Current economic conditions have not dampened employees' expectations of a higher income, with 78 per cent anticipating a pay rise and 39 per cent budgeting for a bonus in the coming year, a survey has found.
Current economic conditions have not dampened employees' expectations of a higher income, with 78 per cent anticipating a pay rise and 39 per cent budgeting for a bonus in the coming year, a survey has found.
The announcement is below:
Twenty-one per cent of organisations plan to reduce staff numbers by the end of 2009, with employers citing their biggest challenges over the next 12 months as managing internal change (20%), people and productivity (19%) and controlling people costs (15%).
The Randstad 2009 Employment Trends Report, launched yesterday, reveals a stark shift in the employment market, as the struggle for talent and plentiful job vacancies experienced in 2008 gives way to restructures, redundancies and cost cutting.
Randstad CEO Debra Loveridge says that the number of organisations looking to reduce staff numbers has almost trebled since 2008 and the number of organisations looking to increase their headcount in 2009 has significantly decreased from 42 per cent in 2008 to only 23 per cent this year.
"While this has resulted in a trough in full time labour force participation, there has been a peak in part time, temporary and contract roles, as organisations still need manpower, but cannot commit to permanent headcount," said Ms Loveridge.
Despite difficult decisions employers are facing to reduce costs, 78 per cent of employees believe they will receive a pay rise in the next 12 months, and over a third (39%) also expect a bonus.
"While it is good to be optimistic, organisations need to be honest, open and realistic when it comes to employee remuneration. The fact is, employers simply cannot afford to pay the salaries enjoyed in 2008. Twenty-one percent of employers report that non-competitive salaries are contributing to their inability to secure the right talent, making it a major concern when trying to attract candidates than the talent shortage (15%), which was the biggest concern of 2008," says Ms Loveridge.
When it comes to successful attraction strategies, employers cited company reputation (42%), culture and values (18%) and career paths (8%) as behind securing the right talent. These were also reported as the top three key components of a strong employer brand (25%, 23% and 18% respectively).
"Seventy-four per cent of organisations believe employer brand plays a pivotal role in attracting and retaining staff - a jump of 10 percentage points from last year. These figures suggest the world of work in 2009 is about employers being focused inwards for outward growth.
"Rather than purely using employer branding as a way of attracting and retaining staff, as has been the case in previous years, employer branding is now being used as a tool for managing internal change and to reaffirm confidence in uncertain times," says Ms Loveridge.
When it comes to attracting talent the traditional methods continue to dominate, with online job boards (71%), print advertising (60%) and headhunting (45%).
"Interestingly in 2008 we experienced a spike in headhunting for junior level candidates (20%). In 2009, the research suggests a shift back to the traditional function of headhunting for skilled specialists (45%) and executives.
"Employers are also not taking any chances with their hiring decisions, with 44 per cent using psychometric and personality testing prior to making a hire, and 25 per cent are using assessment centres to make sure the candidate is the right 'fit' for the role before starting. This caution may be largely due to the fact that 25 per cent of organisations have suffered an incident as a result of not conducting effective pre-employment checks," says Ms Loveridge.
When it is time to part ways, almost half (45%) of employers say they conduct exit interviews, yet 50 per cent of respondents are unsure whether any positive changes are made as a result.
With redundancies a reality in the current market, it is a positive sign that 53 per cent of organisations are offering outplacement services to help employees through the career transition process and into meaningful alternative work.
"While the world of work is changing, the most resilient organisations are those that put people first. Before taking drastic measures, employers should think laterally and long term about their human resources management," says Ms Loveridge.
MORE KEY FACTS
- 56% of organisations believe there is still a skills shortage in their industry.
- 93% of respondents are proud to work for their organisation.
- 88% of respondents report the majority of employees are happy working for their organisation.
- The three main reasons why employees remain with their organisation are: ensuring a good cultural fit between the employee and employer (43%); offering flexible working options (36%) and providing career paths, opportunities and succession planning (35%).
- The three main reasons why employees leave their organisation are: due to there being better career opportunities elsewhere (47%), a lack of internal career opportunities and career paths (38%) and for personal/lifestyle reasons (38%). Employees are also leaving due to poor leadership and management (27%) and below average remuneration (29%).
- Only 5% of organisations use using social networking such as Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace to attract talent.
- 87% of respondents believe that hiring people from a diverse background benefits their organisation (a decline from 94% in 2008).
- 94% of organisations use pre-employment checks, including police, medical and working with children checks as part of their recruitment and retention process. However, 14% of organisations only carry out checks at their manager's discretion.
- The majority (43%) of employers believe that employee retention depends on the individual and not the generation yet 38% claim that Generation Y is the most difficult to retain.
