Work-life balance has become one of the main concerns of Spanish employees. This is corroborated by the study “Labor Expectations of employees and companies 2022” prepared between Edenred and BTS.
The study concludes that 76% of employees calls for greater time flexibility to promote work-life balance and improve commitment to the company. The analysis, which gathers the opinion of 6,113 employees and 646 human resources managers in companies, attempts to clarify the employment relationship between workers and companies and identify the main gaps between job demand and supply.
In addition to time flexibility, there are aspects such as the intensive day or aid for food, child school payments or transportation that are essential for the respondents. Another measure is teleworking, whose implementation has gone from being residual to becoming in just two years an essential requirement in terms of conciliation. In a stage marked by the return to face-to-face presence in offices, the report shows that up to nine out of ten employees prefer to telework.
Specifically, 36% of the employees surveyed opted for the hybrid modality of teleworking at 50%, with women being the most inclined to this modality; One out of every four respondents is committed to combining face-to-face work at the office with teleworking on specific days and up to 30% of workers refuse to return to the office and is inclined to work remotely all week, being the men the most interested in this option. These data contrast with the perception of organizations, who consider that only 17% of employees would bet on working remotely all their day.
“Time flexibility responds to the trust placed by companies so that the employee works remotely, being able to combine certain personal responsibilities, such as taking their children to school, and that they decide in the hybrid work model without impositions what days they work from home. face-to-face in the officepoint Manuel Asla, Director of Marketing and Product of Edenred Spain.
For its part, the study also points out that, for the first time, teleworking has become a decisive element when changing jobs. Specifically, 58% of those surveyed would value changing their position if they were presented with an offer to work 100% remotely, although it would not be the determining factor for decision-making, and for 13.4% teleworking would be the main reason exchange. However, close to 30% do not consider it a compelling reason to leave their current company.
Social benefits to promote work-life balance
The report maintains that in order to promote work-life balance, employees consider it important to receive social benefits, but not all age groups claim the same. The vast majority of those surveyed agree in wanting to receive food subsidies (86%) or medical insurance (83%), however, other modalities of interest for the youngest arise strongly, such as subsidies for the gym (30%) , psychological consultations (19%) or even access streaming platforms (11%).
The work environment, one of the most valued issues
71% of workers consider it a priority to have a good work environment in their organization, only behind salary (75%). Specifically, the employees who attach greater importance to this issue are those who are in an age range between 35 and 54 years old, ahead of even the youngest profiles.
Although those responsible for human resources also consider that salary is the most important factor (82%) for workers to accept a job, do not consider the work environment as one of the needs of employees and point to issues such as flexibility (77%) and the purpose of companies (21%)
In addition, employees stress the importance of working in a project that motivates them (61%) as another of the fundamental elements in the work.
Regarding the role that leaders (managers / bosses) can play, almost half of the employees opt for a leader results oriented, that is, that it provides specific guidelines on how to carry out the work, but that it grants confidence and freedom to carry it out. This data is consistent with the preference that employees give to having autonomy, responsibility and flexibility in their job, as stated by 50% of the employees consulted. “It is relevant to note that employees want their direct superiors to delegate and trust them, something as important as salary or hours. It must be ensured that the flexibility measures and leadership behaviors that are stated as generic company policies are really applied at the work team level. Otherwise it will be a wasted effort.”concludes Ignacio Mazo, Director of the BTS Leadership and Management Unit.
