Work cultures to focus on people and purpose this year

A new poll from  the ADP Research Institute (ADPRI) claims that 64 percent of the global workforce was negatively impacted by coronavirus. However, 66 percent of UK workers feel optimistic about the next five years at work, and a third think COVID-19 will have a positive effect on work cultures including through greater flexibility (34 percent) and better work-life balance (28 percent).

The authors claim that around the world, and as shown through the establishment of the Great Resignation, employees are striving to find happiness more than ever before. The report suggests that people are now becoming a lot less tolerant of workplace stresses and are increasingly wanting their place of work to reflect their own preferences and priorities. They’re now putting more weight on the business to meet their needs and create better work cultures compared to pre-pandemic, where employees would make every effort to reach their employer’s requirements.

• Research from ADP shows that in the UK, just over 50 percent of both essential and non-essential workers (54 percent versus 52 percent respectively) feel that they are paid fairly for their roles and responsibilities.  Additionally, 53 percent of non-essential workers believe that they are paid fairly for the skill set that they possess, which only marginally differs from 52 percent of essential workers. This alludes to the notion that job sector and salary based on workers roles and capabilities may not be a prevailing factor in employee satisfaction.
• Additionally, ADPRI has found that globally, more than half of working mothers (53 percent), and 46 percent of working fathers say that having children is holding them back from progressing in their careers.
• When compared with UK specific data, ADPRI discovered that only 40 percent of mothers that are employed in Britain believe that their children are holding back their ability to progress in the workplace, in contrast to 54 percent of working UK fathers. This suggests that British working mothers have a more pragmatic approach to their work-life balance, which could be a result of the new ways of working, including working from home and more flexibility in their working hours. In order get the best out of their staff, companies will need to take all reasonable proactive steps to recognise the issue and find solutions, without penalising their workers for working remotely or with more flexible hours around their childcare.