Differences between employees that are satisfied with their employer and those who are not

All these rather intangible factors seem to have an influence on employee satisfaction and should thus be carefully considered and monitored by companies. This is again good news for companies, since improvements in these factors do not necessarily entail high monetary costs for the company.

Becoming an ‘employer of choice’

In today’s global labour market, it is the employer which has to invest time and effort in HR Management and in establishing the reputation of being a top employer in order to be able to attract and retain talent.

It is crucial for companies to focus on intangible, more ‘soft’ factors, such as establishing and maintaining a good atmosphere in the workplace, inspiring leadership and employee involvement, since these determine whether a company is an ‘employer of choice’. Consistent with other survey findings, the availability of training and coaching remains a key factor in attracting and retaining talent. Investment in training and coaching has two advantages. It improves employees’ skills thereby increasing their productivity and also serves as the main predictor of retention. Employees feel more appreciated and see better career prospects if training is offered to them by their company. Thus companies need to set up formalised training policies and career development plans. The fact that inspiring leadership has been identified as one of the key factors that make a good employer, highlights that companies must carefully select, train and develop their leaders. Work-life balance and flexibility (flexible hours, home office, sabbatical, etc) are also highly valued by many employees. The next survey module will explore these topics in more detail.

The findings of the second survey module clearly show that the majority of companies in the logistics and supply chain industry across regions are lacking the characteristics employees are looking for. It is symptomatic that only 6% of employees worldwide feel their employer values employees’ needs. If this trend continues in the future, companies will face even greater problems in attracting and retaining talent in an increasingly tight labour market. Those companies that will take actions to improve in the areas important to current and prospective employees will be rewarded with a greater talent pool to choose from as well as greater employee satisfaction resulting in lower turnover.

Source: Europhia Consulting Global Career Motivation Survey. November, 2007.

Europhia Consulting is a recruitment and executive search company specialized in the logistics and supply chain industry. We have offices in Singapore covering the Asia Pacific region, and in the Netherlands covering Europe. For more information, please visit www.europhia.com.