The Rewards and Benefits Association recently published a report that found that 64% of employers consider the cost of recruiting fresh skills to be a considerable financial risk over the next two years. Our research - hot off the press - of 1002 full-time UK employees found that nearly half are likely to actively search for a new job opportunity in 2024. Read on to discover which age range plan to spread their wings, and the steps you can take to reduce employee turnover and retain your talent.
Is becoming an employer of choice one of your ambitions for 2024?
We discussed being an employer of choice in March 2023 with our blog – You’re Ready to Become an Employer of Choice. We cover all the fundamentals, and it’s worth a read to see where the gaps in your current employee retention strategy may be.
Becoming an employer of choice doesn’t just aid talent attraction and shorten the expensive recruitment process; it reduces employee turnover, helping you retain talent and thrive. Knowing that January is an active month for employee job applications, we went straight to the source to provide data-driven insights on employee opinions and expectations.
We asked over 1,000 employees these five questions:
- How satisfied or unsatisfied, if at all, are you with your current work conditions (i.e. salary, benefits, work-life balance and career progression) for the year 2024?
- How likely or unlikely are you to actively search for a new job opportunity in 2024?
- If you are considering a job change in the new year, what would be the primary thing your current employer might offer that would influence your decision to stay?
- What, in your opinion, should be the top priorities for HR in the upcoming year?
- To what extent do you agree, or disagree, if at all, that there is a gap between your expectations for 2024 and the HR priorities of your organisation?
For question four, we asked our respondents to choose their top five priorities from the list below:
- Reward and recognition across all levels of employees.
- Leadership development.
- Employee health and wellbeing actually being prioritised.
- Reassuring staff regarding how AI might impact their roles long term.
- Flexible working remaining in place/policies becoming fixed.
- Improved internal upskilling/hiring to solve talent shortages.
- Implementation of pay transparency.
- Culture and change management.
- Companies backing up PR-focused diversity claims with action.
- Employer branding as a talent attraction tool.
- Implementation of blind hiring.
Read on to discover the top five matters your employees think you should be prioritising.
Exploring the results
Interestingly, when answering question one, 72.16% of our employee respondents were satisfied with their current work conditions, while almost half (49.30%) said they were likely to search for a new job opportunity in 2024.
Is employee satisfaction no longer enough to reduce high levels of employee turnover?
We’ll explore what employees told us during this blog, but we’ll continue to reveal more results for now.
A generational difference
What’s the majority age range of your workforce?
Unless they’re mainly over 55, you will want to see the following results!
We broke the responses down into age groups and found that out of those who said they were likely to look for a new job opportunity in 2024…
- 63% were aged 18 – 24.
- 66.34% were aged 25 – 34.
- 53.33% were aged 35 – 44.
- 47.03% were aged 45 – 54.
- 28.45% were aged 55+.
If your workforce predominantly consists of employees aged 18 to 34, you may be at risk of high employee turnover in 2024.
Lowering the risk of employee turnover
So how can we lower the risk of high levels of employee turnover?
We may have asked if employees were likely to look for new opportunities in 2024, but we also asked what would tempt them to remain with their current employer.
Top of the list are financial benefits and incentives, with 36.93% of the vote.
Enhanced financial wellbeing benefits = reduction in employee turnover
Taking a deeper dive into financial wellbeing benefits and incentives, we can further explore the generational divide through the figures below.
Out of those who said that financial benefits and incentives would tempt them to stay with their current employer…
- 35% were aged 18 – 24.
- 34.63% were aged 25 – 34.
- 36% were aged 35 – 44.
- 42.47% were aged 45 – 54.
- 35.57% were aged 55+.
21% of people in their fifties have had to use their savings “due to high borrowing costs and inflationary pressures,” with those in this age group having been hit the hardest by the cost-of-living crisis (Money Age).
With this detail in mind, it makes sense that employees in the 45 – 54 age range are more driven by financial benefits and incentives.
We’ve created several blogs that are valuable resources in helping you to get your employee benefits package right.
These include…
- Boost Productivity with Financial Wellbeing Benefits
- Get More for Less with Pluxee Discounts
- Salary Sacrifice: Making employee benefits cost-neutral
Use these blogs to help assess where you currently are and how you can evolve your financial benefits to reduce employee turnover in 2024 and beyond.
Reducing turnover by aligning HR ambitions with employee expectations
The potential disconnect between HR ambitions and employee expectations has been a topic of much discussion. HR leaders are in the business of people - retaining, attracting, and engaging them - so it’s essential to understand and align with their needs and expectations to reduce employee turnover rates.
Our research found that 53.79% of UK employees don’t think their employer’s 2024 HR strategy will align with their priorities.
This perceived misalignment highlights the importance of consistent communication. Many respondents, making up that 53.79% figure, could be working on incorrect assumptions, as many businesses are yet to finalise their 2024 strategies.
During a recent webinar hosted by REBA on 2024 pay and compensation trends, it was clear that many of the HR practitioners in attendance had yet to set their 2024 pay budget. 65% of the attendees suggested they would, to varying degrees, feel the impact of the National Living Wage increase.
We’re in December 2023, yet many businesses will start 2024 with an unconfirmed trajectory. Uncertainty creates a lack of trust which can increase employee turnover.
In times of change, effective communication is imperative to reassure employees of your organisation’s intentions and ambitions.
What employees think HR should prioritise
You can see the options we gave employees for question four - What, in your opinion, should be the top priorities for HR in the upcoming year? - and we can now reveal the top five:
- Reward and recognition across all levels of employees.
- Employee health and wellbeing actually being prioritised.
- Flexible working remaining in place/policies becoming fixed.
- Improved internal upskilling/hiring to solve talent shortages.
- Implementation of pay transparency.
UK employees have spoken, but do their expectations align with your priorities for 2024?
Reduce employee turnover by enhancing reward and recognition
66% of employees would leave their role if they felt unappreciated by their employer - that’s how vital recognition is in reducing the risk of high employee turnover rates.
Last March, we wrote a blog giving you nine reasons why you should revolutionise your 2023 employee reward and recognition strategy. Since 44.21% of our respondents said reward and recognition should be a top priority, the topic is very much valid for 2024.
Recognition programmes reduce voluntary employee turnover by 31% (Deloitte).
The art of rewarding your people…
Something they want, something they need, give them a treat, and watch your business succeed!
Have you downloaded our guide to rewarding your employees at Christmas? The above rhyme is a taste of our messaging.
In a cost-of-living crisis, you can use recognition to lessen your employees’ financial burdens, especially when you offer flexible employee rewards that your people can spend wherever they need or want to.
We have an entire blog section dedicated to reward and recognition, how it reduces stress, boosts motivation, increases engagement, and reduces employee turnover rates.
Supportive and heartfelt rewards = increased employee engagement and morale.
Reduce employee turnover by prioritising health and wellbeing
Employee wellbeing encompasses multiple pillars, including financial, mental, and physical. Beyond that, employee wellbeing is also about an organisation’s culture and core values. You should avoid treating wellbeing as a tick-box exercise. Your employees will see straight through it, and neither you nor they will experience the benefits.
We help you get employee wellbeing right, reducing turnover in the following blogs:
Your employee wellbeing strategy is a powerful tool that can help you keep your people healthy, reducing absenteeism and boosting engagement, motivation, and loyalty.
Retain skills and reduce employee turnover with Pluxee UK
To become an employer of choice in 2024, retaining skills and reducing employee turnover, you need to have the right mix of ingredients.
As we’ve shared during this blog and supported with our research, this mix includes financial benefits, an inclusive reward and recognition strategy, and an authentic approach to employee wellbeing - to name a few.
It’s also clear that there’s a generational divide. Our research went as deep as highlighting gender and regional divides, too. We’re ready and waiting to use our research to help you understand your people better. Request a call from one of our employee engagement consultants for more.
Sources:
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