Employee satisfaction is a phrase used to describe whether or not employees are satisfied and have their concerns addressed at work. The most crucial aspect of employee satisfaction is keeping your employees content so they can accomplish their jobs and contribute to company goals. With that in mind, HR software can assist you in gathering data to help you get to the bottom of your staff’s sentiments towards the workplace.
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This article will explain why employee satisfaction is vital for your business. Then we’ll look at what job satisfaction is and the importance of acting on the various aspects of employee satisfaction.
What This Article Covers:
- What Is It?
- Satisfaction vs. Engagement
- Primary Benefits
- Best Practices
- Measurement Methods
- Bringing It Together
- Next Steps
What Is Employee Satisfaction?
Employee satisfaction is an indicator of how happy workers are with their jobs.
You’re probably familiar with the idea that, as a business, you need to put the customer first. In marketing, everything you do revolves around the customer.
The same principle applies to HR. Only in this case, your employees are the customers. Given that, it makes sense that their satisfaction is something you should take seriously. And if the needle swings to dissatisfaction, it should become even more of a priority.
Satisfied employees are critical to any company’s success. The fight for good talent is as fierce as ever, thanks to the shrinking talent pool. Your organization needs to make sure that your employees are happy, or you risk losing them to the competition.
Low employee turnover and improved work performance are both linked to high employee satisfaction. If you desire better output, make sure your employees enjoy what they’re doing.
All good organizations want to create a thriving and happy workforce. Despite this, many employees remain dissatisfied. According to Gallup’s Great Jobs Report, a research study conducted in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Omidyar Network and Lumina Foundation, 40% of U.S workers have experienced worsening job quality since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A bunch of metrics might leap to mind — increased revenue, greater profit margins, more customers, enhanced productivity. Maybe even the extent to which your HR software supports your most precious asset: your people. But have you stopped to consider how employee satisfaction fits into the picture?
According to many satisfaction researchers, affective employee satisfaction represents the total amount of joyful emotions and feelings linked with employment and its position in the professional’s life. In contrast, cognitive work happiness refers to rational contentment with specific aspects of the job, such as income and day-to-day tasks.
So, what affects whether workers are satisfied? A 2021 Forbes article lists some key drivers of employee satisfaction:
- A company’s values and culture.
- Who they work with and the quality of an organization’s senior leaders.
- Employee gratification in form of informal learning, career mapping and formal skill acquisition.
- Employees must know how their performance is evaluated.
- Career opportunities.
Written by the Head of Talent Acquisition at BambooHR, J.D. Conway, the article provides a framework for key components of a satisfied workforce. Further, it reflects some of the values considered while creating and delivering an HR SaaS designed to foster employee satisfaction in the workplace.
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Satisfaction vs. Engagement
Employee engagement is another common term, and it’s often confused with employee satisfaction. After all, aren’t satisfied employees also engaged?
Not necessarily.
Employee engagement is one variable affecting general satisfaction (and the opposite is also true), the concepts are not quite the same.
Employee engagement comes when employees are dedicated to helping their employers achieve all of their objectives. Employees that are engaged are more likely to stay with the organization and do everything they can to enable their companies to flourish.
Whereas employee satisfaction is a phrase used in the human capital business to express how content or comfortable individuals are with their employment, job experience and the companies they work for. Employee satisfaction is a vital statistic for determining an organization’s general pulse. Many companies conduct frequent surveys to gauge employee satisfaction and analyze trends and patterns. Employees who have a high level of satisfaction are satisfied with how their company treats them.
But there is a correlation between employee satisfaction and engagement. Employees who are engaged are committed to helping their organization achieve its objectives. They’re focused and productive at work, and they’re always looking for new methods to improve. Employee satisfaction, on the other hand, refers to how happy and content the workforce is. Employees satisfied with the job are more likely to remain with the organization for an extended period.
Primary Benefits
Not tracking a KPI is the business version of driving blindfolded. You might have a general idea of where you’re going, but without the ability to see the advantages of maintaining employee satisfaction, you don’t know when to make adjustments if you start veering off course.
Likewise, without knowing the level of satisfaction among your employees, it’s impossible to steer away from negative trends. Or, on the flip side, to stay in the fast lane of what’s working well. Failure on either side can lead to unhappy employees who aren’t committed to their jobs and, ultimately, your company’s mission.
With that in mind, let’s get practical for a minute. Here are four reasons why you’re better off knowing the level of satisfaction (or lack thereof) of your employees:
1. Boost Business Growth
Companies that motivate and engage their employees stand a better chance of outperforming their competitors.
While it can actually be hard to prove that job satisfaction directly causes higher productivity, research suggests there’s a correlation.
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) conducted a study using Gallup data in 2019. Though the study is on the older side, the evidence is still valid. It found a correlation between employee satisfaction and enhanced company performance. It makes sense that happy employees are more productive.
Moreover, the study also found that satisfied employees have a positive impact on customer loyalty and profitability. So beyond just boosting productivity levels, employee satisfaction can bring dedicated customers and add to your company’s bottom line.
2. Retain Employees
According to an employee engagement report from TINYpulse, employee engagement was the first priority for HR leaders in 2021. Around “57% of HR managers responded that employee mental health was a high priority in 2021,” though there is no direct link “between reported employee satisfaction and mental health prioritization.”
The report also highlights that because so many firms want to retain remote employees in years to come, they must prioritize engagement, manager effectiveness and employee recognition more.
Given that, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that employee satisfaction can help right the ship. The LSE report mentioned above showed a negative correlation between satisfaction and turnover rates. This means a satisfied workforce is one where fewer employees leave.
Employee engagement research by Qualtrics points in a similar direction.
Qualtrics found that stress, pandemic-induced exhaustions and worries of ‘old ways’ slowly creeping in are driving individuals away and you must take proactive measures to keep them and keep them engaged.
It also suggests that managers play a key role in driving job satisfaction. And in turn, managers who help employees handle their workload and regularly acknowledge good work are two of the three drivers for employee retention.
In other words, workers with good managers are more likely to be satisfied and stay with a company.
3. Accelerate Employee Engagement
Yes, we talked about how satisfaction and engagement aren’t synonymous. But greater satisfaction in a job can pave a natural path toward higher levels of engagement.
When employees are engaged, it fosters a strong company culture, greater loyalty and increased productivity.
Engaged employees are invested not just in their day-to-day roles but also in your company’s long-term success. They don’t merely come to do their jobs. They bring innovative ideas and exceed expectations.
In a volatile age where 62% of millennials agreed that businesses “have no ambition beyond wanting to make money” (the figure is down four percent from 2020), creating an engaged workforce is a competitive edge.
So, measuring job satisfaction has a lot of benefits. But how do you go about it?
It’s not as easy as asking your employees if they enjoy working for you. The process of measuring employee satisfaction starts from day one and includes finding out who they are and what their goals are with your company.
But that’s only part of the process. You also need the right tools to make sense of the data and drive strategic decisions.
4. Safeguard Company Culture
Dissatisfied staff might become toxic over time, causing chaos in business culture and creating a hostile workplace. Employees that are happy with their jobs are more likely to be cooperative and passionate.
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Best Practices
Every field has tried-and-true methods, and it’s no different for HR departments when it comes to driving employee satisfaction.
Let’s look at some of the best practices for ensuring employee satisfaction.
Create a Positive Work Environment
A healthy work environment encompasses more than just the structure of the company. It is an individual’s entire relationship with their colleagues, immediate superiors and business culture.
Provide Feedback
Employee satisfaction depends on feedback, but most executives are hesitant to provide it. Employees are unclear about the labor and energy they are investing in due to the absence of feedback.
Implement Rewards & Recognition
We all have diverse skills that we use at work, whether knowingly or unknowingly. As a result, it is gratifying for anyone to receive recognition for their ability to apply these skills. Staff morale, productivity and general job satisfaction improve when employees feel appreciated and rewarded.
Promote Work-life Balance
Employees can achieve work-life balance by balancing their family and personal lives with their careers. Balancing life and work in today’s society is complex, and it may be exhausting at times.
Employees occupy their time with many parts of their personal and professional relationships. And this has a significant impact on their contentment and the happiness of their employees. Long, rigid timetables and an excessive workload make it challenging for them to strike a balance.
Engage Employees
When you integrate and motivate your employees, they are more satisfied. Teams that engage with a high degree of participation are more comfortable. Motivating employees by involving them is the best technique.
Address Employee Well-being
The expression “health is wealth” is often overused, but it stays true to its essence. Organizations that do not prioritize their employees’ physical, psychological, mental and financial well-being create ineffective teams. It is critical to creating a work culture that caters to the demands of workers’ well-being.
Fit and tension-free individuals are more productive and have a stronger sense of ownership over their work. They are more involved and dedicated because they have a sense of stability. To build a positive culture, organizations should give them workplace wellness programs or activities and track their conduct.
Define Goals Clearly
You could have the best players in the league working for your organization, but if you don’t set strategic goals, their zeal will dwindle. During their production process, your team requires direction. Employee unhappiness occurs when an organization fails to give clear objectives or business values. Employees don’t just work for the money. To be satisfied, they need a motivating force and a feeling of direction at work.
Measuring Employee Satisfaction
Employee satisfaction, often known as job or work satisfaction, is a commonly used metric in HR departments. It relates to a staff’s level of satisfaction with their employment and work environment and their mindset toward their employer.
Employee happiness is one of the most important indicators of overall company culture. The level of employee satisfaction also helps evaluate their needs and priorities and how the organization can assist them in their development.
It is one of the most vital considerations of a leader. It’s impossible to get honest feedback from team members without it. After all, you can’t develop your staff if you don’t recognize what problems they’re dealing with. No single KPI tells you exactly how workers feel; measuring and understanding this requires a lot of time and effort.
Common tools for gathering such data have included surveys and annual reviews, along with measuring your employee Net Promoter Score — known as eNPS.
Traditionally, taking the pulse of your company was limited to annual surveys and reviews. But times are changing to reflect a more dynamic, agile workplace. Checking in on employees once a year isn’t a very practical approach if that’s all you do.
Everyone touts the need for real-time insights. Employee satisfaction metrics are no different. The value lies in enabling managers to respond immediately to the currents in your company, rather than waiting for results as used to be the case.
Think of your relationship with employees like a relationship with a spouse. Constant communication and check-ins create a healthier, more positive environment where issues don’t have time to fester under the surface and cause tension.
Continual touchpoints — pulse surveys, conversations with managers and more — also make employees feel heard and paid attention to. And they help managers take action when it matters most.
Fortunately, the tools at your disposal are becoming more advanced. It’s now easier than ever to find out what your employees think, feel and want at any given time. Let’s dive into a few examples.
Conduct Surveys
Surveys are one of the best ways to track employee satisfaction and the culture developed in your office.
But while the process might seem daunting, it doesn’t have to be. It can actually be as simple as a list of 10 questions about how people feel at work and what they’d like to see improve. As long as the questions are structured correctly and don’t contain bias that encourages responses the employer wants to hear, they can be valuable.
One way companies now collect employee data is via pulse surveys. The approach is similar to annual surveys but digs into the sentiments of a specific group of people — your sales department, for example.
Pulse surveys, as the name implies, occur more frequently. They also take much less time to complete since they’re not comprehensive like annual surveys.
Examples of pulse surveys used to gather feedback on different topics.
Surveying your employees about specific issues and asking for their input is a great way to find the best possible solution. Not to mention, it makes everyone feel heard.
Making surveys anonymous is important to ensure that the results are honest and provide valuable insights. Employees will be more willing to point out problems or voice concerns if their name isn’t attached to their responses.
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Review Employee Performance
Employee performance reviews are an important part of running a business. Without them, it’d be difficult to measure progress and set clear goals for your company.
When used correctly, employee performance reviews provide many benefits.
However, simply holding performance reviews isn’t enough. You need to conduct them in a way that’s beneficial to employees.
A recent report by Betterworks found that firms are most prepared to help individuals in the right ways when they include a performance management process that incorporates regular check-ins, ongoing assessment and agile goal creation. To understand more about how you can enable outstanding performance, download the report.
As mentioned, the traditional yearly review isn’t the most effective approach if used alone. Holding regular personal meetings with your employees is one good way to gain insights into workplace morale and general office culture.
It’s also important to get to know your employees individually. Doing so can go a long way towards understanding their common concerns and what solutions might be available.
With a face-to-face meeting, employees feel more valued and can voice their personal opinions about the workplace. This gives you valuable insight and sends the message to employees that you care enough to listen.
Employee performance reviews also help track the company’s overall performance. There are numerous employee performance management solutions that help make the process easier. These solutions offer features such as real-time performance tracking, goal management and self-assessment tools.
This chart is one way to track employee performance across a company.
Performance management software gives insight into which employees are the most and least productive. This lets you address low performance to significantly increase overall productivity.
It also allows you to hold more constructive, solution-oriented performance review meetings. Task reassignment, work events and employee development strategies are all great ways to improve employee engagement and keep your workforce happy.
The important thing is to look at employee performance reviews as beneficial to both your organization and employees. The goal should be figuring out how to help each employee become more productive and reach their full potential at your company.
Have Conversations
Let’s face it: life at the office gets busy.
In-person meetings sound good in theory, but they can be hard to put into practice. That’s why tools like Hyphen exist. Along with polls and surveys, it provides an innovative conversation platform that lets company leaders converse with employees.
Employees can vote on ideas and share thoughts. And leaders have a means for listening to their workers and gaining valuable insights they can act on. More importantly, Hyphen integrates directly with other apps. Conversations take place in the regular flow of activities instead of disrupting work.
Recognize Employee’s Achievement
Everyone likes to be complimented and appreciated for their efforts.
Employees feel more treasured if their accomplishments and successes are recognized. It gives everyone on the team a sense of fulfillment.
Recognize employee achievements in all situations. You can acknowledge employees publicly in meetings or privately through emails or Slack messages. Make a point of mentioning the qualities you admire about that person during private sessions. Look for things to encourage until it becomes second nature.
Reward your workforce for their accomplishments. Be innovative, particularly if you have a limited budget.
Reduce Micromanaging
If you micromanage employees, they might perceive that you either don’t believe them or feel they are incapable. Employees’ anxiety levels may rise as a result of this and may impact work relationships.
Avoiding micromanagement isn’t only about employee satisfaction. You might also get less stuff done by inviting unreasonable burnout for yourself and the team.
Prioritize Health & Well-being
When employees suffer from health concerns, it’s difficult for them to be enthusiastic about their jobs.
Giving your workers a variety of health benefits might not be in your budget. If that’s the case, allow them time and provide support.
Assist your team in staying healthy by:
- Encouraging staff to take breaks regularly
- Finding mental health apps and services available
- Allowing staff to take sick days without feeling guilty
Bringing It Together
Understanding the importance of employee satisfaction and using the platforms available to gather that data is only half the battle. It won’t provide value unless your organization acts on the findings.
For example, if patterns emerge that suggest employees aren’t happy with set work hours, you could consider adding flexible schedules as a benefit.
No matter the specific situation, gathering feedback isn’t worth the effort unless you take action. That’s one reason why it’s important to look for systems that let you continuously gather insights.
Next Steps
Better employee satisfaction helps your business perform at a higher level and retain top talent. It also cultivates an environment where employees can move beyond mere satisfaction to active engagement. Because high job satisfaction doesn’t equal excellent performance, and your goal should be to aim for the latter.
At the same time, the tools used for collecting employee sentiment are evolving. As you search for the right HR solution, we recommend thoroughly researching systems. Check out our free comparison report to kickstart your search and make sure you end up with the capabilities you need.
Understanding what your employees want from a workplace and what makes them perform at their best takes effort. And finding the right tools to support the process takes time.
But the time and effort are well worth it to create a culture that matches your employees’ needs and positions your organization to be successful in today’s competitive landscape.
Happy employees usually stay and work harder. You can help motivate employees and provide more profound work satisfaction by addressing the elements that inspire them: what they’re accomplishing, what they’re about, who they’re working with, how they’re evaluated and what growth opportunities they have.
Companies need to be aware of a few techniques to boost employee satisfaction. Happy employees will constantly strive to improve the bottom line. Once you understand what reduces employee happiness, you can assist your staff in providing the greatest possible experience. That’s when you start assembling a team to assist you in meeting your goals.
What steps have you taken to ensure employee satisfaction at your company? What are your favorite tools to measure employee satisfaction? Let us know in the comments!