As a recruitment consultancy, you can often find us active on LinkedIn. Once a week or so, we run a poll. Some of these are just for fun, but a lot of them are trying to get a better sense of how we work.
After all, the better we understand the different ways people work, the better placed we are to match candidates with the perfect job role.
So what does the world of work look like in ERP and HRIS fields today?
Holiday Communication
We asked if people on our page check their work emails while on holiday. The answer was overwhelmingly yes – with 66% of our audience agreeing they do.
There’s been an argument for a few years now on the best way to manage email, and certainly, a number of you very much disagree with checking email outside of work hours. However, it seems as if the rise of actually useful email apps for smartphones has probably helped to tip the scales in one direction at last.
Working Weeks
With discussion in the news about Scotland potentially trialling a four-day working week, we wanted to see what the mood in the field might be.
The clear winner was a 4-day week with eight-hour days, which took 57% of the vote. In second place was a 4-day week with 10-hour days, keeping the same number of hours but concentrating them for an extra day off. Staying with the current situation took only 15% of the vote.
Obviously, the kind of weekday everyone would prefer is only one of the factors influencing decisions like these, but the message is clear – some kind of change is deeply wanted. It might be that a business willing to experiment could find the most attractive perk of all that way.
Counter Offers
It’s a topic close to our hearts – Joe Anderton recently put out a blog of his own looking at the topic – but as recruiters, it’s always interesting to see whether a candidate we’ve placed gets a counter-offer from their current employer or not.
We asked in September whether you’d ever accept a counter-offer, and this was another poll with a very clear winner. 58% of those who responded said they wouldn’t, almost certainly thinking along the same lines Joe raises in the blog. Only 42% of respondents would be willing to consider a counteroffer from their employer.
Why Move Company?
Joe’s been busy lately! As well as that blog, he made a poll of his own. Asking what would motivate you to change career or move company, his poll gets to the heart of what people are looking for to be satisfied at work.
The results were fairly varied, although there’s a clear leader – 47% of those surveyed said they’d change careers for a better work-life balance. 38% are motivated by a better salary and benefits package. Of the remaining 16% there’s an even split between those who want to rise up the ranks (8%) and those who want something else.
Office Sounds
This poll was just for fun, but it’s interesting so we’re including it here. We asked what people prefer to listen to while working.
38% of you want control of your own music – news that must make Spotify very happy. To our surprise, 34% of you prefer to work without any background audio, except of course for the conversation of your co-workers!
Radio came in third with 23% of the vote, and podcasts brought up the rear with just 7% of the vote.
Given the rise of podcasting about business sectors and the apparent popularity of podcasts of all types, we’d expected these to rate a little more highly. Might the craze be another example of ‘I keep meaning to get around to listening’?
In any event, we do feel that these polls show us something about how the ERP and HRIS industries look at their jobs right now. Employers looking to stand out in the market might do well to advertise a good work/life balance – and perhaps a paid Spotify account as a company perk would get some support!
