U.K. Businesses Are Feeling the Pressure to Compete for Talent

U.K. employers are facing some challenges in retention as 27.2 percent of U.K. employees in 1Q18 reported a high intent to stay with the organization, down 5.5 percent from the same period last year, according to Gartner.

The latest Global Talent Monitor report shows that the U.K. had the fourth largest decrease after France, Singapore and Germany. Those that are at the highest risk of leaving are those aged between 18-29 and 30-39 who have completed an MBA.

Almost half of U.K. employees also report indifference to going ‘above and beyond’ with their daily professional duties, with discretionary effort in Britain lower than in the U.S., Russia. South Africa and Italy. However showing more effort than France, Japan, Germany and China.

The biggest attraction-drivers for U.K. job seekers are location (53.5 percent), vacation (43 percent), work-life balance (41.9 percent), camaraderie (41.4 percent) and produce or service quality (41.4 percent). Work-life balance has always been top of mind for U.K. employees, however it dropped off first position in 1Q18 with location taking the lead as the biggest attraction for potential candidates.

In regard to discretionary effort (an employee’s willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty), 13.6 percent of employees in the U.K. report showing high discretionary effort, and another 42.6 percent are leaning toward high effort. While high discretionary effort is down slightly from the international level of 15.2 percent, U.K. discretionary effort has not changed significantly over the last year.