Survey: Balance between professional and personal life motivates employees in Romania

Ensuring a stable balance between the profesional and personal life motivates employees in Romania, sometimes more than wages and job safety, according to a study elaborated by a human resource company.   According to Workmonitor Romania, made by Randstad Romania, the seven most important factors for Romanian employees, concenring jobs (present or future) are the balance between professional and personal life – 96% (93% global), wages – 96% (93% global), job safety – 93% (89% global), support for mental health – 88% (83% global), annual vacation days -87% (78% global) and work program flexibility – 84% (81% global).   71% of employees consider they are ambitious for their careers, whole 41% say they want to assume more managerial responsibilities.Only half of Romanians consider that a full time role will be ideal for them in the future. A third do not concentrate at all on professional evolution, while 49% are happy to have a role they like, even if there is no room for promotion or development.   “In 2024, being a fair partner for talents is an intelligent objective for leaders, to keep valuable labor force close. When people's priorities are satisfied, they feel more fulfilled on the job – a topical paradigm in human resource management. Thanks to Randstand Romania Workmonitor 2024 we can see an interesting dynamic in the ambitions of employees, most of them being less interested in career evolution and more preoccupied in job satisfaction.   Another paradigm in wisely managing human resources in 2024 is treating every team member as a unique person, who comes from specific environments and circumstances, which can influence preferences, wishes and role in a team,” explained Mihaela Marance, country manager, Randstad Romania.   The study indicates the fact that, although they do not necessarily want a career evolution, employees are interested in their development. In this respect, opportunities are not negotiable for talents, over a third saying they would not accept a job that does not offer them the possibility to upgrade their knowledge and abilities. AI changed previous priorities concerning domains in which employees are most interested to develop and technology holds an important place this year.   The impact of the existence of learning opportunities in a company is another proof that talents expect a partnership from their employer: these opportunities often influence the decision to accpet a new role in an organization, the study shows.   On the other hand, the document indicates the fact that the debate between employers and employees about the return to office work will continue this year. Over two thirds (74%) of employees made living decisions, such as moving to another home or caring for pets, based on the supposition that working from home will become normal. 38% would consider giving up their jobs if the employer asks them to spend more time at the office, while 40% say work from home is not negotiable for them. Despite that fact, 39% were asked to come to the office more often than in the last 6 months, which shows there is a disparity between what talents want and what they receive.   “Telents are looking for partnerships with people who think the same, next to whom they can fully manifest themselves and with whom they could work to make psitive changes. To 5 most important aspects for which Romanians would plea, in the initiatives or policies of equity and diversity of a potential or present employer are: salary equity between women and men – 72% (65% global); leave of absence for raising children for all employees – 52% (45% global); diverse labor force -48% (42% global; diversity of leaders' experience – 37% (37% global); nondiscrimination policies (on site / in employment announcements) – 29% (30% global)”, the authors of the study mention.   As for differences among generations, only a quarter (25%) of employees feel they are not understood because of the age difference, a percentage which reaches 34% in the case of Z generation. Almost a half (45%) of the labor force declares it has to hide some aspects about it on the job.   Randstad Workmonitor was launched in 2003 and covers 34 world market. The study includes Europe, Asia Pacific and America and is made online, for people aged between 18 and 67 years, employed at least 24 hours per week (at least 90%) or authorised natural persons or unemployed, but who consider looking for a job in the future. The present Romanian edition was made online, with 500 employees aged between 18 and 67 years, in October 2023.   According to the press release, Randstad is the largest talent company in the world and has 46,000 employees. The company was founded in 1960 and is based in Diemen, the Netherlands.   Randstad Romania has offices in Bucharest, Slatina, Sibiu, Brasov and Timisoara and has a team of 120 professionals.