Employees are hungry for inspiration in the workplace, according to a global report.
About three-quarters (74%) of employees want their experience at work to feel inspiring, and 69% are actively looking for ways to gain new ideas or a new perspective from something they read or hear from others.
Despite this, 33% of workers feel uninspired, and 30% do not want to be working for their current employer a year from now.
Only 16% are thriving in their roles.
“Amid economic uncertainty, changing market expectations, and rapidly expanding technologies, employees are experiencing an epidemic of hopelessness about their futures,” says Gary Beckstrand, vice-president of the O.C. Tanner Institute, which did the report.
When it comes to adapting to workplace culture in Canada, hiring managers and job seekers simply cannot agree, according to a previous Express Employment Professionals report. And nearly 30% of hiring managers across Canada anticipate that staff turnover will increase before the year’s end, noted another Express study.
Why is inspiration important in the workplace?
There is a need to transform the workplace from a place of depletion into a source of inspiration as employees battle the mounting pressures of modern life, according to O.C. Tanner Institute’s survey of 38,929 employees, leaders, HR practitioners, and executives across 23 countries.
“Through our research, we found that the antidote to hopelessness is inspiration, and organisations can transform hope into an active process through strong leadership support and purposeful recognition,” says Beckstrand.
The report notes that employers can introduce a structure more conducive to inspiration by:
- Giving employees time and opportunities to experiment and learn
- Creating a team culture where employees feel safe to try new ideas and even fail
- Sharing ideas with employees and suggesting they share with each other
- Encouraging collaboration
- Being as open and transparent as possible
Making this move brings a lot of positives in the workplace, according to the report.
In fact, when leaders are intentional about these actions, employees are 17 times more likely to try new things at work. The odds that employees will feel their leader is inspiring increase 12 times. Inspiring leaders also increase the odds employees will feel a strong connection to them (17 times), their team (9 times), and the organisation (12 times).
One area employers can focus on is employee recognition, according to the O.C. Tanner Institute.
Currently, a large majority of employees say recognition inspires them, whether they receive it personally (73%) or hear about the accomplishments of others (65%).
And organisations with integrated recognition have a strong advantage: employees who are seven times more likely to feel inspired to try new things at work.
Recognition is most effective when it is frequent, personal, and genuine.
“Leaders should know how each employee prefers to be recognised and clearly state the person’s contribution and impact on the team or organisation,” O.C. Tanner recommends.
“Involve peers and even family in recognition presentations. When recognition is personalised, sincere, and given in a meaningful way that makes the employee feel truly appreciated, the odds the employee will find the recognition moment inspiring increase 14 times. And when recognition is inspiring…, the odds of several important outcomes improve.”
Employee recognition—not pay raises—is the missing link in employee engagement, accoridng to a previous report.