Commentary

Salary, Workload, Opportunity Cause For Job Hopping

by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, March 7, 2011

According to a new MarketTools study, juxtapositioned with Employee Appreciation Day on Friday, March 4, nearly 50% of employees surveyed have considered leaving their current jobs, and 21% have applied for another job in the past six months.

Employee Satisfaction With Current Job
*Degree of Happiness*	*% of Respondents*
Very satisfied	34%
Somewhat satisfied	40
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	11
Somewhat dissatisfied	10
Very dissatisfied	5
Source: MarketTools, March 2011

According to the study, salary was by far the leading cause of employee dissatisfaction, cited by 47% of the study participants. Other leading causes of dissatisfaction cited include workload (24%), lack of opportunities for advancement (21%), and the employee's manager or supervisor (21%).

Contributing Factors to Employee Dissatisfaction
*Factor*	*% of Respondents*
Salary	47%
Workload	24
Opportunity for advancement/career development	21
Manager/supervisor	21
Medical benefits	20
Work environment	14
Commute/distance from home	14
Co-workers	12
Lack of flexibility/work hours	10
Job responsibilities	9
Job training	4
Other benefits	4
Source: MarketTools, March 2011

The study also found that 72% of surveyed employees' companies do not have a formal program to regularly solicit employee feedback, or the study participants weren't aware of such a program. Of those companies that do solicit feedback from employees, more than 60% solicit feedback only quarterly or less often.

Frequency of Soliciting Employee Feedback
*Frequency*	*% of Respondents*
Once a year	29%
Twice a year	13
Quarterly	17
Monthly	15
At least once a week	23
Other	2
Source: MarketTools, March 2011

47% of respondents are considering leaving their current job, and 21% have applied for another job in the past six months.

Justin Schuster, vice president of enterprise products at MarketTools, suggests that "... a strong correlation exists between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, a company's revenue and profitability... satisfied, engaged employees provide a better customer experience... "

"Leading companies turn to solutions such as MarketTools CustomerSat to measure employee feedback on a regular basis, giving them the actionable insight they need to keep their workforce motivated and performing at the highest levels. that leads to customer satisfaction and loyalty."

To learn more from MarketTools, please visit here.

employment, research

1 comment about "Salary, Workload, Opportunity Cause For Job Hopping".

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David Hawthorne from HCI LearningWorks, March 7, 2011 at 10:15 a.m.
The good news is that this behavior is typical during upturns following downturns in job markets. People lucky enough to have jobs, have been frightened for too long, employers have taken advantage of that fear to extract more and give less. In the upturn, employees will have a fleeting moment for sweet revenge. The bad news is how many employers and employees will miscalculate.
Now is the time for employers to create growth opportunities as rewards to the workers who hung in there --probably because they were good at their jobs. Keep them, and compensate them for the abuse (intentional and unintentional). Money is good, but opportunity for growth is and recognition pays dividends to all.
People who want to cast off their chains and lick their wounds, would be well advised to hang in there a little longer, but start looking for alternatives that allow you to capitalize on what you learned. Look to move up rather than move over. If you get a little more time then you've had for the past two years, go and learn something. Take a certificate program in some skill you wish you had mastered and add that to your portfolio. Been stuck doing a production (in publishing) take a Publishing Certificate with a management and statistics core. (In fact, take analytics in whatever field you're interested in.)
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About the Author

Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.