The American workplace is in a heightened state of flux. That’s the underlying message from Gallup in their most recent State of the American Workplace report.
The report highlights that organizations need to deeply reconsider how they are managing their workforces. Today’s employees are currently pushing organizations to break down traditional structures. Organizations are also not giving employees compelling reasons to stay and employee engagement remains low across industries.
State of the American Workplace compiled new analytics and advice on the changing workplace in the United States, using data collected from more than 195,600 U.S. employees via the Gallup Panel and Gallup Daily tracking in 2015 and 2016, more than 31 million respondents through Gallup’s Q12 Client Database, and insight from advising leading Fortune 1000 companies. This edition builds upon the last State of the American Workplace report, released in 2013.
“Most workers, many of whom are millennials, approach a role and a company with a highly defined set of expectations. They want their work to have meaning and purpose. They want to use their talents and strengths to do what they do best every day. They want their jobs to fit their life. And they are less interested in settling,” wrote Ed O’Boyle and Annamarie Mann about the report for Gallup.
According to O’Boyle and Mann, the employee-employer relationship is being rewritten. “There is a sense of urgency for leaders to define and convey their vision more clearly and to rally their employees around it. Leaders must decide what role they want to play in their organization — now, in the midst of change, and in the future. They can be passive bystanders or active participants in creating and guiding an exceptional workplace.”
