With hiring becoming more difficult, companies need to think more about the benefits they can offer potential employees. It’s not just about pay anymore: new expectations centered around work flexibility and employee experience mean companies will have to think harder than ever before to find the staff they need.
Offices are also less likely to have the same magnetic appeal they once did, particularly if employees are fully capable of doing the work they’re paid to do from home. A lunchtime game of table tennis and a free beer on Friday may have brought some fun to an otherwise boring day, but are the employees willing to get up earlier and put up with the peak hours for this? Probably not.
According to a survey of 576 employees by workplace management platform Robin, these kinds of superficial perks still have their appeal in the new hybrid workplace, but they no longer have the same value to workers as they do. ‘previously. Instead, employees expect companies to support both their chosen work style and their physical and mental well-being – whether it’s more free time, benefits related to health and well-being, or financial allowances for things like broadband and telecommuting equipment.
Telework, a very rooted practice
Snacks and social gatherings are also excluded. Prior to 2019, according to Robin, these benefits were among the top three most common workplace perks, along with telecommuting days. In 2022, working from home seems less like a privilege than a convenient way to break free from workplace distractions, save money, and avoid getting sick.
Given the very clear and concerted shift in employee expectations of work, how are companies responding? Unfortunately, many are ostrich. Not only are some companies spending inordinate amounts on new office space in an attempt to lure employees into their office, but many are resisting doing the things they know would help them stay competitive in a disrupted workforce. work.
Skilled workers leave their jobs for better offers. Employers know this. They also know that the number of vacancies in the technology sector far exceeds the number of available candidates. And they know that employees want more flexibility in the way they work and that their bosses care about their well-being. So why does it feel like so many companies are just waiting for employees to change their minds and decide that after all, they want to work from a desk eight hours a day, five days a week?
Robin’s survey finds that 65% of employees say their employer hasn’t created any new benefits since the pandemic began. At the same time, 23% of respondents add that their company’s benefits have been removed.
Employers are more attached to offices than employees
What do employers think of all this? According to Future Forum’s Pulse survey, conducted by Slack last year, 75% of business leaders want to work from a desk three to five days a week, compared to just 34% of employees. Additionally, 66% of leaders are designing post-pandemic workforce plans with little or no direct input from employees.
The results obtained by NTT Data and the Oxford Economics research group in November show quite similar results. In a survey of more than 1,000 IT and business leaders, only 16% said employee retention and engagement was a priority for them. Additionally, only 21% of executives felt that flexible working options would contribute to employee satisfaction. This lag is disconcerting considering that companies are acutely aware of the challenges they will face in recruiting skilled workers in 2022 and beyond unless action is taken.
Change is difficult. We all know that. Trying to strategize and implement a complete organizational overhaul is not an easy task. The repercussions of the pandemic are still being felt, and the most cautious organizations are probably waiting for them to calm down before making big decisions. The problem is that time is not on their side. Employee attitudes have already changed. The workforce is already on the move. Recruiters knock on the door of developers and offer them just about anything in exchange for a few lines of code.
Companies that are slow to prioritize the needs of employees risk falling behind, and they probably already are. Rethinking benefits and the overall employee experience will require more creative thinking than installing a ping pong table. But the potential benefits for businesses and their employees are far too great to ignore.
Source: ZDNet.com