According to some new data from the folks at Kelly OCG, employees all over the world are planning their work lives in dramatically new ways. In their white paper, The Autonomous and Empowered Workforce, data from the Kelly Global Workforce Index™ is presented using compelling visuals.
The graphic below is pretty interesting and sums up much of the data in the white paper. The highlights are:
- Less than a third of employees believe their career will benefit from remaining with their current employer
- More than half favor a constant state of employment motion when considering career growth and skills development
The fine points of what today’s employees think about the future of their careers according to KellyOCG include:
- 49% are always on the lookout for new opportunities
- 70% think multiple employers are an asset
- 53% favor changing employers to advance their career
- 54% feel they are in a position of high demand
- 69% think they’ll secure a similar or better position
From an employee engagement and retention perspective, it is interesting that employees in the Americas seem to be trailing behind employees in EMEA and APAC as it relates to the relevance of a career-for-life, with 49% of employees in the Americas agreeing that a career-for-life with one employer is relevant. Only 29% of APAC and 21% of EMEA employees see that relevance. So hanging on to employees in APAC and EMEA is already harder than hanging on to employees in the Americas.
But for how long?
Compare that to the finding that 65% of employees in the Americas consider work experience with multiple employers to be an asset and we can imagine that the career-for-life relevance may be exiting stage left before the end of the second act.
Certainly as you read the Kelly Global Workforce Index™ you’ll find lots of interesting dots to connect that may impact the work you do in 2013 to strengthen your EVP (Employee Value Proposition). But this data are clear that there is a shift coming more rapidly than many may think. A shift to job changing as a proactive career management strategy as opposed to job changing as a reactive crisis coping response.
If true, this is big. And impacts everything from talent acquisition strategies, to onboarding processes, to rewards/recognition programs, to learning and development offerings, to performance management systems and more.
If true, this is big. Really big.
