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Bosses, Workers Not In Sync over Recruiting Impacts
A Watson Wyatt news release said that, for example, 71%
of top-performing employees describe the size of their pay
check as one of the top three reasons they would head for
the doorway, but only 45% of employers see pay as a
significant driver of the worker retention. The top two
reasons, according to employers: promotion opportunities
(68%) and career development (66%).
“The employer-employee deal is changing, and so are
employees’ priorities,” said Laura Sejen, director of
strategic rewards consulting at Watson Wyatt, in the news
release. “Regardless of whether companies are retaining the
older ‘lifetime career’ deal or a newer, less paternalistic
deal, it is important to balance business goals with the
rewards that employees value. Firms that do not get the
pay-benefits mix right risk losing some of their best
talent.”
For the third straight year, hiring managers say they are
still struggling to pull in and hang onto employees,
particularly critical-skill and top-performing employees.
More than half (63%) of employers report a moderate or high
level of problem in attracting critical-skill staff, and
39% report moderate or high difficulty in retaining
them.
At the same time, relatively few employees (19%) cite difficulty in finding another job as a key reason they stick around and 15% of top performers are not sure about their future plans.
A factor in that indecision may be the difference
between what employees value and what employers think
they value, according to the poll. Overall, 86% of
companies think they do a good job of treating employees
well. Only 55% of employees agree. Furthermore, 54% of
employers say they will do a better job of treating
employees well over the next three years; only 24% of
employees make the same prediction.
These findings are based on a recent survey of 262 large
US companies across all industries and a survey of 1,100
workers conducted by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a global
consulting firm, and WorldatWork, the association for
human resources professionals.
Copies of the survey are available for purchase here . A free registration is required.