What Employees Value at Work: How It Relates To Performance. Vanessa Buote PhD Psychology

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1 What Employees Value at Work: How It Relates To Performance Vanessa Buote PhD Psychology

2 2 What Employees Value at Work, & How It Relates To Performance Vanessa Buote PhD. Psychology Every company wants happy, engaged employees who are satisfied with their job. Engaged employees approach their work with desire and enthusiasm, are creative and bring fresh ideas. They re productive, try to make a difference, and, overall, they help the company succeed. What Employees Said: I am Grateful For... Co-workers who are ready to work today to accomplish a task. Coworkers that I enjoy being around. Wonderful co-workers who are helpful and informative and act like friends. If companies are to promote engagement at work, then an understanding of the characteristics of engaged and satisfied employees is beneficial. One factor that might contribute to engagement and satisfaction is what an employee values in their workplace. That is, the way in which employees perceive their job, and what they value and are grateful for in the work place, is likely to be linked to employees satisfaction and engagement. What Employees Value, & How It Relates To Workplace Performance How do employees perceive their job? What are they grateful for at work? Co-workers? Culture? Pay? Perks? Employees can think about their job in many ways, and therefore, can value many different things at work. Some employees are grateful for their hard-working co-workers, others value their supportive managers or the culture of trust and respect they have in their workplace. Still others value their pay or the workplace perks, such as free coffee, free food, or employee discounts. Our data, gathered from over 450 employees, shows that what an employee values in their workplace is strongly linked to their satisfaction, engagement, gratitude and happiness. We asked employees to list the top five things they re grateful for at work, and looked at how their responses related to their job satisfaction, workplace engagement, happiness and gratitude. By asking employees to list the things they re grateful for, we can better understand what comes to employees minds, and what they see as most valuable in their workplace. Coworkers: Workplace Friendships Matter Workplace camaraderie is important employees who feel supported by their co-workers experience less stress 1 and less burnout 2. Past research confirms that feeling supported by co-workers is linked to job involvement, job satisfaction and organizational commitment 3. It follows then, that employees who indicate that they value their co-workers are more likely to be satisfied, engaged and happy at work. 2

3 3 To get a better understanding of the characteristics of those who report that they value their co-workers versus those that don t, we looked at differences in workplace variables between these two groups. Overall, employees who value their coworkers are more satisfied with their job (see figure 1). They re also more engaged at work (see Figure 2), more dedicated energetic and more absorbed by their work. People who value their co-workers are also more grateful and happier. Fig 1 Average Job Satisfaction by What Employees Listed Listed Co-Workers Didn't List Co-Workers Listed Manager Didn't List Manager Listed Culture Didn't List Culture Average Job Satisfaction Fig 2 Average Job Engagement by What Employees Listed Listed Co-Workers Didn't List Co-Workers Listed Manager Didn't List Manager Listed Culture Didn't List Culture Average Job Engagement Managers: Leadership is Important We ve heard the claim that employees leave managers - not jobs so the importance of good leadership has never been this important. Good managers motivate, inspire and engage their team. And, when employees recognize and value their managers or supervisors, this positivity spills over into other areas. These employees are more satisfied with their job (see Figure 1) and more engaged (see Figure 2). They re also more dedicated, energetic, captivated by their work, grateful and happier. 3

4 4 Average Job Engagement Fig Average Job Engagement by Employees Who Did & Didn t List Pay/Perks Listed Pay/Perks Didn't List Pay/Perks Culture: Company Personality With companies striving to recruit the best talent, there s now a push for companies to create and maintain a positive, inclusive, exciting company culture. Companies are looking to Google and Zappos companies known for incredible workplace cultures for ideas on how to boost their company culture. Do employees who value their culture reap benefits in other domains? According to our research, they do. Similar to those who value co-workers and managers, employees who place value on their company culture are more satisfied, engaged, dedicated, absorbed, energetic, grateful and happy. Clearly, when employees care about, and value, co-workers, managers and culture, they experience a multitude of benefits. These benefits are reaped directly by the employees, but they are more far-reaching; engaged, satisfied employees translate to company success. Pay & Perks: The Problem With Valuing External Benefits For some employees, their job is a paycheck; Another day, another dollar. When employees are focused on the tangible, external rewards of their job, they may be less intrinsically motivated to give their job their all. Employers don t want employees who see their job simply as a paycheck; Zappos even goes as far as offering new hires money to leave. Why? They know that employees who are only there to bank a cheque are less engaged. In our research, we find that when employees focus on pay or perks, they are less satisfied with their job. Not only are they less satisfied, but these employees are also less engaged (see Figure 3), dedicated, energetic, absorbed by their work and grateful. Conclusion: What This All Means What employees value in their workplace is important. Whether an employee sees their workplace as a fun and enjoyable place, or simply a means to an end can suggest how involved they will be at work. Our research shows that when employees recognize and are grateful for workplace relationships and culture, they re better employees. What this means for companies is that it s time to invest in these domains. Invest in co-workers and social interaction. It s important to offer opportunities for co-workers to mingle, to get to know one another, and to collaborate. Find creative ways to get coworkers together, and interacting. Find out what employees are interested in and design social oppourtunities around it. By bringing employees together, it increases the chances that 4

5 5 start a conversation, get to know each other, and develop a sense of community. Employees will benefit, which will, in turn, benefit the company. What Employees Said: I am Grateful For... My supportive and compassionate boss My amazing supervisor. A boss that is responsive and communicative. Invest in managers and supervisors. Help them be the best that they can be; provide support, encouragement, and opportunities for personal development. The benefits they ll reap will trickle down and impact the entire department. No one wants great employees leaving because of a less-thanexcellent manager turnover is expensive. Invest in culture. Be clear about mission and values, and make them known. It s important that employees know these if they are to act them out. Create an environment of trust and respect, welcome new and creative ideas, and focus on the positive. Communicate openly and honestly with employees, and ask their opinions. Create a culture people can enjoy and value, and you re bound to see a pay-off. With respect to pay and perks, higher pay doesn t equate to dissatisfaction, but if an employee is strongly focused on pay or perks, it might be an indication that they may not be as fulfilled or engaged as they could be. While it s possible that rewards might lead to a burst of satisfaction and happiness, these emotions are short-lived, and people tend to quickly return to their previous levels of satisfaction and happiness 4. It may be time to re-evaluate the benefit of monetary bonuses or gifts, and to consider whether it s more important to invest in personal rewards, or to invest in the other domains highlighted here. Workplace engagement isn t all about money or perks, it s more about the people and the culture. We spend so much of our time at work; why not invest in the areas that will make workplace enjoyable? Vanessa Buote is a Post-doctoral fellow at Plasticitylabs and Wilfrid Laurier University. Her work focuses on workplace happiness, engagement, and performance. 5

6 6 Citations 1 Viswesvaran, C., Sanchez, J. I., & Fischer, J. (1999). The role of social support in the process of work stress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, Schwarzer, R., & Leppin, A. (1989). Social support and health: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Health, 3, Chiaburu, D. S. & Harrison, D. A. (2008). Do peers make the place? Conceptual synthesis and meta-analysis of co-worker effects on perceptions, attitudes, OCBs, and performance. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 93 (5), Deiner, E., Lucas, R. E. & Napa Scollon, C. (2006). Beyond the Hedonic Treadmill: Revising the Theory of Well-Being. American Psychologist, 61, (4), Have a question? We re happy to answer any questions about our research. Please contact the research team at: info@plasticitylabs.com ABOUT Plasticity Labs is on a mission to give 1 billion people the skills to live a happier, higher-performing life at work and at home. Partnering with global organizations, schools and government institutions - we're well on our way. If you're as committed to building a happy, emotionally intelligent workplace culture - then we invite you to join us. Check us out at or us at info@plasticitylabs.com.