People are searching for better work, not just more pay

New research from the CIPD claims that more than 6.5 million people in the UK expect to quit their job in the next 12 months, with those reporting the poorest job quality the most likely to have itchy feet. Better pay and benefits are the main motivator to leave, but people are also looking for increased job satisfaction and better work life balance.   In response, the CIPD is calling for employers to not treat pay increases as a ‘silver bullet’ for attracting and retaining staff, but instead look at overall job quality by being more creative with job design and people management practices.

This year’s CIPD Good Work Index, a survey of more than 6,000 UK workers, suggests that one in five workers (20 percent) say it’s likely they will quit their current role in the next 12 months, compared with 16 percent in 2021.

Of those who are looking to quit their job:

• a third (35 percent) are moving for better pay and benefits elsewhere
• 27 percent want to increase job satisfaction
• 24 percent are looking for better work-life balance
• 23 percent want to do a different type of work.

The CIPD Good Work Index measures job quality across seven different dimensions and finds that at least six of these influence workers’ intention to quit: pay and benefits, employment contracts, work–life balance, job design and the nature of work, relationships at work, and health and wellbeing. When considering job quality, employers need to consider all dimensions of working life, recognising that employees across their organisation will face different challenges and opportunities. For instance:

• New ways of working don’t necessarily ensure better balance: While hybrid workers tend to report higher levels of job quality than those who can’t work from home for any part of their role, they also appear to face the biggest difficulties in balancing work and life, including work–life spill over and working longer working hours than they’d prefer.
• Poor leadership is a factor for many job moves: When asked why workers left their last organisation, one in five people (21 percent) gave ‘being unhappy with the leadership of senior management’ as a reason, rising to 30 percent for those who’ve changed jobs in the last 12 months.
• Lack of development opportunities keeping people trapped in low paid roles: Just 39 percent of lower earners (those earning up to £20,000 per year) say their job offers good skill development opportunities, compared with 72 percent of higher earners (those earning £60,000 or above per year). And only 25 percent of lower earners say their job offers good career advancement prospects, compared with 51 percent of higher earners.

“Too often employers focus on roles that already have higher job quality when they look to improve job quality and retain people, and quite often the focus is on pay alone,” said Melanie Green, research adviser for the CIPD. “While pay is the main motivator for job moves, there are many reasons why people leave roles, and numerous barriers preventing people from being able to leave.

“All jobs have the potential to be better and we should aspire to make good work a reality for everyone in the workforce. This means going beyond pay to think about how people’s roles are designed, how flexible their role can be – in location or hours – supporting good health and wellbeing, and investing in employee development so they have the means to progress in their career. The pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities and many issues still persist. By taking a holistic look at the dimensions of good work, and bolstering people management practices, managers and employers can make a real difference to people’s working lives.”