What Makes People Happy at Work?
By Joan Lloyd
Millions have been spent to find the answer to that
question. Countless studies have been done to unlock the Rosetta
Stone of employee satisfaction. Retention is analyzed, measured and
debated. You might be thinking, “Hey! Pay me a hundred grand
and I’ll make myself happy doing almost anything!” The
quick answer is always money, but countless studies show that after
the basic salary needs are met, other factors take over as primary
satisfiers. So, after reading the books and studies, and being a
student of the modern organization for decades, I’ve come up
with a short—albeit simple—list of the things I believe
people want.
A short commute
New studies are revealing that commuters who spend
more than two hours a day in transit value that extra time at
approximately 50K a year (over the minimum salary of $75,000). In
other words, once someone makes at least 75K, they’d rather
give up the extra cash if it means they don’t have to commute
that far every day. No wonder it is becoming commonplace to work
from home a day or more a week, even for management positions. Not
only is the cost an issue, the waste of up to ten hours a week away
from home is a huge dissatisfier.
Being in control of your own
work
When women began to leave the workforce in the late
‘80’s and early ‘90’s, to start their own
companies, conventional wisdom said it was because they hit the
glass ceiling. When the recession hit, even more men and women
turned to entrepreneurial ventures, giving up on conventional job
hunting. Many young graduates don’t even look for a job,
preferring to jump into their own businesses before they even leave
school.
They all have one thing in common: they want to be
in control of their own career destiny. And those who are most
satisfied in a conventional job are those who tell me, “My
boss leaves me alone to do my job. He doesn’t breathe down my
neck.” They are in control of their own work.
They are listened to
All of us want to have our opinion count. It means
we matter and are valued. A leader who is smart enough to ask his
or her staff what they think—and then really consider what
they say—will have satisfied employees.
They are cared about
Their leaders want to know how their weekend went.
They know the names of their children. They will allow them to
leave work for some unavoidable personal matters. They spend a few
minutes chatting about their lives. Employees don’t feel that
they are not a cog in the wheel of productivity.
They are given freedom
Freedom can come in many forms. In one workplace,
they don’t count sick days—they just expect people will
get their jobs done. If their work is done they can leave early. In
another workplace, they aren’t tethered to their desks, or
checked on to make sure they are on task—they are measured by
their output. In another workplace, there are no time cards.
Working from home is another form of freedom. It can be as simple
as allowing people to take breaks when they need them, versus at a
specific time.
Having mission-driven work
If people believe they are working for a greater
good, satisfaction is a byproduct. It’s one of the reasons
non-profit organizations attract quality employees, even though
they pay less than the big corporations. It’s also why we are
seeing some high powered executives chuck it all and dedicate
themselves to the cause they believe in.
Being challenged and able to
grow
For many people, learning new things and developing
in their jobs is at the top of their satisfaction list. That means
getting regular honest feedback, being given new tasks, and
exposing them to new experiences is what drives their satisfaction
engine.
