Winning the employee experience

What do our workers want in 2023?

Recruitment and retention: the two ‘R’s keeping every organisation (and human resources professional) awake at night. The employment landscape has changed rapidly and significantly over the past few years and businesses are adapting to employees who have different perceptions, expectations and beliefs around work. The key to adapting is . . . the employee experience.

Thankfully, resources are available to help unlock the secrets of what employees in 2023 seek. After studying 30,000 employees worldwide, Qualtrics released a report identifying key trends in the employee experience. Beginning with a global snapshot, it later outlines region specific distinctions (including for the Asia-Pacific). It’s worthy of a full read but here are the highlights.

Trend 1: Instilling confidence

• Your people need to feel secure in the organisation and in their roles.
• When things are tough, financial stability and job security become a much higher priority.
• Pay and benefits are one of the top drivers of an employee’s intent to stay.

Trend 2: Reclaiming boundaries

• People have spent the past few years going above and beyond to keep themselves and businesses afloat. This is no longer sustainable.
• People are reshaping their relationship with work and setting boundaries.
• Where the business is lagging behind in flexible work arrangements, people are taking control and doing it for themselves (usually by leaving the company).
• Employees with better work–life balance are more likely to voluntarily contribute to their organisation.
• Perceived work–life balance is significantly more positive among C-suite leaders than individual employees.

Trend 3: Avoiding burnout

• Almost four in 10 employees are showing signs of burnout. That figure is almost one in two among C-suite leaders.
• Employees are consistently asked to do more with less. This is no longer sustainable.
• The past few years have scrambled the way businesses operate, leaving ineffective and inefficient processes and little time to resolve these.

Trend 4: Aligning values

• Company values, and the extent to which a person perceives they are being demonstrated, is the top driver of intent to stay.
• Employees seek organisational values that align with their own values.
• Opportunity for growth and development is vital. People want to know they can progress through their career and achieve their potential.
• C-suite leaders rate the knowledge and demonstration of company values significantly higher than individual employees.

The snapshot for the Asia-Pacific mirrored the global snapshot but with two additional points of interest.

1. There is a struggle to create a positive and lasting experience for new employees. We need to work on our onboarding.
2. The gap in the employee experience of senior leaders and other employees is widening, with those at the top reporting a much more positive experience.

Much of the report comes down to simply being good humans, having reasonable expectations, listening to feedback and then acting on it.