constraints and financial constraints."
What employers actually focus on are non-financial incentives, such as work-life balance (87%) and career development (87%), according to the report.
Structuring, communicating benefits
Le said employers could use the findings to better structure their benefit package to boost retention and offer options to “help employees stretch their existing salary a little bit further," the general manager said.
"Helping them save on tax, helping them save on their cost of living, helping them maximise superannuation — those things that help employees maximise their salary without it costing the employer more is an opportunity for organisations to consider."
It is also important that employers understand the importance of communicating the benefits that they are offering, according to Le.
"HR professionals spend quite a lot of time putting together the benefits package, but if it's just buried in the company's intranet that employees don't know about, then there could be a perception that the employers actually don't offer any benefits," Le said.
The report further discovered that employees who do not understand or know the benefits available to them tend to be "dissatisfied with offered benefits."
"So, communication is very important and some of the ways that we've seen organisations do this very well is holding employee benefits day, employee benefits expo, where they communicate all of the benefits that are available in their monthly newsletter," Le said.
"They highlight what benefits are available and what special offers are on for that month. It really helps employees engage with the package that is offered."
Aligning values, sustainability
Other employment drivers include values and sustainability, found Origin 360 EV eMobility.
Nearly three in four employees (73%) believe it is important that the values of their organisation are aligned with their own. In fact, 71% of the respondents said their organisations' values impact their decision when selecting a new workplace or choosing to remain in their current one.
When it comes to sustainability, more than half of the respondents said it's important that their organisation is actively addressing their emissions (57%) and it offers employees ways to reduce their carbon footprint (51%).
Another 44% even said their organisation's environmental impact and sustainability strategy are considerations when choosing a new job.
"That's important to really communicate, stress the importance of social values in the company's retention policy," Le said.
The Employee Insights Report 2024, compiled by Deloitte, surveyed 1,503 Australian employees and interviewed 15 HR representatives.
