A recent NAB report asked over 1,200 Australians working full time or part time about their employment behaviours, attitudes, and intentions. The findings reveal that, after decades of low employee turnover, a significant percentage of the adult working population has either left or is considering leaving their current job. Just over 1 in 5 Australians have changed jobs within the last year and almost 1 in 4 are considering leaving their current place of employment. More than 1 in 3 of the Australians considering changing jobs declared that COVID has played a role in this.
Importantly, the survey also found that many of the key reasons workers are contemplating leaving their jobs are “push” factors – a lack of personal fulfilment, purpose or meaning, lack of career growth, mental health, and/or poor pay and benefits. Many are also looking for a fresh start, with around 3 in 10 planning to move to a different, or new, role in a new industry. NAB’s research suggests more must be done by employers if they wish to retain their staff, particularly in some sectors.
The Great Resignation
A current trend, referred to as “The Great Resignation”, is seeing people voluntarily leaving their jobs in record numbers; this in the wake of the pandemic which encouraged a rethink of careers, work-life balance, and long-term goals. Warnings of staff turnover in many sectors reaching up to 50 percent are already playing out. That’s according to the annual Salary and Employment Report by human resources platform MyHR, using data relating to more than 1,250 companies, and 27,000 employees, in New Zealand and Australia between 2019 and 2022.
After more than two years of COVID disruptions, it is vital that businesses work to address this significant shift in the workforce. People’s expectations are changing, with job satisfaction becoming increasingly important in the selection of a job role. For employers, it’s more crucial now than ever before to determine whether your employees are satisfied. But, how can you measure this and what can you do to retain your staff?
How can managers improve employee job satisfaction and retain their staff?
Management teams across Australia are starting to take note and are making use of tried and tested resources to address these challenges. Of particular value is Extended DISC® , a well-validated suite of products with a strong commercial focus. Developed in Finland, Extended DISC® , is used in over 80 countries worldwide as a catalyst for positive growth in the workplace.
How can Extended DISC® help you achieve your goals?
The information and feedback provided in an Open 360 Assessment will allow you to quickly identify the current “atmosphere” of your workplace. Once you have a better understanding of your employees, you can begin to dive deeper into behavioural reports. Extended DISC® Behavioural Reports provide insight into each team member’s natural behavioural and communication styles and indicate their likely reaction to different challenges. Knowing your employees’ individual strengths, motivators and demotivators puts you in a position to introduce measures that will demonstrate to your employees that they are valued, and their role is important, thereby strengthening their sense of belonging in the workplace – two pre-requisites for the achievement of job satisfaction and ultimately job retention.
What causes employee dissatisfaction?
A satisfied team is a productive team. Just one unhappy team member can cause disruption. The reasons for employee unhappiness are not easily identified, but typically include the following frustrations:
- Stress
- Lack of purpose
- Feeling under appreciated
- Lack of communication
- Lack of support
Extended DISC® Reports are designed to provide management with the knowledge necessary to help their team members overcome their fears and concerns.
The Open 360 Report, used in conjunction with the Extended DISC® Behavioural Report, helps capture the root of staff dissatisfaction. Knowing the cause of a team member’s dissatisfaction will enable you to rapidly address any issues and prevent unhappy staff members from impacting the overall productivity of the team.
Do behavioural reports offer any indication of employee dissatisfaction?
Extended DISC® Reports identify 160 different behavioural styles, drilling down to a deeper understanding of an individual’s behaviour.
The reports identify an individual’s:
- Natural strengths
- Development areas
- Motivators
- Demotivators
But more than this, by measuring an individual’s conscious behaviour (in addition to their natural, unconscious behaviour), the report recognises signs of stress, frustration, insecurity, pressure, and even a feeling of “helplessness”, as well as other emotions. This is vital information for management, especially in the current environment and opens the way for sensitive handling of an issue which may be resolvable, but which may otherwise have gone unrecognised.
Can Extended DISC® improve communication?
Extended DISC® Reports detail each team member’s communication style. Knowledge is understanding and when the various team members know how to effectively communicate with one another, processes can be greatly enhanced, misunderstandings minimised and working relationships, including those between team member and manager, improved.
Knowing where there is scope for development allows goals to be set and personal development to be planned. And, by using the “Shotgun Map” produced from the team’s data, strengths in the team can be seen at a glance and gaps can be easily identified.
Why use Extended DISC® ?
Retention of staff is now more important than ever. The cost of recruitment, the disruption caused by team changes and the time and effort involved in training new employees is something we all wish to avoid. Extended DISC® reports are designed to provide a better understanding of why individuals behave differently and how this impacts others in a practical way.
HR Profiling Solutions Limited offer a range of tools to help address today’s challenges and provide training and support to help maximise the benefits of Extended DISC® and our other workplace tools, including Reasoning Analysis, Sales Competence and 360 Assessments.
