Companies should encourage 'people-centric, agile and resilient organizational culture'
Employers do not seem to be taking seriously enough the likelihood that their workers might leave.
Nearly six in 10 (57%) Canadian employers believe that slowing economic growth is reducing employees' likelihood to quit, but less than half (47%) of employees agree, reports EY.
And while the number of employees who say they are willing to leave their jobs in the next 12 months has dropped from 43% in 2022, it still stands at 34%.
There is a big disconnect between employers and employees in a number of areas:
|
Perceptions |
% of employers who agree |
% of employees who agree |
|
Employees feel connected to their teams |
82% |
68% |
|
Employee workload is balanced |
82% |
61% |
|
Organizations is effective at managing change |
81% |
61% |
|
Employees feel trusted and empowered by their leaders |
81% |
64% |
|
Organization has gone through large-scale change and successfully invested in people |
80% |
57% |
|
Organization is equipped to adapt to change and build skills for evolving needs |
80% |
58% |
|
Employees have the ability to innovate and/or have time for unplanned collaboration |
78% |
59% |
|
Leadership is in tune with the experience of the workforce |
76% |
54% |
|
Leadership cares about employees as people |
76% |
54% |
Half (50%) of job candidates have backed out of the job offer before their first day, according to a previous report.
And on average, companies have 44 days to influence a new hire's long-term retention, with 70% of new employees deciding whether a job is the right fit within the first month, according to a recent report from BambooHR.
“Years of disruption have prompted an end to the status quo of work, pushing employers and employees into distinctly different worlds of priorities, pressures, and prospects rooted in cyclical and structural concerns,” says EY. “To successfully bridge the perception gap, leaders should consider this a moment for a Great Rebalance that results in organizations benefiting from the latest tools and technology while encouraging a people-centric, agile, and resilient organizational culture.”
Total rewards program
Most employees (80%) and employers (79%) agree there is a need for moderate to extensive changes to total rewards programs. But the goal of any changes should align to internal and external needs, says EY.
“Total rewards, for example, includes consideration of time off, recognition, well-being, health and retirement. Through both market benchmarking and internal surveys, organizations can work toward creating offerings that attract and retain talent by enhancing the employee value proposition (EVP),” it says.
“By reshaping total rewards programs around the larger goal of the EVP, these programs can influence sentiments around change and transformation, new ways of working, and leadership strategies.”
Employer-employee balance of power
Retention needs to be a priority for employers, according to one expert.
This is true, especially as employers seem to be losing their hold on the balance of power against workers.
Nearly half (45%) of employers believe they hold the balance of power in 2023, compared to 31% of employees who say the same about themselves, according to the EY report.
And while those figures marked an improvement on the side of employers from last year (the numbers were 44% for employers and 36% for employees), they have dropped from 54% of employers who had this claim pre-pandemic. By then, only 23% employers believed they hold the power.