Flexestaff News & Events

Employers miss the message

By Judith VandeWater
Published November 4, 2004
St Louis Post—Dispatch

What do employees want? Many bosses don't have a clue, a new study indicates.

Nearly 70 percent of workers say compensation is very important, while employers overwhelmingly say management climate and supervisory relationship is key, according to polls by Harris Interactive for staffing and recruiting firm Spherion Corp.

Spherion concluded that fewer than one in five employers is well positioned to attract and retain top employees, despite the fact that companies will face talent shortages as millions of Baby Boomers reach retirement age.

"We still have employers thinking they're going to manage their employees' careers and determine what's most important for their professional lives, whereas most employees don't think that way anymore," said Richard Lamond, chief human relations officer at Spherion. "There are significant differences in the viewpoints of the worker and the employer about what motivates and drives retention."

Spherion's survey was based on monthly interviews in 2005 with between 2,500 and 3,100 working adults, plus a separate poll in spring of 502 senior human resources executives representing employers.

The biggest disconnect centers on the importance employees place on controlling their time and balancing work with their personal lives, the survey indicates.

Nearly two-thirds of employees say "time and flexibility" is very important, compared with 35 percent of U.S. employers and 39 percent in the Chicago area.

Locally, Spherion interviewed 49 members of the Executives' Club of Chicago who are senior HR executives.

"Many of our members are taking steps to ensure they are adjusted to the same sweeping changes in the workplace as the rest of the nation," Executives' Club chief executive Kaarina Koskenalusta said in an e-mail. "Creating new jobs and attracting diverse talent to the Chicago area is a top priority for Chicago employers.

"A key component to achieving those goals is to create a flexible work environment that is attractive to today's employees and that succeeds in understanding the mind-set of the emerging workforce and in retaining mature employees," she said.

Younger workers are more vocal about wanting better balance, but the desire for more flexibility crosses generations, according to Spherion and research by organizations such as AARP.

"There's an assumption that all of a sudden this massive quantity of highly trained Baby Boomers are going to walk out and head to the beach," Lamond said. "They're just as interested in flexibility as the young workers.

"They're going to go and say, `I'd like to something for two or three days a week or five months of the year,'" he added. "Here's a large wealth of talent [whose attitudes] need to be recognized."

Spherion's poll of employees, conducted annually for nearly 10 years, indicated workers' priorities are shifting.

The percentage of workers rating financial compensation and benefits as "very important" has increased dramatically, Lamond said.

"Most HR professionals would tell you, compensation and benefits are important but they've never been at the top of the list" of what keeps employees from leaving, he said. "It's always been career opportunities and relationship with your immediate supervisor."

Now, after years of downsizing and layoffs, workers think of themselves as free agents, he added. The job market is opening up after years of slack hiring and marginal wage growth.

"Employees, in effect, have seen shrinking paychecks," he said. "With their increasing confidence in their ability to land a good job, they want to be paid accordingly."

Many companies aren't in tune with what employees want, a study suggests. Percentage who said these retention factors are "very important":

What keeps employees from leaving?

	Employees	U.S. employers*	Chicago employers**
Financial compensation Benefits Growth and earnings potential Time and flexibility Management climate, including open-door policies, regular communication Supervisor relationship Culture and work environment Training and development	69% 68 64 60 60 57 54 49	49% 61 38 35 80 80 65 54	57% 61 63 39 78 83 67 33

What programs do employers offer?

	U.S./Chicago
Retention bonuses for top performers Training and development Individual career paths or profiles Widely embraced culture Work/life balance options Coaching and development	53%/70% 90/93 34/48 64/89 52/76 70/67

Source: Spherion Corp. based on online and telephone polls by Harris Interactive.
*Online and telephone interviews with 502 senior human resource professionals;
**Interviews with 46 members of the Executives' Club of Chicago

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