CareerWrap

How things have changed

Your grandparents were right - we don't know how lucky we've got it. We recently asked people what they would like to have improved most about their parents' working experience if they could, and the results show just how different our working lives are today compared to the overall experiences of our parents or even grandparents in their working life.

We found that half of all respondents would improve work/life balance, 26 per cent would change everything and 24 per cent would ensure more recognition at work.

These results make it clear that today's employees would not work in the same environment that their parents did during the majority, or at least beginning, of their working life.

Working conditions on the whole are much better today than they were 30 years ago. Advanced HR practices, equal opportunity and the recognition of recruitment as a profession in its own right serve to demonstrate just how highly valued employees are today.

Today's employers also have a much better understanding of what motivates people. Employees value recognition at work, yet for our parents' generation the effect that saying well done or giving positive feedback had on an employee was not understood as it is today.

Our current working environment has been shaped by skills shortages and many employers focus more strongly on their retention strategies and on improving the working environment and conditions of their staff compared to our parents' generation when competition for jobs was much stronger.

Certainly today's working environments can be demanding and complicated, but this survey serves to demonstrate how much it has improved.

The survey was answered predominately by people aged between 20 and 40 and received 736 responses. The survey question asked, 'What would you have changed most about your parents' working life?'