Attitudes have changed, even in Italy: retaining talent means fostering happiness in the workplace. That is what the Osservatorio BenEssere e Felicità shows.
Recognition of merit, passion, flexibility, work-life balance. In a word, happiness in the workplace. These are the values people look for in their place of work, beyond salary and benefits. And when they struggle to find them, they do not hesitate to hand in their notice and seek better opportunities elsewhere. Almost four in ten Italians are weighing up this possibility, demonstrating that the great resignation is not merely a journalistic narrative but a very concrete phenomenon, even in this country. A wealth of interesting data on the present and future of work is provided by the Osservatorio BenEssere e Felicità, conducted by the association Ricerca Felicità.
It is the only topic of conversation in the world of business and human resources. The great resignation phenomenon, which began in the United States, has swept through Italy just as forcefully. The quarterly notes on employment trends published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy show that the curve of employment terminations trended upwards throughout the whole of 2021. To put it in perspective, from January to September 2021 more than 1.3 million people resigned; in the same period of the previous year the figure was one million. The percentage of resignations relative to the total number of employed workers exceeded 3 per cent in the final quarter of last year: "a number not seen in the past decade", as lavoce.info points out.
The Osservatorio BenEssere e Felicità confirms these figures. Among those already in work, 38.5 per cent intend to change jobs within the next year. This percentage is fairly uniform across the sample, with the exception of self-employed professionals and VAT-registered workers, for whom it falls to 28 per cent. Almost half of millennials (that is, those born between 1980 and 2000) plan to change, but the figure is also substantial among baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964): it stands at 18 per cent, just under one in five respondents.
The ministerial statistics, however, tell only part of the story. The Osservatorio seeks to dig beneath the surface to answer one question: why are Italians so inclined to change jobs? The search for better economic conditions certainly plays a role, but there is much more to it. The main motivations are a lack of personal or professional development and career progression, a lack of recognition, and fear of burnout — a factor that comes comfortably first among entrepreneurs and managers, cited by over 43 per cent. All of these are factors closely connected to happiness in the workplace.
"Millennials and Generation Z need to be managed differently from previous generations. Labour law and the broader system must acknowledge this: a shift in mindset is needed, towards a tailored management approach and a corporate culture that acts as a guiding light. How we are doing and the question of wellbeing are unavoidable and shape our choices. And this is not just about physical wellbeing but also relational, psychological and emotional wellbeing", Elisabetta Dallavalle, president of the association Ricerca Felicità, explains to LifeGate. "People want to be the architects of their own professional destinies, which may or may not overlap with those of the organisation they are passing through."
"More and more frequently, people choose the companies where they want to make their contribution and which they want to accompany in their growth. Feeling truly listened to, recognised, involved and included is an indispensable part of the relationship with organisations. Being able to grow and knowing with certainty that transparency and meritocracy guide people's careers is fundamental to investing one's energies every day in a sustainable path", Elga Corricelli, co-founder of the association Ricerca Felicità, echoes.
Meritocracy is a sore point. More than 20 per cent of respondents say they disagree with the statement "my merits are always recognised by my leaders", and fewer than a third say they strongly agree (giving a score of 5 or 6 on a scale of 1 to 6). Those who suffer most from a lack of recognition are millennials and Generation X — in other words, those at mid-career. "What the person gives must be recognised — the daily contribution that each individual generates within the organisation", Elisabetta Dallavalle stresses.
But what are the best methods for rewarding results? "Apart from salary, which is an objective tool but is not the most important thing for everyone, it becomes very important to put things into words — to publicly acknowledge someone's merit during meetings or in small, joyful moments organised specifically for that purpose", proposes Sandro Formica, co-founder and academic director of the association Ricerca Felicità. "Often the tools exist but are not used in the right way", Elga Corricelli points out. "Take feedback, for example. When used consistently, both for recognition and for improvement, it is a powerful tool. It needs to be practised. To that end, listening to employees can be transformative for the company itself: the simplest thing might be to ask employees how they would prefer to have their merits recognised. By doing so, people work better, grow together and innovate quickly."
It is true that 40 per cent of Italians are thinking of changing jobs, but it is equally true that the majority — 60 per cent — are content with what they already have. It is to this second group that the Osservatorio BenEssere e Felicità posed a question: what are the factors they would look for in a hypothetical new job? In first place come better economic conditions (47.3 per cent) and less stress (33.3 per cent), followed by career opportunities (19.7 per cent), greater flexibility of working hours (19.4 per cent) and remote working options (14 per cent).
It is precisely flexibility that many people are no longer willing to give up — and that can be combined with a return to the office after two years of remote working due to the health emergency. "People are looking for flexible hours for better work-life integration", Formica observes. "This does not mean not going into the office, but going into the office in a more flexible way, perhaps with completely open hours, as some companies are already doing."
"The topic of flexibility is broad and touches on both workplaces and working hours and processes," confirms Elga Corricelli. "It is now clear that there is no point in sitting at a desk in an office if it does not foster sharing, co-construction, training, knowledge sharing, and a sense of company culture. The majority of us do intellectual work, and technology provides the tools to do it from anywhere: the value of being together stimulates collective intelligence and the desire to share solutions and experiences, so as to welcome everyone's contribution."
