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Archive for the ‘Employee Satisfaction’ Category« Previous Entries Next Entries »Understanding and Developing Your (People) Assets (2/4)Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
In the second part of our White Paper "Understanding and Developing Your (People) Assets", Carol-Ann Morgan looks in more detail at theories of employee satisfaction, and tackles the issue of how staff can be better engaged by organisations. Part three follows tomorrow… Motivating the WorkforceIn order to understand the needs of the workforce, organisations need to understand what is driving behaviours and what are the key motivating factors for staff members. Most work motivation theories are based on the work of Maslow, though the motivational spectrum is wide and can vary over time for different individuals. Herzberg’s theory is probably the most well known theoretical framework related to job satisfaction. His model identifies basic “hygiene” factors such as pay and conditions which serve to remove the dissatisfaction from work, rather than promote satisfaction. If these factors are not satisfied, it will impact on employee efficiency. The “satisfiers” are factors which motivate staff, give them an incentive to work and have a direct and positive impact on satisfaction, thereby increasing worker efficiency. The “satisfiers” tend to be related to achievement, recognition, responsibility, and the nature of the work that is done. Fig 1: Herzeberg’s Theory of Motivation:
Motivational theories can be helpful in looking at groups of staff and understanding where their motivations lie, though satisfaction at work is achieved through a complex interplay of these variables. High pay will rarely compensate for very poor working conditions and swish, modern offices and good working conditions will rarely compensate for very low pay. Research by Theresa Welbourne at the University of Chicago, identified 4 segments of staff based on their motivations at work:
Whether or not Welbourne’s segments are recognisable in your company is unimportant, because if you look, there will be segments of employees that can be found. Staff EngagementIn recent years, research has shown that employers want employees that will do their best at work, even “go the extra mile”, and employees want good work, jobs that are worthwhile and “turn them on”. With this shift, there has been an increasing focus on staff satisfaction as a component of staff engagement. Engagement is a combination of commitment to the organisation and its values, plus a willingness to help out colleagues (organisational citizenship). It goes beyond job satisfaction and is not simply motivation. Engagement is something the employee has to offer: it cannot be ‘required’ as part of the employment contract. There are many individual and organisational factors that determine whether employees become engaged, and to what extent they become engaged. Although CIPD research found that although there is no definitive list of engagement drivers, the main drivers of employee engagement are:
Smart organisations work to develop and nurture engagement as the benefits speak for themselves. It is important to note, the employee engagement process does require a two-way relationship between employer and employee.
Robinson (2004) and Penna (2007) both espouse a model of engagement which incorporates job satisfaction, feeling valued at work, communication and training & development as key influences on staff engagement and overall satisfaction at work. Robinson argues that satisfaction with the job of work alone, will not produce a satisfied and engaged workforce, but it is a contributory with many other factors. This phenomena can be seen in some positions where the actual job itself is intrinsically satisfying but the place of work is not, for example academics or specialised maintenance trades operating in large organisations. In these situations, the employee feels the organisation does not value the job they do, but they, personally, take great pride in their work, regardless of the company culture and working environment. Fig 2: Robinson et al (2004) model of the drivers of employee engagement
Penna’s model (2007) adopts a similar position. This model indicates that staff are seeking to find “meaning” at work. Penna defines “meaning” as fulfilment from the job. Fulfilment comes from the employee being valued and appreciated, having a sense of belonging to the organisation, and feeling as though they are making a contribution, and is congruent with the underlying theoretical framework of Robinson. Fig 3: Penna’s hierarchy of engagement (2007)
Penna’s model is also remarkably similar to both Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and Herzberg’s theory, with “hygiene” factors at the base of the triangle and “satisfiers” towards the top. As an organisation successfully meets each of these engagement factors, Penna states that the organisation becomes more attractive to new potential employees and becomes more engaging to its existing staff. Understanding and Developing Your (People) Assets (1/4)Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
Today sees the start of a 4-day serialisation of our latest white paper – Understanding and Deveoping Your (People) Assets, by Carol-Ann Morgan. The next three parts will be posted on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and on Tuesday next week. This first part of the paper looks at why staff contentment is so important, and begins to look at the various literature on employee satisfaction that has emerged so far. One in five employees has had sex in the workplace, one in three has taken Class A drugs at work, and one in six admit to ‘constantly’ surfing the web on matters totally unrelated to work, according to David Bolchover’s book “The Living Dead”. He suggests that these employees are bored with their jobs because they don’t actually have anything meaningful to do. He concludes that a successful employer provides workers with a job that is not only inherently meaningful but also has a wider purpose that is closely allied to the organisation’s wider goals. This paper explores some of the theories about employee satisfaction at work and looks at approaches to measuring and addressing the issues raised. IntroductionMeasuring the satisfaction of customers is common practice in the business environment, particularly in the private sector, and most companies recognise the importance of understanding its customer’s perceptions, needs and motivations. However, coupled with customer satisfaction though, is understanding of what satisfies and motivates staff. The link between these two phenomena has been made by many business leaders and theorists alike, indeed some have built their business strategy around this. Employee well-being is becoming increasingly important as organisations realise the link between happy healthy staff and their long term success Nick Marks CIPD Few would argue that the most valuable resource of any organisation is its people. Staff well-being and their level of satisfaction has been found to directly impact on organisational performance and ultimately organisational success; dissatisfied staff are unlikely to foster a satisfied customer base, and dissatisfied customers directly impact on the bottom line. Thus, measurement of the staff experience is an integral part of developing the customer experience. The link between these issues arose from the premise of the service profit chain:
Source: Harvard Business Review OnPoint The theory goes that if staff feel valued and involved, customers have great experiences dealing with the service organisation, and then positive business results follow. The “Contract”In its simplest form, the “contract” between employer and employee involves the supply of skills and service in exchange for remuneration, with the employer providing the tools to do the job. However, expectations have shifted over time, and both employers and employees now demand more from either side of the equation. The role of two way feedback at all levels within the organisation in developing a happy motivated workforce has been explicitly recognised. Appraisals which prioritise and evaluate work skills and identify staff development and training needs are common place, however, it is not always common place to seek feedback from staff about their level of satisfaction, happiness and/or loyalty to the company/organisation. Happy Complacency TheoryThere has been considerable debate on what employers want from their employees and what employees want from their employers. Early approaches to staff satisfaction tended to focus on the staff member experience; a one way perspective, often quite divorced from the organisational goals and expectations. Most of us can relay a customer experience when, seemingly “happy” staff, enjoying their place of work, display little interest in serving the needs of the customer or of the organisation. This lies at the centre of the debate about the impact of staff “happiness” at work, and whether indeed, “happiness” is what an organisation should be striving for amongst its workforce. Our customers don’t pay for us to have a dodgy day, they pay good money to receive a consistent level of service, and so each of our staff has a responsibility to lift themselves and their colleagues. I have learnt that you can only do this when you have champions in key areas – staff who really champion the cause and influence people. Ian Mahoney, Reebok Club London It has been suggested that people who are very satisfied are not necessarily high performers, and with the constantly changing business environment, employees who are too happy and content, feel less inclined to seek improvements, change, or do things differently. In today’s climate, this tends not to be a good position for any business; rather, a company needs staff who are energised, motivated and eager or willing to try something new. Do you know – or really care – what motivates your staff?Friday, May 30th, 2008
Like many people, B2B director Carol-Ann Morgan believes that satisfied employees lead to satisfied customers. So, in this, her second Thursday Night Insight blog post, she assesses whether we should be doing more to understand what really motivates our colleagues. New figures released in April by the Office of National Statistics reveal that three quarters of the UK population of working age are in work. This amounts to almost 30 million people; a record high. And of these, almost 8 million are over the age of 50. The modern workplace has changed over time, and with it, the expectations of both employers and employees. The link between satisfied staff and satisfied customers has been around for some time. However, a newer, different, paradigm is now in circulation; one which identifies the need for employees who are engaged with the organisation and want to be aligned to the values of the companies they work for. Yet as I look around our offices, and talk to my friends, I am reminded that one man’s meat can certainly be another man’s poison. It is apparent that motivations vary from individual to individual and are influenced by the life context of the employee. I can recognise groups of workers who come to work purely for the money, to survive; others who are looking for the social element and the pay is less important; others who are seeking challenging activities and have a strong desire to be involved in the strategic development of the organisation or company they work for. The requirement to understand the needs of the customer base, and to segment these in order to serve them better is well understood. However, it is not so commonplace to apply the same strategy to our staff. By understanding what employees needs are from the workplace, are we more likely to meet these needs and build a loyal “engaged” staff, at whatever level it is that they are seeking? What Constitues High SatisfactionFriday, August 3rd, 2007
Satisfaction is a subject of great interest to market researchers. Satisfaction with companies and products is one of the most important key performance indicators (KPIs) a company needs to guide its progress. High satisfaction scores result in more sales, increased loyalty, and greater profits. It is the mark of a successful business and a high satisfaction score is the ultimate marketing accolade. So what is satisfaction and what are the satisfaction norms? In the real world we don’t say to our friends and colleagues that the restaurant we have just eaten in was 8 out of 10, or that sunset was 9 out of 10. We use adjectives from the English language to describe how satisfied or dissatisfied we were. However, these variable descriptions would not allow us to arrive at a measure of group satisfaction and so we market researchers have to resort to measures on a scale. Numerical scales are favoured by market researchers and a scale from 1 to 10 is the most common one that is used. In the world of business to business market research most successful companies achieve overall satisfaction scores in the corridor from 7 to 9 out of 10. A score of less than 7 is at the bottom end of the acceptable range and achieving an average score of more than 9 out of 10 is extremely hard. 8 out of 10 is a good average. It was interesting to see the article in the Financial Times at the weekend that referred to research with the general public on satisfaction levels. Lo and behold, the results were very similar to what we find in B2B research. Average scores are in the 7 to 9 out of 10 corridor with professionals achieving higher ratings than those on lower incomes. Job interest and a good family life were important contributors to their high score. There are some lessons for us here in business to business marketing. If relationships make for a high score of satisfaction in personal life, what do you think they do in our business life? If an interesting and engaging job makes for happiness in our personal life, what do you think interesting and engaging suppliers do for supplier satisfaction?
How To Be RemarkableWednesday, January 10th, 2007
Here’s a great article written by Seth Godin from the Guardian website.
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