The majority of administration and office support staff are either looking or considering new jobs due to lack of career development opportunities, according to a new survey of more than 500 admin workers from recruitment firm OfficeTeam.
The survey has highlighted one of the problems SMEs are facing in light of the skills shortage, with many staff eager to find better positions with higher pay at rival firms after staying put during the global financial crisis.
OfficeTeam associate director Stephen Langhammer says the majority of staff are considering a switch in careers, and businesses need to respond by giving them better opportunities and scope to improve their standing in the company.
“It is most important that businesses reinvest in training to keep staff engaged and retain the best talent,” he warns.
The survey of 540 administrative professionals found 59% are now actively seeking or looking for a new job, with 54% saying that better career options were their main motivation for leaving.
Another 25% said they wanted more responsibility within their roles, 21% said they thought more opportunities were available, and 21% said they were simply bored with their current jobs.
The survey highlights a significant problem for companies – administrative staff are some of the most crucial parts of day-to-day operation, and Langhammer warns it can be significantly costly to replace them. Especially if more than one admin staff member leaves at once.
“The survey has found that nearly two-thirds of employers are concerned about their staff leaving organisations over the next 12 months, and the feedback we’re getting from our clients is that hiring new admin staff can take a long time – about four to six weeks.”
Langhammer also points out some of their worries may be justified – he says the current job market will benefit employees more than employers.
“It’s simply supply and demand. If the supply of administrators is low, and demand is high, then you’re going to see higher salaries.”
“We’re already seeing a number of counter offers as well, where businesses are already buying back people who have resigned.”
But the answer isn’t as complicated or expensive as some employers might fear, Langhammer says. The survey reveals 44% of workers would like to participate in other aspects of the business, 37% want to attend conferences and other events and 25% want a mentor.
Langhammer says these policies can be introduced without majorly affecting the bottom line.
“I think often employers feel that training is expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. You can have in-house training, utilise existing skills and introduce mentoring programs. These are becoming far more popular.”
The survey shows 63% of admin workers feel training courses could help their career, while 53% said their morale would be given a boost if they had access to more training.
“You can also do online training courses, which tend to be extremely cost effective. The increased responsibility can just be as simple as doing additional tasks outside of their normal training.”
The OfficeTeam survey also reveals employees want mentors to help them with getting more experience and career development.”
“This is especially important for Generation Y, because they’re looking at career development and they want to have an outline over what’s going to happen with them over the next 12 to 24 months.”
“You need to ask yourself whether the organisation has sat down and found out what these staff members are looking for. It doesn’t hurt to engage the employee and find out what they want, because you may be able to give it to them.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
