New research from Qualtrics reveals that 40 per cent of respondents from Australia and New Zealand are considering leaving their current employer because they do not exemplify the values they hold, while 62 per cent have said that they will not join a company that does not align with their values.
The research found that more than half of the 1605 respondents said they would look to leave their employer if the company did not meaningfully prioritise work-life balance (56 per cent) or well-being (55 per cent). Others said failure to prioritise diversity and inclusion (35 per cent), social responsibility (33 per cent), and environmental sustainability (26 per cent) could make them look seek opportunities elsewhere.
In contrast, 83 per cent of respondents said they feel motivated to go above and beyond what’s expected of them when their employer’s mission, values, and vision align with their own.
Employees also want their employers to be more proactive in sharing their purposes and values. Over half, 54 per cent, of respondents said that it’s more important than ever for leaders to speak out more about social, environmental, and political issues. And 48 per cent also said they wanted leaders to speak out more about the issues, and 47 per cent wanted their company to take more action to help address them.
Qualtrics also noted that the respondents also want their employers to show that they are living the values themselves beyond just talking about them, particularly when it comes to health and wellbeing. Respondents said leaders were better at exemplifying respect, integrity, and advocating for diversity than they were for work-life balance and mental health.
For organisations wanting to attract, retain, engage, and enable talent – against a backdrop of the rising cost of living, heightened rates of burnout, and evolving employee attitudes, such as quiet quitting – the research underscores the value of tuning into the unique needs and expectations of their workforce as a way to attract, retain, and engage with talent in the midst of evolving employee attitudes and rising attrition rates among many companies. Identifying and understanding the values that are important to employees can help companies prioritise the actions that will have the biggest positive impact..
“Many people are looking at their jobs, their companies, and work in general through a completely different lens than they were before the pandemic,” Steve Bennetts, Psychologist and Head of Growth & Strategy – Employee Experience Solutions at Qualtrics in Asia Pacific and Japan, said.
“For employers, this new perspective represents a significant opportunity to strengthen relationships with their teams, which can lead to improved wellbeing, higher engagement, greater retention of high-performers, and better outcomes for customers.”
This story originally appeared on Inside Small Business, and has been republished with permission.
