NKNUR- Job Satisfaction

[shemarie82]

Hey ladies, we have been trying to come up with a system to boost morale at my j.o.b. The 3 of us that are working on it come from 3 different generations and have different ideas. Since, you all come closer to the demographics (age wise) of the company, help me out. What would make you more happy in your current job?

[acorn99]

I chose more PTO, but who doesnt like more money, too? I would also love the flexibility to go from full time to part time at some point.

[mustloveerica]

More flexibility, less hours. Right now I work 50-60 hours a week and I'm salary so that extra 10-20 to basically unpaid. H's job is cool because as long as he gets his work done he kind of can come and go as he pleases.

More appreciation. I work very hard. I get little in the way of praise or appreciation.

More company social events. We are a small company. We used to go out for lunches/happy hours all the time but that disappeared a year or so ago. I think getting to know your coworkers in a social setting outside of work is great for morale.

[Deleted]

Money. For me that is why I work; but I say that bc I do not have a career or a life passion for employment I have a job. If I worked in a personally satisfying role as opposed to "a job" I'd think flexibility with PTO or work from home type things would be huge.

[mrsjene]

In my experience with employees, money isn't necessarily going to make people happier long-term. Flexibility, ability to work from home (especially for a younger generation), and social events are good ideas.

[mustloveerica]

Jun 11, 2015 7:04:45 GMT -5 mrsjene said:

In my experience with employees, money isn't necessarily going to make people happier long-term. Flexibility, ability to work from home (especially for a younger generation), and social events are good ideas.

I 100% agree with this. More money would make me temporarily happy. Flexibility has the potential to make me happy for the long term.

[mosdub]

I said praise/recognition - but I really mean attitude. Sometimes a few people with a sour pessimistic attitude can spoil the morale for everyone. I've worked in several schools within the same district where they are facing the same cuts and yet some teachers' lounges were fun to be in and some just were NOT.

I don't know how you encourage people to mindfully be positive (not to say you can't vent or gripe about work, but there needs to be balance or it is just depressing).

P.S. Obviously more pay and more pto would make everyone happy I'd definitely take more pay, but I don't think it would make me happier about the job itself - it would just make me willing to put up with more than I normally would.

[summerdonna]

I said more money because there are people who I work with that do half the amount of work I do and get paid twice as much. I really do like most aspects of my job but that part kills me. If they made less or equal to my pay I would probably feel differently. My job is already flexible with time off and working from home so that helps keep me happy here.

[shemarie82]

Jun 11, 2015 7:04:45 GMT -5 mrsjene said:

In my experience with employees, money isn't necessarily going to make people happier long-term. Flexibility, ability to work from home (especially for a younger generation), and social events are good ideas.

This is where I am at. Some of these people are making over $25 an hour, and they are still miserable. I don't think that throwing more money at the problem is going to fix anything.

ETA: That is A LOT for this area, especially for a production worker.

[doodler]

Money and telework option. I'm a teacher so telework is not an option for me but I could do it at my last job and it was amazing. $$ is key though.

[Ruca]

I choose more money, who wouldn't like making more? My office is already extremely flexible and I feel we get a generous amount of vacation, sick time and extended sick. I get gift cards twice a year and a nice little Christmas gift from the guys I support so I also feel pretty recognized as well.

[pinkcat]

I said money because my job is already pretty flexible with time off. I've never had an issue taking vacation days, personal days, etc. However, if this wasn't the case I would have voted for more flexibility and PTO. Of course money matters to an extent, but I agree that money won't fix everything. If I made twice as much as I make now but had no PTO to enjoy the extra money with, what would be the point?

[wanderingheart]

I chose more praise/recognition. My boss is not appreciative at all of all the hard work we do. Every single one of my co workers is burnt out, and is very unhappy with how she treats us. It's a big problem.

My jobs is flexible and of course I'd love more pay. But I'm also in the social work field, and there's no money there so I knew what I signed up for.

Eta deleted some stuff for privacy.

[mosdub]

For the sake of argument, I will use OITNB characters as a reference guide:  


Exhibit A: Pennsyltucky                         Exhibit B: Taystee

   


Scenario 1:  
You have 2 job opportunities.  They both offer the same pay and the same benefits, but at Job 1 you work with Pennsyltucky and at Job 2 you work with Taystee.  Which do you choose?  If you said Job 1, have fun with that. 

Scenario 2: 
You have 2 job opportunities.  Job 1 offers more money and better benefits than Job 2.  Job 1 means you work with Pennsyltucky and Job 2 you work with Taystee.  

________

Now there would definitely be a tipping point for me personally - I would work with Pennsyltucky if the pay was significantly better than Job 2's offer. 


But in the end.... I'd still have to work with Pennsyltucky.  


Ultimately what I am trying to say is money doesn't improve morale at work - you can HATE work but stick around because the pay is good.  If the purpose and intention is to improve MORALE (not lower your turn-over) then money is not the only qualifying factor

[mrsw062610]

I chose money, but at my current job (teacher) more money doesn't just happen without federal and state money (which obviously isn't going to improve). SO I would love more praise/recognition/less nagging if money wasn't an option.

[icaughtfire]

For me personally, I'd like a better schedule & more flexibility. I work 55-60 hours/week & there's only one person (my assistant manager) that can cover my position & that requires a lot of juggling with everyone else's schedule. I'd like to have the option to take two days off in a row (I'm off Wednesday's & Sunday's now) but again, it causes a problem with my whole branch's schedule. I'd like to work M-F 9-5 & still make my current income. Never gonna happen.

[rooskie]

I work in manufacturing (in the office) but our biggest problem is the time off. We are required to give someone a day off after 21 days but there are times in the year when people have to work the 21 days because of production shortages. The plant people get a personal day for every quarter that they do not call in to work, which happens a lot around here.

We usually do a few big cookouts during lunch breaks (grill, snowcones, etc) and the week before thanksgiving and Christmas the office people run the machines and let the production floor take an hour lunch (they usually get 30 min) that is catered in.

We also have a safety suggestion/spotting contest now and each quarter people who submit ideas/concerns get entered into a drawing for things like parking spots, days off, and gift cards.

I think that comparing an office job to production job is not where you were trying to go. Those people can't work from home and if they take off early, etc the machine goes down, which can take hours to come back up. Not gonna happen.

[wirt2cute]

I love my job and what I do, but I work for a non-profit so more money would be amazing. I do have a lot of flexibility and I am able to flex a lot of my time so I do not have to use too much pto time.

[housecarder]

For me, money =/= happiness in my job. I've had well paying jobs that were awful and poorly paid jobs that I loved. For me it's the relationships with my coworkers and boss. I've found that if your boss is genuinely concerned for the well being of their employees then things like taking time off aren't an issue. When I have to fight to get a day off for an appointment it makes things pretty hard.

[ceejay]

I chose more praise/recognition, because that is what is most lacking in my current job/department. When my team does something well, the managers/director take all the credit, but when things go poorly, we're the ones to blame. My coworkers and I work very hard and are rarely recognized for our efforts.

I was actually given a "promotion" earlier this year. Due to some alleged miscommunication and other issues, it turned out to be just a raise and I wasn't actually promoted to the higher level and higher title. I was of course thrilled to receive the raise, but when I asked if I could also be considered for the higher title (because I really believed I had earned it), I was told that I was ungrateful, had a bad attitude, and should just be happy with the extra money. Extra money is always nice but without truly recognizing people for their efforts and providing opportunities for career advancement and future opportunities, I don't think more money can boost morale in the long run.

[27alex]

I think more flexibility, better PTO and adequate pay are all givens.

For me I think that realistic expectations are important to moral. If you pay someone for a 40 hour work week but there's no way that they can complete their given work in those hours, then they will never feel happy or appreciated. Example: I worked for Limited Brands. Our higher ups would preach about time management, delegating tasks, and work life balance. They then would add responsibilities to our days and cut our payroll. It got to the point where we had the bare minimum of floor associates and no one to "delegate too".

[zombiesquad]

I voted more money, but I agree with others that other factors come into play. I'm pretty happy with my job because I work with great people and I have the flexibility to work from home, attend appointments, leave early, etc. if I need/want to. I have a good relationship with my boss who is always an advocate for her team. That makes a huge difference. But benefits could be a little better.

[Deleted]

I voted more PTO. Especially if your current sick leave/vacation policy isn't so great. People need a break sometimes. People need mental health days. And if they only have enough to save up for a short vacation or in case of emergency it sucks. It can make a person that really should take a day off feel like they have to come in. Which can just lead to others having a shit time being around them.

[LadyNymeria]

This was interesting timing for this question...

Our CEO started doing a quarterly video series and today's video included the comment: "The new glass doors are an outlet for whiners. If you're unhappy, then leave."

And wonderful comments on why they don't offer maternity leave (outside FMLA): "What we do with all our benefits is to be fair to everybody. If we start offering extended maternity, then will we have to start offering paternity..."

Turns out our CEO is a money-grubbing douche. Would have liked to have known this before taking this job.


As for your question, I said money because I personally am financially motivated. I worked over 2700 hours in my first year here (40 per week x 52 weeks = 2,080 hours) and I'm on salary so it was all unpaid overtime. For me, the big bonus they gave me earlier this year made up for some of that.

In terms of morale, I feel like simple things like bringing in lunch for the employees once in a while helps. It gets everyone away from their desks for a bit while still being together (most people leave the office for lunch every day).

I think a big helper for me would be feeling like I have time to use my PTO. I get a lot, but last year I only used about 5 days due to the project I was on. So far this year I've taken 1 week off and a couple random days here or there. We have some flexibility, but it never feels like the right time to actually use your PTO. It's something I need to work on myself, but it's more helpful when your boss is pushing you to make sure you take time off.

[pismoduo]

I was actually just thinking about some of this stuff the other day.

About a year ago, morale at my current division (we're a stand alone office across the country from the main corporate HQ) was pretty low. People felt unappreciated, underpaid, and frustrated. Then corporate re-hired the previous division president, who is an awesome leader and great at motivating people.

Here's a few things he's done that have really helped turn things around:
* Quarterly town hall style meetings that not only help keep people up to date on what's going on in our division and at corporate, but also show case a different department and their accomplishments every quarter.
* Quarterly "Star" awards where individuals are nominated by senior leadership for something awesome they've done
* At least once a quarter we have some sort of celebration - last month we did root beer floats. The senior leadership team all dressed up like they were working in an old fashioned soda shoppe.
* Creation of a philanthropic committee. I wasn't sure about this one, but it has been a huge morale booster. People get involved in lots of volunteering, fund raising, etc. And that spun off into a "Sunshine Team" that does things like getting Get Well Soon cards for people who are ill, condolences cards/flowers for people who have lost someone, etc. We got pretty much the entire division (100+ people) to put something into a gift basket that we were sending to one of our team whose 19 year old daughter was going to be in the hospital for a month following brain surgery to remove a tumor.
* The President met with each and every person who works here (in groups of 8) to listen to them talk about how they've made a difference at the company. It's kind of cool to get a chance to talk about all the things you've done that people maybe don't notice.

[zombiesquad]

Jun 11, 2015 7:41:28 GMT -5 mosdub said:

For the sake of argument, I will use OITNB characters as a reference guide:  


Exhibit A: Pennsyltucky                         Exhibit B: Taystee

   


Scenario 1:  
You have 2 job opportunities.  They both offer the same pay and the same benefits, but at Job 1 you work with Pennsyltucky and at Job 2 you work with Taystee.  Which do you choose?  If you said Job 1, have fun with that. 

Scenario 2: 
You have 2 job opportunities.  Job 1 offers more money and better benefits than Job 2.  Job 1 means you work with Pennsyltucky and Job 2 you work with Taystee.  

________

Now there would definitely be a tipping point for me personally - I would work with Pennsyltucky if the pay was significantly better than Job 2's offer. 


But in the end.... I'd still have to work with Pennsyltucky.  


Ultimately what I am trying to say is money doesn't improve morale at work - you can HATE work but stick around because the pay is good.  If the purpose and intention is to improve MORALE (not lower your turn-over) then money is not the only qualifying factor

How did I miss this? Love!

[twocents6708]

Jun 11, 2015 7:04:45 GMT -5 mrsjene said:

In my experience with employees, money isn't necessarily going to make people happier long-term. Flexibility, ability to work from home (especially for a younger generation), and social events are good ideas.

Exactly this. We are working on worker retention at our office as well and this seems to be the theme that we hear from focus groups.

[MissMusic]

I voted for "more money", but what would make me even happier than that would be better hours.  I work crappy days and hours, and if I could have more family time or flex time, I wouldn't ask for a raise.

Edit: I can always make more money, but I'll never be able to recover time lost with LO or DH.

[♪♫choppinbroccoli♫♪]

I voted more PTO. If I had more options to take a day off here and there without worrying about taking away from days to use at the holidays, I would be a lot more happy.

Like @led said, sometimes you just need a break. Not necessarily a long one, but maybe taking of a few Fridays or Mondays so you can get that extended weekend. Ahh, that sounds so refreshing to me!

[aprilz81]

Money is great, but genuine appreciation (not just platitudes) goes a long way with me. I also like being treated like an adult who can take care of business without being micromanaged. Most office type jobs can easily done remotely in some way for a short amount of time. I don't like when management makes a big deal out of allowing a worker to work remotely for a morning or afternoon (hell a full day) every now and then due to bad weather, needing to be home to meet with a contractor/utility/delivery person, etc. Being able to have flexible work schedules (again, to an extent) is a big help. If I'm done with my work at 4:00 let me leave instead of sitting there pretending to be busy for the next hour.