Canadian HR Reporter

NEWS BRIEFS Half of HR professionals believe their organization expends a lot of effort on enhancing the employee experience. In addition, almost two-thirds think that HR, top leaders and immediate supervisors are all responsible for the employee experience at their workplace, according to a survey of 273 HR professionals primarily located in North America by the HR Research Institute. The initiatives that employees value most for improving their experience, according to HR, include career development (57 per cent), learning and development (57 per cent), recognition programs (42 per cent), manager and leadership development (42 per cent) and mentoring and coaching (41 per cent). One-third of HR people say continuous performance management is also important to employees, while one in four cite employee feedback. As far as factors that hinder their organizations from enhancing employee experience, six in 10 HR professionals name budget constraints, and almost one- half cite insufficient buy-in from senior managers. Only 15 per cent say there is no clear business case for it. More than one in five U.S. workers have no paid sick days, according to a survey. However, almost six in 10 either agree or strongly agree that they are getting an adequate amount of sick time each year, found the online poll of 950 Americans by ResumeNow, a provider of assistance in writing resumes. The U.S. has no federally regulated amount of paid sick days, but 26 per cent of workers say they have between two and five sick days each year and another 25 per cent have six to 10 days. A lucky six per cent have 20 or more sick days available each year. U.S. WORKERS CONTENT WITH SICK TIME HR PLAYS BIG ROLE IN EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE 65% More than half of Canadian workers say they feel physically or emotionally exhausted from the pandemic, a survey has found. Seven in 10 workers across five countries say they have significantly changed they way they work, found the O.C. Tanner Institute survey of 2,947 workers in Australia, Canada, India, the U.K. and the U.S. Only two per cent of people working from home during the pandemic want to return to the office on a full-time basis, according to a survey. And six out of 10 would look for a new job if they had to stop working remotely, found the global survey of 2,181 people by FlexJobs. While the majority are content with the sick time they receive, nearly one in five say their entitlement isn't enough, and one in four are neutral on the subject. Four in 10 people say they never falsely call in sick, but a similar number say they do this up to five times per year. Fifteen per cent call in sick when they're feeling fine five to 10 times and another three per cent do so more than 10 times over the course of the year. Nearly six in 10 respondents who are new mothers say they avoided calling in sick due to pregnancy symptoms or complications. 49% Exposure and infection 46% Less flexibility 46% Less work-life balance 34% Office politics and distractions Remote workers want to stay home New sources of stress for workers CAUSES OF STRESS FOR WORKERS TOP CONCERNS ABOUT RETURN TO WORKPLACE TOP ISSUES IMPACTING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE • 44.2% Working remotely • 44% Taking on more work • 40.2% Caring for or checking in on loved ones • 30.1% Caring for school-aged children • 26.7% Loss of business or clients 38% 45% 51% 47% Ability to grow at an organiza- tion Positive culture without toxic behaviours Trust in leadership Having a voice that's heard 14 www.hrreporter.com M A R K E T N E W S

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