Job stability and a good manager are now more important than salary when it comes to choosing the company they work for, according to research by instant messaging program Slack.
The study, Leadership and the war for talent, based on a survey of more than 1,000 Australian knowledge workers, found that the impact of the pandemic, the uncertain economic environment and the burnout experienced by nearly two-thirds (60%) of Australian knowledge workers in the last year have irrevocably changed what employees want from their leaders.
With 51% of respondants choosing job stability and 29% choosing a good manager as more significant motivations than 28% choosing salary when it comes to choosing the company they work for.
Survey respondents also identified teamwork and collaboration (47%), flexible work (38%), employee wellbeing (37%), and transparent and trustworthy leadership (36%) as the top factors driving organisational success - all valued more highly than financial achievement (28%).
When it comes to flexible working, over half of respondents (58%) said they want to be trusted to do their job regardless of location or the hours worked.
With nearly half of Aussie knowledge workers surveyed considering moving jobs in the next year (45%), and 12% admitting to ‘quiet quitting’ - fulfilling the requirements of their job but not going above and beyond - it’s critical leaders act immediately to ensure their leadership style isn’t having a negative impact on the engagement and motivation of their employees.
The study suggests managers to focuse more on soft human-centred or ‘power’ interpersonal skills in the workplace. Such as collaboration, social and emotional intelligence; analysing the time employees are spending on unproductive tasks; exploring ways to elevate productivity with collaborative technology; and figuring out how to meet the varying expectations of employees from different generations, who prefer to work in different ways.
Nicole Woodley, country manager, Australia and New Zealand at Slack, said: “The rhythm of work already had an irregular heartbeat before the pandemic - we just weren’t aware of how much time we were, and still are, spending on non-productive tasks.
"We are continuing to go through one of the biggest workplace experiments in the last 100 years as we move from offices to hybrid work, and see factors like trust, wellbeing and soft skills take on as much meaning as financial success and salary.
"The rewards are clear - greater productivity, a reduction in burn out and better staff retention. We are not at our final destination yet, and what this survey revels are key areas where leaders can get on the front foot.”
Poor leadership leads to burnout, quiet quitting
The research draws a clear link between poor leadership and a dip in employee morale and productivity. Only half of the respondents say they feel ‘inspired’ by their leaders (53%), and the same number deem leaders as ‘stuck in their ways’.
Worryingly, just over a third (39%) do not feel their leader is concerned for their psychological safety.
‘Quiet quitting’ is strongly linked to poor leadership as well. Those with poor managers are far more likely to feel burnt out (75% as compared to 54% for good leaders), and ‘quiet quit’ (27% compared to 6%).
According to the study, employees with poor or average leaders feel they have much less of a voice than if they had good leaders (80% as compared to 23%).
Similarly, these employees also feel they have less autonomy (48% vs. 74% amongst those with good leaders), less of a good culture (23% vs. 78%) and that there is more of a disconnect between leaders and employees (79% vs. 46%).
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