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Summary: Most employees in Australasia are content, according to a survey.
Key Take Aways:
- Employee contentment might be more connected with gratitude for their efforts than with higher salaries.
- For some workers, the number of friends they have at work is more important than having a large salary.
According to Leadership Management Australasia 53% of employees there are content with their jobs. Additionally, worker happiness has increased by as much as 40% over the last several years. Part of the reason for worker contentment may be related to the slight and gradual waning of the global economic crisis, because the worst of it appears to be over. (A similar survey in Malaysia found 78% of employees were unhappy though.)
According to an executive associated with Leadership Management Australasia,"... happiness would continue to rise if employers continued to re-implement other benefits provided before the downturn, such as paying staff above-average salaries and recognizing the efforts of workers." (Source: Herald Sun)
Employee recognition may actually be a greater source of happiness and organization with active programs for appreciating their employees can have better business results.
Besides employee recognition, focusing on hiring people whose personal values match those of the organization also tends to result in happier employees because they fit into the overall culture better and therefore are likely to have more social connections at work.
Research has indicated the number friends a person has at work is a key to workplace happiness. In the particular study, having friends at work was more important to some people than having a large salary.
Zappos founder Tony Hsieh wrote in his book, Delivering Happiness, that happiness doesn’t come as much from within as it does from between, meaning from the connections one enjoys with other people.
Image Credit: Steffen84, Wiki Commons
