Job Satisfaction: What It Is and How to Improve it
“A feeling of fulfilment or enjoyment that a person derives from their job.”
Simply put, job satisfaction is how happy or fulfilled an employee feels while working at their job.
It’s made up of many factors contributing to an employee’s experience working for your company, from the relationship with their team to the company’s values.
And as an employer, job satisfaction is an important factor to consider as it contributes to all aspects of your business.
What are the benefits of good job satisfaction?
Increase in productivity
A study conducted by the University of Oxford found that happy employees are 13% more productive.
Employees with high job satisfaction will feel more motivated to complete their work to a high-standard.
It’s a win-win for everybody!
Decrease in employee turnover
Employees who feel satisfied with their job are much less likely to leave in search of jobs that fulfil their needs.
If an employee needs support with childcare and another company offers them the option of flexible working, what is it about your company that they will stay for?
Retaining talent within a business is key, so taking the time to understand and meet the needs of your employees will help contribute to keeping great talent within the company.
Positive brand reputation
What better way to find out what a company is like than from those who work there?
High job satisfaction leads to employees speaking positively about your company with friends, family and other working professionals.
This can also lead to an increase in referrals, which are hugely beneficial to employers - with referral hires staying within the company 70% longer than job-board hires.
Reduced hiring costs
We know that hiring new talent is a costly business.
The time, resources and training required to bring on a new hire creates a lengthy bill, so you want to get it right first time.
If the employee only stays for a short amount of time because they feel unsatisfied with their job, re-hiring for that position can come at an even higher cost.
With high job satisfaction, employees are less likely to look for other work opportunities, and will therefore stay within the company - avoiding any extra hiring costs involved.
Less risk of absenteeism
Factors that contribute to absenteeism in employees are:
Team and management issues
Sickness and stress
Commuting problems
Mental health conditions
Workplace bullying or harassment
All of which can be managed through an open discussion on the issues the employee is facing.
Managing negative aspects of an employee’s work life contributes to their job satisfaction, making it much less likely for them to not turn up for work.
What factors contribute to job satisfaction?
A survey conducted by the Boston Consulting Group assessed over 200,000 employees globally to determine the top factors in job satisfaction.
How can I improve job satisfaction within my company?
Ask for feedback
The best way to improve job satisfaction is to hear it from employees themselves.
Your company’s job satisfaction rates don’t have to be low to ask for feedback, it should be continuously checked in on to ensure your employees are satisfied at work.
We recommend a mix of 1:1 conversations between managers and employees as well as the use of anonymous employee feedback surveys.
Act on issues raised by employees
Once you’ve received employee feedback on their experience working at your company, the most important thing is that you act on it.
Not enough learning and development opportunities?
Offer to pay for a course that will develop the employee’s skills.Is there a conflict within their team?
Arrange for a member of HR to have a conversation with the team to fix the issue.Is the employee struggling with childcare and work balance?
Have a discussion on the options of flexible or remote working that are open to them.
If employees know that they are being heard and their problems taken seriously, they’ll know that their employer cares for their wellbeing and job satisfaction will increase.Celebrate success
It’s easy to only notice and talk about the negatives within a job (for example, if a target isn’t met).
But it’s important to celebrate success when it comes as well.
As the top factor contributing to job satisfaction in the BCG study, we know that ‘appreciation for their work’ is important to employees.
Knowing that their work is noticed and appreciated (rather than just expected) will dramatically improve job satisfaction in the workplace.
Prioritise employee wellbeing
It’s difficult not to bring your personal life with you to work, as it’s where most people spend a majority of their time.
As such, it’s important for your company to prioritise wellbeing at work.
This means being open to conversations discussing:
Mental health
Physical health
Stress and burnout
Personal safety
Work-life balance
If issues at work are contributing to an employee’s wellbeing, this will impact their job satisfaction as a whole.Offer support and resources where you can to help your employees manage their wellbeing at work.
Now you know what job satisfaction is and how to improve it
Job satisfaction is hugely important to the overall success and growth of a business, and the first step is hiring the right talent that will thrive within your company.
We break traditional recruitment stereotypes of putting forward candidates that are barely relevant to the role (because, what’s the point in that?)
What sets us apart is our investment in businesses and people, creating black and white partnerships that thrive.
Want to build a business with exceptional talent?
