Are you happy in your job? It seems a lot of us aren’t. In the wake of the pandemic, 40% of employees say they’re likely to leave their role in the next three to six months. While the reasons for leaving a role are numerous, there’s no doubt that being unsatisfied at work can be a key contributor to looking for that elusive greener grass. Discontent lies in the broader employee experience: everything from poor work/life balance and ungrateful bosses, to a lack of belonging. Whatever the reason, low job satisfaction is making workers pack their bags and jump ship in record numbers. The question is, what is employee satisfaction, exactly?
On the simplest level, satisfaction is the feeling of being fulfilled at work, which is influenced by a whole range of factors. Although employee engagement is strongly linked to satisfaction, it’s not identical. While engagement is tied to productivity, satisfaction is not necessarily connected to performance. In other words, employees can be highly engaged and performing, but dissatisfied with the compensation (and actively looking to leave). Satisfied employees may be happy with pay and benefits, but unengaged, complacent and not motivated to work particularly hard. Nuances aside, lack of employee satisfaction is seriously bad news for organisations.
Stat Attack
Just how bad are we talking? Let’s take a closer look: high attrition, low morale and sluggish productivity. Ouch.
- UK businesses are at risk of losing over two-thirds (71%) of their employees to other firms due to low job satisfaction and poor employee experience.
- 40% of employees would work harder if they were happier at work
- Workers who aren’t engaged in their work make 60% more errors
- 69% of people will reject a job at a company if they find out employees are unhappy there
However…
- Happy workers are 13% more productive
- Companies with engaged employees outperform the competition by 20%
- A happier employee can increase sales by up to 37%
- Happy employees take 10 times less sick leave than unhappy employees
The impact of happy employees
Unhappy employees = a big (and expensive) problem. They take more time off, don’t work as hard, and are more likely to leave, costing companies big bucks in recruitment. Dissatisfied employees can even make re-hiring difficult by badmouthing the organisation. As they’re more likely to do this outside the business, where they feel able to talk freely without the threat of repercussion, negative comments can quickly reach the public.
Conversely, happy employees are a huge asset to a company: loyal, hard-working, engaged and rarely absent. Crucially, they can also be advocates for your brand, boosting interest in products and services, as well as enhancing your reputation as an employer. However, ambassadorial employees aren’t the only way to build a positive profile for your organisation and attract new talent. Measuring and enhancing levels of employee satisfaction can also help you stand out from the competition.
How to measure employee satisfaction
So, who’s happy in your organisation and who’s not? As 81% of unhappy employees fake happiness at work, it’s not always easy to tell. That’s why anonymous measurement is so important, but there’s no set game plan. Some prefer an internal employee engagement survey. Others turn to an external provider.
Internal employee surveys
Employee satisfaction surveys help you assess how happy people are at work at a given moment. With this insight, you can start to devise strategies to bring more smiles to the workplace. Conduct surveys regularly and you can create a norm or internal benchmark that allows you to compare data in all sorts of ways: over time/from year to year; across teams or groups; or via internal best-in-class scores.
External benchmarking
While internal surveys provide a snapshot of satisfaction levels, they don’t tell you how they compare to the rest of the industry. This is where external benchmarking comes in. There are a number of providers operating in this space. They gather responses across many companies, creating favourability ratings from a vast dataset. These scores tell you how your organisation stacks up against the competition when it comes to employee satisfaction, but they’re only averages. And ‘average’ may not be the kind of goal you necessarily have in mind… On the plus side, well known and respected benchmarks such as the Great Place to Work Certification™ can bring tremendous prestige to your brand, reassuring potential applicants that you offer a decent work environment.
Both internal and external benchmarking have their positives, so which is best? Internal data tells you where you need to improve, but external benchmarks tell you where to improve in relation to your competitors. In an ideal world, you should use both. Together, they provide a full and detailed picture of employee satisfaction.
The impact of happy employees
Unhappy employees = a big (and expensive) problem. They take more time off, don’t work as hard, and are more likely to leave, costing companies big bucks in recruitment. Dissatisfied employees can even make re-hiring difficult by badmouthing the organisation. As they’re more likely to do this outside the business, where they feel able to talk freely without the threat of repercussion, negative comments can quickly reach the public.
Conversely, happy employees are a huge asset to a company: loyal, hard-working, engaged and rarely absent. Crucially, they can also be advocates for your brand, boosting interest in products and services, as well as enhancing your reputation as an employer. However, ambassadorial employees aren’t the only way to build a positive profile for your organisation and attract new talent. Measuring and enhancing levels of employee satisfaction can also help you stand out from the competition.
How to measure employee satisfaction
So, who’s happy in your organisation and who’s not? As 81% of unhappy employees fake happiness at work, it’s not always easy to tell. That’s why anonymous measurement is so important, but there’s no set game plan. Some prefer an internal employee engagement survey. Others turn to an external provider.
Internal employee surveys
Employee satisfaction surveys help you assess how happy people are at work at a given moment. With this insight, you can start to devise strategies to bring more smiles to the workplace. Conduct surveys regularly and you can create a norm or internal benchmark that allows you to compare data in all sorts of ways: over time/from year to year; across teams or groups; or via internal best-in-class scores.
External benchmarking
While internal surveys provide a snapshot of satisfaction levels, they don’t tell you how they compare to the rest of the industry. This is where external benchmarking comes in. There are a number of providers operating in this space. They gather responses across many companies, creating favourability ratings from a vast dataset. These scores tell you how your organisation stacks up against the competition when it comes to employee satisfaction, but they’re only averages. And ‘average’ may not be the kind of goal you necessarily have in mind… On the plus side, well known and respected benchmarks such as the Great Place to Work Certification™ can bring tremendous prestige to your brand, reassuring potential applicants that you offer a decent work environment.
Both internal and external benchmarking have their positives, so which is best? Internal data tells you where you need to improve, but external benchmarks tell you where to improve in relation to your competitors. In an ideal world, you should use both. Together, they provide a full and detailed picture of employee satisfaction.
Improving employee satisfaction
In case you need reminding of what’s at stake here, here’s one more stat for you:
- In the US, disengaged workers cost companies from $450 to $550 billion annually in lost productivity.
This colossal figure shows that employee happiness is more than just a nice-to-have; it’s critical to the bottom line. So, that’s the case for investment. But what do you invest in, exactly?
As earlier stats have shown, employee satisfaction is about far more than compensation. In fact, one survey showed that 62% of employees would consider taking a pay cut in order to achieve job satisfaction. But if it’s not money that people want, what are they looking for? Clearly, everyone’s different, but here are some of the things that appear most often on employees’ wishlists.
Better employee benefits
Generous benefits can make a big difference to employees’ lives. By providing things such as health cover and wellness options, you can keep your people healthy and show that your organisation cares. Staff discounts, salary sacrifice schemes (for example, Cycle to Work) and extras like days off on birthdays, also count for a lot. In a competitive job market, great perks matter.
Purpose
The pandemic made many people question the value of their work. Is it fulfilling? Is it meaningful? Do I feel proud of my organisation? If the answer to these questions is “no”, employees are likely to head for the exit. To prevent that, make sure your team feel a sense of purpose – show them how your products and services help the wider world. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes can also be motivating factors, along with a culture that celebrates Diversity, Ethics and Inclusion (DE&I). Give your business values. Make sure it stands for something.
Company vision
Employees need to understand what you’re trying to achieve and why. Make them feel part of the bigger picture; the authors of your organisation’s success. When employees have a clear goal, they’re more likely to feel engaged. Clear and frequent communications are vital. Keep everyone in the loop and encourage team spirit.
Learning & Development
No one likes to feel as if they’re in a dead-end job. Make sure there are opportunities for development and career paths available. Talk to employees regularly about their aspirations and help them make realistic plans to achieve them. If you want to keep talented people, let them learn and build an exciting future.
Staff appreciation
A shout out in the newsletter. A sincere “well done”. A thank you costs nothing – yet it’s one of the most valuable and effective ways of keeping employees happy. When staff feel appreciated, satisfaction and engagement levels rise. Reward and recognition programmes can take this further, providing a formal framework for appreciation, such as award ceremonies.
Two-way communication
Communication shouldn’t just flow in one direction – leaders must also listen to their team. However, there’s zero benefit if they don’t act on the employee feedback they receive. Be transparent. Take concerns into consideration, share what you’ve learned and how you’re going to address it. Give staff clear channels to express their thoughts, such as regular reviews, employee surveys and town hall meetings.
Work/life balance
Remote and hybrid working have become one of the hottest topics in Human Resources. Essential during the pandemic, certain organisations and sectors are now scaling them back and demanding workers return to the office. Sometimes, this is unavoidable – people have to be on site. However, now that employees have seen that remote working is possible, they are loathe to resume the dreaded commute. According to one recent survey, 54% of employees globally said that they would consider quitting their job post-pandemic if they weren’t offered flexibility in terms of where and when they work. Want to keep employees happy? Apply performance management and let them work from home.
Case study
When you get employee satisfaction right, good things start to happen. Take DHL. With a little Maverick help, they launched DHL’s Got Heart, a campaign to celebrate the volunteering work their people do as part of the DHL Express. It’s now been running over five years, during which time DHL employees have logged thousands of hoursof charitable contribution! It’s exactly the kind of initiative that boosts employer brand and increases employee happiness – and that’s more important than ever.
As it happens, DHL isn’t the only multinational whose internal communications have enjoyed a bit of Maverick love. We’ve helped all sorts of businesses to turbo-charge their employer brands by boosting employee satisfaction and achieving accreditation such as Great Place to Work®. You can take a look here or even better, get the lowdown from the horse’s mouth. To find out more – and discover what Maverick can do for you – drop us a line.
