2024 BUSINESS GENEROSITY REPORT:

Generosity Drives Employee Action

Generosity Drives Action

Not only do Georgia-employed adults continue to factor generosity into their decisions about where they work, but it’s clear that business generosity, or the lack thereof, motivates employees’ decisions to leave an employer and their actions as consumers.

People Will Leave…In Fact, They’ve Already Left

These are not just empty words. Data reveals that 51% of Georgia’s employed adults left a job because of a lack of generosity to employees. Additionally, 1-in-4 left a job because of a lack of generosity in business operations (27%) or to the community (28%).

If executives are wondering about recency, the data reflects that this was a compelling factor in why employees left a job in the past year. Employees hired within the last 12 months were more likely to report leaving a company because of a lack of generosity toward employees (57%), in business operations (42%), or toward the community (36%).

Generosity is a significantly bigger motivator for Gen Z employees (ages 18-27) and employees of color. Looking at the statistics, 62% of Gen Z employees left a company because of a lack of generosity to employees, and more than half left because of a lack of generosity to the community (52%) or in business operations (51%). Interestingly, employees of color are significantly more likely to say they left a job because the company they worked for did not display generosity to the community.

People Will Work For Less Compensation

Employees signal they will make sacrifices for the generosity and quality of life they desire. In addition to leaving an employer, they claim they are even willing to accept less compensation in return for an improved quality of life.

Specifically, 67% of employees currently are or would be willing to accept lower compensation to improve their quality of life. This number climbs to 72% when focusing exclusively on employees under the age of 35.

Executives greatly underestimate the number of employees willing to leave or receive less compensation to improve their quality of life. While 34% of young employees say they are currently making that sacrifice, only 19% of employers believe they would be willing to. To learn more about the pursuit of quality of life visit here.

People Will Use Their Purchasing Power

People are acting with their wallets to support or oppose companies based on their perceptions of a company’s generosity. As consumers, 90% of respondents said they purchase from companies they perceive as doing good, with 48% planning to increase their purchases this year.

A remarkable 78% of respondents say they actively avoid buying from companies they disagree with, and 41% say they plan to increasingly avoid buying from these companies.

Georgia as a Snapshot of Nationwide Trends

In this year’s survey, we compared the trends in Georgia with those nationally. In nearly all cases, Georgia’s employees were aligned with national employees concerning the importance of generosity, including how it is defined and what they are willing to do if they do not see it in the companies they work for.

When operating a business across state lines, it is important to note that generosity matters outside Georgia, and employees everywhere are willing to walk away if they do not see it. In fact, nearly half (45%) of employees nationally are willing to sacrifice compensation to improve their quality of life, and 32% are currently doing so.