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A new report has revealed that employees put in more effort when provided with career progression and stability.
The insights come from the Gartner Global Labor Market Survey for the third quarter of 2022, and found that discretionary effort increased from 15 to 18 per cent in the July quarter. That was the largest increase since COVID-19 emerged, according to the report.
Employees know their worth amid talent shortages, with active job searchers reaching 19 per cent, up from 17 per cent the previous quarter. Perceptions of job availability hit 58 per cent, which has reportedly been climbing.
Gartner research and advisory vice president Aaron McEwan said that employees are aware of opportunities and the key to keeping them around is development and stability.
“Throughout the pandemic, everyone was treading water. Just like planes, careers were grounded. Now we’re coming out the other side, employees are keen to get their careers back on track,” he explained.
Gartner listed the top reasons for staff leaving a company, with manager quality first, followed by respect and work-life balance.
The top attractions for a company were location, work-life balance and respect. Work-life balance jumped two places as both an attraction and attrition factor in the third quarter.
Gartner noted that wages aren’t the way to retain talent. Compensation switches were 11.1 per cent at the beginning of the year. That figure sits at 6.8 per cent as of last quarter, indicating that less workers are switching jobs for pay increases.
Mr McEwan suggested companies not focus on pay for attracting staff as it can alienate the talent they already have.
“Rather than compensation, consider alternative options, such as hyper-personalisation of work. Be open with your team about pay transparency and focus on providing a human-centric approach,” said Mr McEwan.
Gartner said organisations can promote flexibility in order to retain and attract talent. Mr McEwan commented that making staff come back on site will cause them to look elsewhere for work.
“If they force staff back into the office, they’ll face a mass exodus of talent,” said Mr McEwan.
“Over the past three years, employees have become accustomed to flexibility and will not hesitate to search for an alternative role, especially while job confidence is high. Organisations that cannot be flexible show that they lack trust in their employees and, ultimately, are out of touch.”
HR Leader has discussed Gartner’s previous research in September, covering a study that found some people were regretting accepting new job offers.
The article said: “Forty-one per cent of respondents wouldn’t take their job offer if given the opportunity again, up from 17 per cent last year.”
This article originally appeared on HR Leader under the headline Gartner report highlights the importance of providing progression opportunities.
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