Towers Watson has released its Global Workforce Study (GWS) results for 2010. It comes in at a time when the relationships between employers and employees are evolving in fundamental ways. The “Deal” is changing. Here are some excerpts from the Global Executive Summary report:
- The desire for security and stability trumps everything else right now, in part because employees see security as a fast-disappearing part of the deal.
- Employees understand they are solely or chiefly responsible for ensuring their long-term financial and physical health and well-being as well as their career and performance — but have serious doubts about their ability to take on these roles.
- Mobility is at a decade-long low point — with significant numbers of employees sacrificing the prospect of career growth for a secure job right now.
- Confidence in leaders and managers is disturbingly low — particularly in terms of the interpersonal aspects of their respective roles.
The study sees a new employment relationship emerging based on three key inter-linked organizational themes:
- Fostering self-reliance on the part of employees
- Creating a more personalized work experience for segments of the workforce, aligned with how people add value to the business
- Strengthening agility and flexibility in the organization’s structure, processes, management style and delivery of workplace programs
Of course, there would be more nuances when you would look at individual country level results. And, I am sure local insights are on their way too. You can visit the Towers Watson’s GWS site to get latest updates as more and more insights are churned out from the data.