Why embracing career flexibility is the best decision for your staff

As aged care’s workforce demographics shift, it has never been more important for employers to embrace workplace flexibility and internal mobility. Survey results from Dayforce show that one-third of people looking for a new job want more flexibility and 49% believe a flexible work-life balance is one of the most important elements of a job. 

Younger workers, such as those in Generation Z and Alpha, will become a critical part of the aged care workforce over the coming years and value flexibility attributes the most. These generations are also ready and intent on using technology as an everyday tool to help them focus on the best parts of their job. 

“Despite gains in job flexibility, many employees still feel like they’re missing out in their current roles – 89% of the respondents of the Pulse of Talent report in Australia and New Zealand have felt stuck in their role in the past year,” Mark Souter, Director of Value Advisory for Asia Pacific and Japan at Dayforce said. 

“Today’s workers are looking for flexibility in their work schedules and workplaces, as well as in how they manage their careers. The opportunity to make lateral career moves was the most important predictor of employee retention, and 55% of respondents in ANZ would consider staying with their current employers if they were offered personalised growth plans and training opportunities.”

Staff don’t want to climb the ladder

Climbing the career ladder was once the goal of any ambitious worker: you hope to work your way up from an entry-level position to become CEO. Now, the glitz and glamour of career progression has dulled for many who want a healthy work-life balance. 

“One potential reason for this lack of interest in “climbing up the career ladder” is that burnout rates are higher at the upper ranks of the corporate ladder. The results of our Pulse of Talent survey show that burnout rates at upper management are concerning – 92% of senior leaders and 89% of middle managers experienced burnout last year,” Mr Souter added. 

“Another factor is representation. Lack of leadership diversity at a company would stop employees who identified as part of a minority from pursuing leadership roles within that organisation because they can’t see anyone else who has done the same. Diversity in leadership is important for organisations who struggle to find people who aspire to be leaders.”

The majority of Australian workers want career development plans that are aligned with their career aspirations. Examples include opportunities to grow and develop in their existing role or to transfer into another department where their skills can be a perfect fit. 

Unfortunately, barriers prevent many employees from accessing those opportunities. For some, they do not see a clear career path with their employer, while one in ten feel like they have no control over their career paths. 

“This means that they follow what is given to them, instead of empowering them to seek growth according to their desired skills and interests, which could be another factor contributing to burnout,” Mr Souter said.

“Another barrier is the difficulty of finding open roles in the organisation. This is partly a lack of awareness and visibility on what’s available within the company, especially since two-thirds of the employee respondents don’t see that other workers are moving to another team or department, and 42% said it’s difficult to look for open roles that might suit them.”

Physical barriers such as a manager’s reluctance over staff moving into another role or department are also common. 

Yet with 70% of organisations experiencing a labour shortage in the past year, and 87% expecting shortages to continue, aged care can’t risk the loss of workers seeking better opportunities. 

With more than 50% of workers willing to remain with an employer if they had a personalised growth plan, training opportunities or the chance to change career paths, internal mobility is a top choice. Internal mobility can minimise the influence of the external labour market, helping an organisation focus on existing talent.

“The benefits of internal mobility for organisations are clear. Workers are productive more quickly given they’re familiar with the workplace culture, the impact on hiring budgets is minimised, and it provides an opportunity to cultivate loyalty and retention across the organisation,” Souter said. 

Good outcomes for all parties

According to Dayforce’s 2023 Executive Survey, labour and skills shortages and employee engagement and retention are the two main challenges preventing organisations in all sectors from achieving their business goals and priorities. 

This was one of the reasons that prompted Uniting NSW.ACT to look at their people systems and processes. 

In a recent fireside chat, Dr. Anat Hassner, Chief People and Strategy Officer, said, “It is quite confronting to think about the service of caring for the people in need, but you don’t have the people do so. While recruitment of people in front-line roles is important, it’s also just as important to retain them. To retain them, you need to find ways to grow and develop them.”

Employers cannot afford to be understaffed, under-skilled or overspending on agency staff. Investing in a flexible work environment and internal mobility are two avenues to success. This can be achieved by:

1. Building a framework for internal mobility: True career flexibility involves options. Make opportunities easily available to those who seek new roles through technology, so employees can identify what fits their skills and interests. 
2. Prioritising learning and development: Make learning a daily part of the employee experience and provide personalised, actionable plans for all employees to sharpen and acquire skills and utilise this in matching them with roles that fit them. 
3. Fostering diversity in leadership: Gain insight into your organisation’s diversity profile through employee data, so you can determine the work that needs to be done. Ensure underrepresented groups have access to opportunities for career development and be intentional in succession planning to maintain future diversity in leadership.

An open approach to internal mobility can help reduce time-to-hire, decrease the strain on employees covering work for missing team members, and increase employee satisfaction without losing key staff.