Closing Experience Gaps Indicate It's Time to Turn Awareness Into Action
2022 Workforce Experience Gap
Executive Summary
Struggling to retain and attract talent, employers are evaluating the overlooked needs of deskless shift workers and, in response, seeking ways to implement new workplace practices to address them. Still, workers continue to quit their roles in favor of better opportunities, leaving many employers without the necessary talent to support existing operations, let alone grow.
To better understand the disconnect in perception between employers and employees about employee needs, the Workforce Experience Gap goes straight to the source, surveying each group for their perspectives on the employee experience.
The 2021 Workforce Experience Gap revealed a significant disparity between the viewpoints of managers and deskless shift workers on how their organizations were working to engage, develop, retain, and attract talent successfully.
The 2022 Workforce Experience Gap looks at what has changed and continues the comparison between managers’ beliefs and the experience of employees. Here we asked both groups to share their perspectives on how their organizations approach scheduling, job training, pay rates, employee recognition, feedback, and communication.
Key Insights
A New Gap Appears
Compared to the 2021 results, 2022 reveals a new gap—one between education and execution. While organizations are more aware of their employees' needs, they lag in taking action to
address them.
61%
2022 Results
2021 Results
2022 Results
2021 Results
VS.
Click between the buttons to compare 2022
and 2021 results
Throughout the challenges of the past few years, significant pressure has been placed on frontline workers across all industries to keep their operations running smoothly despite constant disruption and change. Recognizing and celebrating these efforts is vital in supporting engaged and productive employees while reducing the risk of burnout.
Employee Recognition
Deskless shift workers represent a wide range of skill sets and expertise, making job factors such as pay impossible to consider with a
one-size-fits-all approach. Task-based pay can be a straightforward method of engaging and motivating workers. Managers who acknowledge the need for task-based payment may recognize the benefit of assigning shifts based on an employee's knowledge, ability, or equipment gaps in contrast to traditional compensation practices.
Pay Rates
For many deskless shift workers, a flexible, predictable, and accessible schedule offers stability to their personal and professional lives. Outdated or unreliable methods such as posting schedules on breakroom bulletin boards or circulating information through text chains create a significant barrier between managers and their teams. To achieve an optimal work/life balance, employees desire processes that are accessible from any device.
Scheduling
Despite the growing number of digital natives in the workforce, organizations are underutilizing mobile technology to engage their employees. Compared to the 2021 results, this year, more employees agree/strongly agree that their organizations provide the proper training and information necessary to do their jobs. Yet, there is a clear disconnect in how organizations circulate information versus their employees' preferences for a mobile training option.
Job Training
71%
10 pt gap
61%
56%
5 pt gap
38%
55%
17 pt gap
65%
61%
4 pt gap
77%
90%
26%
70%
44 pt gap
98%
32 pt gap
66%
59%
82%
23 pt gap
Over the past year, employees and employers have grown more closely aligned on how they view accessible training in their organizations, with the gap narrowing by 22 points.
Employees
Employers
The gap in perceived availability of flexible scheduling declined by 18 points from 2021 to 2022. But, timely digital visibility into schedules remains a pain point.
Employees
Employers
Employers and employees have significantly improved in alignment since 2021, with the experience gap narrowing to 17 points.
Employees
Employers
Since 2021, employers and employees have grown more closely aligned in their views on employee recognition.
Employees
Employers
13 pt gap
The 2022 Workforce Experience Gap dives deeper into the true employee experience and looks at where employers and employees stand in the areas of employee feedback and communication
New Discoveries
74%
61%
13 pt gap
New this year, the 2022 study asked respondents to evaluate their organization's methods for collecting employee feedback. Seventy-four percent of employees agree that regularly asking for employee feedback is important when choosing to work for an organization compared to sixty-one percent of employers.
Employees
Employers
Organizations do not solely communicate an employee's value through recognition. Employees want to feel that their voices are heard and integral to decision-making. Seventy-four percent of employees answered that they would choose to work for an employer who regularly asked for feedback over one who did not.
Employee Feedback
65%
60%
5 pt gap
New this year, the 2022 study asked respondents to evaluate their organization's communication methods. Employers and employees are generally aligned, with an experience gap of only 5 points. Still, these results reveal that a large percentage of employees believe they do not have the tools they need to communicate and collaborate with their fellow team members and managers.
Employees
Employers
For most of today’s employees, smartphones are an essential tool for managing their
day-to-day lives. Organizations are increasingly employing these powerful and pocket-sized supercomputers to connect with workers in the field, on the assembly line, behind the wheel, on the floor, and in hospitals and classrooms.
Communication
How Smart Communications Bridge the Experience Gap
Communicating Smarter, Not Harder
Smart Communications
Traditional tiered communication structures can be a tricky game of telephone, text, and manual tracking, especially for deskless shift workers, who often lack access to a desktop computer or company email, at the end of that line. In addition to being vulnerable to costly miscommunications, these systems have no way to ensure that messages to employees are received, understood, and acted upon.
Communication at the time and place work happens is foundational to an engaged workforce. Combining operational performance with employee experience and engagement, smart communications enable meaningful interactions between workers, supervisors, and their peers that are integrated into the flow of work. In the modern work landscape, where rapid changes to procedure, protocol, and compliance are the norm, organizations need solutions that transcend hierarchies and engage front-line teams.
Smart communications are designed to leverage data, advanced analytics, and automation in real time to create personalized experiences in the flow of work while offering managers deeper insight into their workplaces—all on a single enterprise-grade mobile app. By bridging the gap between employee needs and business objectives, smart communications make it possible to create a more interconnected workplace that can predict, adapt, and execute change.
of employees would prefer to use a single mobile app to communicate and collaborate with team members and management
45%
of employees currently use a company-approved mobile app
14%
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For employers across the globe, retaining and attracting top talent remains a high priority. Of course, engaging and inspiring a productive and agile workforce is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Many factors influence employee experience, including culture, environment, government regulations, political shifts, etc. To foster a workplace where employees want to stay and thrive, employers must first think locally and tune into their employee’s specific and unique needs.
The effects of the workforce experience gap are being felt globally. Across the following seven regions, employers and employees vary in alignment on key issues impacting today’s workforce.
Global Comparisons
While employers and employees in Sweden, Norway & Denmark and Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Peru & Chile are generally aligned when judging the importance of accessible job training in the workplace, many regions underestimate the significance of offering these resources. The United Kingdom shows the widest gap, with a 36-point difference. New Zealand and Australia are not far behind, with a 22-point experience gap.
All other things being equal, I would choose to work for an employer who provided easy access to information and training for my job over one who did not.
United States
United Kingdom
Sweden, Norway & Denmark
Italy, Germany & Spain
New Zealand & Australia
93%
87%
53%
71%
88%
57%
72%
52%
69%
66%
Employees Agree
Employers Agree
Employee Feedback
Communication
Pay Rates
Scheduling
Job Training
74%
83%
Canada
81%
84%
Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Peru & Chile
Among all the regions, the United Kingdom displayed the widest gap in their views on schedule flexibility as a reason to choose to work for an organization, with a 27-point difference between employees and employers.
80%
74%
74%
58%
53%
71%
66%
82%
78%
84%
85%
63%
71%
83%
All other things being equal, I would choose to work for an employer who offered more flexibility in scheduling over one who did not.
Across the globe, employers and employees seem to have grown closer in alignment on the importance of task-based pay. For Canadian employers, it is possible they are overestimating how much their employees value this pay system, with 61% of employers agreeing and only 49% of employees.
76%
61%
55%
49%
51%
59%
57%
76%
49%
68%
47%
52%
66%
61%
All other things being equal, I would choose to work for an employer who provided different rates for different task for my job over one that did not.
When brainstorming new ways to retain and attract top talent, engaging with the existing workforce and gathering feedback can be an organization’s greatest resource. Globally, it seems some regions listen better than others, with a 34-point difference between United Kingdom employers and employees.
76%
60%
65%
46%
47%
70%
60%
82%
76%
77%
80%
55%
68%
78%
All other things being equal, I would choose to work for an employer who asked for my feedback on a regular basis over one who did not.
Employers and employees in Italy, Germany & Spain and Sweden, Norway & Denmark only diverged slightly with 3- and 2-point gaps, respectively, when rating the importance of a potential employer's communication processes. Comparatively, New Zealand & Australia and the United Kingdom showed significant gaps of 30 and 36 points, respectively.
72%
60%
74%
56%
46%
65%
53%
85%
73%
86%
92%
48%
69%
83%
All other things being equal, I would choose to work for an employer who makes it easy to communicate and collaborate with other employees and my manager over one who did not.
By 2025, 75% of the workforce will be digital natives who grew up with the interconnectedness of computers, the internet, and cell phones. Mobile applications from shopping and banking to upskilling and networking evolve and emerge seemingly every day, making tasks more efficient, convenient, and entertaining. For these digitally savvy generations, managing their personal lives without a smartphone is nearly unthinkable. Why should managing their work life be any different?
Workplace technology on par with today’s most popular mobile apps allows workers to use their digital literacy to:
Use Mobile Technology to Manage and Engage a Digitally Native Workforce from Anywhere
Dialing into the Workforce
Takeaways
• Stay up to date on critical information
• Collaborate with coworkers
• Manage schedules
• Access trainings
• Communicate with managers
• Provide feedback
Mobile-enabled software offers employees more autonomy and control over their roles while also equipping managers to better understand their teams' needs and act in real time.
Employees, especially younger generations, want to feel that their organizations are invested in their mental, physical, and emotional well-being, and that requires workplace processes that are collaborative, responsive, and adaptable to change. The result is not only happier employees but employees who are more engaged, productive, and loyal to their organizations.
Today, many employees, especially Gen Z and Millennials, are incentivized by schedule flexibility and often prioritize it above higher pay. With benefits such as reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, improved retention, increased job satisfaction, and higher engagement, schedule flexibility cannot be ignored by organizations wishing to stand out as an employer of choice. Modern workforce management software sends a clear message to both employees and managers that their needs are heard and valued.
The Ventana Research report, "Modern Workforce Scheduling Requires a New Mindset," reinforces the notion that reforming scheduling practices can be a significant step toward offering employees more autonomy and independence in their roles. Modern workforce scheduling capabilities allow employees to access their data from anywhere and communicate directly with their supervisors, making it easier to plan for change. For managers, these solutions leverage real-time data and analytics that reveal a clearer picture of their employees' needs while optimizing, automating, and streamlining schedule creation.
Promote Work/Life Balance with Flexible and Predictive
Scheduling Solutions
Evening the Scales
While the unprecedented challenges of the past few years have made the term “essential worker” a part of mainstream conversation, deskless shift workers should not have to rely on global pandemics or labor shortages to be prioritized by their employers. Comparing 2021 Workforce Experience Gap results versus 2022, it is clear that managers and employees mutually benefit when gateways to communication, awareness, and understanding are opened.
To keep pace with an evolving workforce, shorten the time between feedback and operational change, and ultimately improve business performance, organizations need readily available channels to better connect with their employees and understand what they need. With organizational goals in mind, these channels shorten the time between feedback and operational change to improve business performance.
An annual study can only reveal so much. Modern workforce technology is designed to connect managers and employees on a human level, recognizing that workers have the same basic needs to feel valued, appreciated, and heard, whether on or off the clock. While real-time data and analytics provide insight into an employee’s performance, they offer more opportunities for managers to support, connect, and celebrate their workers. Tapping into the power of people, these solutions thrive off of
in-the-moment employee feedback and support an organization's ability to adapt to the new normal of the modern workforce.
Leverage Real-Time Data and Feedback Loops to Drive Operational Improvement
Continuing to Close the Experience Gap
The war for talent has challenged organizations to shift their focus to the needs of their deskless workforce. This attention has brought new light to what workers want to remain engaged and productive, drawing managers into the realities of their workers' day-to-day lives. While managers today are more aligned with their employees and better understand the importance of accessible job training, fair pay rates, flexible scheduling, and employee recognition, they continue to fall short in implementing workplace processes that adequately address these needs.
A heightened awareness of employee needs has a limited impact on the overall employee experience if it does not lead to action. Managers need the right tools and resources that empower them to be empathetic and responsive leaders who can change course when employee well-being and business objectives are on the line.
With the right technology, organizations can foster a happy, engaged, and productive workforce led by managers who are informed and responsive to the needs of their employees. Modern workforce management can break down the barriers created by dated corporate hierarchies and connect the entire organization when and where work happens. Employees enjoy more autonomy and control over time management, scheduling, workplace communications, and training. At the same time, managers can gather real-time data and analytics to make informed decisions that are best for their employees, organization, and customers.
With a closing experience gap, now is the time for organizations to leverage their newfound knowledge and act. Read The 2022 Workforce Experience Gap for all the details.
Organizations are listening to their employees. Now it’s time to
take action.
The Experience Gap is Narrowing – What’s Next?
Conclusion
Methodology
This global survey, conducted by Pollfish on behalf of WorkForce Software, was completed by 1,684 employees and 1,701 employers from a wide range of industries across 7 global regions.
The survey was composed of 28 distinct questions, both open-ended and single-selection.
See How Here
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Gartner 2023 Market Guide for Workforce Management Applications
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Canada
Sweden, Norway & Denmark
Italy, Germany & Spain
New Zealand & Australia
Employees Agree
Employers Agree
Canada
Sweden, Norway & Denmark
Italy, Germany & Spain
New Zealand & Australia
Employees Agree
Employers Agree
Canada
Sweden, Norway & Denmark
Italy, Germany & Spain
New Zealand & Australia
Employees Agree
Employers Agree
Canada
Sweden, Norway & Denmark
Italy, Germany & Spain
New Zealand & Australia
Employees Agree
Employers Agree
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
United States
United States
Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Peru & Chile
Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Peru & Chile
Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Peru & Chile
Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Peru & Chile
80%
74%
74%
58%
53%
71%
66%
82%
78%
84%
85%
63%
71%
83%
Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Peru & Chile
Canada
United States
United Kingdom
Sweden, Norway & Denmark
Italy, Germany & Spain
New Zealand & Australia
Employees Agree
Employers Agree
Across the following seven regions, employers and employees vary in alignment on key issues impacting today’s workforce.
The Effects of the Workforce Experience Gap Are Being Felt Globally
How Smart Communications Bridge the Experience Gap
Communicating Smarter,
Not Harder
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conduct your own gap study, and execute your plan.
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Workforce Experience
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