You spend half your adult life at work, so shouldn鈥檛 it be as enjoyable an experience as possible? New research has looked at what makes happy workers and how we can improve job satisfaction.
Are you satisfied with your job?
If not, you鈥檙e not alone. According to a recent , West Australians are feeling the lowest levels of job satisfaction in the country.
So why aren鈥檛 West Aussies feeling the workplace love? And can we do better?
I spoke to the survey author Associate Professor Rebecca Cassells, from the , to find out.
Does money buy happiness?
When you think about what makes people happy with their job, you might think it鈥檚 all about the money, money, money.
A lot of people鈥攎yself included鈥攄ream of earning a six-figure salary and making it rain every pay cheque.
But as Rebecca tells me, 鈥淢oney doesn鈥檛 make us happy, really.鈥�
鈥淥bviously we need it to a certain point, and it can make us really unhappy if we don鈥檛 have enough to meet our basic living standards 鈥� but working really long hours and getting big pay packets isn鈥檛 necessarily going to translate into satisfaction for your job.鈥�
The average pay of people who reported being very satisfied with their job overall was $1182 a week (roughly $57,000 per year). Interestingly, people who just reported being satisfied had a higher average wage of $1267 per week (roughly $60,000 per year).
Obviously, everyone wants to earn enough to pay their bills, with a little extra to squirrel away for bigger expenses. And it can be when you can鈥檛 do that comfortably. People who reported being dissatisfied with their wage were earning an average of $877 per week, which was the lowest wage bracket in the survey.
But once you鈥檙e earning enough to be secure, rejoice! Because taking on extra hours for the extra dough doesn鈥檛 always pay off.
Working to death
I鈥檓 not just being hyperbolic (well, maybe a little). In Japan, so many people died from overworking that they actually .
We鈥檙e not at that point in Australia yet, but long working hours are taking a toll. Rebecca鈥檚 survey found that satisfaction levels drop significantly when people work over 38 hours a week.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a bit of a sweet spot I guess with the amount of hours you work, and if you go over those hours, you鈥檙e more likely to be pretty dissatisfied with your job,鈥� says Rebecca.
Like pay, workers need a certain number of hours work each week to feel satisfied. Any less or too much more and you鈥檒l start to feel the workplace blues.
鈥淧art-time hours or low-ish type hours are going to be more satisfying than working anything beyond say 38 hours a week,鈥� says Rebecca.
鈥淪o it鈥檚 really important that we don鈥檛 overwork ourselves, and we can have that work-life balance.鈥�
Working to live
As the adage goes: work to live, not live to work. And work-life balance is a vital part of that.
Think about it. What makes you happier? Sitting at your desk for 12 hours a day? Or knocking off early to see family, go for a bike ride or take your dog for a walk?
It鈥檚 a no-brainer.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen other studies that show that working big hours of work each week actually compromises our health鈥攐ur physical health but also our mental health and wellbeing,鈥� says Rebecca.
鈥淏ut also, these big hours mean that we are not able fit in other things that are probably really good for us鈥攍ike exercise but also connecting with family and friends.鈥�
Being able to work from home had survey participants reporting higher levels of satisfaction. But there are other ways to find that balance.
We could take a leaf out of and try 6-hour working days. Or submit ourselves completely to the 鈥攖hough that may come with its .
鈥淵ou鈥檙e able to actually sell your labour in a different way compared to what you were able to before,鈥� explains Rebecca, referring to , Uber and as examples.
鈥淭hat can be a really good thing for lots of people in that they鈥檝e got more freedom and flexibility and more control over selling their skills. But at the same time, it sort of represents a problem when they may not have a job that鈥檚 secure and that gives them a constant income stream.鈥�
鈥淪o a few things for governments to think about in the future when it comes to the way in which our workers鈥� lives are changing.鈥�
Work wives the key to happiness?
One thing I was dying to ask Rebecca was whether she鈥檇 found evidence that a work spouse or bestie made a difference to job satisfaction鈥攎ostly because my beloved work wife Kirsten hopped on a plane to London a few weeks ago, taking a piece of my heart with her. Afternoon tea breaks will never be the same without her.
While Rebecca didn鈥檛 specifically look at work besties, she did find that the people you work with do make for a happier workplace as part of the overall job itself.
鈥淭he most important part of making the job satisfying is actually the job itself鈥攕o who you鈥檙e working with and who you鈥檙e working for and what you鈥檙e actually doing each day,鈥� says Rebecca.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e working alongside people you respect, and they respect you 鈥� then that鈥檚 going to let you walk away from the job every day feeling pretty good about it.鈥�
鈥淚 think that aspect of it encompasses having a buddy at work, but it probably also encompasses things like having a really good boss as well.鈥�
These words ring very true to my experience, where my work buddies and the office culture have made all the difference for me at many different jobs.
But in some workplaces, friendships are actively discouraged. In my last job, following a takeover of the business, a leaked email from our new owner dismissed our company鈥檚 friendly culture as a 鈥溾��. They promised to , and in return, there were a lot of resignations.
What they didn鈥檛 realise was that the culture was a large part of what motivated employees. Happy workers are productive workers. And Rebecca believes 鈥渢here鈥檚 a real business case鈥� for employers to foster happy work environments.
鈥淲e know that people that are more satisfied at work are more productive and they tend to turn up more often than not, so there鈥檚 fewer sick days/sick leave and there鈥檚 less staff turnover,鈥� says Rebecca.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 really a call to action for employers to make sure that job is as satisfying as it can be.鈥�
The secret to happy workers
Making a happy workplace is really quite simple in theory: reasonable working hours, flexibility and work-life balance and an enjoyable workplace environment where people get along.
In practice, it doesn鈥檛 always work like that.
But it鈥檚 worthwhile for employers to consider, especially if they want to keep their skilled staff. Hiring and training new employees can get costly, so if you want to keep yours around, you should try to keep them happy.
Your workplace is somewhere you spend a huge portion of your life. In some cases, you see your coworkers as much or more than your own family members.
So why not make this as enjoyable as it can be?
Because when you love what you do, you鈥檒l never work a day in your life.
This article was originally published on . Read the .
