unique insights in executive recruiting

Annual Employment Survey Results 2014

executive summary

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At milewalk, we are fully committed to bringing valuable insight to the workforce. Irrespective of your vocation, we believe all companies and individuals can support the growth of our economy. We can help achieve this by elevating awareness of key employment information that will help companies manage their employees more effectively as well as enable individuals to make smart career choices. !Following is the report from our fourth annual employment survey. The survey was initiated to help provide awareness of key factors that affect our work lives. We thank all participants and also welcome any questions and additional thoughts. !We distributed this survey to over 8,000 individuals with 765 responding. The respondent base included individuals who hold positions within management and information technology consulting firms, software companies, and other prominent organizations. !It was evident that many good trends from the recent years have continued, but one element was noticeably different—employees are happy with their current company. In fact, happy employees outnumbered unhappy employees by 6.5 times! This affords employers the luxury of low turnover, but can cripple recruiting efforts seeking top talent. !When polled in 2013, we noted that the employee base had been quite mobile in recent years. This most recent survey shows that more than two-thirds (68%) have been with their current employer for three years or less. !Even though the workforce is not well tenured, the noteworthy trend that is accelerating is employees’ “happiness quotient” in how they feel about their companies (as mentioned above). Happy employees outweigh unhappy ones by 6.5 times as it relates to their company and 3.5 times as it relates to their role. !!

One other element that continues to optimize is how employees feel about the alignment of their compensation. 72% of hiring officials and 65% of employees feel they earn the right amount of compensation. !When it comes to job changing, employees’ attitudes have been the same as in recent years, but their actions have not. They are open to changing jobs (80%) and half have been interviewing, but the critical note is that 25% more employees have actually not interviewed in the last year than in the previous year. We are also seeing this trend as we attempt to recruiter top talent for our clients. !As we reviewed the employee’s attitude toward keys areas of their current positions and companies, career development opportunities once again nudged the management team as the most disappointing. Even so, when we evaluated which criteria would lead the charge as they turned to new opportunities, (once again) compensation, culture, and role (in that order) reigned as the top three. !One other trend we’re noticing as we recruit for our clients is that employees apparently care more about what they do than for whom they do it. While we try to teach our job candidates that “you join a company, you don’t join a job,” the data would seem to support that they are far more concerned about their specific position than many of the other critical factors. !As employees evaluate the market, there was no surprise that an overwhelming majority (95%) would tap their personal network. Holding consistently from last year was the number that would turn to executive recruiters (83.3%), which was also accompanied by a bit of an uptick in the social media sites (from 70% to 75% for 2014). !!!!!

As we turned to the hiring officials and reviewed their assessment of upcoming needs, important criteria for the candidates, proficiency level of their recruiting functions, as well as additional avenues they deploy to fulfill their employment needs, there was a mixed review of hiring. There was a whopping 71% increase in the percentage of companies expected to require no additional resources for their teams, but a 100% increase in those companies expecting to add 1-3 resources to their teams. There were also precipitous drops of 81% and 63% for those looking to add 4-5 resources and more-than-five resources to their teams, respectively. !With the hiring needs in place, these officials cited “time to fill” as the greatest disappointment (for the fourth year in a row). Candidly, we believe that “time to fill” is not the actual issue, but a symptom of a lack of quality candidates (the second most disappointing criteria). Employers simply move more quickly when they have a quality candidate in their recruiting pipeline. Over the last nine years, our historical milewalk statistics indicate a 38.2% greater level of efficiency in these cases. !Ninety-two percent of companies are leveraging internal recruiting resources. Significant portions also rely on executive recruiters (32%) and independent contractors (36%) to supplement those internal functions. These numbers, with minor variations, have been holding steady in the recent years. !As companies interview potential employees, they will favor cultural fit and capabilities and over track record of achievement and specific skill sets. While this has historically been the case, specific skills had become a greater focus in the last few years because the hiring needs have waned. What we are noting in practice is that this shift is becoming greater and organizations are now trying to recruit “best athletes” even if they don’t have the specific skill sets. It is our opinion that this precipitates from the difficulty employers are encountering in their recruiting efforts.

demographics of the survey

CXOMarketingSalesHRRecruitingPractice/Engage/Project MgmtTechnologistsOther

resource types total respondents

Hiring AuthoritiesEmployees

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We distributed the survey to over 8,000 recipients. These individuals hold various roles in prominent companies. We have outlined the primary functions of the 765 respondents.

means to secure your job

Employee ReferralPersonal Network (Non-Employee Referral)Company WebsiteJob BoardCompany Recruiter ContactedExecutive Recruiter ContactedOwner/Entrepreneur/ContractorOther

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We evaluated 15 potential ways an employee can find a job and aggregated them into a manageable list (8) to help when reviewing the probabilities of these mediums to secure your next position. Granted, these percentages change when factoring experience and compensation levels, but these numbers are a good guideline—and current. !The major leaders are your personal network (a combined 52% if you consider employee and non-employee referrals) and executive recruiters (16% which is more than twice as much as a corporate recruiter). Job boards picked up a bit from last year’s 5% up to 11%, and social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were so insignificant they didn’t even register (we tossed them into other). It is worth noting that the individuals likely to respond to our survey work for white-collar corporations, so the social sites might be more productive for other, non-corporate positions. Lastly, consider that 9% of the respondents arecompany owners and entrepreneurs including independent consultants.

Hiring AuthoritiesEmployees

tenure of the employees

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We noted the overall tenure of the employees and hiring officials. Interestingly, over 68% of the employees that responded have been with their current organization for three years or less. The overall percentage of employees who maintained an over-five-year tenure with their current organization dropped from 31% in 2013 to 22% currently.

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attitude toward employment

Hiring Authorities

Employees

1 2 3 4

3.8

4

happy with your company on a scale of 1-5 (5 most happy)?

Hiring Authorities

Employees

1 2 3 4

3.6

4

happy with your position on a scale of 1-5 (5 most happy)?

This area tells the most drastic shift from recent years even though glancing at the aggregate numbers looked virtually unchanged from the last two years. Employees are not only becoming more satisfied with their companies, they are doing so at an overwhelming rate. While the chart below depicts an average score of happiness, the actual empirical data shows that the employees that were happy and very happy with their company (65%) and role (58%) were 6.5 and 3.5 times the number of unhappy and very unhappy in the company and role categories, respectively.!This essentially means that of 8 employees in an organization, 7 are either happy or very happy with their company. This allows companies to enjoy low turnover rates, but can complicate efforts to recruit top talent.

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attitude toward compensation

do you feel adequately compensated?Hiring AuthoritiesEmployees

It is clear from the survey that the number of employees who feel underpaid is dropping (from 44% to 31% from the previous year). This, in turn, also caused strong increases in the number of employees who feel they are appropriately paid.

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attitude toward changing jobs

would you change jobs for the right opportunity? interviewed with another company within the last 12 months?

While employees’ attitudes have been the same for the past three years, their actions have not. They are open to changing jobs (80%) and half have been interviewing, but the notable is that 25% more employees have actually not interviewed in the last year than in the previous year. We are also seeing this trend as we attempt to recruiter top talent for our clients.

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attitude toward critical areas of position and company

Boss

Career Growth Opportunity

Current Position

Management Team

Team Members

Compensation & Benefits

1 2 2 3

2.6

1.9

2.8

2.5

3

2

happy with your position and company on a scale of 1-5 (1 most happy)

Oddly, even though this is the area that employees are most disappointed, it is saddled as the 4th most important criteria they will evaluate when seeking a new positioncompensation, culture, and role).

We asked employees to assess their happiness level of the many critical areas related to their position and company. They indicated they are most satisfied with their teammates, but are most disappointed with their career opportunities and management team. Interestingly, these numbers are virtually identical to how they felt in 2013.

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attitude toward most important criteria in selecting next position

Company Type

Company Culture

Career Growth Opportunities

Boss

Role/Function

Type of People & Team Members

Compensation & Benefits

Office Enviroment

Work Location

Travel Requirements

18% 35% 53% 70%

20.0%

35.0%

3.3%

68.3%

21.6%50.0%

31.6%31.6%

56.6%6.6%

top three criteria in selecting your next position?

Of the top ten elements that most individuals review when changing jobs, we saw the same top three of Compensation, Culture, and Role as in 2012 and 2013. As we pointed out last year, Career Growth Opportunities cited as the most disappointing factor of the employees’ current situation falls to fourth in factors they consider when seeking their next position. One other trend we’re noticing as we recruit for our clients is that employees apparently care more about what they do than for whom they do it. While we try to teach our job candidates that “you join a company, you don’t join a job,” the data would seem to support that they are far more concerned about their specific position than many of the other critical factors.

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attitude toward resources that facilitate changing companies

Personal Network

Job Boards (Monster, Hotjobs, Dice, etc.)

Social Media Sites (Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

Corporate Sites (Apply Direct)

Executive Recruiters

25% 50% 75% 100%

83.3%

55%

75%

55%

95%

avenues you would consider to help find your next company?

We asked employees which avenues they would deploy in finding their next opportunity. There was no surprise that an overwhelming majority of 95% would tap their personal network. Holding consistently from last year was the number that would turn to executive recruiters (83.3%), which also was accompanied by a bit of an uptick in the social media sites (from 70% to 75% for 2014).

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outlook for hiring

None

1-3

4-5

More than 5

15% 30% 45% 60%

12%

4%

60%

24%

how many resources will you add to your team in the current year?

We reviewed the hiring needs for companies. This year’s trend was a bit mixed. There was a whopping 71% increase in the percentage of companies expected to require no additional resources for their teams, but a 100% increase in those companies expecting to add 1-3 resources to their teams. There were also precipitous drops of 81% and 63% for those looking to add 4-5 resources and more-than-five resources to their teams, respectively.

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attitude toward recruiting function

We asked hiring officials to evaluate their organization’s recruiting function. “Time to Fill” was, for the fourth year in a row, cited as the greatest disappointment, however, we view that more as a symptom of lack of quality candidates than the actual issue. We have captured historical statistics over the past nine years that indicate our clients move 38.2% fasterwhen engaged with a higher quality candidate.

Number of Quality Candidates (ability to source)

Time to Fill Position

Communciation to Hiring Officials

Ability to Close/Sell to Quality Candidates

Overall Recruiting Function

1 2 3 4

3.4

3.6

3.6

2.9

3.2

rate your organization’s recruiting function on a scale of 1-5 (5 most satisfied).

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sources engaged to satisfy hiring needs

Internal Corporate Recruiting Function

Executive Search Firms

Recruiting Process Outsourcing Firms

Independent Contract Recruiters

25% 50% 75% 100%

36%

24%

32%

92%

sources you deploy to satisfy recruiting needs?

We reviewed the people and service-related avenues that organizations deploy to satisfy their hiring needs. We omitted job boards and other non-active means assuming that organizations are using them to some extent. While 92% of the companies are leveraging internal recruiting resources, a significant portion also rely on executive recruiters (32%) and independent contractors (36%) to supplement those internal functions. These numbers, with minor variations, have been holding steady in the recent years.

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attitude toward candidate criteria and requirements

Cultural Fit with Company

Capabilities (Demonstrated Capacity to Perform Function)

Achievement Record (Long-Term Record of High Performance)

Specific Skills/Experience to Perform Function

1 1 2 3

2.6

2.9

2.2

2.3

rank the following criteria in order of importance when evaluating an employment candidate (1 most important).

milewalk clients and candidates have been introduced to our predictive matching model that incorporates key criteria related to fit as well as emotional influences (omitted here for simplicity) that act upon an individual as she evaluates a career change.  The nucleus of this methodology centers on the four greatest predictors of recruiting and retention success (below).  Our analytics has proven that not only are these the four greatest predictors, but also that the relative priority of these criteria is Culture Fit, Capabilities, Achievement Record, and Specific Skills.

In recent years, companies have favored specific skills due to their lack of resource needs and desire for the “perfect fit”.  In 2012 and 2013, we saw a shift toward recruiting “best athletes” even if they don’t have the specific skills.  It is our opinion that this precipitates from the difficulty employers are encountering in their recruiting efforts.!

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about milewalk

milewalk is an executive search and human capital consulting organization that specializes in matching top quality information technology and strategic professionals with high-caliber companies. !Our team is comprised of former information technology and strategic consulting professionals who held positions similar to those our clients and candidates seek to fill. This industry-specific knowledge helps us recognize those resources that become most valuable to organizations. Our vantage point coupled with a far-reaching network of candidates enables us to quickly match the right people to the right opportunities. !We emphasize our unique perspective in our name—milewalk—we have walked in your shoes before. This distinct point of view helps us more effectively navigate our clients and candidates through the search process to ensure everyone succeeds. Even more than our experience, our dedication and commitment to our clients and candidates set us apart. Our high quality, timely results help us build long-term relationships that benefit all of us.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!milewalk

www.milewalk.com !911 Busse Hwy

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847-685-2040