Employers across the country may find themselves fighting to retain top talent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One in four employees plan on looking for a new job once the threat of the pandemic subsides, according to Prudential’s new Pulse of the American Worker Survey, conducted by Morning Consult in March of 2021. We dive into the survey to find out why — and explore what employers can do to keep their current employees and attract new hires.
Provide long-term flexibility.
In March of 2020, companies across the country asked employees to work remotely. More than a year later, many of those employees don’t want to let go of their newfound flexibility.
Eighty-seven percent of employees who have been working remotely during the pandemic want to continue doing so for at least one day a week — and one in three don’t want to work for an employer that requires them to be in the office full-time. Yet employees don’t want to give up the office completely; 68% say that having the ability to both work remotely and in-person would be ideal.
Employers may want to consider a hybrid model, in which employees split their time between the office and home, for their back-to-office plan. This system gives employees more control over their workweek while also ensuring that teams spend enough time together in-person to enjoy the collaborative and creative benefits associated with sharing a space. At the same time, it allows employers to reduce their real estate costs, since they only need to accommodate a fraction of their workforce on any given day.
Support better work-life balance.
One in five workers made a career change during the past year — and one of the top motivations for making a switch was a desire for better work-life balance. This finding from Prudential is echoed by the 2020 Women in the Workplace report published by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.org, in which nearly half of employees reported feeling consistently stressed at work for months at a time and about a third being exhausted or burned out.
Companies looking to help their employees establish better work-life balance can start by more actively managing workloads, especially for employees who are working wholly or partly remotely. If employees have too much on their plate, determine which tasks can be delegated, downsized, or accomplished on a longer time frame.
Employers can also help employees maintain better work-life balance by encouraging them to take their vacation days. Americans have a habit of leaving PTO on the table — in fact, 768 million vacation days went unused in 2018, according to U.S. Travel’s Project: Time Off. That’s 768 million days during which employees could have relaxed, recharged, and spent quality time with their friends and family.
Create opportunities for growth.
Eighty percent of the workers planning to look for a new job are concerned about their career growth compared to 49% of all workers. In addition, Prudential found that two out of three remote workers believe in-person interactions are important for advancing their career.
If you have a distributed team, you want to find time for everyone to come together on a regular basis — for example, quarterly or twice a year — to provide remote workers with a forum for the in-person interactions that could contribute to their career growth. Professional development grants and lunch-and-learns are two other great ways to help your employees add to their skills. And don’t wait for annual reviews to give performance feedback; 96% of employees say that regular feedback is a good thing, and 62% wish they received more feedback from their colleagues, according to a recent survey by employee engagement software Officevibe.