The workforce of the future will look different than it does today. A new study finds that most EMEA companies are unprepared to address these changes. As revealed in Workforce 2020, a global survey of more than 5,400 executives and employees in 27 countries conducted by the independent research group Oxford Economics with support from SAP SE, most human resource (HR) organizations recognize the importance of managing an increasingly global, diverse and mobile workforce. But they lack the strategies and solutions to do so. The announcement was made at SuccessConnect Europe 2014, being held October 21-22 in Amsterdam.
Top Three Workforce Issues Facing EMEA Companies
The study’s findings challenge much of the prevailing wisdom and highlight the most critical issues facing HR professionals. Through interviews with more than 1,609 executives and 1,654 employees in companies across industries in the EMEA region, the study found that:
Compensation Matters Most
According to Workforce 2020, competitive compensation was the most important attribute of a job to just under two-thirds of respondents – with bonuses and merit-based rewards (57 percent), and supplemental training programs (42 percent) following closely behind.
If compensation is what motivates employees, what they are most afraid of is losing money as a result of insufficient skills, knowledge and keeping up with the latest technologies. “Becoming obsolete” is the most popular concern for today’s worker, twice as concerning as being laid off.
Millennials are Misunderstood
Although 54 percent of executives say millennials entering the workforce is a top business concern, there is a clear disconnect between the two — executives in EMEA are out of touch with what millennials think. Forty-six percent of executives think millennials are frustrated with manager quality, when actually only seven percent of millennials say they are.
While much has been written about how millennials are different in use of technology, social networks and attitudes toward work, Workforce 2020 shows that they are surprisingly similar to their non-millennial coworkers when it comes to workplace priorities:
- Quality of life over career path is at the top for both groups, with 51 percent of millennials and 55 percent of non-millennials citing it as an “important” or “very important” benefit.
- Both millennials and non-millennials like to frequently collaborate with colleagues in other areas of the company (46 percent/ 43 percent).
The Talent Gap is Widening
But few companies are supporting their newest workforce. Only 15 percent of employees say they have experienced the most professional development through formal training yet the need for skills like analytics and cloud will grow sizably over the next three years. It is expected that only 21 percent of employees expect proficiency in cloud in three years; and 46 percent expect to be proficient in analytics by then.
“When it comes to preparing for the future of work, knowledge is power, so companies are facing the need to re-imagine the role of learning and ensure the identification and readiness of future leaders,” said Mike Ettling, president, HR line of business at SuccessFactors, an SAP company. “Tomorrow’s workforce will be more diverse and work differently. Companies must understand this and develop new strategies to support how this workforce learns by supporting ongoing and collaborative learning and knowledge sharing, available on any device. Everyone will need to be a learner and everyone can be enabled to be a teacher with today’s tools and technology. And in this way, companies will also address the leadership gap identified.”
“Companies that prepare now for the workforce of the future should deliver better business results in the years ahead than their slower-moving rivals,” said Edward Cone, technology practice lead for Oxford Economics.
To learn more about the global results of Workforce 2020 and the future of work, visit http://www.successfactors.com/en_us/lp/oxford-economics-workforce-hub-pr.html.
I have to query that “competitive compensation” is the number one motivator. Cash has a ceiling on its ability to motivate; basically when you pay a fair wage you can continue to throw money at people but for very little additional gain in engagement or loyalty.
On the other hand, UNCOMPETITIVE compensation is a massive DEmotivator. Where 38% of employees say additional cash would increase loyalty and engagement I have to believe these are employees who believe themselves underpaid.
It is important that we draw a clear line between getting pay right and paying a fair wage, and the fallacy that if low pay = low motivation then high pay = high motivation.
It is always ‘the whole package’ that makes someone productive and happy – motivated. Yes, knowledge is key, but skill is applied knowledge, and due diligence makes a complete trio. Collaborative is a well overrated if not carefully managed: if team members think TEAM – Toll, Ein Anderer Macht’s (equals to free loader as translated from German: very cool, another team member does it), the result is not even the sum of the individuals… even though in math always true… 😉 – To take advantage of someone elses strength and contribution is a good thing when complemented by ones own strength and contribution. Carefully managing a collaborative workforce means how do you weed out dead wood, and for that collaboration is required not only for the work product, but also in the process of doing and managing.
This brilliant video shows some interesting findings on motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc.
I feel the need to keep up with the latest technological developments in a personal and work sense, so I think it’s important that employers provide training here. Falling behind my friends, colleagues etc in these skills is not a nice thought – sure, I’ve developed my skills in online systems, but there’s so much further I could go with concerted training offered/organised/paid for by an employer.
From my experience it seems that quality of life and both professional and personal development are top of the agenda now for a majority of workers of all ages. We are seeing more and more organisations increasing their focus on health and wellbeing strategies as well as genuine development for their employees, especially given the complexity, risk and cost burden of recruitment.
I think it these developments are part of a wider trend – the erosion of life/work balance. This isn’t necessarily in a negative sense though. With many employees using apps, social media and technology at work that they’d use out of work, the consumerisation of IT has had a huge effect on the nature of the workplace. There is no longer a strict divide between internal and external communication, and with this comes a shift in mentality. If an employee maintains a high level of wellbeing outside of work, then why should this not be reflected at work? Especially when it’s obvious from a quick search online that other companies have a healthy, attractive, fun work culture.