Australian workplace the most volatile in terms of employee turnover

Australians are the world’s leading job movers, reveals a recent survey by the Kelly Global Workforce Index (KGWI).

Australia has the highest level of employee turnover of all the countries surveyed across Europe, Asia and the Americas, with 62% of employees reporting they have changed jobs in the last year, according to the survey. A further 26% have considered a new job, but have not made the move, while just 12% are not interested in changing employers.

The international survey of more than 120,000 employees in 31 countries, including over 5500 Australians, examined the changing workplace and new models of engagement for businesses and their employees.

According to the survey, only 9% of Australians moved jobs in order to improve their compensation or benefits, compared to 13% internationally and 18% in the Asia Pacific region. A further 17% moved to follow an opportunity for personal growth or development - significantly lower than the 29% for the Asia Pacific and 20% globally.

Kelly Services Managing Director Australia and New Zealand Karen Colfer said Australian employers need to be aware that their employees are highly mobile, and retaining them is not simply a matter of more pay.

“In order to retain and engage their workforce, Australian employers need to be looking very closely at the mix of benefits and conditions they are providing in their business.

“For businesses who are finding the current economic environment challenging, this is actually quite a positive message, as retaining the best staff doesn’t necessarily add more cost, just a greater focus on creating the right environment,” said Colfer.

Karen Colfer said in order to understand what attracted employees to new employment opportunities, Kelly asked whether they would recommend their employer and why.

“Almost a third of Australian employees are very likely to recommend their employers to a friend or colleague, while around 11% wouldn’t.

“The reasons they would recommend their employer are extremely interesting - highlighting the areas any business needs to focus on in order to become an employer of choice,” said Colfer.

Most influential in terms of employees’ recommendations include company culture and reputation (32%), opportunities for advancement (18%), work/life balance (16%), interesting or challenging work (16%) and a flexible work schedule (10%).

“It’s telling that company culture and reputation features so strongly in employees’ recommendations, underscoring how important it is to focus on culture in order to attract and retain the best employees,” said Colfer.

A key part of that culture, according to Colfer, is the style of management within the company.

“63% of Australian employees say that their direct manager or supervisor has an impact on their level of satisfaction or engagement with their employer,” said Colfer.

In order to improve their level of engagement, local employees say their managers should focus on training opportunities (55%), clarifying responsibilities, goals and objectives (43%), and providing more transparency with communications (33%).

“It is often said that employees don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.

“While local employees are so unsettled, managers who focus on improving communication and providing more opportunities for personal development will have a better chance of maximising their investment in people and skills,” said Colfer.

Colfer has a word of advice for those about to make a move too - make sure you know what you are getting into.

“Only about half of the employees we surveyed that had changed employers in the last year are happy in their new role.

“The key reason they are unhappy in their new job is that the role in reality isn’t what they expected,” said Colfer.

According to the KGWI, employees that were unhappy in their new roles highlighted that the work isn’t as interesting or challenging as they had expected (17%), a lack of direction from management (15%) and the job differed from what they expected (14%).

“This underscores how important it is to get good professional advice when you are undertaking your job search and ensure you fully understand the role - and the culture - and what it offers,” said Colfer.