You may be wondering what are the top job satisfaction factors among modern employees, and how you can identify them. Understanding what satisfies employees, and why a happy employee is crucial for productivity and retention, is key for business owners, so, read on to learn what you can do to understand job satisfaction at your company; from offering wellness perks, too offering access to services like BeMo Academic Consulting, there is always room to improve!
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Job satisfaction is a broad concept that can encompass many different aspects of an employee's experience. One thing is for certain, though- no matter what field of work you’re in, or the size of your company, employee satisfaction is very important.
When employees are happy in their jobs and enjoy what they do, your company will only benefit! As an employer, it’s both expected and humane to ensure your employees feel comfortable and satisfied in their workplace, but, you might be wondering how you can tell, what you can do to improve your workplace, and what job satisfaction means in 2022.
What is Job Satisfaction?
In general, job satisfaction refers to how happy and pleased an employee is with their job. As an employer, look at your team and ask yourself: collectively, are they excited and motivated to come to work each day…or, are they merely settling in their roles because they require income?
While a job itself may be defined as a series of tasks that are performed for an employer in exchange for monetary earnings or the perks employers can offer through company programs or employer partnerships, job satisfaction stems from more than just how much money employees earn, and what tasks they’re asked to complete as a part of their contract and regular duties.
Are you looking to offer your employees unique benefits and perks? BeMo's employer partnerships allow your employees unparalleled access to the top admissions experts and career coaches for them and their families. Whether you have an employee looking to go back to school and earn their MBA or an employees' child wants to apply to a top medical school, BeMo can help them achieve their goals while saving you money and increasing employee job satisfaction.
A lot of the time, we think that offering employee’s a single, additional perk, or a small raise, will be enough to make them entirely satisfied, but it's not always so simple. That’s why it’s crucial to understand what job satisfaction looks like, and how employees gauge their satisfaction at their jobs.
In today’s modern workforce, it might seem obvious that employees will be satisfied if they’re receiving good pay and the best employee benefits or perks (such as more vacation time, flexible work hours and so on). But, other factors contribute to satisfaction as well.
The following are often attributed as being top job satisfaction factors for employees:
- Employee benefits and support for employee's family
- Opportunities for career advancement and raises
- Being challenged with new and exciting tasks
- Feeling appreciated by their team and employer
- Being able to communicate with leaders and give feedback
- Access to growth and skill development opportunities
- Having a company culture that aligns with employee's values and beliefs
- Flexibility in the workplace
- Autonomy and trust between management and employees
- Work-life balance
Keep reading to learn more about what these actually mean to employees, and how you can ensure you improve upon these factors so that your employees are satisfied!
Why Do People Stay at Their Jobs Long-Term?
There are several reasons why people remain in their roles for extended periods of time. While most employees remain in their roles as a result of being satisfied with their job, some may stay out of fear or due to having no other option. Simply put, you don’t want your employees to experience the latter. You should be able to retain your employees because they are happy, fulfilled and satisfied with their jobs!
Depending on your industry, some employees stay in their jobs long-term due to the job itself providing stability and security. For example, many employees who crave stability, or who have busy family lives outside of work, enjoy their ‘9-5’ roles because they will usually earn the same amount of money each month and work the same predictable schedules. This can extend to jobs that are not typical ‘9-5’ positions as well. In general, income and a secure, stable job is appealing to employees.
Along with this, employees may enjoy the company culture and reputation. They may feel they get fair recognition and thoroughly enjoy being a part of a respected team. For many large, reputable companies with strong teams and a defined culture, this is often the case. However, for many small-to-medium modern businesses, an emphasis on developing a strong, defined company culture has become very important. Employees feel satisfied when they feel as though they fit in and are a part of something great, like a strong team with a solid mission. If your company has a poor reputation, isn’t recognized (or, is recognized for a negative reason) and doesn’t have a clearly defined culture and set of beliefs that aligns with your employees, then they may not be satisfied with their jobs.
Additionally, many employees—especially young ones – are eager to learn, have access to professional development tools and opportunities, and have the opportunity for growth. If an individual who starts off in a sales department as a junior representative can steadily work toward a career as a sales leader, manager, or even a Vice President, within your organization, they are likely to stay and work toward their goals eagerly, as long as you’ve made their path and potential clear and are providing developmental support.
Finally, most employees stay at their jobs long-term due to pay and benefits. This does not mean that adequate pay and health benefits can excuse your company from providing fair working conditions, or an enticing company culture and team structure. Rather, providing your employees with a fair compensation package- that is, one that includes a market-rate salary (at least), with additional perks, such as bonuses, and benefits for employees and their growing families, is a must if you want to retain your employees and ensure they are all satisfied.
Retention Strategies to Consider
So, you’re looking to ensure that your company considers the top job satisfaction factors when reassessing your company’s approach to employee happiness…that is great!
To start, you should first consider the following:
What Benefits Can I Offer at my Company to Improve Job Satisfaction?
In general, the coverage you offer are up to you and what you feel (or know) your employees will benefit from having access to. However, offering flexibility in your benefits, such as giving each employee the opportunity to access additional services as needed, is a great way to improve overall job satisfaction. Another way to do this is to offer additional benefits that are unique, and cannot be found easily at other companies!
When it comes to offering benefits that will help with job satisfaction, retention, employee happiness, and, align with your company culture, you should consider things that would benefit not only your employees, but their families as well. It’s important to focus on your employee as a whole, and the things that matter most to them.
Pay attention to your employees’ needs, desires, and identities outside of work. And/or, as noted above, conduct a survey to see what additional benefits could be offered apart from basic health and dental coverage. If your company values health and your culture is one to encourage wellness, active lifestyles, and mindfulness, perhaps promoting an incentive for employees to take yoga or join a gym (and reimburse them) is a great step! In addition to company and employee values, you should look at the demographics of your employees, and also try to understand what stresses them out, and what would make their lives easier. Are many of them parents, or family planning? Are they stressed about financial matters, such as saving for college funds? Or, are they themselves looking for additional growth opportunities, such as obtaining their Bachelor’s or MBA degree as a mature student? Then offering to reimburse or help with services like MBA admissions consulting or college admissions consulting would be of great benefit to them.
For employees with children, a common benefit/perk offered is access to childcare- and reimbursement or partial coverage for it. But, seldom are educational services that would benefit teenage dependents and young adults offered. This is where many workplace benefits packages are lacking, and where job satisfaction can be improved upon.
Even for employees without children, or someone who is more focused on their own education, having access to services that benefit their future educational endeavors, should they choose to return to school, would present both a unique and worthwhile opportunity.
Offering access to services that improve the lifestyles (and reduce stress) for employees and their families is a great way to ensure that you’re covering your bases as an employer, and contributing toward a potential top job satisfaction factor.
What Can Your Do to Stand Out as an Employer?
If you’re looking to offer additional perks to offer your employees and their families, look into educational services. Education is a priority for many, however, it is slowly becoming inaccessible. Having peace of mind that your employee and/or their child can have the opportunity to access services that will help them develop as professionals and achieve their academic goals is a great benefit that many would love to have access to!
Whether your employee may opt to return to school as a mature student—and in turn, become a valuable, well educated employee—or, if they have children who are planning to attend college, graduate school, law school, medical school, an MBA program, or anything else, admissions services like BeMo can help them prepare for this important step in their development.
To most parents, their children’s futures are of the upmost importance. Many won’t hesitate to ensure they are prepared and given the support they need. If their employer offered coverage for educational services, they would likely be very satisfied with their job and company, and be able to relax knowing their teens and young adults will have access to excellent preparatory services when they are ready to attend post-secondary school or graduate programs.
Final Thoughts
We have seen that job satisfaction is very important to employees and employers. In terms of top job satisfaction factors, it can vary by industry, and be based on employee, but in general, employees are most satisfied, happy, and productive when they feel that they and their families are taken care of!
This means that not only must you create a welcoming work environment with incentive and a strong company culture, but you must offer compensation that is fair, as well as growth opportunities where possible. And, benefits matter to your employees, too. Offering coverage for employees and their dependents/spouses for health and dental is common, however, there is room to offer additional perks that benefit your employees and their future children, or, their children who are currently nearing their post-secondary years. Offering coverage for preparatory educational services, like BeMo Academic Consulting, can reduce stress for your employees and help them feel satisfied knowing you, their employer, truly cares about their family and their future.
FAQs
1. What does job satisfaction mean?
Job satisfaction refers to how content and pleased your employees are with their jobs. An employee who is satisfied with their job will usually be happy and motivated, as well as productive, and a long-time member of a team. Employees who are unproductive, completing the bare-minimum, or, who resign from their roles, are generally not entirely satisfied.
2. Why is job satisfaction important to employers?
Understanding and assessing job satisfaction—and figuring out how to improve it when necessary—should be important to employers because employees who are satisfied in their roles will often perform better, remain employed at one company for a long time, and become loyal, trustworthy, team players who keep your company’s best interest in mind. So, in short, job satisfaction can mean better retention, great team morale, and excellent productivity. In the end, these things can save you thousands…poor retention, along with low morale and poor productivity can be costly. When you invest in making your employees a bit happier, you’re actually saving money, and a lot of hassle.
3. What are the top job satisfaction factors?
It can vary by industry, as well as among different groups of employees, but in general, employee’s are most satisfied with their job when they have a sense of security and stability, when they feel they fit with the company’s defined set of values and culture, when they have opportunities to learn and grow, when they feel they’re supported, and, when they are offered a good compensation and benefits that can help them, as well as their spouse and children.
4. How do I know if my employees are satisfied with their jobs?
It’s simple! First, look at your company stats. How is your retention? What is your company culture like, and, can you or any of your employees define it on the fly? Do you find your employees to be motivated and excited, or are you just barely hitting targets and seeing a lot of sighs and yawns around the office? You may need to do a bit of a re-structuring if you notice you’re lacking in several categories here, but in many cases, employers can improve their employee’s happiness by offering better pay, better benefits that actually matter to them, and/or, by revisiting somethings like company culture and your company values to decide if what you offer your employees as perks aligns.
Another thing you can do is conduct a survey with your employees and consider their feedback. You can ask them what they like and dislike, as well as what benefits they wish they had, or, what they would change about the company.
A final strategy here is to conduct quarterly performance reviews that are conversational, but focus on two-way feedback. You can give constructive feedback to your employees, and they can offer you their honest opinions.
5. My employees seem satisfied, should I still pay attention to the top job satisfaction factors?
Yes. You never want to assume that your employees are totally content. If you have great retention and a happy, productive team, chances are you’re running a great workplace! However, times change, and people’s priorities can shift. As your company scales, even if things seem to be perfect, it’s always crucial to encourage feedback, communication, or, even conduct surveys every quarter just to gauge if anything is changing.
Think of it this way: what was most important to you 5-10 years ago might not be as important now. People’s values change. An employee who started with your company as a single college graduate may now suffer from back pain and have two children at home relying on him to support their futures. You need to grow with your employees, and restructure your benefits packages, salaries, policies, and daily routines every few years in order to stay modern, and to keep everyone satisfied!
6. Do the top job satisfaction factors vary by industry?
Sometimes they do! But, generally, whether you’re a small business, a medium office space, or a corporate giant, your employees will feel satisfied when they feel appreciated and supported, secure in their roles, able to excel at their duties, enjoy the company culture, and, have a good salary and benefits that supports their livelihood.
Some industries value autonomy and flexibility more than others. For example, many consulting firms, marketing agencies, and communications companies offer flex-days, remote work opportunities, and total autonomy over hours. However, tech industries, medical facilities and other more team-based, in-person settings can only offer so much flexibility and autonomy. That is why it’s important to assess your field of work, and communicate with your employees.
7. What can offering perks like access to educational services do for my employees?
If you opt to offer a service like BeMo academic consulting to your team, that means any employee who wishes to enhance their skills and return to school, and/or any employee with children, will be able to work productively and happily knowing that they’ll have the help they need when preparing to apply for college, a graduate program, medical school, law school, or any other academic institution.
8. How can I offer BeMo’s services to my staff?
We’d love to help! Reach out to us here to find out more about what we offer.
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