4.4 Combined Variable in Graphs
4.4.4 Employee Professional Growth Satisfaction based on Employees’ Age and
Figure 26 – Breakdown of Individuals based on Professional Growth, Satisfaction for Age Group and Gender
Although not as important as other factors, professional growth is important overall - in particular for females. This could be an indication that females of all ages are pushing for more recognition within the workplace than they have done previously. However, there is no indication of a generational trend towards this as it is important for them overall.
• People between 18-24 are pushing for professional growth but not as much as salary.
• People in the 25-34 bracket are still interested in professional growth but there are still a few females that this is not as important. This could be due to them starting families or other work/life changes.
• People in the 35-44 bracket, in particular females, are pushing for development. This could be an indication that they are now more interested in continuing on with careers after work/life changing events have taken place.
• In the later age brackets (45-65+), there is less push for professional development as presumably, people's careers have reached a point where this is less important.
4.4.5 Employee Working Environment Satisfaction based on Employees’ Age and Gender
Figure 27 – Breakdown of Individuals based on Working Environment, Satisfaction broken down for Age Group and Gender
There is a correlation between Working Environment based on their age. This is indicated where:
• People between 18-24 are most likely on their first job and so Working Environment is important but not as important as their salary.
• People between 25-34 are more entrenched in their job and so working environment is very important.
• For females in the 45-54 age bracket, working environment is still important.
• People in the later age brackets (45-65+), the working environment is less important.
Overall, working environment is more important for females than males.
4.4.6 Employee Company Culture Satisfaction based on Employees’ Age and Gender
Figure 28 – Breakdown of Individuals based on Company Culture and Satisfaction broken down for Age Group and Gender
Overall, company culture is important to all age groups though it does feature more heavily amongst females. This could correlate with the benefits that are available to each age group and whether they appeal to certain age groups or genders.
5 Conclusion
There are a number of conclusions that can be formulated from this research data gathered as part of this exercise. The challenge with formulating conclusions is whether pre-conceived notions concerning individuals and their actual and perceived “ideal” working lives will have an impact on and be demonstrated from the outcomes of the survey.
Such pre-conceptions include:
• Whether people adhere to gender stereotypes, e.g. males will be more influential as to workplace benefits that are provided by a company.
• Whether females, in particular those within certain age groups, are starting to have longer working lives (and not forgo family influences, such as the desire for children that may take them out of the workplace or will have children later on in their lives), in particular companies now offering benefits for them to return to work (childcare facilities, etc.).
• Whether there are any generational differences demonstrated between those who were born in different decades.
As can be seen from the initial analysis of the outcomes of the surveys, there are some general adherence to these pre-conceptions, including:
• At the start of people's careers, individuals don't seem to be satisfied with their jobs and are not primarily concerned with benefits. Rather they find that salary is one of the primary driving motivations.
• Once people reach the 25-34 age bracket, professional growth and job benefits start to become more important. This could be that they are ending their first job roles and looking for secondary opportunities.
• In the 35-44 age group, company culture and employee recognition start featuring.
However, there is still the pressure for attaining a work/life balance. This could be attributed to factors outside of the person's working life - such as having a young family, etc.
• Once people have reached the 45-54 age group, they are more motivated by benefits
• For the 55 to 64 age bracket, company culture and employee recognition become important in their roles. This could be attributed to people not wanting to search for other jobs at this stage of their careers.
• People in the 55-64 and 65+ age brackets are at the end of their careers and so job benefits are two of their driving motivations.
Overall, it can be concluded that:
• Although female and male employees receive the same benefits (there wasn’t any gender bias in this regards), it seems that both genders tend to focus on the benefits they use rather than what they are being entitled to. For example, lots of people do have access to Dental benefits, but not all people use it.
• There was also no difference in the use of benefits between certain age groups nor whether how long an individual has worked in a certain role.
• This could have led to false results on the survey – though this was not indicated as we were trying to draw out these possible results as this enforces as to what people deem
important.
Therefore, it can be concluded that Human Resources departments could/should change their tactics in the way they provide benefits to the employees. As employees have different desires during their career, perhaps being able to offer the choice of benefits based on a broad range of offerings rather than be forced to accept defaults that are provided to employees as a whole.
In that way, the organisation could also save resources by not providing certain benefits to individuals that do not wish to use them (or are applicable to them during that point in their career), and at the same time provide the benefits to individuals that are needed and will be utilised.
There are already some organisations that do allow the employees to opt in and opt out from some benefits which also involves the employee to pay certain percentage for getting the benefit (through pay-as-you-go or salary sacrifice). This is usually for private health insurance or dental insurance. However, the model used in this situation could be expanded further, offering customisation of benefits where things can be selected for what the employee deems to be important and the removal of those benefits that the employee is not using/not wanting to use, for example, benefits like discount offers could be a benefit that could be removed if an employee doesn’t ever use it because usually in these cases, the organisation has some kind of arrangement with the voucher company to get discounts per head or per group and not all people are interested in using voucher schemes.
Overall this survey into how people's motivations and job satisfaction over their careers has been interesting exercise in examining people’s perceptions and use of delivered benefits. It has also been interesting in seeing what is relevant to employees during various stages of their careers.
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7 Appendix – Employee Satisfaction Survey
This section of the document contains the content of the Employee Satisfaction Survey that was conducted in 2019. This was performed using Google Forms.
Please answer as many questions as possible. * Required
1. What is your age? * Mark only one selection.
⃝ - 18 to 24
⃝ - 25 to 34
⃝ - 35 to 44
⃝ - 45 to 54
⃝ - 55 to 64
⃝ - 65+
2. What is your gender identity? * Mark only one selection.
⃝ - Female
⃝ - Male
⃝ - Genderqueer or non-binary
⃝ - Agender
3. In what country do you currently work? * ____________________________________________
4. Approximately, how many years have you been working in your current sector? * Mark only one selection.
⃝ - Less than 1 year
⃝ - At least 1 year but less than 3 years
⃝ - At least 3 years but less than 5 years
⃝ - At least 5 years but less than 10 years
⃝ - 10 years or more
5. For the position you have, how satisfied are you with your salary? * Mark only one selection.
⃝ - Extremely satisfied
⃝ - Very satisfied
⃝ - Somewhat satisfied
⃝ - Not so satisfied
⃝ - Not at all satisfied
6. For the position you have, how satisfied are you with employee recognition? * Mark only one selection.
⃝ - Extremely satisfied
⃝ - Very satisfied
⃝ - Somewhat satisfied
⃝ - Not so satisfied
⃝ - Not at all satisfied
7. For the position you have, how satisfied are you with the opportunities for professional growth that have been presented to you (training, certification, mentoring, promotion etc.)? *
Mark only one selection.
⃝ - Extremely satisfied
⃝ - Very satisfied
⃝ - Somewhat satisfied
⃝ - Not so satisfied
⃝ - Not at all satisfied
8. For the position you have, how satisfied are you with your working environment and equipment (facilities, hardware etc.)?
Mark only one selection.
⃝ - Extremely satisfied
⃝ - Very satisfied
⃝ - Somewhat satisfied
⃝ - Not so satisfied
⃝ - Not at all satisfied
9. For the position you have, how satisfied are you with your work/life balance (flexible working hours, remote work)?
Mark only one selection.
⃝ - Extremely satisfied
⃝ - Very satisfied
⃝ - Somewhat satisfied
⃝ - Not so satisfied
⃝ - Not at all satisfied
10. For the position you have, how satisfied are you with the company's culture (diversity, ethics, goals)?
Mark only one selection.
⃝ - Extremely satisfied
⃝ - Very satisfied
⃝ - Somewhat satisfied
⃝ - Not so satisfied
⃝ - Not at all satisfied
11. For the position you have, how satisfied are you with the company's benefits (vouchers, private insurance, car allowance etc.)?
Mark only one selection.
⃝ - Extremely satisfied
⃝ - Very satisfied
⃝ - Somewhat satisfied
⃝ - Not so satisfied
⃝ - Not at all satisfied
12. For the position you have, order what is most important to you in your job (Very Important to not at all Important). *
Mark only one selection per row.
Very
Important Fairly
Important Important Slight
Important Not at all Important Work/Life
Balance ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝
Salary ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝
Working
Environment ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝
Professional
Growth ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝
Employee
Recognition ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝
Company's
Culture ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝
Benefits in
Kind ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝
13. What Benefits do you currently receive from your Company? * Check all that apply.
⃝ Private Healthcare (for Individual or/and Family)
⃝ Private Pension
⃝ Car Allowance / Company Car
⃝ Fuel Card
⃝ Food Vouchers
⃝ Employee Entertainment Nights (theatre, dinner, beverages etc.)
⃝ Gym Membership
⃝ Child Vouchers / Child Care/ Child Support
⃝ Company Phone
⃝ Discounted Public Transportation
⃝ Additional Holiday Days (can be purchased above the standard)
⃝ Discounts for Restaurants
⃝ Discounts for other Retailers and Companies (electronics, furniture, cinema etc.)
⃝ Pet Insurance
⃝ Extended Parental Leave
⃝ Cycle to Work (including discounts for buying the equipment)
⃝ Haircut / Spa or Massage Vouchers
⃝ Sick Pay
⃝ Accommodation Support (Rent, Mortgage etc.)
⃝ Parenting and Relationship Council
⃝ Extracurricular Activities (photography clubs, painting, acting, movie making, guitar classes etc.)
⃝ Financial Assistance for Job-Related Education
⃝ Other: ____________________________________________
14. Please select the five most important benefits to you. * Check all that apply.
⃝ Private Healthcare (for Individual or/and Family)
⃝ Private Pension
⃝ Car Allowance / Company Car
⃝ Fuel Card
⃝ Food Vouchers
⃝ Employee Entertainment Nights (theatre, dinner, beverages etc.)
⃝ Gym Membership
⃝ Child Vouchers / Child Care/ Child Support
⃝ Company Phone
⃝ Discounted Public Transportation
⃝ Additional Holiday Days (can be purchased above the standard)
⃝ Discounts for Restaurants
⃝ Discounts for other Retailers and Companies (electronics, furniture, cinema etc.)
⃝ Pet Insurance
⃝ Extended Parental Leave
⃝ Cycle to Work (including discounts for buying the equipment)
⃝ Haircut / Spa or Massage Vouchers
⃝ Sick Pay
⃝ Accommodation Support (Rent, Mortgage etc.)
⃝ Parenting and Relationship Council
⃝ Extracurricular Activities (photography clubs, painting, acting, movie making, guitar classes etc.)
⃝ Financial Assistance for Job-Related Education
⃝ Other: ____________________________________________