Dive Brief:

• A positive employee experience will be a top priority for employers in 2019, as they look to attract, retain and engage talent. In the ExecuSearch Group's 2019 Hiring Outlook, The Employee Experience: 4 Ways To Attract, Engage, & Retain Employees In Today's Competitive Market, the group recommended a range of ways to enhance the employee experience, from hiring through retention.
• Key findings in the report noted that retaining talent is becoming more difficult, with 66% of professional employees planning not to stay at their current company the long term. More than 80% of respondents said they'd quit their jobs for better development opportunities. Respondents said managerial support was the most important aspect of company culture and 71% of respondents said they'd quit if another employer offered them flexible scheduling in a new job.
• "Professionals consider their careers an integral part of their lives and they expect their job to provide meaning," Edward Fleischman, The ExecuSearch Group's CEO, said in a statement. "Top performers who do not feel engaged or supported at work will be first to leave, so our 2019 Hiring Outlook is meant to provide employers with tools for creating a culture focused on building a strong employee experience."

Dive Insight:

Workplaces should make employee experience a priority; engaged workers are happier and more productive, research has shown.  Studies have confirmed that, besides higher pay, employees are lured toward new jobs by better benefits, more career development opportunities, flexible work schedules and meaningful work.

Another reason for making employee experience a priority is the higher return on assets it can generate. According to a study by the IBM Smarter Workforce Institute and the Globoforce WorkHuman Analytics and Research Institute, employers that score in the top 25% of rankings on employee experience have a return on assets that's three times that of employers in the lower quartile. The top quartile of employees also reported experiencing twice the number of sales as lower ranked employers.

Although money remains a top motivator for workers and job seekers, people want more out of their jobs and are willing to move on when better opportunities arise. HR leaders must be ready for shifts in workers' attitudes and adjust their strategies for attracting, engaging and retaining talent to stay competitive in an employee-driven market.