What Do Employees Want in 2023?

Or, More to the Point, Why are Employee Engagement Activities, Employee Survey’s, Focus Groups and Exit Interviews More Important Now than Ever?????????????????????????????????????

Recently, Monster.com conducted a survey on what the top issues are for employees in 2023 and, surprisingly, a “whopping 96% of workers are?looking for new jobs in 2023, largely in search of better pay.”?

“This is phenomenally high, even compared with the numbers at the height of the ‘great resignation’” said Vicki Salemi, career expert at Monster.??“Nearly half, or 40%, of job seekers said they need a higher income due to inflation and rising expenses”, Monster found.??Others said they have no room to grow in their current role or that they’re in a toxic workplace?which would come with a great deal of potential liability for the employer.??

In the aftermath of the “Me Too” movement, more and more organizations are being caught with their pants down (sort to speak!); because they’ve paid little attention to their long-term managers/leaders who produce for them, they overlook - or just don’t notice - that harassment of workers, the name calling that goes on, the anger and resentment that exists and/or the toxic workplace this all creates.??In California at least, this should be somewhat mitigated with the knowledge that all managers MUST, by law, complete 2 hours of sexual harassment training

Whether the employer is in CA or not, many of the claims I’ve investigated of unfair labor practices and/or sexual harassment have always been done AFTER a claim or lawsuit has been filed; however, “once it’s been determined that ‘yes’ the company is guilty of sexual harassment and/or unfair labor practices, then the flood gates open”.??Rarely, if ever actually, have I seen a claim of sexual harassment stop at one claim or one lawsuit.??Instead, if it’s happened once, it’s happened dozens of times; thus, once the employees feel it’s safe to bring those concerns to HR, many HR departments are overwhelmed with complaints going back many years.

In fact, while employed by a wireless firm in the late 90’s, a man from the IT team asked my assistant out on a date; the next morning, I arrived at my office to find a hysterical assistant who tells me that, while on the date, the IT worker proceeded to get drunk and then leaped across the table and assaulted her.

Within a few hours of launching an investigation, I learned that 9 other women within the company had restraining orders out on him for similar behavior – always after consuming alcohol.??Because he becomes an angry drunk and all of these instances occurred away from work during non-business hours, none of these women brought any of their concerns to HR’s attention figuring that it wasn’t the responsibility of the company to protect them.

However, for those who have been trained in sexual harassment in the state of California, they know that any behaviors or actions need not have taken place at work or during business hours.??Why???Because of what I walked into that very morning; the law is written to address any actions that occurred away from work because, following the harassment, the employee would return to the workplace feeling unsafe, insecure and frightened just as my assistant was that morning.

Therefore, by Noon that same day, I called the worker back into my office and asked him “what occurred last night at the restaurant?”??And, rather than tell me the truth, he fabricated a story that sounded like the perfect date; however, after hearing what my assistant had to say, I told the worker that I called the restaurant and asked to speak with the manager, as well as the waitress that served them that night.??

I informed him that both of the restaurant employees validated my assistants account of what happened; thus, I asked him again for his take on the events but he remained silent.??I then told him that, based upon what occurred last night, I was able to conduct a very discreet and confidential investigation of other women at work who may have had a similar situation occur and, what I Learned, is that there were 9 other women who have filed complaints of harassment and taken out restraining orders against you.

I then went on to explain California’s sexual harassment regulations and stated that with a total of 10 women in the workplace feeling unsafe, insecure and unwilling to work anywhere near you, I have no alternative but to terminate you effective immediately.??I thank God that I’d asked a member of the security team to be present because, as I feared, he didn’t take the news well.??He, in fact, became so irate that he threatened to find me and kill me with his guns.

While his idle threat wasn’t a real concern of mine, it was for the security team who asked me to take different routes to/from work, to shuffle around my schedule so that no one knew when I was in my office and they even suggested obtaining a gun of my own; however, as I will never-ever be a gun owner, I told them that I’d take their suggestions into account and do my best not to be too predictable.??A few weeks later, just as things were getting back to normal, I’m walking through the call center when the public address system turns on and pages me; never having been paged before, I picked up the nearest phone and asked what the heck was going on???

They informed me that the man that threatened me a few weeks earlier had been caught in one of the stairwells near my office trying to get to my floor and he had two guns on him.?When apprehended, he stated that he was trying to get to me to “finish the job” by shooting me dead.??While I wasn’t afraid the first time around, this news sat with me in a very unsettling manner.??In the end, while he was found guilty, he was ordered to spend 90 days in rehab before the clock would start on the 3.5 years he would have to serve.??

As for the other feedback that the employees feel?they “have no room to grow in their current role”,?this is a case of the employer not focusing on turnover whatsoever.??For those employers who have seriously confronted turnover and have retained a Consultant to do focus group work, they’ve learned that they needed to commit to?building a learning culture with an effective career pathing initiative.??“In 2023, most employees want a company that will provide them with more skills/more competencies; they want a learning culture where the employer is taking an active role in preparing its workers to take on great amounts of responsibility in preparing them for the next position.”

Therefore, with the Holiday’s behind us and year end bonus awards paid out, a huge percent of those working in the open labor market are looking to make a major change to their careers in 2023 and it’s being driven in large part by the need to make more money.??Thus, while many employers made COLA adjustments in 2022 and attempted to increase their wages across the board, those adjustments have not kept up with inflation; thus, when employees continue to have a difficult time paying their bills, taking a vacation, putting their kids through college and planning for retirement all while working more hours than they have at any time in the past, the only thing left to do is to find a new position.

While many employers adjusted their starting salaries to attract new workers, they didn’t always match those increases throughout their organizations; therefore, while you may have a policy stating that the discussion of salaries is inappropriate and no allowed, it’s something that continues to occur and there’s very little an employer can do about it.??Thus, when employees who have been with an organization for 2 – 3 years earn the same (or even less) than a new worker, the employer has NOT done themselves any favors.??Nothing can impact employee performance, motivation and productivity more than feeling like you’re being taken advantage of in the workplace.

As a result, Job-hopping is widely considered the best way to give your salary a boost and, statistically, they’re correct.??However, as an HR professional, whenever the topic of salary is brought up in a focus group or by an individual employee, I attempt to inform them that a comparison of base pay salaries does not reflect the true nature of their annual earnings.??Base pay is only one part (of many) when we talk about salaries.??In addition to the base pay, the other factors to consider include:?

>?????variable pay/bonus awards;?

>?????work-life balance (are you expected to put in 50 – 60 hours like your boss or are you considered a solid employee if you stay in the 40 – 45 hour range per week?)

>?????Does the current or future employer offer some sort of child care assistance?

>?????Are the medical/health benefits comparable???What about the costs???Is that comparable as well???With so many employers shifting the cost of increased premiums onto their worker’s, what are you paying now and what would you be paying with the new employer?

>?????Profit sharing plan???401k???retirement???Does the long-term financial picture shift dramatically from one employer to the other?

>?????Maternity and/or Paternity Benefits???Will you be having children in the future?

>?????Vacation Time/PTO/Personal Time????Will the new employer match your current vacation/PTO and/or personal time???Generally, with a new employer, the clock starts all over again with 2 week’s vacation.

>?????STD and LTD???Are they paid by the employer and to what extent?

Once an employee has analyzed each of the above factors that contribute to a Total Compensation Package, then they’ll be able to compare apples to apples; however, if all they’re focusing in on is base pay, they could earn more per week but then lose that increase in pay and even lose more money if they’re forced to pay for more of their health care costs.??For this reason, I’ve tried to consistently talk about pay from a total comp perspective rather than just base pay.

Generally speaking, if you have a younger workforce (i.e. under 30 years old), they may be less inclined to consider total comp because they’re in good health, rarely ever use their health benefits, they work long hours, they’re not married yet and could care less about child care or retirement issues since it’s not on their radar.??For those employees, the employer might be forced to be more cognizant of the base pay issues of their workers.

However, if your workforce is comprised of married individuals with Kids (i.e. 30 – 50 years old) than those other total comp issues could play a huge role in determining what an employee will earn with a new employer vs that of their current employer.??Additionally, older worker’s (because of families, mortgages and the like) are less mobile and, thus, less willing to change jobs as much as younger workers do.

As a final note: In my consulting practice, I’m often asked by employers what they should do to keep a good employee who has given their notice and, while they often don’t want to hear it, my advice is to let them go.??Statistically speaking, any employee who gives notice and has their job offer salary met will not be with the employer in two years.??Why? Because once someone has made the difficult emotional decision to leave their current employer, the fact is that the additional money does not keep them employed with the organization two years from that time.

Additionally, some employees will give their notice with the intent of extracting more money because they’ve seen that done in the past with their co-workers; however, for many of them, there is no other job offer, or they pad the offer to illicit a greater raise.??However, it’s a bluff based upon previous behavior by the employer.??Therefore, if the employer decides to no longer match job offers to keep employees, said employee will have painted themselves into a corner from which they cannot escape which prevents any more employees from posing the same blackmailed threat to the employer.