American employees strive to shape work environment

Acquiring and retaining talent continues to be a top priority for companies while significant employee turnover continues. What keeps employees at their organization? This year, 38% named benefits and 35% chose base pay as the reason. Our prior year’s survey also had 35% of respondents citing base pay, but the predominance of benefits has risen to the top. Job security and location also rose significantly as a priority compared to previous surveys. Clearly, employee expectations have shifted toward wanting to feel secure at a company rather than use it as a springboard for advancement.

When employees cite reasons to leave an employer, what is striking about this year’s data, compared to last year’s, is the rise in employees not feeling valued, which jumped significantly. Concerns about base pay and advancement opportunities, while still high, were cited less frequently compared to last year’s survey. So, a similar dynamic is playing out—employees expect more from a company than pay and opportunity, and they will leave if they feel their company does not value or appreciate them as “humans.”

One factor that may be critical to forging a sense of “loss of value” for employees is the effect of job shortages. Taking on additional workload from either disengaged workers or vacant roles, people shortages is named by respondents as the top work stressor. “Shortages have resulted in employees doing multiple jobs, working longer hours, and not feeling valued for the extra effort,” said Kim Jacoby, Director of People & Organization at Grant Thornton. Staff shortages and general overwork may be the result of a combination of low unemployment, recent layoffs and the lingering effects of the Great Resignation. Companies that are having difficulty filling openings may be caught in a loop where their existing employees are increasingly disincentivized by the position losses, making them consider other jobs and then leaving more vacancies to fill.

And why not find another job if you can? Our survey found that those who took a new position in another company were generally rewarded for their efforts, with 78% of these employees receiving a significant pay boost. Some attrition is expected; so, while some leave for more money, incumbents who are critical to the organization’s success and who are taking on increased workloads should be reviewed to ensure their compensation and opportunity is aligned with their efforts.

Four years ago, asking employees how many days they prefer to work in-office would be pointless as there was little expectation that choice would be possible—and for many industries, it still isn’t. Still, the “creation” of hybrid work arrangements has arguably been the most important change in the work environment since the commonplace use of computers. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic period, many employees found that their ability to work from home was their preferred work location, even after returning to the office no longer presented a health threat.

Last year, a quarter of respondents said they didn’t want to work in the office at all if given a choice. The rest were split between working only one to two days a week and others wanting more or less a full return to on-site working. Not surprisingly, this year’s figures see a trend toward more office work. Those wanting to work completely at home fell to 16%, with those wanting to work one to two days a week representing only another 15%. More than half prefer to work four to five days a week, up from 33% last year.

When asked about the attraction of in-office work, employees were pretty clear that face-to-face peer interaction, company events, and professional development were most important. The desire to come into the office to work was directly tied to its benefit of fostering working relationships and improving job performance. Employees are starting to see the benefit of coming in, even for their own emotional well-being, to be better connected to their colleagues and leaders.

Belden said the workforce is still in transition—they want flexibility to work when and where they want, but also are being attracted to the modernized opportunities organizations are creating in the office space. Research has shown this attitude is particularly true of younger workers, who value face-to-face business contacts and professional development opportunities. Our survey results indicate that nearly two-thirds of Generation Z employees prefer to work in the office four to five days a week.

However, as much as there is an increase in desire to return to in-office work, our survey indicates the desired number of days in the office still lags behind the amount of in-office time leaders want them there. A significant majority of employees said they want flexibility in where and when they conduct their work. When asked to pinpoint where that flexibility should happen, they were also clear. Employees want flexible start and stop times, fewer days with longer hours and to be able to choose when and where to work. Workers are more willing to come in, but on their terms.

Part of that resistance may be related to an employees’ distance between their homes and their place of work. Belden said that during the pandemic, one of the advantages of remote work was that living near an office wasn’t nearly as important and hiring people who lived two to three hours away was common. In fact, this situation opened up talent sourcing channels during challenging hiring cycles. In an environment where the pressure to return to work is both individual- and management-driven, many companies have to rethink their recruiting strategy. This is particularly true given how high employees now rate “location of office” as a reason to stay with their company.

Most organizations focus on diversity, equity and inclusion from the vantage point of actions and efforts they are taking to support it. Fostering a sense of belonging requires organizations to consider how the employee feels and how they receive and experience the culture. Do they feel heard, listened to and connected to the people, the mission and the values? Do they feel supported if they make a mistake, and are they celebrated for their successes? As more individuals with unique abilities and preferences find their voice, organizations need to seize the opportunity to promote, foster and maintain a sense of true belonging among their employees.