Bosses play key role in employee well-being and development, study says

Dive Brief:

Workers whose supervisors don’t support their career growth plan to leave their jobs next year, says a new survey from the American Psychological Association. Although half of them said they have the skills needed to do their jobs, they still want career growth. APA's Center for Organizational Excellence released the results in the 2017 Job Skills Training and Career Development Survey, a Harris Poll survey conducted in September with 1,076 U.S. full-and part-time workers.
Other key survey results show that less than half of workers (48%) without supervisor support have the incentive to perform their best work, compared with 88% of workers who have their boss’s support; 39% of those without their supervisor’s support experience job satisfaction, versus 86%; and only 22% described their organization as good place to work, versus 79%. A lack of supervisor support also created a distrust among workers (56%) for their employers.
About 43% of respondents in the survey said they’re concerned about the evolution of work. And while 61% said their employers are providing upskilling opportunities in the technical and soft skills of the future, only 50% said their employers provide career development opportunities that meet their needs and chances for advancement.

Dive Insight:

Yet another study shows the importance of boss involvement in the work lives of employees. Middle managers hold a key position in the workforce, as their interactions with employees can define much of an employee's experience with a company.

Development is a big part of that relationship. Employees want opportunities for career development, so much so that they’re willing to leave their current jobs to pursue it. But a new Randstad USA study shows that one-third of employers have done nothing to prepare workers for future jobs, in a process called upskilling. This disconnect between what workers want and what employers are offering needs realignment in order to prepare the workplace for automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and other evolving technologies.

Another disconnect is between the skills employers are preparing workers for and the skills employees say suit their needs. Workers might not know which jobs automation is predicted to claim. Retail jobs may take the biggest hit, with about 7.5 million expected to be replaced. Employers must help make workers ready for change.