Australian public-sector employees on the move
Australian staff are on the move – looking for a job that is more meaningful, advances their career and pays them better (Figure 1). Working in the public sector has often been seen as gratifying for those who wish to serve rather than make a lot of money; But even in this sector, workers are looking for other jobs to meet their labor needs.
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How are public sector leaders in Australia avoiding being hit by high turnover, retaining their current staff and attracting new talent? Using data from our research, we examine the rise in job mobility and why, and pose three key questions leaders can ask to meet this challenge.
Job mobility in Australia is increasing in both the public and private sectors
Job mobility in Australia is trending back to pre-COVID-19 levels – in February 2022 around 700,000 people changed jobs or were actively looking for another job, up from around 450,000 in April 2020 and almost 600,000 in January 2019.
In both the public and private sectors, more than a third of employees are likely to leave their jobs in the next three to six months, with 35 percent in the public sector likely to change over that period (Figure 1).
Australian employees are on the move – looking for work that is more meaningful, advances their careers and pays better.
Work-related factors are the main reasons for talent leaving the public sector. Employees who are likely to stay in their jobs cite meaningful work (48 percent of these respondents), decent compensation (48 percent), and career advancement (30 percent) as three of their top four reasons (Figure 2).
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These factors also play a role when leaving: A lack of career development potential, meaningless work and ruthless leadership are named by 52 percent, 43 percent and 42 percent of those likely to leave. While job flexibility and geographic ties are strong motivators to stay (49 percent and 29 percent), they play no part in leaving (28 percent and 14 percent).
Few public sector workers say a safe work environment or an inclusive community are important reasons for staying in a job (11 percent and 13 percent of those who are likely to stay, respectively). In contrast, in the private sector, about a quarter of workers who are likely to remain in their job rate all of these things as important.
Personal factors are also not decisive reasons for public employees to look for a new job. For example, just 17 percent of respondents who are likely to leave the company cited unsupportive colleagues and 10 percent cited a lack of community.
Young talent is attracted to meaningful work and career development
The reasons for staying or leaving work differ between older and younger people and between the public and private sectors.
For younger talent (under 35), meaningful work is a major reason to stay or leave, and a key difference from their more experienced peers in the public and private sectors. This is the only area where age makes a consistent difference in both domains: young people value more than more experienced colleagues that their work is important and relevant to them – although in all cases it comes after career development.
Career development is cited as the most important reason for termination in both sectors for both age groups. In the public sector, 62 percent of older respondents planning to leave their job cite it as the main reason, compared to 46 percent of the younger cohort (Figure 3).
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In the private sector, there are hardly any differences between the age groups. In the private sector, the lack of caring leadership is more important for experienced workers (29 percent of those likely to quit) than for those 34 and under (24 percent).
Three key questions for managing staff turnover in the public sector
Public sector leaders in Australia need to focus on interventions that address immediate talent challenges while preparing their workforce for the future talent they will need. You can ask yourself three key questions:
How are you currently building a workplace that retains high performers?
Leaders might consider how their workplace’s purpose, vision, and values are manifested in day-to-day work. Do they meet people’s needs for meaningful work, career advancement, and decent compensation? For example, high performance could be encouraged through mentoring or leadership that supports the personal growth of employees. As hybrid work becomes more the norm, have employers considered whether to offer workplace flexibility through technology or other ways of working? And do leaders promote diversity and inclusion?
Which employees do you need to achieve your strategic goals?
Departments and agencies could estimate how their goals will impact their talent needs over the next 1-5 years; identify gaps between their current and anticipated future workforce; and consider what risks might be unique to their people and talent strategy. For example, a large Australian service agency was studying how it could redesign itself in response to the rapidly changing needs of its citizens. This included workforce modeling to assess and align skills and capacity with future workforce needs, developing the operating model best suited to meet those needs down the road, and focusing on the future design of critical roles.
How do you best prepare to meet these future staffing needs?
After assessing the gap between their current and future workforce, leaders could consider how to close it. They could differentiate their department or agency from talent competitors by creating a unique employee value proposition and explore how they plan to grow internally through formal and informal mechanisms. Finally, leaders could decide what cultural shifts and operating model changes might best support different talents and skills. For example, an Australian government agency launched a reskilling program that both built future digital skills across 23 learning outcomes and supported employee engagement, with 90 percent of employees agreeing it has helped them with their career development.
Professional mobility is currently a challenge for the public sector. By identifying the reasons people leave and figuring out what might make them stay, leaders are well positioned to make the changes needed to turn the big attrition into the big attraction.