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- The priorities of employees are undergoing a significant shift, with many in Africa saying they would reject a promotion if they thought it would negatively impact their wellbeing, according to a new report.
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The priorities of employees are undergoing a significant shift, with one third of employees in Africa saying they would reject a promotion if they thought it would negatively impact their well-being, according to a new report.
The recently published Talent Trends Africa 2023 Report highlighted a notable shift among African employees, with job satisfaction taking a backseat to the importance of personal wellbeing … and money.
Their findings challenge the conventional notions of career success and emphasise the growing significance of work-life balance and holistic fulfilment in the African workforce.
"Our data reveals a fundamental reset of people's relationship with their jobs and the value they attach to them, and it all boils down to one thing: work-life balance," the report said.
Key insights
According to the report, six in 10 people would choose mental health and work-life balance over career success.
"Work-life balance is the greatest influencer of job satisfaction, greater than pay, training and development, free lunches, gym memberships, or any other benefit," the report said.
Referring to this phenomenon as "The Invisible Revolution", it suggested there had been a deterioration of emotional benefits attached to work.
What exactly do they mean by this?
Well, the suggestion is people have taken on a transactional approach to work, "viewing their jobs as a means to an end rather than a source of personal fulfilment".
Instead of deriving a sense of passion, belonging and purpose from their jobs, many people are now placing a higher importance on deriving these from families, friends, and communities instead.
Because of the decrease in emotional value many employees are getting from their jobs, the report said companies would struggle to retain and attract top talent with non-monetary benefits.
The report said:
It is a trade off
The Invisible Revolution, as they refer to it, boils everything down to a simple trade-off: "what I get" versus "what I give", with employees essentially demanding a mutually beneficial relationship with their employer.
With one in two employees saying they were feeling the impact of the current cost-of-living crisis, pay became a serious area of consideration.
"Our study highlights pay as a critical area for employers to get right," the report said. "Getting the salary wrong risks closing off talent [and] they are very aware of their value."
Pay reviews have been too infrequent, according to the report, with 46% of employees stating they have not received a pay rise in the last two years.
This is a big part of the reason why many move around to different jobs quite frequently with 45% of candidates saying salary was the most influential information in a job advert and 35% ranking salary in their top three motivators for joining a new company.
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The report does add employers are not necessarily unaware of this, but they are struggling to keep up.
Many organisations still report "matching salary expectations" as the biggest recruitment challenge they face.
Even if this is the case, some 77% of employees will not ask for a raise before leaving, so organisations will not usually get a heads up from the person (if they are leaving for a higher salary) until they have sent through a resignation letter.
The report advises organisations to be the driver of salary review conversations, particularly for their most important talent, and not to wait for the talent to approach them for this discussion.
More than anything, it is interesting to see while career progress has traditionally been extremely important, a greater emphasis seems to be getting placed on personal wellbeing and money.
