Report finds flexibility valued by the workforce
A BERKSHIRE institution has released a new report has revealed new attitudes towards work for employees.
Henley Business School has announced the findings of its latest research into the workforce, examining what drives retention of staff and what motivates employees.
The new report, dubbed The Omniployment Era, comes from the school’s World of Work Institute surveyed 3,000 full-time employees in the private sector in the UK from a range of companies.
It showed that three in 10 full-time employees are currently seeking new employment, and 46% of employees had moved jobs in the past year.
It also broke down what different employees’ “tipping points” were, with nearly 40% of workers identified as work-life balance advocates.
This means they value the ability to balance work commitments with their home life commitments and relished flexibility.
Around 15% were driven by social conciousness, valuing a company’s record and stance on social issues and workplace diversity.
Around 14% were focused on salary and location only, valuing high pay and the ability to work from home.
A further 13% were considered salary-driven weekend-workers, valuing high pay and being relatively unconcerned with working weekend hours.
This subsection is dominated by men, with 69% of this group identifying as male.
Employee advocates made up 10% of the total, valuing employee benefits and good treatment of employees.
The last 10% were highly sensitive to review from current or former employees, also highly valuing employee benefits.
As a result of the findings, Henley Business School has laid out three key recommendations for companies looking to retain employees.
This includes embracing a workplace culture which embraces packages and perks tailored to the individual worker.
This means allowing employees to opt into benefits which suit them and normalising benefits which look different from employee to employee.
Secondly, it recommends more flexibility and avoid the temptation to work towards returning to prepandemic ways of working.
Lastly, it recommends transparency in communications and practises, as well as honesty about future plans and difficulties faced by companies.
Dr Rita Fontinha, director of flexible work at Henley Business School, says: “Omniployment might be a new term but the idea is not – heterogeneity in the labour market existed far beyond the pandemic.
“However, our data-driven focus offers a fresh perspective, allowing us to characterise the shift, post-covid, by quantifying it to detail what’s happening now between different and diverse groups in the workforce.
“It is crucial that business leaders wake up to the Omniployment Era and take steps to change the one size fits all approach of the past – if they don’t, it’s clear that employees in sectors with a high demand for talent feel empowered to look elsewhere.”