Satisfaction is key

Challenge, growth and learning are three factors that keep employees productive and satisfied.

HR with an appropriate strategy managed to assemble a crackerjack, technology-savvy team. O.K. now the hard work begins: keeping them. Survey after survey of hi-tech employees reveals that the primary motivating factor is not how much money they make (as long as it compares well to industry standards), but how challenging their job is and how much room there is to grow and learn. Growing and learning are the keys to keeping employees productive and satisfied.

IT employees aspire to contribute. However, when they do not play an important role in the organisation's success, or are misunderstood and kept at arm's length from the business decisions or are given an unreasonable set of expectations from management, HR can expect unrest in the ranks.

According to one career expert, if an employee is 65% happy with his job, he is doing pretty well. But what does 65% satisfied really mean?

"The whole idea of job satisfaction is a moving target, "says Robert Lenburg, president of the Human Resources Group in US. "For many employees, how satisfied they feel is a complex interplay of what's happening in their personal and business lives.'

Job expectations also play into the elusive nature of job satisfaction. Some job factors impact the satisfaction levels of most employees; others are particular to "knowledge workers," including engineers.

To evaluate job satisfaction in their ranks, some companies administer employee surveys such as those done by Organisational Skills Associates (OSA), a management and organisational development company based in Madison.

Interestingly, the most common sources of satisfaction have changed somewhat in recent years. "It's no longer tied to things like company loyalty." Bob Morris, president of OSA says. "You don't see very much of that anymore. Employees are loyal to other employees. A lot of their satisfaction is tied up in the colleagues and supervisors.

In fact, studies show that an employee's direct supervisor has the most influence on whether he finds a job satisfying, says Lenburg. Working with a manager who "understands" them, and gives them some choices in their work lives, tends to improve the satisfaction level of most employees.

Factors Contributing to Job Satisfaction

• Achievement
• Recognition for accomplishment
• Challenging work
• Increased responsibility
• Growth and development.

Many organisations, especially those that employ knowledge employees, are definitely making an effort to keep satisfaction levels as high as possible.

Organisations hope that by making greater investments in team environments, creative incentives, and flexible work schedules will avoid grievances, absenteeism, and turnover, which often accompany employee job dissatisfaction.

Depending on the employees’ assessment of their needs for higher job satisfaction, organisations may be able to tap into a corporate offering that helps. Interestingly, while companies are investing a lot of time and energy into such potentially satisfaction-enhancing offerings, job satisfaction levels haven't really risen too much over the last 10 years. HR professionals attribute this stable level of job satisfaction, to a large degree, to increased workplace stress. Therefore, to counter this stress factor, the best thing that companies can do is to offer knowledge employees real opportunities for growth and career development.

A list of do's and don’ts for HR managers interested in maintaining a high level of satisfaction among employees.

Do

• Look at systems and remove artificial barriers, such as unnecessary reports, from employees' duties. This frees employees to give their best effort to important projects.
• Articulate a clear vision.
• Avoid badmouthing the company. HR managers are not "social directors of the cruise ship." They should not let their bad day take its toll on employees either.

Don't

• Take credit for what employees have done. Rather, look for ways to commend employees to senior managers and let employees know when you have done this.
• Pass the buck to another department or function. Encourage employees to take responsibility for the work if responsibility really lies in your department.

These measures help employees increase their job satisfaction levels and be more productive and also act as a good retention strategy.

Related reading:

1. “Boosting Job Satisfaction By Defining And Pursuing Worklife Happiness”, by Hochgraf L., Electronic Design, August 17, 2000.

2. “Increasing Job Satisfaction and Preventing Burnout”, National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, July 13, 2000.

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