Global Labor Market Weighted Heavily In Employees' Favor, Says CEB

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Employees feel more confident than ever in the business environment and in their ability to get a new job, giving them the upper hand in the labor market, according to CEB, Now Gartner. New data from the CEB Global Talent Monitor showed that global employee confidence in the economy reached 53.8 – its highest peak since Q1 2014 – while global job perceptions increased 1.2 percent globally. In fact, European employees' confidence in their personal job prospects hit a six-year high in Q2 2017.

Despite employees believing they can secure new jobs in the current labor market, this has not translated into more consistent active job seeking across the globe. Overall employees are working harder and staying longer in their current roles. Discretionary effort – employees going above and beyond – increased in every region in Q2 2017, with the exception of Asia, which remained flat. Likewise, intent to stay also increased, particularly in North America, which saw an almost 4.5 percentage point increase in employees who intend to stay with their employer.

What Employees Want
While employees might be more committed to staying with their employers, and even working harder, they are not completely satisfied. Employees are more focused than ever on respect in the workplace and ensuring they are treated fairly and respectfully by their employer. In fact, respect has moved up the list of attributes potential candidates consider when evaluating an employer and now ranks as one of the top five.

"Respect has been increasing in importance to employees, and now almost one-third of employees think about respect when considering an employer," said Brian Kropp, HR practice leader at CEB, now Gartner. "Employees want to know how they, and their colleagues, are going to be treated by their employer. Given the very tight labor market – one where employees feel they are in control – workers will seek out new jobs if they feel disrespected in the workplace."

In addition to an increased focus on respect, employee expectations around merit increases are changing going into 2018. For the first time in several years, there has been a significant increase – almost one percentage point globally – in the expected annual raise year-on-year. Whereas this time last year, employees expected to hit almost 3 percent for their annual increase, the expectation is now a nearly 4 percent merit increase for 2018.

Employers Must Respond
In a tight labor market, where employees seemingly feel they have an advantage, employers must take several key actions to address the needs of their staff, avoid costly attrition and retain top talent.

When it comes to employees' desire for respect, the best companies focus on:

1. Looking at the values of the organization and the principles it stands for and ensure that respect for employees is present.
2. Making managers aware that the labor market has shifted and is now in employees' favor with respect as one of their top considerations; ensure managers practice candidate and employee care.
3. Auditing systems and processes to determine if any violate the desire for respect among employees. Organizations need to answer the question: "Are we unintentionally demoralizing employees?"

To avoid an unpleasant experience at annual review time, employers should:

1. Benchmark current merit increases to see if the organization is aligned with employee expectations.
2. If the company is not going to meet employee expectations, leaders need to decide if they will up the merit increase budget or determine how they will communicate with their workforce around the lower increase that will fall short of expectations.

Global Talent Monitor data is drawn from the larger CEB Global Labor Market Survey which is made up of more than 22,000 employees in 40 countries. The survey is conducted quarterly and is reflective of market conditions during the quarter preceding publication. Visit www.cebglobal.com/talentmonitor to learn more and compare talent data from around the world.

About CEB, Now Gartner
Leading organizations worldwide rely on CEB services to harness their untapped potential and grow. Now offered by Gartner, CEB best practices and technology solutions equip clients with the intelligence to effectively manage talent, customers, and operations. More information is available at gartner.com/ceb.

About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading research and advisory company. The company helps business leaders across all major functions in every industry and enterprise size with the objective insights they need to make the right decisions. Gartner's comprehensive suite of services delivers strategic advice and proven best practices to help clients succeed in their mission-critical priorities. Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA, and has more than 13,000 associates serving clients in 11,000 enterprises in 100 countries. For more information, visit gartner.com.

SOURCE CEB

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