Mercer’s Global Talent Trends shines a light on what leaders are focusing on and what matters to their talent.
These insights help HR managers build better rewards programs and pay transparency so their company can remain competitive, attract top talent, and retain more of its employees.
Mercer’s Global Talent Trends report gathered insights from over 12,200 global voices, including 51 Canadian C-Suite executives, 101 HR leaders, and 502 Canadian employees.
Our research found that 15% of C-Suite executives expect growth in 2024, with tech disruptions being the greatest risk to growth this year.
To navigate the challenges and opportunities of 2024 and beyond, there are four areas of focus which we will review below.
Top 4 global talent trends
1. Drive human-centric productivity
In 2024, 98% of companies plan a transformation driven by workforce productivity. While crafting new productivity strategies, companies are realizing that keeping those strategies human centric is what will decide how successful those strategies will be.
Human-centric productivity treats employees as people by focusing on their needs, health, and happiness.
In Canada, executives report that the difficulty in finding the right information, too much busy work, and ineffective organizational structures are top contributors to poor productivity. To combat those challenges, Canadian HR leaders can take advantage of the anticipated AI-enabled productivity gains (30%) and think about how to use those gains to reskill employees. Organizations will need to strategically bring talent along and that the work operating model is sustainable for the future. Redesign should ensure that productivity gains are shared equitably and inclusively.
Further, to successfully meet the demand for reskilled talent, organizations will need to assess their talent strategy to ensure that HR is able to continuously match the supply and demand of talent, that people are able to upskill and reskill for what’s next, and that employees can connect to those work opportunities.
2. Build trust
Building a more human-centric workplace starts with investing in a trusting relationship with employees, HR, and executives. Trust allows employees to believe their leaders have their best interests at heart. Building trust in the workplace is a matter of demonstrating care for employees rather than just telling employees they matter.
While trust is crucial to business growth, it doesn’t always come easily. About 85% of Canadian employees trust in their organization to do the right thing for the business, 80% trust their organization to do the right thing for employees, and 78% trust their organization to do the right thing for society. These trust indicators are significantly higher than those seen globally, which means that Canadian organizations have a tangible asset with incredible value for employee engagement, productivity, and retention. The key is in how they maintain and augment this trust, particularly as employee expectations grow in regard to critical issues such as pay transparency.
A crucial way to demonstrate care for your employees is by incorporating workplace equity. Equity gives each person an equal opportunity while also considering each person’s unique circumstances.
You will know that you have fostered a place of trust and equity when you see more employees staying. In the Canadian job market, job security and fair pay were the top two ways to build equity in the workplace and encourage employee loyalty.
3. Focus on employee health and well-being
Healthy employees lead to a healthy workplace, which is why 71% of Canadian executives believe that investing in employee health delivers a measurable return. This differs significantly from the 59% of US executives and 66% of global executives who feel the same.
This year, Canadian employee health and well-being is up 3%. Productivity has also risen 3%, showing a close correlation between health and productivity. Over half of executives believe that well-being and health are closely related to productivity, making quality health benefits crucial to company success.
In 2024, 64% of Canadian HR managers prioritize physical and mental health benefits, which is higher than reported for US and global HR managers. In addition, 54% plan to use AI to help prevent employee burnout, fighting the staggering statistic of 80% of employees currently at risk of burnout.
Canadian employers will need to invest in the health and resilience of their employees to drive a sustainable talent pipeline. Providing benefits that align with employee desires leads to an employee population less likely to leave — 40% of employees report they would take a pay cut for an increase in benefits.
4. Cultivate a digital-first culture
The digital transformation has opened new doors for improving company function, productivity, and health. However, only 53% of Canadian executives believe their digital strategy promotes cross-department collaboration. This is lower than the 65% of global executives and 67% of US executives who believe in their digital collaboration.
What worries Canadian executives most is whether the rapid pace of innovation will surpass their workforce upskilling and reskilling. They are also concerned about not inspiring their workers enough to adopt the new technologies and the consequences of replacing humans with too much AI.
As a result, only 37% of Canadian executives believe incorporating AI and automation will deliver substantial business growth.
How might companies overcome these challenges? It’s not really about technology but about how talent and technology come together to add value. More than half of the organizations adopt new technology without changing the work, which creates disconnects rather than opportunities to drive collaboration.
To cultivate a digital-first culture, businesses must begin transforming their mentality and structure to support the changes and needs of new technology. In Canada, 79% of employees define their organization as having a digital-first culture. This is lower than the US and global results.
It is necessary to grow and change technology to keep pace with your industry and the competition. By building a culture around technology adoption, you prepare your employees and company for that change, so it’s much easier to adopt new technology as it arrives.
Top priorities for executives and HR managers in 2024
How can you build a company focused on its employees, trust, health, and digital transformation?
Canadian executives are prioritizing these strategies to start that change:
- Improving sustainability accountability, metrics, and reporting
- Combating health and benefits costs
- Improving benefits plans and communication
- Investing in AI tools
- Redesigning work around AI
Global executives have the same top five priorities as Canada, showing a global push for better benefits and the adoption of technology.
Canadian HR managers are prioritizing these five items this year:
- Investing more in benefits to improve physical/mental health
- Improving workplace planning to better inform talent strategies
- Enhancing employee experiences
- Investing in retirement and financial well-being benefits
- Redesigning work around AI and automation
The first three priorities align with global priorities; however, global HR leaders prioritize HR and people analytic capabilities over retirement and financial benefits.
How do your priorities align with today’s talent trends?
Is your business built for the future?
Prioritizing your employees' health, trust, and productivity will boost your company's growth, improve talent retention, and attract new talent. This positive change starts by understanding what your employees want and need in order to thrive while also aligning your company with other businesses in the industry so that you remain competitive.
Contact us to access the necessary resources by emailing surveys@mercer.com calling 855-286-5302.