How companies are slowly driving employees away
Is the push for more flexibility at work, hybrid working arrangements and the 4-day week a result of companies not treating people well enough?
Published in
6 min readApr 19, 2023
Companies shouldn’t be remotely surprised at the groundswell in demand for greater flexibility in terms of working arrangements.
- Working from home was a perk before the pandemic. It’s now a given for many employees and a prerequisite for jobhunters.
- The recent 4-day week trial in the U.K. has again stoked the fire under those in favour of this as a permanent fixture.
- ‘Quiet quitting,’ while not a new concept, has stepped into the spotlight in the last year or so.
- The ‘Great Resignation’ that kicked off in early 2021 is now an ongoing trend as employees look for greater fulfilment in their lives.
Work has taken its toll on people
The pandemic raised the profile of mental well-being across the whole of society, not just workers. It’s one of the hottest topics in the workplace — and rightly so.
- According to a report by The Times, so-called ‘wellness sabbaticals’ were going to become more widespread before the COVID-19 pandemic, with people taking career breaks to focus on their well-being and take time to smell the flowers.
- They’re now on the rise to try to tackle burnout and work-related stress.
On that subject, work-related stress is also on the increase, causing higher absenteeism and impacting productivity for companies.
- In April 2022, the American Institute of Stress found that the total economic impact of stress to U.S. employers was estimated at $300 billion (including factors such as absenteeism, turnover, diminished productivity, increased medical costs, and increased legal costs).
- A 2022 report by Deloitte found that poor mental health costs U.K. employers up to £56 billion a year, up 25% vs 2019.
The reality is pretty stark
The business world is in a bit of a quandary:
- Operating costs, including energy prices and cost of materials, are going up, squeezing their operating margins;
- The cost of living is increasing around the world, so people are demanding higher wages, which many companies can’t afford;
- Shareholders want maximum value from their corporate investments, so put senior leaders under pressure to over-achieve on their financial targets;
- In a world of increasing costs and uncertainty, senior leaders are having to tighten their belts to achieve their targets and save their own jobs, keeping costs down, refusing inflation-linked pay rises and frustrating their already overworked employees.
Workers have had enough of the relentless slog
The result of all of this is that workers have had enough and they want more freedom and control over their lives.
- They’ve had enough of lay-offs and redundancy programmes that have led to their friends leaving the company and to them having to pick up the slack (despite the fact that a redundant role should mean that the workload is no longer needed).
- The Great Resignation is costing companies millions: the cost of replacing someone, according to the Society of Human Resource Management, can be between 50% and 60% of that employee’s salary, with overall costs ranging anywhere from 90% to more than 200%.
What is driving the wedge between companies and employees?
There are four main reasons that employees are feeling less and less connected to their employer:
- Purpose deficit. It’s not clear enough to people why they work somewhere and what impact they have on the greater good. Adding to that, many companies don’t put their money where their mouth is, instead jumping on bandwagons and virtue signalling, which employees can see straight through.
- Breakdown in trust. This has recently been evidenced by the instructions to employees that they must come back into the office. In many senses, this displays a lack of trust in employees that they can work independently and autonomously without the beady eye of their manager. I’ve experienced presenteeism and it doesn’t make for a positive work environment. Reports of ‘quiet quitting’ and people having side hustles doesn’t help to build that trust.
- Parent-child relationship. It’s us and them, rather than team/family. I’ve worked at a company where an expenses overspend of €3 one day resulted in the amount being clawed back, despite me having spent far less than the daily amount on average over the week. I’ve also worked at a company at which a day I’d booked off was refused and given to me instead ‘for free’ as a thank-you for hard work. While we all acknowledge that company hierarchies exist, people just want to be treated like adults.
- Focusing on the wrong thing. Rather than looking after their employees first, too many companies have focused on the bottom line and on shareholder value, treating employees like cogs in the machine rather than members of the team. Two of Sir Richard Branson’s quotes come to mind: “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients” and “Train employees well enough so they can leave, but treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”
What’s the solution?
After all this doom and gloom, is there a way out for companies?
Of course there is. But it’s not straightforward.
- Articulate a purpose that clearly defines what you stand for and how you and your employees are changing the lives of others and the world around you for the better. After all, why are you in business?
- Invest in your managers. They’re the critical links in the organisation that motivate your people to want to work for you and do a great job. Get it wrong with managers and watch your people walk.
- Invest in your people (cf. Sir Richard’s quote, above). “What if we train them and they leave?” vs “what if we don’t and they stay?” Every company should be continually developing the skills and careers of their people, from early careers new starters to the CEO. It’s not just personal and career development, though — companies need to put their hands in their pockets, reward people proactively for great work (rather than waiting for the resign-and-counter-offer approach to boost salaries) and share profits as bonuses to retain talent.
- Take mental well-being seriously. “Measures by employers to improve mental well-being should not only benefit employees themselves but should also reduce employment costs such as recruitment costs and provide broader societal benefits,” says Elizabeth Hampson of Deloitte and author of ‘Mental health and employers: the case for investment — pandemic and beyond.’
- Listen and respond. If everyone’s disagreeing with what you’re saying, you’re probably wrong. If you’re insisting on everyone being back in the office and they’re revolting, you’ve probably got it wrong. Companies have to listen to what their employees want and need — and they should negotiate, meet in the middle, and respond accordingly.
Companies must bridge the trust gap to bring people back.
Command and control hasn’t worked for years (did it ever?). Cutting your way to success has never worked.
It’s the age of trust — and companies had better regain the trust of their people through investing in the right areas and treating people well if they’re to build a strong bond between employee and company.
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