Many employers still believe that salary is by far the biggest motivator for employees. However, for top performers salary is just part of the equation.
Money is of course important, without an adequate income we can't meet our most basic needs (think Maslow's Hierarchy of needs). For employees to really perform they need much more, they need to be psychologically satisfied.
Recently CV Library conducted some research into how employees measure career success. Nearly twice as many professionals believe that enjoying their jobs (83.6%) is a better measure of career success, than having a high salary (42.4%). 79% of those surveyed said career success is important to them, however the majority (64.1%) of UK workers felt that they hadn’t achieved career success yet.
In a separate study Mercer found that fewer than two-thirds of employees (64%) in the UK are satisfied with their jobs.
It's clear to see that career success and job satisfaction are closely aligned, and our widely unsatisfied workforce are not getting any happier. It's estimated that by 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be made up of the Millennial generation. A study from Deloitte revealed that 43% of Millennials plan to leave their jobs within the next two years, with only 28% planning to stay beyond five years.
Increasing employee salaries may temporarily improve satisfaction and productivity however to truly prosper employers need to focus on creating a workplace that helps staff to grow and achieve their potential.
Satisfied employees are also a vital asset when it comes to attracting new talent to the business. As brand advocates they're likely refer other professionals to the businesses and positively review the business on sites such as Glassdoor. Did you know that Glassdoor has over 55 million unique users visit their site each month? With unemployment at the lowest level since 1975 it's increasingly more difficult and expensive to attract top talent. Employee referrals can save businesses a ton of time and money. In fact 82% of employers rated employee referrals above all other sources for generating the best ROI according to Career Builder.
If you want to keep job dissatisfaction from rearing its ugly head, then these points should help you keep it at bay.
- Progression is Prominent – No one – especially Millennials – want to be stuck in the same job for decades on end. There have to be points where employees can develop, take on new skills or rise to a higher position of power. People need to know that their job is going to take them somewhere... and no, tourism doesn’t count(!)
- Positive Working Environment – A company is only as good as its employees. Employees need to have a positive environment to fall back on, populated by a supporting staff, whom you can work alongside on a professional level as well as keep your spirits high on a personal level. Remember, teamwork makes the dream work.
- Pre-empting Job Dissatisfaction – You shouldn’t deal with job satisfaction the same way you’d deal with an incoming car; wait until it’s already mowed you down before you can do anything about it. You need to find a way to study job satisfaction on a regular basis. Take note of how employees feel regarding all aspects of their jobs and take on board suggestions about other things they could do to grow their career while there. If there are any concerns, try to nip it in the bud ASAP while it’s still a minute issue before it gestates and grows before finally driving the employees for good.
Job satisfaction is clearly the key perk everyone wants. And every employer has the responsibility to make sure everyone has it. The higher the satisfaction of employees, the higher the level of innovation companies will benefit from.
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