As we come to the end of 2022, it seems as though everyone wants a pay rise. With inflation running at 11.1% in October, pay awards ran at 5.7% in September. Given the scale of public sector discontent and strike action, it seems that wages will continue to rise. For some, there is little prospect of a substantial pay increase. Many private sector firms are reducing headcount and many pay rises are up to 3% with a ‘one time’ bonus to top it up. As a result, many are forecasting a bonanza of candidates looking for new jobs in January 2023. Read on as we forecast a brain drain as workers move to where the grass looks greener.
Brain drain
Typically associated with movement from country to country, it may be that it now applies from company to company or industry to industry. The Oxford Dictionary defines brain drain as a situation in which large numbers of educated and skilled people leave…to…where they can earn more money or conditions are better. This presents a challenge for businesses in decline or industries with low operating profit margins. When pay rises are scarce, unless the opportunity cost favours the current employer, staff start to look elsewhere.
We have written at length about poorly designed jobs, improving your EX and organisational culture. Rest-assured, we haven’t finished quite yet!
Greener pastures
Your top 10% of employees are the most susceptible to rose-tinted spectacles. Yes, having been the recipients of high-praise and recognition, they expect to maintain forwards and upwards progress. However, both of these can be stymied in this cauldron of economic turmoil.
Forward progress means learning and development (L&D) opportunities, exposure to new projects and pay rises. L&D is often one of the first things to get trimmed when the environment is challenging. New projects tend to arise due to investment, which is also curtailed. Those with the firepower to engage in M&A activity or wide-scale transformation involve their best people, which distracts them from their roles or overwhelms them. Finally, pay rises may not be on the cards, however good their performance. Bonuses may also receive a ‘haircut’ to fit the company purse. All told, this is a perfect recipe for your top talent to seek greener pastures.
Quiet firing
Although far from a new phenomenon, this terminology has received traction towards the end of 2022. Quiet quitting refers to reduced productivity and doing the bare minimum not to be sacked, led by the employees. Quiet firing refers to a work environment that encourages employees to move on, led by the employers. Whilst the former isn’t illegal per se, so long as the job to which you are employed is carried out to a reasonable standard, the latter certainly could be. Despite this, some workplaces are turning toxic as management look for creative ways to ‘motivate’ staff towards the emergency exit. Long hours, out of hours communication, unrealistic targets, skipping 1:1s, increased pressure and intense scrutiny are just a few of the signs.
If you have noticed a more aggressive tone from management, terse performance conversations and ultimatums, you may be in the process of being ‘quiet fired’. Unfortunately, if your manager has a brief to reduce headcount, anyone could be fair game outside of the top 10%. Your top 10% may seem perturbed by the situation, causing them to leave anyway.
What employees care about
Allowing for the fact that money is very definitely a concern for the lower-salaried employees in your firm, most value a range of things. As proven many times, remuneration is just one of the main needs of a human being. We also care about our manager, colleagues, office environment, staff policies, events, benefits, purpose and more. Given that only 1 in 5 employees believes that their employer understands what motivates them, there is huge scope to improve.
If you know what employees care about, your employee experience strategy is on a solid footing. If you don’t know what employee experience is, chances are that people are already eyeing the door. What we do know is that staff at firms who deliver a superior customer experience are 8x more likely to stay. We also know that they are significantly more engaged. Ever wondered why Google and Apple employees seem ‘drunk’ on the Kool-Aid? These staff want to work there and display a zeal that most employers would die for. They vehemently defend the brand and promote new innovations with real fervour.
Stop the brain drain
Here at Think Beyond, we make life easier for boards. We offer a range of answers, advisory, assurance and assist services to add value, find growth and accelerate performance. Our employee experience framework starts with measurement. We find out how your employees feel about working for you, their perceptions and the strength of both. We don’t lead with surveys, but we offer anonymised questionnaires when appropriate. Primarily, we leverage neuroscientific studies to generate superior experience insights. Once we have a baseline, we identify areas for improvement and innovations to make them better. Finally, we help you to deploy change programmes to develop and enhance your EX.
If you would like to speak to a consultant about our employee experience programme, simply call to book an appointment. Alternatively, pop in a few details online or simply email the team.
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