27th October 2006
Nature of role and working environment, not salary, make for the happiest workers
Research by leading disability insurer, UnumProvident, reveals the elements of a job that make for the happiest workers. The 2006 Job Satisfaction survey found that out of the ten core components within jobs that were analysed in the survey, salary made it sixth down the list in priority with only 61% of respondents that were currently satisfied with their job stating that they were happy with their salary.
However, 87% of those happy with their job said that the nature of the role was a key factor determining this, 82% said they were satisfied with the working environment and 78% said they were happy with their working relationships with peers.
Workloads and culture also scored high satisfaction levels in the happiest workers with 68% and 65% respectively stating that they were happy with these factors of their work.
Surprisingly, only 47% of happy workers said they were satisfied with their opportunities for career progression and of happy workers, only 37% said they were satisfied with their benefits. Such figures suggest that career progression and benefits are elements of a job that have the least impact on whether a worker is going to be happy in their job.
Joanne Hindle, Corporate Services Director of UnumProvident of Unum Provident says of the findings:
These are important and surprising findings for employers and employees alike as they reveal which factors seem to impact on the happy workers' job satisfaction levels the most and which components have the least impact. The study suggests that satisfaction with salary and benefits will not make a happy employee if the same worker is not also satisfied with nature of their work and their working environment. This will undoubtedly raise many questions for personnel departments who are looking to develop roles and packages which maximise levels of job satisfaction, health and productivity in employees.
ENDS