Workers’ wish list

A recent survey asked 1,800 Australian workers to rank their preferences on what they value most from an employer. The workers’ wish list might be surprising to some.

The needs and expectations of workers are incredibly diverse. To help understand what these are, leading professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) asked 1,800 Australian workers – from the frontline to the back office – to force rank their preferences based on what they value most from an employer.

Based on the findings into what employees value most, PwC has drawn up a list of seven categories that an employers should keep in mind when putting in place their Employment Value Proposition (EVP). The workers’ wish list in order of preference are:

1. Remuneration and reward (25%): salaries, bonuses, profit-sharing schemes, car parking and access to lifestyle benefits (such as subsidised childcare and financial advice).
2. Wellbeing (22%): work/life balance, access to gym/fitness memberships and mental health programs.
3. Experience (16%): an inclusive workplace, positive workplace culture and on-the-job support from colleagues, managers and HR.
4. Ways of working (12%): flexibility and autonomy for employees, a collaborative culture, access to working technology from day one.
5. Career development (11%): upskilling and career progression opportunities, quality of leadership, and access to mentoring or coaching.
6. Brand (8%): defined values around what the business stands for, including communication and promotion of company social, environmental and corporate responsibilities.
7. Workspaces and places (5%): office design and location, workplace perks and opportunity to work from home when appropriate.

Data-led insights from this study illustrate how employee priorities change across gender, generation and geography – and exposes an expectation gap between what workers actually want and what senior leaders think their people want.

While the study found 38% of Australian workers are considering leaving their current employer in the next 12 months, research also reveals a significant portion of the workforce (55%) has a strong intent to stay. This represents a massive opportunity for organisations to redesign their balance of employee benefits, reward and recognition components to retain the best staff, and attract top talent. And what employer wouldn’t think that was a smart investment?

So where to from here? You can invest your valuable time and effort designing an organisational EVP yourself. Or take the smarter option: find someone with genuine HR management level experience to do it for you…and get it right first time. Our suggestion? Option B. Check out our rationale for our recommendation here.