How to hold onto your staff

A Gallup study in the US puts those employee expectations, along with job security and job satisfaction, as the main drivers for employees searching out new opportunities.

But for those eyeing the bottom line, the data also shows that job retention isn’t necessarily just about putting pay centre-stage. A survey of Irish professionals in 2023 identified work-life balance as the number one influence guiding their job hunting, while the Harvard Business Review has concluded: ‘The top predictor of workplace satisfaction is not pay: it is the culture and values of the organisation.’

The battle for flexibility

Spurred on by the pandemic experience, job flexibility has emerged as a critical issue for many. A 2022 survey by Mercer found one in three employees in Asia willing to forgo pay increases to be able to work flexibly, while seven in 10 employees (excluding Japan, at 51%) saw denial of remote or hybrid work options as deal-breakers in their job choices.

Three years later, the hybrid approach appears here for the long haul. Forbes reported in February that two-thirds of companies globally have set a minimum number of days for employee presence at the office but just 5% completely prohibit remote work.

The quest for flexibility forms one of the cornerstones for greater female participation in the workplace.  Women – responsible for nearly three-quarters of the world’s unpaid care work, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) – have long recognised the male bias of traditional work structures. Affordable, accessible childcare is central to rebalancing this.

A 2024 Bank of America study of OECD countries found childcare costs highest in New Zealand, the US and Ireland, and lowest in Germany, Austria and Luxembourg. Elsewhere, the World Bank identifies lack of childcare options as the most challenging barrier for women in the workforce in the Middle East and North Africa.

While government policy is key to unlocking this – Ireland’s 2025 Programme for Government, for example, has made reducing the cost of childcare to €200 per month per child a key target – the role of employers is also under the spotlight. The findings of BCG research in the US ‘debunk a widespread perception that employer-sponsored childcare benefits are strictly a cost centre’, with the research analysis calculating that childcare benefits could deliver returns of up to 425% of their cost.

Meanwhile a 2022 report from the ILO and Unicef highlights the business case for employer-supported childcare in Egypt. It found that access to childcare benefits gave women a 58% higher chance of gaining a promotion at work.

Four-day push

Also quietly bubbling away is the idea of the four-day working week. The civil service in The Gambia proved an early pioneer in 2013 – although the move was later replaced by making Friday a half-day of work – while trials in Iceland between 2015 and 2019 found the approach ‘dramatically increased’ wellbeing, with productivity the same or better. A fresh push in the UK this year has seen 200 companies sign up for a permanent four-day working week with no loss of pay, with research suggesting three-quarters of 18 to 34-year-olds believe this will be the norm by 2030, and 65% are against a return to full-time office working.

Alongside this, the right of workers to disconnect outside of work hours is gaining traction internationally. In Australia, much of continental Europe and most of South America, legal measures now enforce a clear division between work and rest periods, while Ireland has a code of practice.

Gen Z flex

Gen Zs – those born between 1997 and 2007 – are set to account for 30% of the workforce in Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US by 2030. In a prime position to lead on many trends now driving the economy, from AI to sustainability, Gen Zs have high expectations from the get-go. A 2024 US study found two in five Gen Zs already consider job enjoyment more important than high remuneration.

KeyAnna Schmiedl of Workhuman says new thinking will be needed to meet these expectations, and even a new approach to flexible working. ‘It is much more than just where or when you work,’ she explains. ‘Flexibility is about giving employees the licence to be human, creating the schedule and structure that works best for them.’ The worker-manager dynamic, she adds, will need to be ‘less onerous and formal, but still able to generate a composite view on how our employees are doing’.

As part of this response, the Harvard Business Review points to the growing appeal of gamification as an HR tool. Gamification ‘takes the essence of games – fun, play, rules, uncertainty and challenge – and applies it to non-game contexts’. A recent move by Singapore company Gushcloud to offer ‘Tinder leave’ – free time for romantic engagements – may not yet have a place in your HR strategy but see our boxout for practical ways your organisation can actively improve its employee loyalty.

Values clash

Current developments in the US, where the Trump administration has set out to eliminate diversity, equality and inclusion policies, suggests a clash of values may further complicate the picture. A Manpower Group study found that 56% of Gen Zs say they would not accept a job in an organisation lacking diverse leadership.

In the period of change and flux that lies ahead, job satisfaction won’t be everyone’s stated priority, but the evidence is clear. Companies that engage actively on the issue can have stronger expectations around employee loyalty, and all the benefits that brings the business.