#PandaPounds: Digital Design Employee Insights in 2018

Digital designers are the creative bunch of the Ecommerce world and they have perhaps more changes in their specialism than any of the others. Ecommerce is all about adapting and growth in the technologies, programmes and processes we use. For the digital design sector, a work-life balance, overcoming team challenges and staying at the top of their game is so important. But how are the digital designers, UX/UI and design pros handling everything? Let’s look shall we at our next #PandaPounds 2018 employee insights special!

Work-life balance for digital design employees

We have discussed quite a few specialism’s so far and, in every situation, (I am sure it is true for roles outside of Ecommerce), it is very hard to get the work life balance just right. Whether it be projects, work deadlines or you just never seem to finish work when you plan to – there are not many who have it figured out.

For our #PandaPounds blog we take into consideration overtime as well. Both go hand in hand in determining whether you are happy at work and feel you have your own time outside of the office too.

Who is happy with their work-life balance? A huge 74% of our digital design employee participants confirmed they have no complaints! This may be down to the specialism, freedom of creativity or skill set but these employees are content with the balance they currently have in place. 16% however are not happy with how their ‘outside life’ coincides with their professional work. It is good to see that digital designers are happier rather than disappointed but still, this is a number that can be decreased by getting priorities and ambitions in place. Finally, only 10% were unsure – is this something that has been thought of enough?

Overtime: how much is being done?

For this blog, overtime has been included as it is in the other specialism’s, but, also included is where the overtime takes place. Do digital designers prefer to work in the office or can they avoid the distractions of working from home (and daytime TV?)

No need to wipe that sweat from your brow, your bosses will not know what you have said for your overtime! But should you be worried about your colleagues? Are they making you look bad? Do they always seem to be leaving on time or staying late?

• No overtime at all: 28%
• A few minutes here and there to check emails: 21%
• Half an hour: 11%
• Hour: 15%
• 2-3 hours: 13%
• 3-5 hours: 12%

There definitely appears to be a correlation between the percentage of those happy with their work-life balance, and the percentage not completing overtime!

Where do you do your overtime? On the train? Home on the sofa? Or stick to the office?

• Overtime at home: 35%
• Overtime at work: 63%
• Overtime while commuting: 10%
• Overtime on holiday: 3%
• Overtime at the weekend: 16%
• Overtime on a weeknight: 10%

I do not know about you all, but it seems Digital Designers have the balance almost perfected! 63% would rather stay at work to finish their overtime and only the odd few workaholics will put in time on the weekends and while on holiday. It is important to know when to switch of!

Digital design team challenges

We all have our own internal challenges we deal with daily in the workplace, but taking the whole team into consideration – what are you noticing about your work?

(As above, participants were invited to answer more than once)

• Staff retention, keeping the team engaged and valued: 49%
• Hiring the right people: 44%
• Customer acquisition: 35%
• Global competition: 29%
• Company direction (falling behind in digital): 29%
• Getting support from the Ecommerce function: 23%
• Customer retention: 21%
• International politics (Brexit): 13%
• GDPR: 10%

Quite a mixed result! 49% stated their company has a challenge when it comes to staff retention, is this why digital designers are not completing overtime? 44% have experienced the challenge in their team of hiring the right people! To keep the former employees happy and to help the company grow, managers/directors need to ensure they are working with the right recruiters to find the right candidate. Does your company hire on their own with no support and, so far, it is not working?

For digital designers I would not expect the company direction of falling behind in digital to be any higher than 10% at most. Being a core part of the role and direction of the team, being up to date and supportive of new technologies and the digital vision is vital.

Digital Design: Male vs. Female

Some of you may be tired of this subject, but every year it comes back in full force. First thoughts – do you think you are in the majority or the minority, when it comes to male and female percentages for the digital designers of the Ecommerce industry?

It would appear 66% are women in the digital design specialism and 34% are male. A lot of industries are neck and neck when it comes to their gender make up and put a lot of emphasis on getting the female population to catch up. But, it would seem females have dominated the digital design sector and are the majority!

Stay tuned!

Slowly but surely, we are covering #PandaPounds across most of the Ecommerce specialisms. Whether these are helpful to you or not, there is no harm in learning a little more about the industry you have chosen to place your career in. If you are not a digital designer, then go to our blogs pages to look at the other professions! Perhaps you are an analytics genius and wish to know how many are putting in more overtime then you.

Have a look at our salary survey insights report 2018 to find out even more!

For job information, hiring advice or just to see what we are all about get in touch with Ben Lerch or Yasmin Vachet.