Stagnation drivers

What's causing this recent trend of immobility?

Employee mindset

Despite over half (53%) of organisations saying they look to help employees in their career with assessments of skills and capabilities, workforces have become increasingly stagnant in recent years.

Our Europe-wide research found that just 18% of employees have changed jobs within their organisation since 2020. But what’s arguably more concerning, is the fact that only 18% of employees are considering changing their role within the same organisation in the next two years. People are exhibiting an overwhelming resistance to career mobility, and our latest research suggests that mindset is playing a key role.

>1 in 5

of employees are considering a role change within the same organisation
in the next two years

Our own beliefs and attitudes, especially in relation to our ability and potential, can heavily influence the way we operate at work.

Individuals with a growth mindset are resilient, embrace failure and are constantly looking for ways to learn and improve. Whereas a fixed mindset leaves people reluctant to try new things, and with a view that setbacks are evidence that they lack innate ability. Unfortunately, it appears a significant proportion of the workforce are struggling to move from a fixed mindset standpoint to one of growth.

28% of employees fear failure and setbacks at work
31% don’t like change and prefer to stick with what they know
30% would feel apprehensive about any changes to their role and responsibilities

In an unpredictable and often volatile world of work, agility is essential to success. However, businesses cannot adapt and grow without their people being willing to do the same. So should leaders be doing more to facilitate the necessary mindset shift in their teams, before employee rigidity leads to organisational failure?

Failing to look ahead

That said, the impetus behind employee mobility and growth never rests entirely on the individual. Organisations must do their part as well, which is where many appear to be falling short. Yes, 53% are using assessments to support careers, but what about the other 47%? Our recent European research also found that just 7.6% of organisations are focused on developing a workforce that can adapt to changes and be flexible. Combine this with the fact that businesses are now going through an average of 10 change projects per year, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster.

The rate at which the world is changing means we can’t necessarily predict what skills and qualities will be needed for success in five years’ time. What organisations can and should do, is support workforce agility by looking beyond immediate performance data, and instead focusing on individual potential, to inform targeted development support.

However, when we asked leaders what they have in place to build skills and help employees become more agile and ready for change, less than half said they provide access to assessments (43%) or coaching (47%). And even more worrying, is that 1 in 10 said they have no support in place at all. This lack of investment in employee development then influences the way people perceive their employer – with 57% saying they believe their company places more importance on performance than potential.

"Focusing not just on employees’ performance, but also
on their career aspirations and potential, is crucial to
enabling workforce agility and ensuring long-term success.”

Pippa Cronk, Senior Consultant, Right Management

The psychological contract between employee and employer should never be underestimated. To remain competitive, businesses need their people to want to step outside of their comfort zones and seek continuous improvement.

But if organisations fail to invest in their people or to even discuss ‘potential’, where’s the incentive for individuals and teams to truly stretch themselves? And is it possible for employers to then retrospectively rectify this stalemate?

Resistance from leadership

With employers and their people at somewhat of an impasse, organisations are increasingly looking to data to help – with over half (55%) of leaders saying they use assessments to generate insight into their employees every six months or more often. However, having the data will only take you so far, as shown by the fact that our Europe-wide report discovered that just 33% of respondents believe their organisation is effective at using data in workforce planning.

Being able to take hard data and transform it into workforce insights is a critical organisational skill, enabling businesses to invest their development budget where it matters and make informed talent decisions. Unfortunately, our latest research suggests many organisations lack this ability and are therefore resistant to using data.

When we asked leaders how they use assessments in their organisation, only 33% said they use them to invest development budgets on the right talent. On top of this, a combined 42% said they view assessment data as completely unnecessary or “nice to have”, but not as an essential component of talent management. This ignorance towards the value of data driven insights is without a doubt contributing towards the ongoing stagnation issues seen in workforces across Europe.

66%

of organisations are ineffective at using data to support workforce planning

With the speed at which the world of work is changing, employers need to be supporting the upskilling of their workforce to futureproof their organisation. Data has the power to aid this initiative, but only when used correctly.

It is something to be leveraged, not simply collected for peace of mind. It's all well and good being able to say you have data on your people, but what’s the point if leaders aren’t then using it to inform employee development and career progression?

A problematic collective perspective

When businesses fail to recognise the true power of data driven insights, they’ll often turn to assessments too late – using them remedially in an attempt to fix a problem, as opposed to proactively as a tool to support workforce growth.

This is shown clearly by the fact 65% of respondents to our Europe-wide survey said they primarily use assessments as a lever to retain talent; which begs the question: if assessments are only ever deployed to help leaders decide which employees they should let go or keep, what message does that send to your workforce?

Perception is a powerful thing. Once employees have begun to associate assessments with negative connotations, it can be hard to change this view. In fact, 26% employees said they would feel concern if asked to take an assessment at work, viewing it as a signal that they’d been identified as an underperformer.

1 in 4

employees hold a negative
association toward assessments

At this point, even if leaders are looking to use assessments to support workforce development and mobility, they’ll likely struggle to generate the required engagement and uptake for a positive ROI. When employees lack trust in their employer’s motivations, they’re far more likely to demonstrate resistance.

In the end, the way in which businesses use career interventions will heavily determine the success they have in supporting their people. Proactive and regular use of assessments can support a culture of learning and growth. But what can leaders do if there’s already a collective perspective that assessments are only ever used to put out fires, and are now something be feared?