8 Major Employee Complaints (And How to Address Them Effectively)

Transformation in the workplace has been more common than ever, particularly in the aftermath of COVID-19. Organizations have had to adapt to these new changes and find solutions to keep their business growing. Meanwhile, employees also have started rethinking their priorities at work and home. Whether it’s increased flexibility, engagement with colleagues, or a balanced work-life, employees have various complaints because they want a healthy work-life above everything.

In this article, we have made a list of employee complaints in 2022 and how to address them proactively in 2023 and beyond.

Major employee complaints in 2023

While you may have an employee grievance redressal policy enforced in your workplace, addressing every concern as and when it arises is crucial. Here is the list of top complaints employees have in 2023. Many of these are ordinary ones, while others are ideas that they believe are important.

1.  Demanding flexible working options

As companies adopted workfromhome during the pandemic, the workforce started adjusting to the new environment. Many of them ultimately loved the approach and don’t want to return to previous settings. When surveyed, around 97% of  employees didn’t wish to go back to the office full-time.

Working from home became a better option for many organizations to continue their business operations. Apart from this, they also experienced other benefits such as improved productivity, increased independence and accountability, reduced costs and easy recruitment and retention. Moreover, this option allowed employees to be comfortable, work flexibly and save commuting time and costs. Due to these reasons, they now demand either complete remote or hybrid workplace environments.

What’s more, many workers are seeking and choosing jobs that readily offer workplace flexibility. If you’re getting such complaints, try to offer remote work to your workers whenever possible. If it’s not possible, you can at least provide flexible working hours at the office.

2.  Want fewer workplace conflicts

One of the most common complaints is disputes with their peers or management. Prioritizing goals and tasks may make business leaders forget about employees’ right to get a positive, engaging and stress-free environment. This can take a toll on their morale and productivity. Eventually, this can worsen the relationship between employees.

Disputes at the workplace can be common, but they should be immediately resolved. Otherwise, such matters may become unmanageable, damaging your business integrity and value.

Listening to both parties properly during such disputes can reduce bias and make them feel valued. You should encourage employees to share their queries or problems with the management. Setting up team bonding activities can also help so that group members can improve communication and collaboration with each other.

3.  Want better employee benefits

Different types of benefits offered by employers are a source of retaining a talented workforce. Recruiting the best talent also becomes a cinch task for companies that provide extensive and valuable benefits to their workforce. 

To make your employees serve the company for a longer period, you must support them throughout their service period and even after their retirement, and offering adequate benefits is an excellent way to support them. This also reinforces trust in the workforce. Also, it’s not mandatory for you to provide all the mentioned benefits. Instead, you can create a benefits package according to your worker’s preferences.

Here are some of the essential benefits you can provide.

• Medical insurance
• Life insurance 
• Paid medical or sick leave
• Different types of retirement benefits
• Disability benefits for long and short term
• Paid vacation
• Childcare benefits 
• Wellness programs 
• Relocation help
• Recognition programs

4.  Request sufficient leaves and time-off

While some employees have to work overtime due to increased work, others enjoy their vacations, take frequent leaves and work less than usual. Due to this conscious or unconscious prejudice, those who are forced to work become more stressed, and eventually, their mental well-being declines.

In such cases, employees can request you to provide sufficient leaves and vacations without any biasness. If an employee comes to you for having an excessive workload, find out the reason behind it. You can provide advice on how to deal with it efficiently. You can also divide the workload equally between teams to avoid such discrepancies from happening.

5.  Demanding advanced development opportunities

Lack of career advancement opportunities is also one of the major complaints. According to research, approximately 74% of employees consider a lack of development opportunities to be the reason for their lower productivity at work. If the company invests in their skill development and provides training programs, they’re likely to stay longer, drive innovation and creativity, be efficient and be satisfied..

Employees who receive diverse and advanced training to enhance their skills will recompense the company with many valuable benefits. They’ll help the company succeed in its business objectives. In addition, the more robust and significant the development opportunities are, the more powerful and reliable the workforce will be, meaning the process has mutual advantages for both parties.

6.  Want a friendly working environment

Toxic and hostile work environments can adversely impact employees’ productivity. As a result, they lose interest in their work and eventually resign from their jobs.

Refining culture and humanizing workers can help companies overcome this problem, and there are various ways to do it.

• Arrange team-building activities, including games, challenges, etc.
• Set up team lunch or dinner to induce friendliness
• Provide perks such as group yoga classes and gym memberships
• Promote transparency, integrity and equality in business operations
• Organize wellness programs that focus on physical and mental health

7.  Want a better work-life balance

Due to the pandemic, employees were able to prioritize their life as much as their work. This is why they demand an improved work-life balance from their employers. They want to spend quality time with their family and friends without being burdened or interrupted by their work.

Here, companies can ensure that employees aren’t forced to work overtime, late or cover shifts. It’s also important for them to understand the worth of employees’ idle time. Thus, they shouldn’t be called for extra work on their weekends.

Some time away from work is essential for the workforce to relax and charge themselves to perform their best at work, and providing adequate paid time off can be a very fruitful option for employers. You can also provide tips to your staff to maintain a healthy work-life balance. This will help them organize and maintain their professional and private life.

8.  Demanding equal and satisfactory pay

Wage discrimination occurs when a someone is salaried less than another person in the same position, and is often experienced by women. This is a worldwide issue. To eliminate such gender-based discrimination, laws are developed by the government to ensure equal pay in the workplace. Yet many business owners see the advantages and disadvantages of equal remuneration over these laws. This is how the complaint of unequal remuneration was born.

Unequal salaries may result in unproductive workers who lose interest in their jobs, which potentially increases turnover and repel top talent from the industry.

If your employee has concerns regarding unfair payment, it’s your responsibility to respond to the complaint immediately and guarantee equal pay regardless of their gender. Create an atmosphere where your workforce can easily talk to you about such questions and get a satisfactory response to ensure that they feel valued.