A survey conducted by PwC in 2023 regarding the hopes and fears of employees worldwide revealed that they are open to new challenges and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as to acquiring new skills, which can only be good news for companies.
However, one concerning aspect that emerged from this study is that 26% of employees intend to leave their current job, up from 19% in 2022.
The study also addressed the challenges faced by leaders in organizations and highlighted four main directions that company leaders must follow to better understand what their employees need and successfully reinvent the organizations they lead.
Here’s what company leadership should do, according to the PwC survey:
1. Engage and Inspire Their Employees, Especially Those Who Don’t See Change Coming
Most business leaders believe that both the job market and employee skills will be marked by dynamism and will undergo unprecedented changes in the future. This is confirmed by data from the World Economic Forum, which indicates that employers estimate that 44% of employee competencies will change in the next five years.
Employees seem to share this view, as 43% reported having a clear idea of how their skills will change in the next five years, while 36% believe that the skills they will need to perform their tasks will change significantly in the coming five years.
However, the concern arises among employees whose jobs do not require specialized training. Only 15% of these employees believe they will need to acquire new skills in the next five years, meaning the remaining 75% will become much more vulnerable to change and will thus be more likely to lose their jobs. On the other hand, a much higher percentage—51% of employees in jobs requiring specialized training—believe their skills will definitely change in the near future.
This gap among employees represents an increasing problem, as it heightens the risk of economic inequality. Business leaders must provide a solution that lies in their ability to inspire, guide, and motivate their teams.
In this context, business leaders must respond to two extremely important questions:
– Do we have the necessary skills for transformation?
– Are we creating an inclusive vision and making others feel part of the company and the decisions made at the organizational level?
2. Make Organizational Culture a Catalyst for Change
Although many leaders recognize that their employees are perhaps the best source of inspiration and innovation within companies, the PwC study shows that many organizations discourage people from experimenting, disagreeing with the current situation, or debating certain topics.
The problem is much more serious than that. For example, only 35% of respondents in the study stated that their managers tolerate minor mistakes, and only 33% said their managers encourage debates.
It seems that CEOs are not fully aware of these issues, as indicated by PwC’s global CEO survey, which found that 56% of them said their subordinate managers encourage debates and disagreements among employees, while 46% stated that the same managers overlook minor mistakes made by employees.
Additionally, about half of the employees who participated in the study believe they bring new and innovative ideas to their teams.
Regarding feedback, 49% of employees reported that they provide feedback to colleagues, while 50% actively seek feedback.
On the other hand, half of the respondents stated that they make extra efforts to accept additional responsibilities.
Considering this data, business leaders need to ask themselves the following questions:
– Am I part of the problem?
– Does the organizational culture we promote make some employees feel disconnected from the company and its values?
3. Understand How the Rising Cost of Living Erodes Employee Well-Being
Economic uncertainty and high inflation are causing employees worldwide to feel the pinch, according to the PwC survey. Last year, 47% of employees reported that they had money left at the end of the month, while this year, the percentage of those who say they have money left at the end of the month has dropped to 38%. Meanwhile, the proportion of those who say their earnings are not even enough to pay their bills has risen to 17%.
A recent study on employee financial well-being conducted by PwC showed that financial stress, besides harming emotional and physical well-being, also affects productivity and engagement levels at work. According to the same research, financially stressed employees are nearly five times more likely to report that financial issues distract them from their work.
Amidst the current financial pressure, 21% of study participants reported that they felt compelled to take on a second job.
Despite the prevailing economic uncertainty, a larger number of employees—26%, up from 19% last year—are considering changing jobs.
Regarding business leaders’ attitudes toward the financial difficulties faced by most employees, there are several approaches:
– First, they need to assess whether their compensation strategy and talent attraction and retention strategy support each other.
– Second, they should ask themselves: Are we addressing financial health topics within the company?
4. Cultivate Employee Interest in Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Concern or enthusiasm are just a few of the feelings employees have regarding artificial intelligence. ChatGPT, one of the most popular AI tools, has already captured the interest of hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
Respondents to the PwC survey appear largely optimistic about AI, emphasizing its positive effects rather than its negative ones. More than half of the employees who participated in the study—52%—provided at least one argument in favor of the positive impact AI has on their careers. Here are a few examples: it will increase productivity at work, it will help in acquiring new skills, and it will create new job opportunities.
At the same time, more than one-third of study participants—35%—made at least one negative statement regarding AI. However, 22% of employees believe that artificial intelligence will not affect their careers in any way, and this group likely includes employees without specialized training.
Based on these findings, business leaders should ask themselves the following questions, which will certainly help set a direction regarding artificial intelligence:
– What is my opinion on the future of work?
– Are we providing our employees with the opportunity to influence our future plans regarding AI?
In conclusion, any leader who wants to reinvent the company they lead must fully understand from the very beginning the role employees play in this transformation plan. Without a clear idea of how employees position themselves concerning the company, their direct managers, or even new trends in the job market and their future plans, it is impossible to build a team prepared for reinvention.
The PwC survey involved 54,000 employees from 46 countries across three continents.