Business

Gartner Report: Employees Confident in Economy But Less Motivated at Work

Gartner’s most recent quarterly Global Talent Monitor report suggests that fewer employees are pushing themselves to go above and beyond at the office.

Does it seem like some members of your staff are less willing to put in the extra mile at work? Hopefully that’s not the case, but if it is, you’re not alone.

A new report from Gartner, which recently rebranded from CEB, finds that in the fourth quarter of 2017, a modest 19.7 percent of U.S. employees said they were willing to go above and beyond on the job. According to the Global Talent Monitor report, released last week, that’s a more than 3 percent decrease in discretionary effort from the prior quarter. (On the plus side, that percentage was significantly above the global percentage of 15.8 percent.)

The report, based on a quarterly survey of more than 22,000 employees in 40 countries, also found that workers globally are less likely to stick around in their current job (33.7 percent said they have a high level of intent to stay), though the U.S. has a higher percentage than other countries (44.1 percent, a small decline from the third quarter).

These employee attitudes are being driven by a high level of confidence in economic conditions, reaching a seven-year high, the report says. With discretionary effort and intent to stay both slipping, the report suggests that employers need to focus on boosting employee morale by giving workers a reason to stay excited about their jobs.

“Prevent top talent from looking elsewhere for new work by improving their internal job perceptions,” the report recommends. “Push career opportunities to employees based on their interests and aspirations, and target passive internal candidates by building opportunities before they become dissatisfied and look elsewhere.”

At the same time, employers are still facing recruitment challenges.

“As U.S. companies scale and evolve, recruiters at these organizations are experiencing major challenges in attracting new talent,” Gartner HR Practice Leader Brian Kropp explained in a news release. “Workers are remaining passive in their job searches, which makes it harder to pull people away from their existing companies.”

Check out more insights from the report, including a variety of infographics, at Gartner’s CEB website.

(AntonioGuillem/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

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