Bridging the Gap Between Employers and Employees

According to a study conducted by the ADP Research Institute entitled “Evolution of Work 2.0: The Me vs. We Mindset” there is still a big gap between employees and employers and these gaps are creating contradictory attitudes and behaviors.  

The report’s data is from 5,330 employees and 3,218 employers in global companies in 13 countries that has 50 or more employees.

The report revealed that majority of the employees still take pride in their work and still has a great loyalty to the company, contrary to the popular belief that corporate loyalty is on the decline. However, the report also showed that majority are open to a new job.

According to a Forbes article, Ahu Yildrimaz, ADP Research Institute Vice President of Market Insights, said that “the overall talent journey is not only about attracting but also about engaging and retaining.”

So, how to bridge the gap between employer expectations and employee qualifications? The ADP reports also suggested a few recommendations.

ADP’s first recommendation is to re-humanize the work experience. The report said that only a third of the workers in the US gave good ratings to their employers with regards to career development.

Yildirmaz said that one of the main reasons for this decline is because of the decreased allocation of training funds over the past decade. One of the ways on how HR/Manager to connect the gap between employees and employer is to abandon a one-size-fits-all strategy in managing talents. Employees sees this kind of approach as generic and impersonal.

Another recommendation is to stress the importance of employees’ work. According to the report, 82% of employees around the globe wants to be an integral part of their companies.

However, employees are having a hard time understanding their importance in the company because companies would make them feel like their jobs are just transactional. More so, employers are fail to see how this lack of recognition can lead to harmful effects for both the employee and the employer.

Among all the 13 countries that was surveyed in the report, data reveals that there are more employees who feel undervalued compared to what the employers believe.

Another recommendation made by the ADP is for employers to keep their hiring promises. 11 out of the 13 countries surveyed reveals that one of the main consideration of employees in job selection is the working hours.

Employees are often promised to be given a work-life balance but when they are onboard, they are made to work on weekends and respond to email even during their time off.

This tells us that there has been an increasing number of employees who value work-life balance. Yildirmaz said that the companies must deliver the promises they make during the attraction phase.

To conclude the study, the data reveals that in order to bridge the gap between employer and employee, companies must humanize the workplace.

As Yildirmaz emphasized, “Employers must engage their talent by supporting their development goals and creating cultures that foster meaningful human connections.”

Companies must look beyond the traditional HR approaches and devise a strategy that will tailor fit to the current characteristics of employees.

Employees are now more concerned about their career development and they want to feel that their value in the workplace.

Employees also wants to be treated humanely and not as a machine made to function mechanically for the benefit of the company.

If employers want to truly engage their employees into achieving the goals of the organization, then they must also look into how they can give their employees a sense of fulfillment.

Once the expectations of both employees and employers are aligned, then it will start closing out the gap leading to a stronger foundation for the company.