Finding 3
Employees feel generally positive about work, ranking fairness as their top concern for a good employee experience.
Relational and social aspects of work, such as fairness, belonging, and trust, are becoming more important as organizations tune into the employee experience. We found that employees are generally positive and feel good about the contributions they are making. However, they surfaced fairness as an important value — which should be instructive as employers examine their performance management processes for equity and bias.
Relational and social aspects of work, such as fairness, belonging, and trust, are becoming more important as organizations tune into the employee experience. We found that employees are generally positive and feel good about the contributions they are making. However, they surfaced fairness as an important value — which should be instructive as employers examine their performance management processes for equity and bias.
The “softer” aspects of work have become dramatically more important in recent years as companies reorient around employee well-being and inclusion, and as purpose and corporate responsibility become essential parts of the employee value proposition. The transition to hybrid and remote work and the impact of Gen Z workers are likely also factors in these shifts.
Since the pandemic, companies have focused on areas like employee experience, DEI, and trust. While new economic forces have tempered some companies’ reactions to The Great Reshue, the labor market is still tight in most industries, and the competition for talent will likely continue as population trends assert themselves.
Employees are feeling productive and positive overall
- 56%
- 42%
- 38%
- 38%
- 36%
- 35%
- 26%
- 13%
We have seen a growing emphasis from companies on offering a better employee deal — which incorporates not only total rewards but skills development, purpose, culture, financial well-being, health and wellness, and more.
We asked employees how they felt about work, and there was much good news. A plurality said they felt productive, confident, engaged, and even optimistic.
This positivity from employees may come as a surprise to those who are only tuned into calls for improvement. Organizations should take this as a good sign overall.
Employees are feeling productive and positive overall
- 56%
- 42%
- 38%
- 38%
- 36%
- 35%
- 26%
- 13%
We have seen a growing emphasis from companies on o ering a better employee deal — which incorporates not only total rewards but skills development, purpose, culture, financial well-being, health and wellness, and more.
We asked employees how they felt about work, and there was much good news. A plurality said they felt productive, confident, engaged, and even optimistic.
This positivity from employees may come as a surprise to those who are only tuned into calls for improvement. Organizations should take this as a good sign overall.
Only 37% of employees always feel they belong and are valued at work
Sometimes
Always
Rarely/Never
Employees still see room for improvement nonetheless: only 37% said they always feel they belong and are valued at work.
When we asked employees what was most important to their experience, fairness topped the list, followed, unsurprisingly, by culture.
Given our observations in Findings 1 and 2 — with regard to a lack of confidence in performance reviews and perceptions of bias in performance management — it’s easy to see how fairness has bubbled to the top of employees’ concerns in 2023.
We did not ask employees to define fairness in this report, but given the findings across the rest of this data, we can reasonably surmise that perceptions of fairness include elements of equity (in both access and pay), trust, inclusion, elimination of bias, the inclusion of more voices, and delivery of the promises made by the evolving employee deal.
We did not ask employees to define fairness in this report, but given the findings across the rest of this data, we can reasonably surmise that perceptions of fairness include elements of equity (in both access and pay), trust, inclusion, elimination of bias, the inclusion of more voices, and delivery of the promises made by the evolving employee deal.
We can reasonably surmise that perceptions of fairness include elements of equity (in both access and pay), trust, inclusion, elimination of bias, the inclusion of more voices, and delivery of the promises of the employee deal.
Read our recommendation
3
Examine processes and behaviors that undermine fairness.
With fairness, inclusion, belonging, and trust so intertwined — and elemental — to the employee experience, it behooves HR leaders to examine the processes and behaviors that undermine these in an organization. This includes reviewing your performance management approach with your workforce to determine if and how it is viewed as unfair and biased, especially when it comes to how you enable career growth. If you don’t already have one, institute a calibration process that’s fair and rates everybody the same way for similar types of achievements and behaviors. The right technology will allow you to easily peer into your data to uncover sources of hidden bias. The results may require making adjustments to your performance management processes or they may lead you to consider overhauling them all together. The time to act is now, while employees are generally feeling positive.
