Top Contributors of Employee Satisfaction

Are you having trouble keeping your employees happy? Do you get an earful of complaints from employees about their managers? Even if your turnover rates are low, it doesn’t necessarily mean your employees are satisfied with their jobs. Or perhaps your turnover rates are high, and you’ve been finding out the reasons behind it during the exit interviews. So why does this matter if they’re not going anywhere or if you can just hire another person? Why should you care? After all, the company isn’t there to cater to every want and need of each employee.

But you do have to consider that if your employees aren’t happy at work, they won’t be engaged. As Human Resources (HR), we must be able to help managers fill the gaps they identify in their teams and support them in building an engaged workforce. Studies show that disengaged employees end up leaving the company or stay on while contributing very little to the company’s objectives. One important factor to consider is that exiting employees may not always disclose the real reasons as to why they’re leaving the company. Oftentimes, employees won’t disclose the true reasons they are leaving the company in order to preserve relationships and to avoid retaliation. Employees who have to deal with unethical managers or colleagues are usually looking for a way out even if they end up participating in it at times. A survey conducted in 2015 showed that 71% of women who were sexually harassed at the workplace did not report it to anyone. Additionally, most unethical behaviors aren’t immediately called out, leading to a degradation in the company culture.

According to 2016’s SHRM research report, employee satisfaction has been the highest it’s ever been. Many factors such as a stable economy, great new incentives and perks, and more work flexibility have contributed to this improvement in the workforce. Despite this, approximately 45% of employees reported that they would still be looking for new opportunities and jobs in the next twelve months. Why leave when you are satisfied? There are some factors which cannot be measured by any traditional surveys that can cause an employee to leave a company. So what are some of the top contributors of employee satisfaction?

1. Respectful treatment of employees at all levels
2. Trust between employees, their immediate supervisors, and the company
3. Overall corporate culture and climate which include work ethics and values
4. Compensation and benefits
5. The organization’s stability and job security
6. The organization’s commitment to sustainability and social responsibility
7. Company-paid general training
8. Management’s transparency of the organization’s vision, mission, goals, and corporate standards
9. A diverse workforce
10. Interesting and challenging work as well as career development opportunities

HR and the leadership team are the driving force in employee satisfaction. The behavior of a direct manager is one of the most common reasons why employees decide to leave a company. There is no one solution fits all when it comes to solving workplace issues. Every organization is unique and flows in different ways. Furthermore, rigid work policies have started to trickle out of company handbooks as globalization has progressed to giving more flexibility and autonomy in exchange for innovation, dedication, and creativity.

We can’t create a perfect workplace, just like we can’t create a perfect world. But while we’re in it, we, as humans, can strive for the highest quality in ourselves as partners, contributors, leaders, collaborators, and members in our teams, departments, organizations, and communities.