Employers and employees view overall job satisfaction differently
FRIENDLY co-workers, good relationships with managers and a desirable commute are some of the major issues employees said contribute to overall job satisfaction, according to a recent survey.
Employers thought quite differently. Human resource professionals believed that adequate benefits and fair compensation would hold the most value with their employees, according to the 2006 survey conducted by Salary.com. Employees’ and employers’ perception of what make for overall job satisfaction don’t match up.
“The results of the survey quantify significant disconnects between employers and employees and provide HR managers with valuable employee insights,” said Bill Coleman, senior vice-president of compensation at Salary.com, in a statement released with the survey.
“Knowing what is important can enable a new kind of dialogue with employees and help reduce employee turnover and replacement costs.”
A few key findings from Salary.com’s 2005/2006 Employee Satisfaction and Retention Survey include:
. 65 per cent of employees who responded said they plan on looking for a new job in the next three months. In fact, the number of employees who report they are “very likely” to leave their current job has increased by more than 50 per cent in the last year, as compared to Salary.com’s 2004 research.
. Employees are more committed to their job searches than their employers anticipate. Nearly 80 per cent of employees have updated their resume and surfed the web for job postings. HR professionals believe that only 32 per cent of their employees have polished their resume.
. Most employees say they could be persuaded to stay in their current job for another year for only a 10 per cent to 15 per cent annual pay increase.
. Employers think poor relationships with managers would motivate an employee to leave their position. In actuality, employees rank inadequate compensation, no opportunities for advancement and no recognition for their work as the top three reasons for finding work elsewhere.
. Men and women value different things at work. Men are much more likely to stay in their current position because of a desirable compensation package whereas women are more likely to stay because of who they work for, work convenience and flexibility.
A total of 373 business professionals and 13,592 individual employees completed the online survey. For more tips on employee salaries, surveys and trends, visit www.salary.com.
