Tom O'Neil: Statistics worth appreciating

Former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was quoted by Mark Twain as stating "There are three kinds of lies — "lies, damned lies, and statistics." Though many statistics can make you scratch your head in disbelief, careers website Glassdoor has recently released a number of interesting findings for candidates and employer alike.

Hunting for work

Just over half of all job seekers surveyed (51 per cent) say their preferred source for finding a new job opportunity is from an online job site. The next two most popular methods are hearing about it from a friend (45 per cent) and finding it on a company's careers site (35 per cent).

In order, the five most important things job seekers focus on prior to accepting a job offer are: 1) salary and compensation, 2) career growth opportunities, 3) work-life balance, 4) location/commute, and 5) company culture and values.

The most important aspects of a positive job application process were clear and regular communication (58 per cent), clear expectations (53 per cent), and feedback regarding rejection (51 per cent).

Lack of information about pay and benefits (50 per cent) and interview schedule changes (50 per cent) were the two most annoying aspects, followed by untimely employer / recruiter responses (47 per cent) and lack of information about job responsibilities (46 per cent).

In a genuinely scary finding for recruiters and companies alike, 40 per cent of job seekers would pull out of a recruitment process due to a poor first interaction with a recruiter or hiring manager.

Love at work?

As we all know, we need to be careful about inappropriate workplace relationships, however it is somewhat natural that the workspace is an environment where people still do fall in love — 50 per cent of respondents have said they have had a relationship with a work colleague.

Leadership

'Recognition' is the single most important thing team members say their direct manager must give them to inspire them to be their best at work. No other aspect comes close — not even higher pay, promotion to a more senior role, more autonomy or further training.

A recent study by CareerBuilder.com showed that 58 per cent of managers said they have never received any management or leadership training. The majority of managers were promoted because they were good at what they did, but not necessarily skilled at leading.

A Harvard Business Review survey involving 9800 full-time workers, aged 19 to 68 across Brazil, China, Germany, India, Mexico, Japan, the UK, and the US found fewer than half of all surveyed professionals have a high amount of trust in their companies: Only 46 per cent placed "a great deal of trust" in their employers, and 15 per cent report "very little" or "no trust at all".

On a positive flipside of this statistic, a Towers Watson study highlights that in environments where trust is low, appreciation boosts engagement from 35 per cent to a whopping 63 per cent. As well as this, where trust is high, appreciation pushes engagement even higher, from 65 per cent all the way to 91 per cent.

Contact Tom O'Neil and the team at CV.CO.NZ for a free CV or LinkedIn assessment or to be your personal career coach. Visit CV.CO.NZ or CareerCoach.nz to find out more.