Opportunity for Advancement Employees' Top Priority

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) October 25, 2011

Despite workplace pressures and slow growth for compensation, greater opportunity for advancement is the number one priority sought by employees in their next position, according to a survey by Right Management, the talent and career management experts within ManpowerGroup.

During September and October Right Management polled 561 North American workers via an online survey and asked:

What is your highest priority in your next position?

Greater opportunity for advancement     27%
Better management team    21%
More flexible work environment    21%
Better compensation    17%
Less work pressure    14%

"We posed a classic question to today's workers, what they're really looking for in their next job," said Michael Haid, Right Management's Senior Vice President for Talent Management. "We wondered if higher comp would top the list, or perhaps less workplace stress, but we found that opportunity for advancement is number one. That tells us that despite all the workplace complaints we hear most employees are still highly motivated about their own development and careers."

Haid observed that higher compensation and less work pressure trailed other concerns including quality of management. "The second highest priority among respondents is a better management team, which may mean either more competent leaders or more considerate bosses, a finding that's common in a workplace poll such as this. This is a variant of the truism that people quit their bosses, not their companies, and it's a key lesson for all organizations when there's strong competition to attract and retain quality talent."

But senior management's main interest ought to be how to engage employees during a weak economy, advised Haid, who noted that the most recent Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is for continued sluggish hiring across most industries. "Employee turnover has been remarkably slow for the past two years, and everyone is itching for new horizons. In fact, many workers feel trapped in their current situation. Now that's bad for everyone concerned and the savvy employer will make strenuous efforts to vary people's tasks and responsibilities, to shuffle work teams, to do cross-team training to do whatever is needed to demonstrate real commitment to career development and to counter a pervasive sense of career stagnation among their employees. Some organizations are surely on top of the problem, but I'm afraid too many aren't."

About Right Management

Right Management is a global leader in talent and career management workforce solutions within ManpowerGroup. The firm designs and delivers solutions to align talent strategy with business strategy. Expertise spans Talent Assessment, Leader Development, Organizational Effectiveness, Employee Engagement, and Workforce Transition and Outplacement. With offices in over 50 countries, Right Management partners with companies of all sizes – including more than 80% of the Fortune 500 – to help grow and engage their talent, increase productivity and optimize business performance.

This press release was distributed through PR Web by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: http://www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above.