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Group 282501

12 Workforce agility statistics:
what workers want, what HR can deliver.

Our Gloat Research Group survey connects the dots between employee wishes and
organizational capacity and distills what it takes to unlock workforce agility

Turbulent times upgraded workforce agility from a buzzword to a non-negotiable. Instead of sticking with the same tried-and-true approach, organizations must make bold changes to unlock the level of agility that the new world of work requires. Yet leaders keep running into the same roadblocks: legacy frameworks, tight timelines, and a resistance to change. Everyone feels the weight of these challenges, but it manifests differently for employees and HR managers.

Until now, leaders haven’t been able to see both sides of the story. Employee feedback might paint one picture, while manager input portrays another. Since businesses need a single source of truth to turn their vision of workforce agility into a reality, we polled over 1,000 employees and HR managers to get their insights on what it takes to fuel more dynamic ways of working. There’s a full report coming out shortly (sign up to be notified when it’s released), but we’re sharing the statistics that illustrate the most pressing workforce agility challenges right now:

Stats index:

HR Managers

Employees

Passion and purpose
are lacking

91% HR Managers
53% Employees
30% HR Managers

If employees aren’t invested in the work they’re doing, it’s impossible for them to stay engaged as priorities shift. While nearly all HR managers recognize the importance of fostering their people’s ambitions, approximately one-third acknowledge that their organizations aren’t taking these factors into account. It comes as no surprise that more than half of employees feel like their employers are missing the mark when it comes to prioritizing their goals.

91%

of HR managers believe tapping into employees’ interests is important

30%

acknowledge they’re not collecting
information on it

53%

of employees report their employers don’t take their future interests into consideration

There’s no source of
truth for jobs and skills

42% HR Managers
45% Employees

Skills are the backbone of agile businesses. Without a full picture of workforce capabilities, it’s challenging for leaders to rapidly redeploy talent to meet evolving priorities in real-time. Yet, HR managers and employees agree that information about jobs and organizational structure needs a serious upgrade.

42%

of HR managers report their job
architecture is out-of-date

45%

of employees report their job descriptions are out-of-date, no longer relevant, or they don’t have one

Talent shortages pose
an ongoing threat

80% HR Managers
28% HR Managers
39% Employees

Limited expertise and widening knowledge gaps slow response times to a halt. Yet many businesses are continuing to grapple with talent shortages, as most HR managers acknowledge. A lack of support is causing employees to feel the pressure, and the uptick in workplace stress levels likely fuels a vicious turnover cycle that leaders will struggle to contend with.

80%

HR managers are experiencing
a talent shortage

28%

report it’s critical

39%

of employees are
burnt out

Bandwidth holds
everyone back

54% HR Managers
33% Employees
32% Employees

Both employees and HR managers are feeling the time crunch that comes with today’s accelerated pace of change. More than half of all HR managers are reporting that analyzing workforce insights is falling by the wayside due to limited bandwidth, while one-third of employees note that career development goals are being put on hold due to the time-consuming nature of their jobs.

54%

HR managers report struggling to get by in analyzing workforce insights or not having the bandwidth to get it done

33%

of employees don’t know what their career prospects at their current organization are

32%

don’t have time to work on this because their job is very consuming

Internal mobility is
a rising priority

74% HR Managers
63% Employees

When it comes to unlocking agility, internal mobility is a powerful accelerant. Once employees are empowered to take on projects and gigs across the organization, quick response times and do-or-die pivots are no longer out of reach. Our survey results show it’s also a win-win; employees are looking for more career development opportunities while HR managers are exploring new systems to activate internal mobility

74%

Of HR managers are studying and piloting new systems to focus on internal projects and gigs to make these opportunities more visible to employees

63%

Of employees are interested in being considered for different, new career opportunities within their companies

Subpar systems hinder
mobility and agility

58% HR Managers
46% Employees
36% Employees

Despite the buzz around internal mobility, HR managers and employees both acknowledge that their organizations don’t yet have the systems in place to capitalize on it. From employees’ perspectives, that means workers aren’t incentivized to take on new opportunities, while HR managers believe their 
talent management systems are insufficient.

58%

of HR managers report their
talent management systems
don’t work well together,
fast enough, or are out of date

36%

of employees want to switch
to another team or department

46%

report there are no systems
or incentives to do so

The Gloat Research Group’s full workforce agility report will be coming out
in the next few weeks and it’s a must-read for anyone looking to empower
their organizations to embrace more dynamic ways of working.

Sign up below to get access to our detailed report on
workforce agility as soon as it’s available.

Sign up here to get the full report

large Group 282501

12 Workforce agility statistics: what workers want, what HR can deliver.

Our Gloat Research Group survey connects
the dots between employee wishes
and organizational capacity and distills what it
takes to unlock workforce agility

Turbulent times upgraded workforce agility from a buzzword to a non-negotiable. Instead of sticking with the same tried-and-true approach, organizations must make bold changes to unlock the level of agility that the new world of work requires. Yet leaders keep running into the same roadblocks: legacy frameworks, tight timelines, and a resistance to change. Everyone feels the weight of these challenges, but it manifests differently for employees and HR managers.

Until now, leaders haven’t been able to see both sides of the story. Employee feedback might paint one picture, while manager input portrays another. Since businesses need a single source of truth to turn their vision of workforce agility into a reality, we polled over 1,000 employees and HR managers to get their insights on what it takes to fuel more dynamic ways of working. There’s a full report coming out shortly (sign up to be notified when it’s released), but we’re sharing the statistics that illustrate the most pressing workforce agility challenges right now:

Stats index:

HR Managers

Employees

Passion and purpose
are lacking

91% HR Managers
53% Employees
30% HR Managers

91%

of HR managers believe tapping into employees’ interests is important

30%

acknowledge they’re not
collecting information on it

53%

of employees report their
employers don’t take their
future interests into
consideration

If employees aren’t invested in the work they’re doing, it’s impossible for them to stay engaged as priorities shift. While nearly all HR managers recognize the importance of fostering their people’s ambitions, approximately one-third acknowledge that their organizations aren’t taking these factors into account. It comes as no surprise that more than half of employees feel like their employers are missing the mark when it comes to prioritizing their goals.

There’s no source of truth
for jobs and skills

42% HR Managers
45% Employees

42%

of HR managers report their job architecture is out-of-date

45%

of employees report their job descriptions are out-of-date, no
longer relevant, or they don’t have one

Skills are the backbone of agile businesses. Without a full picture of workforce capabilities, it’s challenging for leaders to rapidly redeploy talent to meet evolving priorities in real-time. Yet, HR managers and employees agree that information about jobs and organizational structure needs a serious upgrade.

Talent shortages pose
an ongoing threat

80% HR Managers
28% HR Managers
39% Employees

80%

HR managers are experiencing a
talent shortage

28%

report it’s critical

39%

of employees are burnt out

Limited expertise and widening knowledge gaps slow response times to a halt. Yet many businesses are continuing to grapple with talent shortages, as most HR managers acknowledge. A lack of support is causing employees to feel the pressure, and the uptick in workplace stress levels likely fuels a vicious turnover cycle that leaders will struggle to contend with.

Bandwidth holds
everyone back

54% HR Managers
33% Employees
32% Employees

54%

of HR managers report struggling
to get by in analyzing workforce
insights or not having the bandwidth to get it done

33%

of employees don’t know what their
career prospects at their current organization are

32%

don’t have time to work on this because their job is very
consuming

Both employees and HR managers are feeling the time crunch that comes with today’s accelerated pace of change. More than half of all HR managers are reporting that analyzing workforce insights is falling by the wayside due to limited bandwidth, while one-third of employees note that career development goals are being put on hold due to the time-consuming nature of their jobs.

Internal mobility is
a rising priority

74% HR Managers
63% Employees

74%

of HR managers are studying and piloting new systems to focus on internal projects and gigs to make these opportunities more visible to employees

63%

of employees are interested in being considered for different, new career opportunities within their companies

When it comes to unlocking agility, internal mobility is a powerful accelerant. Once employees are empowered to take on projects and gigs across the organization, quick response times and do-or-die pivots are no longer out of reach. Our survey results show it’s also a win-win; employees are looking for more career development opportunities while HR managers are exploring new systems to activate internal mobility

Subpar systems hinder
mobility and agility

58% HR Managers
46% Employees
36% Employees

58%

of HR managers report their
talent management systems
don’t work well together, fast enough, or are out of date

36%

of employees want to switch
to another team or department

46%

report there are no systems
or incentives to do so

Despite the buzz around internal mobility, HR managers and employees both acknowledge that their organizations don’t yet have the systems in place to capitalize on it. From employees’ perspectives, that means workers aren’t incentivized to take on new opportunities, while HR managers believe their talent management systems are insufficient.

The Gloat Research Group’s full workforce agility report will be coming out
in the next few weeks and it’s a must-read for anyone looking to empower
their organizations to embrace more dynamic ways of working.

Sign up below to get access to our detailed report on
workforce agility as soon as it’s available.

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