More than a quarter (26%) of UK HR professional respondents view increasing employee engagement as a top priority for 2017, according to research by Mercer.
Its 2017 global talent trends study, which surveyed 1,700 HR professionals, 5,400 employees and 400 business executives across 15 countries and 20 industry sectors, also found that 22% of UK HR professional respondents include ensuring their organisation's reward package is competitive among their top priorities for 2017.
The research also found:
- 11% of UK executive respondents view an ageing workforce as a key workforce challenge, compared to 37% of respondents globally.
- 26% of employee respondents expect their workplace to become more focused on employee health in the next few years, and 59% rank their health as more important than their wealth or career.
- 96% of employee respondents want to be recognised and rewarded for their contribution to their organisation beyond its financial results and activity metrics, and 37% of employee respondents think their employer does this well.
- 55% of employee respondents feel that their direct manager is supportive of flexible-working arrangements, and 51% believe their organisation’s leaders are supportive of flexible working.
- 42% of UK employee respondents think that fair and market-competitive compensation would improve their work situation.
- 34% of UK employee respondents believe more flexible-working options would improve their work situation, and 29% think transparency on how salary and bonuses are calculated would help.
Mark Quinn (pictured), UK career leader at Mercer, said: “Although clearly aware of the negative impact Brexit is likely to have on talent availability, UK executives do not seem to realise how this will amplify the ageing workforce crisis.
"The combination of a rapidly ageing workforce and potential restrictions on migration is sending the UK towards an unprecedented labour shortage. [Organisations] need to look intelligently at their workforce data to understand the potential impact and plan their workforce strategy.”
