German Employee Confidence Leads to More Active Job-Seeking

The number of employees in Germany reporting a high intent to stay with their current employer has fallen nearly 15 percentage points over the last three years, according to Gartner. Although the percentage of employees who report a low intent to stay remains flat, this signals a workforce that is open to new opportunities.

Data from Gartner’s 3Q18 Global Talent Monitor report shows a 3.2 percent increase in active job-seeking among Germany employees from 2Q18. Unfortunately for employers, while employees are increasingly seeking new jobs, they are also less willing to go above and beyond in their current role. The percentage of employees reporting high discretionary effort stayed flat at nearly 13 percent, slightly below the global average (14 percent).

“It’s become a candidate-driven market right now in Germany, which has never been the case here before, despite it being the norm in other countries,“ said Daniel Dirks, consulting director for the HR Practice in EMEA for Gartner. “The current talent shortage is empowering German employees to be selective about their next job, and their selectiveness doesn’t necessarily have to do with compensation.“

When asked how they feel about their pay at their current employer, 37 percent of German employees report being satisfied with their base salary compared with 34 percent among employees globally. Compensation is still an important factor for German employees when they join a new organization. Compensation came in as the top driver of attraction in Germany in the third quarter, followed by work-life balance and location.

With more German employees willing to leave their current roles and discretionary effort unchanged, employers must consider talent strategies aimed at better engaging their current employees while simultaneously attracting new talent. Those companies who do this effectively establish a strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that positively differentiates them from their competitors and focuses on what employees desire most including location, work-life balance, and career development opportunities.

“To build an engaged, productive workforce, employers must focus on those attributes that differentiate their employment brand from the competition,“ said Mr. Dirks. “By prioritizing those key issues through the development of a robust EVP, companies can reduce attrition rates, increase employee engagement levels, and provide what employees value most to attract and retain them. Our research has found that companies with high levels of employee engagement report financial results three times larger than organizations with lower engagement levels.“