Reston, VA, June 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The past two years widened the fault line between mid-career professionals and the senior executives they report to. According to Hinge Research Institute’s latest report, “Culture Clash: The Employee Experience Problem and How to Fix It,” one out of five professionals unable to see eye-to-eye with senior executives are quitting or switching jobs. Highlighting the widening gap between the company culture experienced by mid-career employees and that by senior executives, the study shows that while 45% of senior executives are satisfied with their company culture, only 17% of mid-career professionals are.
“The resignations are symptoms of misunderstanding, miscommunication, and misalignment,” said Hinge managing partner Lee Frederiksen, PhD. “Offering more money isn’t necessarily the solution. Mid-career people are leaving for better emotional compensation, not financial compensation. Company leadership should invest in making real, tangible improvements in communications and other processes so that mid-career professionals and senior executives are able to view the business from each other’s point of view. The good news is, those improvements don’t require spending a lot of money.”
Factors that make or break culture
What factors can damage the employee experience of mid-career managers? Detractors of their company culture indicated the top five factors their culture lacked:
- Being treated with respect by peers (89%)
- Comfort sharing thoughts with leadership (88%)
- Experience helps grow career (84%)
- I can be myself at work (83%)
- Transparent leadership (79%)
A competitive salary was a distant 12th place. Respondents who rated their company culture made an unmistakable link between culture and leadership, citing leadership providing a clear promotion path and leadership transparency as the top factors contributing to a positive company culture.
The culture clash varies by company size and industry. Employees of large companies are more than twice as likely as employees of small companies to be critics of their company culture. Employees of software/technology firms are two and a half times as likely to be satisfied with their company culture as employees of architecture firms. Marketing-communications and accounting and financial services firms have the most detractors of company culture.
When asked what programs or internal services would improve company culture the most, mid-career respondents indicated in-person work related social events, availability of company performance metrics, reinforcing company core value, DEI programs, and mental health days as their top five.
“As more companies adopt remote and hybrid work arrangements, in-person events will play an increasingly crucial role in facilitating communications up and down the organization and in fostering camaraderie throughout,” said Kelly Waffle, Hinge Research Institute managing director.
Close to 300 professionals from 10 professional services industry segments participated in the study.
Access the study here: https://info.hingemarketing.com/2022CultureClashPR
About Hinge Research Institute: We conduct and publish independent research on professional services firms to uncover the marketing strategies of high-growth firms and give B2B companies and associations the data and insights they need to understand and profit from the professional services industry. For details go to https://hingemarketing.com/research-institute.
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