In March 2020, as the world faced a global pandemic, Indeed launched its Work Happiness Score. As North America’s largest job site, the Work Happiness Score is designed to give job seekers and existing employees valuable insights into company culture and employee satisfaction.
With over 5.5 million happiness surveys already completed globally, Indeed’s Work Happiness Score has become one of the largest workplace wellbeing studies ever created. This massive study is exploring what brings workers true happiness on the job and highlights how the importance of employee wellbeing and happiness has dramatically increased over the last few years. It comes as no surprise that amidst the shift to remote work, employees, particularly across the USA and Canada, have adjusted their routines in response to the challenges COVID-19 has created in both their work and personal lives. Over the last few years, workers across the West have begun taking a much closer look at where they spend almost 1/3 of their lives—at work. The pandemic has offered many a chance to reflect on how they can live happier and more balanced lives, with many employees now pushing for more flexibility and inclusion in the workplace.
62% of US workers say they are happy at work – Yet over 95% of those who report unhappiness believe they can be. What is connection to power of belief?
How does the Work Happiness Score work?
It’s simple: the higher a company’s score, the happier its employees.
Indeed’s Work Happiness Score is based on employee responses to one main question: “I feel happy at work most of the time,” which is ranked on a scale of 1 to 5. In addition to giving an overall Work Happiness Score on Company Pages, Indeed also gathered insights around key drivers of employee happiness to help understand how employees really feel about different aspects of their jobs.
The 12 key drivers are:
- Belonging – I feel a sense of belonging in my company.
- Energy – In most of my work tasks, I feel energized.
- Appreciation – There are people at work who appreciate me as a person.
- Purpose – My work has a clear sense of purpose.
- Achievement – I am achieving most of my goals at work.
- Compensation – I am paid fairly for my work.
- Support – There are people at work who give me support and encouragement.
- Learning – I often learn something at work.
- Inclusion – My work environment feels inclusive and respectful of all people.
- Flexibility – My work has the time and location flexibility I need.
- Trust – I can trust people in my company.
- Management – My manager helps me succeed.
- Stress-Free – I feel stressed at work most of the time.
- Satisfaction – Overall, I am completely satisfied with my job.
Altogether the study has found that ‘power of belief’ exists in employees having and sharing insights into company growth, alongside maximized benefits such as flexibility and social ties is an additional cause of success. Increasing creativity, productivity, and one’s natural drive – ‘an extra dose of happiness’ has shown to sustain longer lasting careers and positive reviews.
Indeed’s happiness data reveals that work is more than a paycheck.
Why is workplace happiness important?
Employee happiness has never been more critical than it is today. When employees are engaged and happy, they experience less stress, anger, and health problems – and end up being more productive workers. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report, engaged and happy employees resulted in a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% increase in productivity. Additionally, happy workers are also more likely to stay at their current job, with 24% less turnover. Unfortunately, according to Indeed data from 2021, only 48% of Canadian workers agreed with the statement, “I feel happy at work most of the time.”
Lack of happiness is a leading cause for Canadians to consider leaving a job.
This lack of happiness is a leading cause for people consider leaving a job and has recently led to what has been dubbed “The Great Resignation.” During this period – which started in 2021 – millions of workers quit their jobs due to feeling emotionally detached (60%) or miserable (19%) at work. Further research from the 2022 Microsoft Work Index study found that 52% of Gen Zs and Millennials claimed they would consider leaving their jobs in the next year if their current position prevented them from enjoying their life. A Pew Research Center survey found that low pay, a lack of growth opportunities and feeling disrespected at work are also top reasons why Americans quit their jobs last year.
While studies have found that the unemployed are significantly less happy than the employed, unhappy workers are still willing to resign. With this major shift in how people view work, employers need to think about how they can retain and attract employees. For many employers this means that flexibility is here to stay.
TEAM Group’s Top 5 Work Happiness Score Indicators
TEAM’s Work Happiness Scores:
USA: 80
Canada: 72
North America Average: 76
- Appreciation: We work hard to make sure each and every employee feels appreciated, no matter how experienced or qualified.
- Management: Our management team understands not only the importance of teamwork and guidance, but work-life balance. Our employee’s needs are always at the forefront of our values and objectives.
- Purpose: Every employee has a unique set of skills and duties that drive their sense of purpose.
- Achievement: At TEAM, we help set our employees up for success by setting achievable goals.
- Learning: TEAM is always here to support the educational journeys of our employees. We provide a variety of training and advancement opportunities to ensure our employees are receiving the support they need every stage of their careers.
USA Top 5 Happiness Scores
Canada Top 5 Happiness Scores
“My hope would be that this time next year, we’ve built back happier.” – Dr. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of Oxford University’s Wellbeing Research Centre
As Indeed’s Workplace Happiness Study has demonstrated, work is about far more than just a paycheck. Multiple factors come into play to ensure employee wellbeing and satisfaction – as well as productivity. While TEAM is proud of its Work Happiness Score, we are excited to continue improving our employees’ experiences at work. Whether it’s our new corporate Work from Home policy, enhanced benefits packages with mental health support, expanded IDPs, or other employee resources such as our Felt Leadership conferences, our employee wellbeing will continue to remain one of our top priorities.
At TEAM Group, we recognize that employees need to feel supported and appreciated in order to perform at their best. As always, we value safety as our top priority, so you can rest assured that your employees are working with the very best. Share how you feel about working at TEAM Group by taking the survey!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
https://ca.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/work-happiness-score
https://ca.indeed.com/leadershiphub/insights-from-indeedworks-canada-2021?hl=en&co=CA