Employees seek people-centric workplaces as cultural shift continues, survey finds

The pandemic triggered an upheaval in the workplace that continues to be felt around the world.

“Workplace cultures have seismically shifted over the past three years, and there are no signs of letting up,” said Gary Beckstrand, vice president of the O.C. Tanner Institute. “Organizations, especially those with large populations of frontline employees, need to work closely with their teams to create thriving workplace cultures — where all want to come, do their best work and stay — in the face of ongoing change.”

O.C. Tanner recently released its 2024 Global Culture Report, which examines the current state of the workplace based on data from more than 42,000 employees, leaders, HR practitioners and executives from 27 countries. The research showed that people-centric solutions are the ones that win and endure; every employee wants to feel seen and valued; and resilience must exceed surviving the next challenge. Among the other key findings:

• Just more than one-fourth of leaders feel strongly prepared to help their people navigate change. Employees who perceive that their leaders have the tools to help them manage change are five times more likely to feel a sense of community; six times more likely to thrive at work; 10 times more likely to feel a strong sense of trust; and 76% less likely to experience burnout. Moreover, when leaders have the tools to help employees manage change, their own risk of burnout decreases by 73%.
• When employees have a voice in organizational changes, there are greater odds of belief that the organization is people-centric. Employees have greater feelings of trust, community and thriving at work. However, fewer than 6 in 10 employees believe their leaders’ expressions of empathy are accompanied by meaningful action and support, and only the same percentage of organizations take action to improve after receiving employee feedback.
• The five contributing factors to creating equitable flexibility are leadership support, organizational support, employee empowerment, work choice and time management. When flexibility is equitable, odds are eight times greater that employees want to stay another year.
• Although workers universally want flexibility for themselves, nearly 7 in 10 believe it also should be available to every employee regardless of role. However, only about half (57%) say their culture supports flexibility in every job. Odds of burnout increase fivefold when employees are dissatisfied with the level of flexibility at work.

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“Beyond an abundance of quality research that helps us better understand employee experiences worldwide, the 2024 Global Culture Report findings provide a reason for hope,” said Mindi Cox, the company’s chief people and marketing officer. “We have a variety of crucial issues to attend to, but we’re seeing conditions and calculations with promise — numbers that translate into confidence that small shifts in the way organizations manage change, build skills, act with empathy and develop resilience can create healthier workplace cultures.”