Dive Brief:

• More than a third of workers are searching actively or casually for a job, according to a new survey from Ceridian. Another 36% would consider a position if it presented itself and only 27% said they are not interested in a job outside their current company, according to the report, 2018 Pulse of Talent: Retention Throughout the Employee Lifecycle.
• Employees who feel they need to take on new challenges will search for opportunities outside of their current offices; 32% of respondents said they need to leave to move forward in their career. An overwhelming majority (86%) of employees said it is extremely important or important for employers to provide learning opportunities. Slightly more than half of respondents said they feel they make an impact on overall business goals. Only 5% said they don't think their contributions make any kind of difference, while the remaining 44% said they do not understand their impact or are unaware of business goals.
• Compensation topped respondents' reasons for leaving their last job. More than 35% of 18- to 34-year-olds ranked it as the top motivating factor to leave. Good benefits, pay and relationships with colleagues encouraged employees to stay at their current position, according to the survey.

Dive Insight:

With the job market favoring the employee, workers not only want the assurance of their hard work in the form of a check. They want the confidence that their day-to-day tasks help the company prosper, and they expect to become a more integral part of that growth, too. If not, they'll move on to another job.

It's a phenomenon that has moved some employers to write off employee investment and accept high turnover rates, according to Ceridian Chief People Officer Lisa Sterling, though that's not a tactic she accepts. "I think it's really time we flip that paradigm on its head. If you invest early, if you invest often, if you pay people accordingly for their work and allow them to get passionate, their longevity will get longer," she told HR Dive in an interview. "You have to get to these people early and often in their careers and help them understand their job is meaningful and how they're going to experience career growth and acceleration."

Reports, including Ceridian's, have confirmed Sterling's theory. Employees have made learning a priority, and modern employment concepts like career frameworks offer businesses the organizational tools they need to ensure growth among their internal staff.

But it's likely that the best training initiatives and the most detailed promotion pathways won't hold employees down if payday disappoints. Sterling said she was surprised that Ceridian's survey revealed employees will leave a job because of compensation. "If we look at the population of people who responded to the survey, that millennial group, this is a group of people who, you would think, money is not the motivator of them," she said.

Recent reports have disagreed over whether cash reigns as the top motivator for retention and turnover. According to an OfficeTeam survey, 44% of respondents said they would quit their current job for one that offers a fatter paycheck. But a report by the American Institute of CPA found that 80% of workers would keep a job with benefits rather than take one that offered more pay and no benefits. Filling in the middle ground, Glassdoor concluded in a report that salary may take the top spot in terms of importance, but benefits and perks still hold significant weight.