Employee satisfaction is extremely important for any business. When the unemployment rate is at historic lows, as it is now, employers need to find ways to stand out among competition to attract and retain top talent.
At the same time, losing existing employees and high turnover among new hires can add significant costs for your recruiting and onboarding functions. Therefore, employers need to know how to make and keep employees happy.
A Look at the Drivers of Poor Culture Ratings
A recent study by 24/7 Wall Street looked at employee reviews on Glassdoor for a large sample of employers to gauge employee satisfaction and to determine some insights into the factors that drive satisfaction.
24/7 Wall Street built a list of the 18 worst employers based on the results. The list included major companies like Speedway gas stations, Genesis HealthCare, and LA Fitness.
It’s About More Than Money
24/7 Wall Street’s research found that two factors in particular lead to poor ratings for companies: lack of trust and lack of career opportunities. Employees understandably don’t want to be in an environment where they feel as though they can’t trust the organization or their managers. And they also don’t want to feel like they are stuck in dead-end jobs.
It can be tempting to think that employees choose to leave one company for another based on the ability to make more money. But, as these results demonstrate, though a factor in terms of satisfaction, money is not the key driver. Other studies have long supported this.
Are Employees Airing Your Dirty Laundry?
Sites like Glassdoor have added transparency to employee satisfaction—and grievances—providing a forum for employees to publicly share what, in the past, might only have been discussed with a few friends and family members.
It isn’t easy to find talented employees who are also a great fit for your company in any job market. It’s even harder with extremely low unemployment rates.
Companies need to make sure they are taking care of their employees, and data suggest that building and maintaining trust and providing opportunities for advancement are key ways to do that.
If you don’t already know how you’re doing in these areas, it might be time to conduct a quick poll of employees to determine their levels of satisfaction and to identify potential pockets within your organization that can be either held up as best practice examples or identified as areas of opportunity for improvement.