Shutterstock
One would think that a sweet salary package would launch employees into job satisfaction heaven, but no — instead, it’s the one thing that Aretha Franklin has been singing about for years: R-e-s-p-e-c-t. According to CNN Money, being treated with courtesy is the No.1 desire among workers.
A new survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 72 percent rated “respectful treatment of all employees at all levels” as the most important factor in job satisfaction. Trust, landing in second place, is another big one; 64 percent hope for a good level of dependability between employees and senior management.
Benefits landed in third place with 63 percent, compensation and salary followed a close fourth with 61 percent, and job security sat in fourth place with 59 percent. It’s interesting that benefits were listed as more significant than salary, but this is due to increasing concerns about healthcare costs, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Zooming in on benefits, survey takers rated paid time off as most important, followed by health insurance and work/life balance.
The study found that since employees rated corporate culture quite high in job satisfaction, the lead investigators, according to the Tribune, suggested the following:
“…[I]n order for HR professionals to implement successful retention and recruitment strategies, their tools must be deployed equally between these financial elements — such as paying competitive salaries and offering flexible work benefits — and cultural qualities of the workplace, which may include a heavy emphasis on employee engagement.”
The survey noted that overall job satisfaction increased in 2014 to 86 percent from 81 percent the year prior. This is the highest level it has ever been in a decade. Pay increases jumped in 2013 — 63 percent got some extra pocket change, that’s seven percentage points higher than the year before. Half received a bonus, up from 36 percent.
This survey included a random sample of 600 participants who are employed in full-time or part-time jobs.
