The Challenges of Returning to the Workplace after the Health Crisis.

Welcoming Back

While the issue of health conditions for employees’ return is at the heart of every organization’s concerns today, there remains another apprehension, more subtle, more complex, and therefore difficult to articulate: that of their re-engagement.

If, as initial feedback from the field suggests, employees have new expectations regarding their work, how then can a professional environment be created that makes them want to re-engage?

To attempt to answer this question, P’OP conducted a new survey designed to uncover employees’ new expectations, to understand what has changed to anticipate their return, while also questioning the value systems of different generations.

Talent Volatility on the Decline

The first indicator of this 3^rd survey reveals that 27% of employees, across all generations, intend to leave their current job. Compared to the two previous surveys in 2016 and 2017, this indicator shows a decrease of nearly 30%. If we consider only representatives of Generation ‘Y’ (born between 1978 and 1995), Turnover Gamers, only 30.7% now dream of new horizons. We are far from the 60.5% who claimed it in 2016!

This first indicator is, of course, inherent to the ‘crisis effect’! In this period of doubt and uncertainty, the need for security becomes one of the primary needs to be met.

New Meanings Are Emerging

The second telling indicator is related to the question: ‘After the health crisis of recent weeks, have your professional aspirations changed?’

The answer is yes for 46.7% of respondents!

Leading the way are representatives of Generations ‘X’ (born between 1966 and 1977) and ‘Y’ (born between 1978 and 1995) at 49.5% for each. They are followed by 41% of New Joiners, those from Generation ‘Z’ (born between 1995 and 2012) who have just started! Finally, 38% of Baby Boomers (born between 1945 and 1965) agree with this opinion.

This score is all the more telling as it clearly informs us about these new aspirations. If we consider the average rate, across all generations, their ranking is as follows:

1. To invest myself in a company whose values align with mine (50%);
2. To work closer to home (45%);
3. To reduce my working hours, even if I earn less (40%);
4. To get involved in actions that have an environmental impact (28%);
5. To change career path (21%);

The Meaning of Work Has Changed!

As revealed by our 2016 survey on ‘Generation Y Turnover,’ a crisis of meaning existed within companies long before the lockdown. This simply propelled us into the world of Millennials by forcing us to question what work means to us today.

This Momentum gives companies a unique opportunity: to re-engage their employees without frantically trying to retain the ‘best.’ The first simple action to take is to listen: listen to understand the emerging needs of employees upon their return. The second could be to innovate: invent a new tempo to propose new time arrangements, new schedules. And finally, the third action should aim to enlighten. Enlighten dormant talents so that everyone can once again enjoy the pleasure of learning and growing.

Three simple and powerful first steps to take, so that next spring we can together celebrate these breakthroughs and our progress!

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Thank you to the 866 respondents for participating in this survey!

If you wish to understand what has changed within your teams, among your employees, to anticipate their return, the ‘enterprise version’ of the survey in English and French is available.

Contact us!

Understanding what has changed to anticipate employees’ return is a priority today!