Managerial gap likely underway as amid less interest in taking leadership roles: survey
Employees across Australia are putting work-life balance and flexibility over career progression in a new report that warned of a potential managerial gap ahead.
Randstad's latest Workmonitor research revealed that only 64% of Australians are putting career ambition on top of their priorities, right behind work-life balance (95%) and flexible working hours (87%).
According to the report, less than half (44%) of the respondents also claimed they were ambitious, and only 65% said they feel motivated in their current role.
Another 51% said they are happy to stay in their current role even if there's no more room to progress, while 44% said they never want to take on a managerial role.
David Owens, founder and managing director at HR Partners by Randstad, said the findings indicate that it's becoming more challenging to encourage talent to take on more managerial responsibilities.
"It's possible that organisations may face a shortage of leaders as current executives retire," Owens warned in a statement.
'Non-negotiable' flexible work
To address the problem, Owens suggested making managerial roles more flexible to make them attractive to talent.
"If managerial roles offered flexible work arrangements it could well make climbing the ladder more appealing," he said.
This comes as 55% of Australian employees now consider flexible working arrangements as non-negotiable, with 56% willing to quit if they are asked to return onsite, according to Randstad's report.
The findings echo a recent survey from Perkbox Australia that revealed 61% of employees are prepared to jump ship if their employer scraps their work-from-home policy.
