One fifth (20 percent) of workers in the UK are at high risk of leaving their jobs within the next 12 months, with a further 12 percent seeing themselves leaving within two years, unless their employee experience improves.
This warning of potentially rising employee attrition in 2024 comes from research by Culture Amp, an employee engagement provider, which has reviewed ‘Commitment to Stay’ data gathered from responses to 9 million questions answered by employees across 1000 organisations across the UK.
The UK outlook reflects the gloomy global picture, with 18 percent of American workers, 19 percent of Australians and notably 23 percent of Germans also looking to move on next year.
By analysing how employees respond to statements such as ‘I am actively looking to move on’ or ‘I see myself still working with the same company in two year’s time’, Culture Amp’s people scientists have identified the earliest turnover warning signals that help predict which groups are at risk of leaving and why.
For instance, in the UK, the top three drivers for people to stay in their current job are: high levels of collaboration to get the job done; feeling informed about what’s happening at the company and seeing how the work people are doing is making a positive impact.
Elsewhere, Americans are more concerned with knowing how to request additional resources and tools; the Germans that leaders are communicating a motivating vision; and Australians want to feel informed with what’s happening at their company.
Globally, high performers are uniquely motivated by constructive feedback so that they can continue to improve; unbiased and robust performance processes and extra support to manage and prevent stress and burnout.
When taking costs such as recruitment fees, productivity and team impacts into account, Culture Amp estimates the cost of replacing an employee starts at 30 percent, rising to 200 percent for top performers. Given that, in 2023, the average salary in the UK was £34,963, employers face a substantial pay-out of between £10,500 and £70,000 per employee to replace talent.
“In today’s environment of tightening budgets, most companies simply cannot afford to lose this proportion of talent, especially their high performing ones. ” says Jessica Brannigan, lead people scientist, Culture Amp. “
Yet, an uncertain economy and budgetary constraints make it hard for many organisations to promise more to their employees or invest heavily in their development. By providing open and honest communication, employers can provide the collaborative opportunities, transparency and trust that UK employees value to maintain high levels of engagement.”
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