The Top Things Employees Want from Their Employers in 2022 and beyond

Businesses would be familiar with the ideal of a ‘Balanced Scorecard‘, developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton. The basic idea is that businesses need to focus on more than just financials; they need to consider their people, processes and customers as well.

In a recent research conducted by Seek, employees were asked what the top things were that they wanted from their employers. The findings are unsurprising, but what businesses are doing about it may be.

The following 8 areas provides employees with a balanced scorecard they can use to assess their employers:

1. Work/life balance
2. Flexible hours/schedule
3. Salary & compensation
4. Job security
5. Option to work from home
6. Working conditions/environment
7. Good working relationships
8. Mental health support

If these are what’s important to employees today, let’s take a look at some examples of how businesses may stack up against it using a sliding scale representing the following:

• 1 = ‘Very Poor’
• 2 = ‘Below Average’
• 3 = ‘Satisfactory’
• 4 = ‘Good’
• 5 = ‘Exceptional’

Example 1: Work/life balance

If an employee rates their employer as ‘Satisfactory’ with regards to work/life balance, you would expect the employee to exhibit behaviours of working longer than expected hours, sacrificing some family time and/or having some detrimental impact on their own health e.g. poor diet.

Example 2: Work from home

An ‘exceptional’ rating would be for a business that not only has a well defined remote working policy, the business has invested significantly in technology and systems that allows a seamless transition from working in the office to virtually working anywhere in the world.

When tallying the combined total scores, the results are as follows:

• 1 to 8 – This business has not placed any priority on employee satisfaction, engagement or wellbeing. There are no defined policies or procedures in place to help employees work better. Leadership is not investing any money into people.
• 9 to 16 – This business has begun to invest in employee satisfaction, engagement or wellbeing but there is still some way to go. Some policies and procedures are in place, but they are not well defined or communicated. Leadership is interested in employee satisfaction but not ready to commit finances into people.
• 17 to 24 – This business has indicated that employee satisfaction, engagement and wellbeing is important. There are well defined policies and procedures in place but not well communicated to all employees. Leadership is investing some money into people. Optional employee perks and benefits are available but limited in terms of options.
• 25 to 32 – This business has made employee satisfaction, engagement and wellbeing a high priority. There are well defined policies and procedures in place that are communicated to all employees as part of their onboarding. Leadership is committed to investing money into their people to help them be the best they can be. This includes training and development opportunities, outsourced EAP programs as well as perks and benefits that go beyond the basics.
• 33 to 40 – This business has made employee satisfaction, engagement and wellbeing their highest priority. There are well defined policies and procedures in place that are communicated to all employees as part of onboarding. The business is recognised as an Employer of Choice. Leadership has shown how they have invested financially in their people over recent years. They have committed a significant amount of money in their budget over the next 5 years into their human resources. This includes training and development opportunities, in-house EAP programs, as well as highly personalised perks and benefits that are embedded into a comprehensive wellbeing program.

In general, employees would like their employers to take a holistic view of their needs and provide support in all areas of their lives. It’s not just the work they need to do but how and when it’s done. The above is a simplistic initial assessment of the business. A more comprehensive investigation is needed to identify next steps.

In any case, businesses need to be proactive in addressing these concerns if they want to retain their best employees. Those that don’t will inevitably see an increase in employee turnover. Good talent will want to work for companies that offer what they’re looking for.

I believe the definition of ‘Employer of Choice’ has started to change over the past 3 years. It is likely to be changing for several years yet. Like it or not, there is a real fight for talent and it will remain so for the foreseeable future. To be an employer of choice in 2022 and beyond, businesses need to start making some changes now and investing in their people. Is your business ready?