8 Employee Expectations in 2024
Publié le 8 January 2024
Keep your work team happy and committed by knowing 8 employee expectations in 2024 and how you can meet them.
Entering the new year provides an opportunity to take stock of your work team. It’s always important to ask what exactly the employee expectations are for supervisors, colleagues, and the organization itself. A lot can change over the course of 12 months, so it’s essential for employers and employees to have open and honest conversations about their needs, expectations and requirements. This is the best way to ensure that employees have everything they need to perform at their best, and deliver the work that will keep the company on the path to success.
8 Employee Expectations in 2024
- Salary increase
- Flexible scheduling
- Better working conditions
- Remote and hybrid work options
- Strong employer brand
- Boosted team spirit
- Greater diversity
- More rest
Salary Increase
Everyone thinks about money, and worries about bills and financial obligations. One of the main reasons that employees leave their jobs for a new role is for better pay and benefits. The good news is that salaries did increase in 2023, but not at a pace that matches the rate of inflation. The inflation rate across Canada for 2023 averaged just under 4%. Coupled with cost-of-living increases and related expenses at record highs, many working professionals are thinking about a few extra dollars in their bank accounts.
When it comes to negotiating a salary increase, employers and employees must come to a common understanding. There has to be a balance between running a successful business and paying employees their worth. With the increased emphasis on salary transparency, the conversations around pay will only become more open and honest. With a salary increase among the most common employee expectations in 2023, employers will have to make an extra effort to keep the best employees at their company.
Flexible Scheduling
Given the increased emphasis on a proper work-life balance coupled with the different working arrangements that have become much more common in the past few years, there is now a strong employee expectation of flexible scheduling. A flexible schedule allows employees to balance their professional and personal obligations without sacrificing either.
A way to put this into practice is to have a set number of hours employees are expected to work, but without firm start and end times. This allows employees to arrange their own schedules in a way that best suits them. For example, with flexible scheduling, parents can take their kids to school before starting work and stay a bit later to work the expected number of hours.
Flexible scheduling helps with unexpected events, such as doctor’s appointments. Employees can make their appointments and complete their work after without fear of a negative outcome in the workplace.
Better Working Conditions
A great job is only partially defined by salary. In 2024, employees expect improvement in the work environment and better working conditions overall. Multiple other factors can affect the work environment for employees and company leaders alike. These include employee health insurance, and additional benefits such as well-being programs and wellness initiatives, additional training, upskilling opportunities and fun team outings.
Better working conditions also mean creating an environment where people feel like they have a voice in the company. Their opinions and feedback need to lead to changes in the workplace. Employees want to feel supported and respected, with access to the tools and resources they need to perform at their best.
Remote and Hybrid Work Options
After millions of workers switched to remote work during the pandemic, a significant number found that these alternative arrangements worked better for their personal and professional lives. They found they could create a better work-life balance, meeting professional goals while still spending time with friends and family.
In 2024, employees expect the option for remote and hybrid working arrangements to continue. In fact, 83% of the global workforce considers hybrid working to be their ideal working arrangement. Many employees will consider leaving their jobs to work at a company that offers remote and hybrid working options. If businesses want to retain their best employees, they need to offer hybrid work options.
Strong Employer Brand
People want to work for a company that is having a positive impact on society. Employees will expect their employers to work for the betterment of the community and those around them. Nobody wants to imagine that they work for a cold, uncaring company that is only concerned for their financial bottom line at the expense of everything else.
A strong employer brand will help employees stay engaged and invested in the organization’s success. It will also help to attract and retain the most qualified new employees who seek out a company based on a strong reputation. Companies need to make real efforts to positively affect their community and its members and encourage employees to get involved in these efforts.
Boosted Team Spirit
Team spirit speaks to many factors contributing to the workplace’s atmosphere. Employee expectations in 2024 include a work environment and company culture based on respect and support. They want the opportunity to form real bonds with their colleagues, not simply being walled off in different work areas with no sense of connection.
Boosting team spirit can be more difficult with remote teams, but people learned to build these virtual connections through the pandemic and the following years. Company leaders and managers need to make extra effort to help remote work teams form strong professional bonds and address any negative issues before they affect the spirit of the workplace. Even something as simple as holding regular virtual meetings that provide opportunities for relaxed communication and learning can be a great way to boost team spirit.
Greater Diversity
Diverse workplaces are better workplaces. A workforce with a wide variety of experiences, backgrounds and viewpoints will be able to approach a problem from many different angles and work together to find the best solution. Given the global connections available to most businesses, employees expect a corporate culture that prioritizes diversity, incorporates new voices and allows them to participate in a global workforce.
With many organizations offering remote and hybrid working options, it opened each workplace to a global pool of talent. A skilled programmer in Toronto can now work with a talented graphic designer in Singapore, or anywhere else for that matter. Employees want organizations to find the people with the right skills to take the team to new levels of success, regardless of physical location.
More Rest
Employee burnout is very real and continues to affect workers in all industries. Even with all the benefits of remote work, it is true that learning how to navigate blurred professional and personal lines continues to result in exhausted employees. One of the most important employee expectations is for employers to recognize the signs and causes of burnout, and take steps to prevent it from occurring or worsening.
One of the best ways to avoid employee burnout is to ensure that they have adequate time away from work to rest and recharge. This can be achieved by offering paid time off, and encouraging employees to actually use. Even people working remotely need to take a vacation and clear their minds from work. Employers can also offer quiet areas in the workplace for employees to take breaks, and refrain from checking beyond the contractually-mandated working hours. When employees have the time they need to rest properly, they will be able to return to work with the energy and enthusiasm to keep the entire organization successful.
Employee expectations continue to grow and evolve, mirroring the changing reality of the workplace and the job market. While financial compensation and other benefits remain a top expectation, most employees just want the resources and support needed to maintain a strong work-life balance and function healthily in their professional and personal lives. If employers want to retain their best team members and recruit the most qualified job applicants, they must be willing to address and satisfy employee expectations in 2024 and beyond.
Vous souhaitez lire une version française de cet article? Cliquez ici.
