What issues are impacting employee satisfaction?

'The war for talent is only going to increase, compounded by low unemployment and a growing shortage of critical skills'

BY John Hilton 30 Jul 2019

The expectations placed upon the modern worker are “higher than ever”, and when you couple that with issues like financial stress, the risk of top talent leaving the organisation becomes significantly greater, according to Nathan Reynolds, managing director, Ceridian Australia.

“The war for talent is only going to increase in the years ahead, compounded by low unemployment and a growing shortage of critical skills,” added Reynolds.

His comments following new research which shows that amidst a slowing economy and record levels of household debt, money matters are taking a toll on Australia’s workforce.

More than half of Australian workers (54%) are unsatisfied with their level of pay, while the majority are challenged by financial matters that impact life at work and outside of work, according to The Australia Pay Experience Report, released recently by Ceridian and conducted by Hanover Research.

The report also revealed:

Overall job satisfaction: 38% of Australian workers are unsatisfied with their current job. Issues with salary or pay (41%), job security (37%), and uninteresting work (33%) were identified as the main drivers for workplace dissatisfaction.
Prevalence of stress: 82% of Australian workers are stressed to some capacity about money issues on a regular basis, while another one-in-three (34%) are living pay cheque to pay cheque.
Pay transparency: Only 41% of workers are completely satisfied when it comes to transparency of information about their pay, including industry averages and co-workers’ pay.

Additionally, the report found that nearly half of Australian workers (44%) are actively looking for a new job, with another 29% saying that while they’re not actively looking, they are open to new opportunities.

“Organisations need to focus on creating a sense of purpose and meaning in the workplace, and compensate their people competitively, if they want to hold onto their top people moving forward.”

Reynolds added that Ceridian offers a Compensation Management solution within its flagship platform Dayforce that brings conscious and unconscious biases to the forefront so they can be addressed.

This includes a gender pay equity graph which compares salaries by role and other influencing factors.

According to the latest data from Australian Bureau of Statistics, household wealth fell $257.6 billion in the fourth quarter – the largest decrease since 2011 – while the household-debt-to-income ratio reached a new high of 199%.

Moreover, the Pay Experience Report showed that employers may have opportunities to do more to support their people, with one third of employees (36%) believing their employers do not care about their financial wellbeing.

“Employee-centric programs that prioritise financial wellness not only relieve some of the pressure your employees may be under on a daily basis, but can also help to attract, and more importantly retain, top talent in today’s competitive job market,” said Reynolds.

To learn more about the Pay Experience Report, visit www.ceridian.com/au/resources/2019-pay-experience-report.