2024 BUSINESS GENEROSITY REPORT:
Investing in What Employees Truly Value
So, What do Employees Want?
This year’s survey revealed that more than half (51%) of Georgia’s employed adults left a job because of a lack of generosity toward employees. This is clearly a problem worth solving.
We asked employees to consider the importance of the following ways a company can show generosity toward them personally:
When asked to choose the single most important demonstration of generosity to them, employees pointed to flexible work (34%) and mental health support (18%). These aspects have been top-of-mind for employees for the past two years.
However, more than half of the employees surveyed said that expanded maternal health services (58%), upskilling (58%), emergency financial assistance (56%), employee education or scholarship assistance (55%), and childcare support (53%) are very important to them.
Interestingly, employee requests for expanded maternal health and childcare have seen a nearly 10-point increase since 2023, a fact we explore further here.
Is There a Disconnect?
Flexible Work Schedules: 78% of executives say they currently offer their employees flexible work schedules, representing a 10-point increase from last year. While 94% of employees find this important, executive commitment is in line with the 66% of employees who find flexibility very important.
Mental Health Support: 55% of executives offer their people mental health support, which is a 14-point increase over last year. However, it’s important to note that 45% of executives are not offering mental health support and 65% of employees find it very important.
Maintaining or increasing offerings in this area may help with burnout, which is directly impacting the work of 1-in-5 employees. This number climbs when considering respondents of color (21%) and younger employees (27%).
Maternal Health Services: Only 21% of executives offer expanded maternal health support. This is the only category in which executives have decreased investment since 2023 (down 18 points). When asked, 85% of employees said this aspect is important, and 58% said it is very important. We explore this further here.
Childcare Support: Only 15% of executives offer childcare support, yet 83% of employees said this is important and 53% said it is very important. As a result, we further explore why childcare is particularly important in Georgia here.
Emergency Financial Assistance: Given the pressures of inflation, it’s not surprising that 56% of employees consider emergency financial assistance very important. While only 37% of executives say they offer emergency financial assistance, they appear to understand its importance, with investment increasing by 9 points.