[March 04, 2015] |
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Kronos Survey Reveals the Secrets to Day-to-day Happiness in the Workplace: It's Easier (and Less Expensive) Than You Think
Providing a competitive salary, good benefits, and professional
development opportunities are considered table stakes for most
successful organizations today. Yet two simple words - "Thank you" -
could be the difference between a happy employee and one with a foot
already out the door.
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of Employee Appreciation Day on
March 6, The
Workforce Institute at Kronos
Incorporated commissioned an online survey of more than 850 U.S.
employees, conducted in February by Harris Poll1, to explore
the roots of day-to-day happiness in the workplace. The power of thank
you and positive recognition score high with employees, while co-workers
can play a significant role in how appreciated people feel in the
workplace.
News Facts
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Employee feelings of appreciation in line with engagement studies. The
good news for organizations is that more than half of employees (53
percent) say they feel either "very appreciated" or "mostly
appreciated" at work. However, those who feel less appreciated in the
workplace align with well-known employee engagement statistics.
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According to a Gallup study2, 51 percent of U.S.
workers say they are "not engaged" at their current job. Compare
this with the 47 percent of employees in the Kronos (News - Alert) study who
either do not feel appreciated or feel only somewhat appreciated
at work.
-
In the same Gallup study, 17.5 percent of workers are "actively
disengaged," compared with 15 percent of employees who feel "not
that appreciated" or "not at all appreciated."
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A grass-is-greener correlation with feeling underappreciated. Overall,
61 percent of employees have thought about searching for a new job in
the past year, and more than a quarter of employees (26 percent)
thought about looking for a new job in the past week.
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Of the employees who thought about searching for a new job in the
past year, 59 percent either do not feel appreciated or feel
somewhat appreciated at their place of work compared with 11
percent who feel very appreciated.
-
Forty-four percent of employees say their company is "average"
compared to other organizations when it comes to showing
appreciation to employees, while 20 percent say their company is
"one of the worst / worse than most."
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Pay raises don't always boost appreciation. If they do, they're
quickly forgotten. While salary, promotions, and bonuses typically
win out in employee motivation surveys, nearly a quarter (24 percent)
of those who ever received a pay raise say it did not improve their
motivation or general feelings of appreciation at work.
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Perhaps worse, of those who had ever received a past pay raise, 40
percent said it improved their motivation or general feelings of
appreciation for six months or less, while 30 percent say the
raise boosted these feelings for a mere month or less; making
day-to-day acts of gratitude and appreciation in the workplace
that much more important.
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The power of "Thank You" can't be underestimated. In an
increasingly competitive job market, many organizations turn to unique
perks, pay raises, and benefits to keep employees happy, but creating
a culture of gratitude could be just as impactful.
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When asked what gives them a high sense of satisfaction at work,
employees say receiving a "Thank you" from their direct manager
(55 percent) nearly doubled that of public recognition of a job
well done (28 percent) even if this recognition is tied to rewards
such as a gift card or company award.
-
Receiving positive feedback from fellow employees at all levels
gave the highest sense of satisfaction, with 70 percent of
employees saying it provides a boost.
-
Private, one-on-one communication is preferred over receiving
positive recognition with others present or copied on a group
email (59 percent vs. 26 percent); while 61 percent prefer verbal
recognition (either privately or in front of a group) over
electronic communication such as email (24 percent) when receiving
positive feedback.
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Managers believe in the power of thank you, too, since a higher
percentage of those with direct reports say positive feedback is
important to their personal satisfaction compared to those without
direct reports (78 percent vs. 70 percent).
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Managers can't do it alone: Co-worker appreciation matters more
than you think. Organizations can spend time and money on programs
that cultivate the best managers, but co-workers have as much power to
make fellow employees feel less appreciated.
-
Interestingly, while 50 percet of employed adults say positive
feedback on their performance from their direct manager provides
satisfaction, nearly the same amount (49 percent) say positive
feedback from their co-workers gives them satisfaction; yet only
39 percent say positive feedback from their leadership
team/executives does the same.
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Among those who do not feel appreciated or who feel somewhat
appreciated at their place of work, rude or mean-spirited
communication coming from their co-worker is just as detrimental
to feeling appreciated as it is coming from their direct manager
(25 percent vs. 26 percent).
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Co-worker relationships are the number-one thing employees who had
a previous job miss most about the most recent job they left (32
percent), beating out company benefits (22 percent), unique perks
(20 percent), and relationship with their previous boss (16
percent).
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What brings employees down? For employees who feel somewhat or
not at all appreciated, not being recognized for the work they do was
the top reason cited by nearly half (48 percent) as something that
makes them not feel appreciated at work.
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In fact, not being recognized for work done is cited nearly twice
as much as receiving criticism (26 percent) and heavy workload (25
percent), and more than twice as much as poor work-life balance
(23 percent) and someone taking credit for the work they did (22
percent).
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What would employees change if they traded places with their boss
for a day? While more than half of employees feel at least mostly
appreciated at work, more than three-quarters (76 percent) who have a
direct boss/manager think they could do even better. When asked what
they would immediately change with respect to showing appreciation and
recognition if they traded places with their boss, 38 percent - the
highest percentage - would simply say "Thank you" more.
Supporting Quotes
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Joyce Maroney, director, The Workforce Institute at Kronos
"Acknowledging
employees' efforts motivates and inspires much more than many people
realize. It's also easy to do and doesn't cost a thing. This employee
appreciation study shows that all of us, from part-time workers to
senior leaders, play a role in how much our co-workers feel
appreciated at work. Fostering a culture of appreciation could be the
simple, secret ingredient to higher employee engagement. And, in the
spirit of the survey, I'd like to thank our own CEO, Aron Ain, for
inspiring a corporate culture of gratitude, collaboration, and mutual
respect."
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Sharlyn Lauby, author, HR Bartender, and president of ITM Group Inc.
"The
best way to engage and retain employees is to connect the good work
they do to the organization's goals and accomplishments. This survey
emphasizes the impact employees can have on the bottom-line when they
receive specific feedback in a timely fashion. It also shows that even
the simplest, yet too often forgotten, acts - like saying 'thank you
for staying late' or 'nice job on the client report' - can mean the
world to employees."
Supporting Resources
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on
behalf of Kronos from February 20-24, 2015 among 2,030 adults ages 18
and older, of whom 855 are employed full or part time. This online
survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of
theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey
methodology, including weighting variables, please contact [email protected].
About The Workforce Institute at Kronos
The Workforce Institute provides research and education on critical
workplace issues facing organizations around the globe. By bringing
together thought leaders, The Workforce Institute is uniquely positioned
to empower organizations with the knowledge and information they need to
manage their workforce effectively and provide a voice for employees on
important workplace issues. A hallmark of The Workforce Institute's
research is balancing the needs and desires of diverse employee
populations with the needs of organizations. For additional information,
visit www.workforceinstitute.org.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in delivering workforce management solutions
in the cloud. Tens of thousands of organizations in more than 100
countries - including more than half of the Fortune 1000® -
use Kronos to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve
workforce productivity. Learn more about Kronos industry-specific time
and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring,
and labor analytics applications at www.kronos.com.
Kronos: Workforce Innovation That Works™.
© 2015 Kronos Incorporated. All rights reserved. Kronos and the Kronos
logo are registered trademarks and Workforce Innovation That Works is a
trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. See a complete
list of Kronos
trademarks. All other trademarks, if any, are property of their
respective owners.
Footnote 1: This survey was conducted by Harris Poll in February 2015
among more than 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18+, of whom 855 are employed
full-time/part-time. Throughout the survey, "employees" will be used to
represent full-time/part-time employees.
Footnote 2: According to the January
2015 Gallup Daily tracking survey on employee engagement.
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