Over half of New Zealand workers are unhappy in their jobs

Good management proves critical to job satisfaction

March 16 2006 - 51% of the New Zealand workers surveyed are unhappy with their jobs according to the 2005 SEEK Survey of Employee Satisfaction and Motivation in New Zealand, released today. The annual survey collected responses from over 2,000 participants about how they view their work.

According to Nick Anderson, Sales Manager of SEEK, "New Zealanders are unhappier in the workplaces than they were last year, with 51% saying they are unhappy with their current jobs compared to 44% last year. These figures come at a time when New Zealand's unemployment rate has hit an all time low, meaning that employees now have more choice than ever before."

With unemployment so low, companies are sitting on a potential powder-keg, unless management begins to address staff issues, to keep morale high and employees satisfied with their roles." said Mr. Anderson.

The survey found that those in sales and marketing roles were the least happy, with 61% of respondents being unhappy with their job. This was closely followed by the retail and consumer products sectors with 56% of those surveyed being unhappy.

The report findings from SEEK indicate that the factors that are leading to a lack of job satisfaction are largely tangible. Management issues were at the core of much dissatisfaction with employees surveyed, such as:

69% say that their management is not inspiring trust
63% do not believe that their management responds to suggestions and criticism
62% do not believe that their management is open and honest
62% say that their management does not provide regular feedback
60% state that management is not listening to employees.

"The SEEK survey showed that a large proportion of the management issues identified by employees can be easily addressed. Managers who can walk the talk and offer career paths to their people will be rewarded with staff loyalty." said Mr. Anderson. "Our research suggests that providing feedback to employees and ensuring that staff know they are appreciated can have a huge impact on keeping people happy at work. These steps cost nothing, and in a tight employment market where employers may find it difficult to increase remuneration, it would seem logical for management to ensure that such low cost retention strategies are in place."

While employees hold certain management qualities in high esteem, it is clear from the survey that their managers don't meet these standards. According to the survey, the two management traits that employees respect the most are 'the ability to follow up their words with action' and 'openness and honesty'. However most employees do not believe that their own managers perform well on these factors, and rated each of the six management indicators lower than in last year's survey.

Managers judge their own bosses even more harshly

In addition, employees who are actually managers themselves, hold an even lower view of their own bosses. Managers judged their own immediate managers lower on almost every aspect (5 out of 6) compared to the overall employee average. Management judged their immediate managers lowest on their 'ability to follow up their words with action', and on their 'ability to provide regular feedback'.

This management rating trend continued on a downward trajectory from last year's survey, and shows just how entrenched a problem management remains in the workplace.

An employees market

With such a high number of employees being unhappy when the economy is so buoyant, the time for change for a lot of people is now. However the flipside of this boom time for employees is the undoubted impact on businesses.

"High staff turnover is disruptive, bad for morale and comes at a significant cost to organisations." said Mr. Anderson. "When the ability to address so many of these issues can be quickly and easily resolved, the onus is on businesses to offer the best environment for their staff to retain employees and attract the best recruits."

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