Why Most Employees Wish They Had A Different Job??? 11-16

Why Most Employees Wish They Had A Different Job

Susan Adams

Surveys can be confusing. Often the results depend on who is asking the questions and how the questions are framed. Randstad, the world’s second-largest staffing company, just released survey results showing that 40% of workers are planning to look for a new job in the next six months.

That’s a marked contrast with another survey my colleague Jacquelyn Smith’s wrote about today, which says 69% of workers are currently looking for new jobs using social media.

Both surveys tapped sizable samples. The survey in Jacquelyn’s piece polled 2,100 people, while the Ranstad survey tapped 3,251 full-time employed workers over age 18.

My guess is that both surveys are accurate. That’s because searching for a job using social media is in many ways a passive activity. You update your LinkedIn profile, you click around on job search engines like Indeed or Simply Hired and send emails to folks you know who have a connection to a company with an opening. You wait to see if any of your Facebook friends mentions a job opening or if you see jobs listed through Twitter. I’m sure two thirds of us are doing that, if not more.

By contrast, a concerted job search that goes beyond the computer is a much more serious undertaking, and most of us know that. We use social media but we also need to get out of our chairs and actively network, meeting people face to face, carefully researching companies and openings, going on job interviews and following up every lead. That four in ten workers are planning to do this within the next six months is a striking statistic.

How can companies keep employees from trying to flee? On that question, the Randstad survey is not surprising, but for employers, it’s worth paying attention to the results. Guess what employees most want? Promotions and bonuses, said the largest group, 36%. The next most important thing: 30% said they wanted a comfortable and stimulating work environment. Only 16% said performance reviews would make a difference.

Yet according to the Randstad survey, performance reviews are the most common way that employers try to keep employees plugged in. Forty-six percent of employers do reviews. Only 27% of companies offer promotions or bonuses to high-performing employees, says the Randstad survey.

What is the take-away from all of this? Many employees are not satisfied with their jobs, but haven’t actively looked because they think the prospects are daunting. Fifty one percent said they plan to look for a job when the economy picks up, according to the Randstad survey, and 58% of respondents said they didn't think they could find a job that they would want to accept.

But even though workers feel trapped, they are still planning to get out and job hunt. Employers who want to keep their workers happy and engaged should consider dolling out bonus money and/or making promotions.

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