Over 6.5 million people in the UK are expected to leave their job in the next year, indicating that those with the poorest job quality are the most likely to have an intention to quit
While better pay and benefits are key motivators to leave, people are also looking for increased job satisfaction and better work-life balance, which employers should use to curb the intention to quit amongst staff.
The CIPD Good Work Index – a survey of more than 6,000 UK workers – found that one in five workers (20%) say it’s likely they will quit their current role in the next 12 months in 2022, compared with 16% in 2021.
The CIPD and the University of Birmingham report that over 6.5 million people have the intention to quit their job in the next year across the UK, calling for employers to not treat pay increases as the main objective for keeping staff, but instead look at overall job quality by being more creative with job design, as well as people management practices.
The intention to quit has increased by 4% in the last year
Measuring job quality across seven different dimensions, The CIPD Good Work Index finds that at least six of these influence workers’ intention to quit:
- pay and benefits
- employment contracts
- work-life balance
- job design and the nature of work
- relationships at work
- health and wellbeing
Melanie Green, research adviser for the CIPD, said: “Too often employers focus on roles that already have higher job quality when they look to improve job quality and retain people, and quite often the focus is on pay alone. While pay is the main motivator for job moves, there are many reasons why people leave roles and numerous barriers preventing people from being able to leave.
“All jobs have the potential to be better and we should aspire to make good work a reality for everyone in the workforce. This means going beyond pay to think about how people’s roles are designed, how flexible their roles can be – in location or hours – supporting good health and wellbeing, and investing in employee development so they have the means to progress in their careers.
“The pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities and many issues persist. By taking a holistic look at the dimensions of good work, and bolstering people management practices, managers and employers can make a real difference to people’s working lives.”
What should employers consider doing to bring back employees?
Firstly, developing newer ways of working doesn’t always equate to better balance in workplaces. While hybrid workers tend to report higher levels of job quality than those who can’t work from home for any part of their role, they also appear to face the biggest difficulties in balancing work and life, including work-life spillover and working longer working hours than they’d prefer.
So, employers should look out for those looking for flexible work and those who prefer a more rigid structure.
“Addressing job quality has never been more central to getting the most out of the employer-employee relationship including supporting better work-life balance through improved workplace flexibility and employee well-being.”
Speaking of what employers should be doing, their impact makes a huge difference, as poor leadership is a factor in many job moves.
When asked why workers left their last organisation, one in five people (21%) gave ‘being unhappy with the leadership of senior management’ as a reason, rising to 30% for those who’ve changed jobs in the last 12 months.
Finally, a lack of development opportunities also keeps people trapped in low-paid roles. Those in jobs who don’t feel they can expand tend to have itchy feet and look elsewhere for better employment opportunities.
Only 39% of lower earners (those earning up to £20,000 per year) say their job offers good skill development opportunities, compared with 72% of higher earners (those earning £60,000 or above per year). And only 25% of lower earners say their job offers good career advancement prospects, compared with 51% of higher earners.
Only 25% of lower earners say their job offers good career advancement prospects
Dr Daniel Wheatley, of Birmingham Business School, said: “The last two years have been witness to unprecedented change in our working lives including the large-scale expansion of remote and hybrid working, growing uncertainty from periods of shutdown and furloughing of workers, and recent evidence of employees quitting their jobs captured in the moniker the ‘Great Resignation’ or ‘Great Rethink’.”
Wheatley continued: “While we find support for arguments that some recent job movements are a product of delays in job changes due to freezes on hiring during the pandemic, in our analysis of the CIPD’s latest UK Working Lives Survey data we find that one-fifth of workers surveyed stated that they may quit their job in the next 12 months and that the presence of lower job quality acts as a key driver of this intention to leave.
“Addressing job quality has never been more central to getting the most out of the employer-employee relationship including supporting better work-life balance through improved workplace flexibility and employee well-being.”
