The impact of the pandemic, the uncertain economic environment, and the burnout experienced by nearly two-thirds (60%) of Australian knowledge workers in the last year, have irrevocably changed what employees want from their leaders, according to new Slack research.
The study, Leadership and the war for talent, based on a survey of over 1,000 Australian knowledge workers, found that stability (51%) and having a good manager (29%) are now more important than salary (28%) when it comes to choosing the company they work for.
Survey respondents also identified teamwork and collaboration (47%), flexible work (38%), employee wellbeing (37%), and transparent and trustworthy leadership (36%) as the top factors driving organisational success – all valued more highly than financial achievement (28%). When it comes to flexible working, over half of respondents (58%) said they want to be trusted to do their job regardless of location or the hours worked.
With nearly half of Aussie knowledge workers surveyed considering moving jobs in the next year (45%), and 12% admitting to ‘quiet quitting’ – fulfilling the requirements of their job but not going above and beyond – it’s critical that leaders act to ensure their own leadership style isn’t having a negative impact on the engagement and motivation of their employees. This means focusing more on soft or ‘power’ skills – human-centred, interpersonal skills related to areas such as collaboration, social and emotional intelligence; analysing the time employees are spending on unproductive tasks; exploring ways to elevate productivity with collaborative technology; and figuring out how to meet the varying expectations of employees from different generations, who prefer to work in different ways.
Nicole Woodley, Country Manager, Australia and New Zealand, Slack said, “The rhythm of work already had an irregular heartbeat before the pandemic – we just weren’t aware of how much time we were, and still are, spending on non-productive tasks. We are continuing to go through one of the biggest workplace experiments in the last 100 years as we move from offices to hybrid work, and see factors like trust, wellbeing and soft skills take on as much meaning as financial success and salary. The rewards are clear – greater productivity, a reduction in burn out and better staff retention. We are not at our final destination yet, and what this survey revels are key areas where leaders can get on the front foot.”
Poor leadership leads to burnout, quiet quitting
The research draws a clear link between poor leadership and a dip in employee morale and productivity. Only half of the respondents say they feel ‘inspired’ by their leaders (53%), and the same number deem leaders as ‘stuck in their ways’. Worryingly, just over a third (39%) do not feel their leader is concerned for their psychological safety.
‘Quiet quitting’ is strongly linked to poor leadership as well. Those with poor managers are far more likely to feel burnt out (75% as compared to 54% for good leaders), and ‘quiet quit’ (27% compared to 6%).
According to the study, employees with poor or average leaders feel they have much less of a voice than if they had good leaders (80% as compared to 23%). Similarly, these employees also feel they have less autonomy (48% vs. 74% amongst those with good leaders), less of a good culture (23% vs. 78%) and that there is more of a disconnect between leaders and employees (79% vs. 46%).
Collaboration technology as potential ‘power tools’ for boosting leadership
The Slack study showed a strong correlation between those respondents that hold their leaders in high regard and those whose leaders embrace the use of collaborative technology. Interestingly, these respondents were also identified as being highly connected to their organisations. Contrastingly, those respondents who deemed their leaders as technology laggards in this area are also more likely to quit their job.
Nearly two-thirds of Aussie knowledge workers surveyed saw collaboration tools as being of utmost importance to their organisation (65%). The key benefits that respondents attributed to collaborative technology included being more productive (65%), getting information to the right people quickly (41%), improving communication with leadership (31%), and speeding up the implementation of projects (31%).
When it comes to implementing collaboration tools, two-fifths gave low scores to the quality of the training received (42%). In addition, only a third of leaders were seen to lead by example when it comes to adoption (30%), with 13% of leaders using collaborative technology less than others, or never or hardly ever using the new tools themselves. Where this happens, 31% of respondents say it makes their job more challenging.
The real reason Aussie knowledge workers don’t have enough hours in the day
Looking at the amount of non-productive time that Aussie knowledge workers say they are spending on routine and often mundane tasks, the potential value of collaboration tools on organisational success becomes more pronounced.
For example, nearly a third feel it takes them too long to find information (30%), with over a quarter of this group estimating they spend an hour or more a day on this task. A quarter shared that they were found to be spending too much time on internal processes (26%), with over half of this group saying they are spending between 30 minutes and an hour a day on these.
Mind the generation gap
The survey shows significant generational differences in employees in Australia in terms of what they expect from their leaders, making it clear that people management is not a one-size-fits-all.
- Gen Z are aspirational, being the most likely to seek workplace flexibility (54%), as well as transparent and trustworthy, and empathetic leaders (43% and 34% respectively). While they are more likely to be inspired by leadership (63%), they are the most likely to be burnt out (68%) and to churn (53%).
- Millennials are highly focused on wellbeing (39%). While they are the least likely to want recognition and celebration of success, they are the most likely to feel a disconnect between leaders and employees (57%), and have the highest levels of job dissatisfaction (19%). This group leans in the most to the use of collaboration tools (69%).
- Gen X are also greatly concerned with wellbeing (39%), and the most likely to want a great employee experience (39%). They are also the most likely to state that they want recognition (27%). However, they are the least likely to say leaders communicate well (57%), to find their leaders inspirational (45%), and to see their leaders as caring for their psychological safety (56%). They are the least interested in innovation (13%) and least likely to say they enjoy new collaboration tools being introduced (49%).
- Baby Boomers are middle of the road on most things, but are particularly favourable towards having clear KPIs (22%) and accountability frameworks (19%), and to have a clear level of autonomy in their work.
Cooling down the burnout
The research also showed some clear differentiation between what Aussie knowledge workers in different industries are feeling and looking for:
- IT & Tech: Respondents from the Tech sector gave the highest scores to their managers for being competent (73%) and communicating well (75%). Although not inspirational (51%), it could be said that IT leaders are seen to lead by example. Perhaps as a result, IT workers are one of the groups least likely to say they felt burnt out (48%).
- Financial Services: Notably much less focused on teamwork and collaboration (38%) and wellbeing (31%) as being the keys to success, respondents from the banking sector were also the most likely to want more meaning in their job (71%). They also reported some of the highest rates of burnout (64%) and quiet quitting (11%).
- Retail: Retail workers reported the lowest levels of confidence in their leaders and are one of the most dissatisfied with their jobs, most of which are likely to be on-site. They are also most likely to participate in quiet quitting (15%). They want greater focus on wellbeing (39%), empathetic leaders (27%) and a great employee experience (30%).
- Government: Far fewer respondents see their leaders as competent (31%) or concerned for workers’ psychological safety (36%). This sector by far had the highest number of workers very likely to churn (46%) and quiet quit (18%), although the sense of burn out was lower than other industries (47%).
A new perspective on the office
While employees are increasingly working from home, the office environment is still valued, the Slack study found. When asked what workers felt the office was best suited for, Aussie knowledge workers cited social connection (40%), team building (39%), welcomes and farewells (34%), collaboration and brainstorming (30%), and one-on-one meetings (30%). Activities like progress updates (16%), planning sessions (16%), and company town halls (12%) were perceived as less critical to be held in an office. This suggests that a lot of time can be potentially saved by conducting these activities virtually using collaborative technology.
Research methodology Slack’s new research, conducted by Honeycomb Strategy, was based on responses from 1,000+ Australian knowledge workers within organisations of 100+ employees. You can view the full report here: Leadership and the war for talent.