The survey polled 500 Australian part-time (or shift-based, roster-driven) workers and found that 87% of flexible workers are assessing new employers during their traditional probationary period and 78% will leave a new employer within their first three months of employment if their expectations are not met.

"In a hiring market that favours employees, Australian businesses are being put on notice that traditional probationary periods attached to new hires now goes both ways. Companies themselves are being scrutinised by new hires who want to be able to fulfil their employment obligations in positive working environments and have the flexibility to align their work with other important life commitments," said Humanforce CEO Clayton Pyne.

Research findings highlight initial impressions count with 89% of respondents saying that their experience over the first three months of employment influences whether they stayed working for that employer.

Additionally, only 43% say that their opinion of a company they worked for could change once they had a bad experience with an employer.

More than half (54%) of people surveyed said that feedback from existing staff regarding what the company is like to work with and the attitude of management (75%) were key contributing factors to an employee’s perception of their new employer.

For many workers, negative employer perception translated into direct action with 37% of people stating that they had previously left an employer in their first three months of work because their expectations weren't met.

"First impressions matter. How a new employee is onboarded, trained, and welcomed into a new working environment directly impacts their desire to work with a company over the long term. For businesses that don't get this right, the consequences are significant," said Pyne.

"Not being able to attract and retain staff can disrupt business operations and impact their ability to service customers and simply meet demand. We have seen otherwise successful hospitality and retail businesses unable to open at various points throughout the year due to staff shortages. In a competitive hiring environment, organisations must do more to position themselves as an employer of choice and offer compelling reasons for workers to turn up for shifts."

While businesses are currently challenged to do more to attract workers, there are positive signs that employees want to commit themselves with employers for long-term work with 52% of respondents saying that the average length of time they hope to stay with a new employer was 3 years or more.

To ensure workers feel comfortable and motivated to work for a business over the long term, research showed that organisations should offer new employees ongoing management support along with in-depth training.

More than half (56%) of respondents also highlighted that they desired high levels of flexibility around the shifts and hours they work for an employer.

“To retain top-quality staff, employers need to understand that work often sits alongside important life and family commitments, and workers value systems that simplify their lives. Advanced workforce management solutions can facilitate a flexible work environment for employees through automating shift management, onboarding, training, and leave management.”

“In a part-time, casual or shift worker environment, businesses can enable their staff to work in a way that suits their needs by setting parameters around staffing requirements in their workforce management solution and allowing team members to swap and bid for shifts and set their availability, autonomously,” concluded Pyne.