Recently, I reconnected with a friend whom I hadn’t seen for quite some time. Over a glass of wine, we discussed the numerous changes in our lives over the past year, including his decision to quit his job due to a lack of employee engagement and feeling unappreciated in his role.
Understanding Generational Differences in the Workplace
This phrase can be heard more and more, especially among the younger generation. Different generations have other backgrounds, goals, behaviors. So that, motivating and offering the best recognition form for each is a new challenge for the managers.
Millennials were born in an era of financial boom, are comfortable with multitasking, are tech-savvy. They grow together with instant likes and appreciations on social media platforms. This generation of young people have the sense of greater good, give a great accent on their relationships, and build parallel careers. For them, responsibility goes with personal goals. They need acknowledgment instantly as they achieve a goal or excel at work.
Generation X members, on the other hand, are self-reliant, independent, comfortable with change. They need the flexibility to get the job done on their schedule. These people have a sense of security, work to live, to build a transferable career.
Understanding each other will allow different generations to appreciate one another. Manifesting a sense of appreciation and acknowledgment, communication and collaboration increase. By getting the attention, importance, understandings they want, people invest their time and effort in their work engage more likely to an organization.
Source: www.cmaconsult.com
The Importance of Employee Engagement in IT
Nowadays workforce in the IT industry consists mainly of millennials.
Tech & IT business managers must understand their
- values,
- feelings, and
- way of acting.
As a plus,
- remote workplace culture,
- communication management, and
- leadership style changed in the last few years.
It causes a never-seen-before low level of engagement of the employees.
Increasing competition in the IT industry lets managers face new challenges in hiring and keeping talented human assets. It is well-known that engaged employees perform better. Therefore HR and business managers continuously seek efficient engagement strategies to add this success-pepper to a business soup.
According to an industry report by Vantagecircle, Tech & IT HR challenges get more into the direction of recruiting, especially when it comes to remote hiring. A decisive factor in hiring someone is the applicant’s right attitude and existing growth mindset. As doing specific works requires high-level skills, finding and keeping these talents become very difficult.
Strategies for Enhancing Employee Retention and Engagement
Second place follows employee retention and engagement, as a challenge. 60% of respondents prefer employee rewards and recognition to improve job performance. It is the top non-monetary incentivization process for their mid-level management.
According to this survey, HR managers and IT managers consider differently what is most important and what is less. For IT managers attracting good talent is the most difficult. For HR managers compensation and benefits policy is a field of challenge.
Future Trends in Employee Wellness and Recognition
Time spent in front of screens led to a sedentary lifestyle and work burnout. IT managers seem to give more focus and effort to creating attractive mental health and physical wellness policy to keep their talents as their HR colleagues. As for future decisions, 60% of HR leaders look forward to revamping employee wellness programs.
As presently used employee engagement strategies, managers use recognition and appreciation (60%) in the first place. Followed by sponsored training and certifications which help employees upskill with the latest technologies. Flexible work options, like remote, part-time are also rising almost in every industry. Only a few percent offer unlimited paid time-off.
Digitalization has its influence on the decisions of future strategies. A third of the responders would implement a digital recognition and reward platform, as a new form in rewarding employees. Besides, HR managers would revamp their employee wellness program and remote working policy.
Based on the data of this survey, non-incentive recognition forms have a higher impact on employee retention in the IT industry. The cause can be the high level of salaries paid in this industry compared to other fields, the general growing trend of mental and physical health activities, and the general characteristics of the millennials and generation X values and goals.
What binds You to your workplace? What makes you stay at your workplace/ at your job?
I would be glad to have your opinions, too.
