What makes workers happy? Not what you think
Practice Management
What makes workers happy? Not what you think
Pride in work gets top priority
When Dennis Kaldenberg, PhD, director of research and development at Press, Ganey Associates in South Bend, IN, looked at the relationship between staff happiness and employee satisfaction in health care organizations, part of the exercise included looking at what mattered most to employee satisfaction. The answers were surprising.
Measuring the feelings of nearly 4,000 employees, he came up with a list that ranked 37 items in terms of satisfaction. Money didn’t even make the top 20. More important was making sure staff feel they can succeed at their job, that they are in control of processes for which they are held accountable, and that they enjoy the people with whom they interact, he says.
Recognition and reward
Danny Frankel, PhD, vice president of Martin/Frankel Associates in Winston-Salem, NC, agrees that money isn’t always an issue. "If people perceive they are underpaid in the market, they will be unhappy. But for most people, what is more important is that they feel they are treated fairly. Recognition and reward are usually more important."
Neil Baum, MD, a urologist in practice in New Orleans, not only believes that money isn’t the most important thing to his staff, but he acts on that belief. "Treat them like family," he advises. "If someone is sick, I call and check in on them. Or if one of their family members is sick, I do that. I facilitate them getting appointments; I get their test results early if I can."
Likewise, when an employee or family member makes an accomplishment, Baum acknowledges the success. Recently, an employee’s son did well in a tennis tournament, and Baum sent a can of tennis balls with a congratulatory note.
"I let them know in other ways aside from money that I care," he says, "that we can’t function as a team without them. Employees are as interested in psychic, nonmonetary motivators as monetary compensation. Reward and recognition are as important as paying them to do their job."
Here are the results of Kaldenberg’s study of the most important job satisfaction elements, listed in order of importance:
1. Pride in work, work place.
2. Communication by administration.
3. Respect shown by manager/supervisor.
4. Manager response style to problems.
5. New ideas accepted by manager/supervisor.
6. Encouraged to think/act independently.
7. Adequacy of supervisor support.
8. Realistic organizational goals.
9. Ability to disagree with manager/supervisor.
10. Accuracy/fairness of evaluations.
11. Other employees’ attitudes about working there.
12. Creative freedom on the job.
13. Authority to handle responsibility.
14. Acknowledgment of a job well done.
15. Discipline policies understandable.
16. Clarity of organizational goals.
17. Clarity of work policies.
18. Overall level of teamwork.
19. Opportunities for advancement.
20. Manager/supervisor availability.
21. How well grievance procedures work.
22. Receiving information from other departments.
23. Resources to do the job effectively.
24. Adequacy of training.
25. Programs to aid with personal problems.
26. Other departments understand job.
27. Likelihood of receiving merit raise.
28. Satisfaction with salary.
29. Likelihood of attending company events.
30. Space/equipment safe from hazard.
31. Cleanliness of work environment.
32. Knowledge of grievance procedures.
33. Satisfaction with sick/personal time.
34. Absence of work-related stress.
35. Adequacy of retirement plan.
36. Satisfaction with vacation time.
37. Adequacy of medical insurance.
Sources
• Dennis Kaldenberg, PhD, Director of Research and Development, Press, Ganey Associates, South Bend, IN. Phone: (800) 232-8032.
• Danny Frankel, PhD, Vice President, Martin/ Frankel Associates, Winston-Salem, NC. Phone: (336) 768-5466.
• Neil Baum, MD, Urologist in Practice, New Orleans. Phone: (504) 891-8454.
• Donald Payne, PhD, Director of Research, Business Research Lab, 250 Oser Ave., Hauppauge, NY 11788. Phone: (888) 776-6583.
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