Employees No Longer Care About 'Job For Life'. Why?

Hays recently came up with a global survey, it found that 3 out of 4 of employees are planning to find a new job in 2019. The CEO of Hays, Alistair Cox, explains the reasons why they chose to head out and how companies can improve their plans for retention and keep their critical talent.

People no longer view "job for life" as a goal. Now that life expectancy is increasing and people are expected to work longer, it's only right that they search for variety in their work. Now, employers must anticipate and plan for the changed long-term career plans of their workers.

Easy come, easy go

Surveying over 4,500 people from over 100 countries, Hays found that 78% of respondents said they want to find a new job this year. Alistair shared some ideas as to why employees were making the choice to leave their current job, these include remote workers feeling increasingly disconnected from their workplace and employees seeking more flexibility in their working hours. Other reasons include burnout, finding no meaning in their job or just falling out of love with their workplace.

Alistair said that employers can no longer carry on ignoring the needs of their workers if they wish to keep their key talent. "There are key changes that you as a business should start thinking about now, to help limit the risk of losing your top people in the future. After all, if you don’t give your people what they need to function well in the evolving world of work, quite frankly, they’ll find another company that does.”

Alistair advised businesses on how they can enhance their retention levels, which includes:

• Supporting employee's personal passions
• Building flexibility into contracts and in turn promoting the options available to employees internally
• Encouraging internal mobility to allow employees to move between teams and roles within the organisation

Can't stop employees from leaving

But, Alistair said that even though organisations have tried their best, some employees will still choose to quit in certain situations. “In reality, there’s often only so much an employer can do to keep hold of its top talent. The decision to leave an organisation is a deeply personal one and often their reasons for leaving are unique to them. So, the fact remains – no matter how many new working practices we put in place, people will still leave our businesses.”

If a company is unable to convince the employee to stay, then it's the responsibility of the employer to make sure that the offboarding process goes smoothly, and ensure they will be able to find a perfect replacement ASAP.

Alistair stated that when an employee leaves a company, it can sometimes be kept quiet to make sure it won't attract too much attention. But, Alistair says this would be a mistake.

“Remember, this is a time of transition, particularly for the remaining members of your team, so it’s important you manage the exit process well – put as much effort into saying goodbye to an employee, as you would when welcoming a new employee into your business.”

Alistair advised that companies must make sure they are having conversations with their workers about their career paths and ambitions. They should also explore other opportunities, even if they are outside of the current place of work. This will allow organisations to manage the situation and plan for any employees who are thinking of leaving in the near future.

“People will leave our businesses at some stage, that’s pretty much a given, but if we are upfront and open in the way we approach career development conversations from the outset, we will,

a. signal that we are invested in their career development, and

b. be far better equipped to understand their individual motivations and ambitions.”

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Source: Hays

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