Dive Brief:
- Employees say they’re tired of systems and processes that don’t work for them — what Isolved referred to as “Death by a Thousand Pings,” according to a report released Wednesday by the company. Just over 60% of employees surveyed reported payroll or pay issues, and 65% said they had scheduling problems.
- Per the Voice of the Workforce report, 47% of workers said they lost at least five hours per week to inefficient systems or processes, with 21% saying they lost more than 10 hours. In addition, workers are leaving jobs due to “stagnation fatigue,” meaning that they feel stuck in a role.
- While 74% of employees surveyed said they were happy with their salary, 58% of workers who applied for a new job in the last year said they were looking for a higher salary, and 51% said they were looking for more growth opportunities. This sentiment is particularly prevalent among younger generations, per the report.
Dive Insight:
The study was based on a survey of more than 1,300 full-time U.S. employees of Isolved customers, and found that while workers reported overall high levels of satisfaction, most were still looking for new opportunities.
“On paper, things look stable,” Heidi Barnett, president of Isolved talent acquisition, said in a statement. “Employees are reporting high satisfaction, and most aren’t rushing to leave but that doesn’t mean they’re happily staying. Some employers read that as loyalty, but it’s not. People are just being more selective about what they do next.”
It’s important that companies don’t mistake satisfaction for loyalty, the report said, adding that this is a critical time for organizations to consider employee experiences and work on strengthening trust and building lasting loyalty.
Amy Mosher, chief people officer of Isolved, said that while employees want bigger paychecks, the report shows how close other factors come to rivaling pay. Notably, frustrations with seemingly small problems at work only serve to increase employee dissatisfaction.
“[M]uch of the talent crisis organizations face is self-inflicted,” Mosher said. “HR leaders are working around the clock to improve their workers’ lives, but may underestimate how much retention is shaped by the consistency and reliability of everyday interactions. In a labor market that may become more complex as the year unfolds, those everyday experiences will matter even more.”
In order to improve workers’ experiences, companies should focus on clarity, the report said. Only 25% of employees said their employer communicated clearly, and 27% said unclear communication made them want to leave. In addition, 40% said it created a negative employee experience and 34% said it put them in a bad mood at work.
Meanwhile, a recent report from Economist Enterprise said that in the U.S., a decade-low quit rate of 2% was not necessarily because workers love their jobs, but rather due to fear of losing job security.
