WORKL’S 2022’s EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE REFLECTIONS & PROJECTIONS FOR 2023

A report published by WorkL on employee experience reveals its top five reflections of 2022 as well as its projections for 2023 when it comes to work-life.

WorkL’s Employee Experience Report 2022-23, has pulled data from its employee experience database- the world’s largest- over the last 12 months and also looked back to 2018 before the Covid pandemic to draw comparisons.  

The data is a result of WorkL’s Happy At Work Test, which is a free test to help individuals measure, track and improve their workplace happiness. The data reveals trendsacross 26 industries on over 27,000 organisations and has been analysed to reveal the following reflections of 2022:

1. Hybrid working – Flexible working is now not a ‘nice to have’ but a necessity for organisations looking to recruit top talent
2. Reward & Recognition– Financial reward is more important than ever given the current cost of living crisis. Employees score lower on Reward & Recognition than they did this time last year. Disabled employees in particular have had a 7% decrease year on year in feeling that they are recognised for the work that they do and 8% decrease in feeling fairly paid
3. The Great Resignation– This has been a widespread problem for employers looking to retain employees. Flight Risk peaked in November 2021 at 29% and has now dropped to 25%. Organisations must prioritise improving employee experience
4. Purpose-led careers– Employees working in Charities and Non-profit Organisations are currently the most engaged according to our best places to work list, with an engagement score of 77%, 8% above the global average. This is up by 4% compared to earlier in the year and indicates that employees working in purpose-led careers are more engaged in their job roles compared to employees in other industries. Employees value ‘communication’ as a high priority when asked how to improve their workplace engagement, demonstrating the requirement to communicate organisational purpose and nurture a sustainable workplace culture
5. Management engagement– For the first time we are seeing the gap between management and non-management engagement drop from 9% in March 2020 to just 3% in January 2022. The Confidence in Management Indicator demonstrates how crucial a good employee-management relationship is to overall performance by measuring questions on confidence in managerial relationships, plans and execution. The report demonstrates that confidence in management has dropped by 3% from 2020-22

Looking ahead to 2023, WorkL’s employee experience predictions include:

1. Creating a work culture– Nurturing a positive and sustainable workplace culture will be a top priority for employers over the next 12 months as the three-day week continues for many employees. The culture of a workplace has to be redefined and reignited
2. Employers will address the cost-of-living crisis– Whilst not all businesses will be able to increase pay during the next year there are other ways in which employers will support their workforce.  Businesses will explore non-monetary interventions, such as supporting employees with home insulation, providing financial Wellbeing programmes and employee hardship funds
3. Managers will benefit from increased certainty– The trend over the last year for low engagement levels for Management will stop as the Great Resignation slows in pace. More face-to-face interaction between Management and Non-Management will also benefit employee engagement levels for this demographic
4. Career development– As remote working continues and as Management teams are streamlined, more needs to be done to help the career development of individuals. WorkL’s ‘Instant Action Software’ ™ instantly analyses large complex data sets to pinpoint development areas, which are then followed with personalised action plans with uniquely tailored resources for Managers at all levels as well as team members, if required, to improve performance and development
5. Wellbeing at work will grow– Over the last 12 months there has been an increase in Wellbeing scores across the board. Employers will focus on continuing to balance office working and home working to help keep Wellbeing scores high

The Founder of WorkL, former Trade Minister and former Managing Director of Waitrose, Lord Mark Price, comments on the report’s predictions and reflections; “2022 was the year when we saw a major switch in industry happiness with the charity sector taking the title of happiest sector to work in for the first time, as purpose-led careers become a priority. It’s no surprise that pay has been a big driver this year and we expect this to continue into 2023, likewise with hybrid working which will continue to ensure that keep Wellbeing remains high.”

The full report is available to download here.