A New Look at Job Satisfaction in Canada

Transcription

1 A New Look at Job Satisfaction in Canada MARCH 2007

2 An Introduction to the Top 20 Jobs Study A FEW WORDS FROM THE PRESIDENT OF WORKOPOLIS PATRICK SULLIVAN: As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2007, we continue to see record unemployment rates that have created a tight labour market across the country. In fact, the unemployment rate has been declining since 1993, and is estimated to average 6.3 per cent in 2007 and 6.5 per cent in 2008 [1]. In a Workopolis survey of Canadian employers in 2006, 57 per cent said they were already seeing a shortage of qualified candidates in their industry; and more than three quarters (77%) reported that they expect to see a shortage in the next five years [2]. Job seekers also told us that finding a job is more difficult than it was five years ago. Despite a booming economy and low unemployment rate, many job seekers are still finding it tough out there. We know that job satisfaction is the holy grail of the workplace. Every employee wants to find it and every employer wants to provide it. Workopolis, Canada s leading provider of recruitment and job search solutions, commissioned this comprehensive research study to provide some insights for employers about what really motivates Canadians and what it takes to provide job satisfaction. And you may find the results surprising. The Top 20 Jobs in Canada report reveals that s it s not just about money anymore. Canadians are telling us that for them, job satisfaction is defined by priorities such as corporate culture, the opportunity to use their skills and the opportunity to learn more on the job. METHODOLOGY The study, developed by NorthStar Research Partners for Workopolis, asked 8,750 working Canadians to evaluate job satisfaction of their current position based on 11 drivers that contribute to employee satisfaction (Graph 1: Eleven Drivers of Job Satisfaction). Respondents completed the survey online using a link posted on workopolis.com and sympatico.msn.ca. UNDERSTANDING JOB SATISFACTION According to the Top 20 Jobs in Canada survey, the top three drivers of job satisfaction are: corporate culture, the opportunity to use skills and the opportunity to learn., flexible work hours and stress level are the bottom three drivers. GRAPH 1 ELEVEN DRIVERS OF JOB SATISFACTION DERIVED IMPORTANCE CORPORATE CULTURE 0.59 OPPORTUNITY TO USE SKILLS & ABILITIES OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABILITY TO BE CREATIVE OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVANCEMENT/PROMOTION LEVEL OF AUTONOMY WORK/LIFE BALANCE The Workopolis Top 20 Jobs survey found that corporate culture was nearly twice as important to job satisfaction as flexibility in work hours, and three times as important as maintaining manageable stress levels. OPPORTUNITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR COMMUNITY 0.46 FINANCIAL REWARD & BENEFITS/COMPENSATION 0.43 FLEXIBILITY IN WORK HOURS 0.32 STRESS LEVEL 0.22 Derived importance was calculated using Correlation Analysis. Respondents were asked to rate their jobs on 11 attributes on a scale of They were then asked to rate their overall job satisfaction on a scale of The correlation between each of the 11 attributes and overall job satisfaction revealed the underlying derived importance of each attribute. We were then able to use the derived importance scores to rank the attributes in terms of overall importance. To determine the top 20 jobs, we combined each job s score on the 11 attributes so that the overall job ranking was based on the relative performance of each job on all of the 11 drivers of job satisfaction. [1] From Statistics Canada s Labour Force Survey January 2007 [2]From NorthStar Research Partners 2006 National Survey for Workopolis 1

3 Top 20 Jobs Overview Below is an overview chart of the Top 20 Jobs in Canada and the two most significant drivers for each profession. FIGURE 1 TOP 20 JOBS AT A GLANCE The top three professions as defined by this study are CEO/President; Teacher; HR Professional. Profiles for the Top 20 Jobs are outlined later in this report. Rank Job Key Drivers of Satisfaction CEO / CFO / President Teacher / Tutor HR Professional Actor / Director Nutritionist Career Counselor / Trainer Chef Mental Health Counselor / Social Worker Graphic Designer Market Researcher / Analyst Public Relations / Communications Specialist Writer / Journalist Nurse Computer Programmer Bar / Restaurant / Hotel Manager Web Designer / er Product Manager Construction Tradesperson Medical / Biological Researcher Engineer Corporate Opportunity to Learn Work / Life Corporate Corporate Opportunity to Learn Ability to be Stress Level Opportunity to Contribute to Community Corporate Opportunity to Learn Ability to be Work / Life Corporate Work / Life Opportunity for Corporate Ability to be Corporate Corporate Opportunity for Ability to be Corporate Financial Rewards & Benefits Corporate Corporate Financial Rewards & Benefits Opportunity for Work / Life Flexibility in Work Hours Ability to be Opportunity to Learn Ability to be Canadians have made it clear that money really isn t everything. We re seeing a strong shift in priorities on the job. Factors like learning and development, creativity and corporate culture have become true indicators of job satisfaction for today s working Canadians. Patrick Sullivan, President, Workopolis 2

4 Top 20 Jobs Survey Highlights For the most part, the top three drivers (corporate culture, the opportunity to use skills and the opportunity to learn) are the same across all age groups, gender and most regions. However, there are some exceptions to this. The ability to be creative and the opportunity for advancement are less important to the age group than to those in the and 35+ age groups. While corporate culture was the top driver across most provinces, this was not the case in Atlantic Canada where the opportunity to use skills and abilities came out on top, and as well in British Columbia, where the number one driver was the opportunity to learn. The ability to be creative had a higher importance in Quebec and Atlantic Canada and in fact was found to be one of the top three drivers in these regions. FIGURE 2 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS ATLANTIC CANADA AND QUEBEC VALUE ABILITY TO BE CREATIVE B.C. OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN IS #1 DRIVER ALBERTA, SASKATCHEWAN/ MANITOBA, ONTARIO AND QUEBEC SHARE CORPORATE CULTURE AS THEIR #1 DRIVER ATLANTIC CANADA OPPORTUNITY TO USE SKILLS AND ABILITIES IS #1 DRIVER 3

5 GOOD QUALITIES OF CURRENT JOB Overall, the quality people would miss most about their current job is the flexibility in work hours. This is especially true in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and among younger workers. Balancing life and work is becoming increasingly important to workers and providing a flexible environment is something of value to employees. GRAPH 2 GOOD QUALITIES OF CURRENT JOB FLEXIBILITY IN WORK HOURS 28% WORKING ENVIRONMENT FINANCIAL REWARD 20% 24% Higher in Sask/Man (37%) & among (36%) WORK/LIFE BALANCE LEVEL OF AUTONOMY 16% 16% PERSONAL FULFILLMENT OPPORTUNITY TO USE SKILLS & ABILITIES OPPORTUNITY TO BE CREATIVE STRESS LEVEL OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING 13% 13% 11% 11% 10% ABILITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVANCEMENT ABILITY TO WORK FROM HOME 6% 7% 7% DESIRED CHANGES TO CURRENT JOB While the study shows that financial rewards is not a top driver in determining job satisfaction, it is the number one thing respondents would change about their current job by a margin of 24 per cent. A greater opportunity for advancement and less stress round out the top three things people would change about their current job. GRAPH 3 DESIRED CHANGES TO CURRENT JOB FINANCIAL REWARDS & BENEFITS / COMPENSATION OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVANCEMENT / PROMOTION LESS STRESS WORKING ENVIRONMENT / CORPORATE CULTURE MORE OPPORTUNITY TO USE SKILLS & ABILITIES MORE PERSONAL FULFILLMENT / SATISFACTION BETTER WORK / LIFE BALANCE GREATER FLEXIBILITY IN WORK HOURS GREATER OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING / DEVELOPMENT MORE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK FROM HOME MORE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS CREATIVITY OPPORTUNITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMUNITY MORE AUTONOMY 12% 9% 9% 7% 6% 5% 4% 4% 3% 3% 1% 1% 36% Higher among (41%) 4

6 A Look at the Current Employment Market With record low unemployment rates creating a tight labour market, job seekers are able to be selective about the jobs they take. They want the right job that fits their definition of job satisfaction. As such, employers are working harder to find quality employees who are right for the job, and part of that is knowing where to look for them. THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN JOB POSTERS AND JOB SEEKERS In a 2006 Workopolis survey, 47 per cent of job seekers indicated they expect to find their next job online [1]. Despite this, employers are still relying more on traditional media to recruit qualified candidates. Specifically, newspapers are still king, with job posters utilizing 41 per cent of total recruitment budgets here versus only 24 per cent of budget online. Employers need to recognize the shift job seekers have made to finding their ideal job and posters should follow suit to utilize online recruitment as their number one resource. GRAPH 4 GRAPH 5 TOP THREE JOB POSTER TOOLS USED [1] TOP THREE JOB SEEKER TOOLS USED [1] REFERRALS 90% ONLINE 54% NEWSPAPERS 89% NEWSPAPERS 48% ONLINE 71% REFERRALS 44% GRAPH 6 ONLINE CAREER SITES HAVE SUPERIOR REACH TO ANY CANADIAN NEWSPAPER Online career sites reach more people than the career classified sections of leading newspapers in all Canadian regions. As an example, in Ontario 18 times more people visit Online Career sites versus read the leading Ontario daily paper s career classified section. Est. Monthly Reach/Readership of Online Career Sites vs. Newspapers Online Career Sites Monthly Unique Visitors Leading Newspaper Career Classifi eds Monthly Unique Readership 107x Readership Monthly Reach (Number of People) x Readership 16x Readership 18x Readership 10x Readership 22x Readership 0 - BC Prairies Ontario Quebec Atlantic National Source: comscore Media Metrix. Jan 2007; NadBank 2005 Readership Study; Mori 2005 Consumer Market Study; Secondary competitive research. [1] From NorthStar Research Partners 2006 National Survey for Workopolis. Regional Newspapers used in sample are: Vancouver Sun (BC), Calgary Herald (Prairies), Toronto Sun (ON), Le Journal de Montreal (QC), Halifax Chronicle Herald (ATL), and the National Post (National) 5

7 The following are profiles of the Top 20 Jobs. For each, we have listed the top drivers for satisfaction in that role and then graded how well those jobs are performing for each driver. As you can see below, there is not always a positive relationship between the top drivers of satisfaction and how they are performing for each role. For example, Career Counselors have rated Corporate as their number one driver of job satisfaction, but that driver gets a grade of C according to respondents in that role. In addition, each respondent was asked 1) what is the thing they would miss most about their job if it were to change, and 2) what is the one thing they would change about their current position. No. 1: CEO/CFO/President Level of autonomy Work / life balance No. 2: Teacher/Tutor Opportunity to be creative Corporate Opportunity Opportunity to Use Skills Opportunity for B- A A+ C Work / Life Corporate Ability to be Level of Autonomy B- B- B+ B- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: D- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C I am able to accept international opportunities which allows me to travel worldwide and network with teams of professionals in order to establish a goal set for the benefits of both the organization and personnel. I am able to deal with developing minds. I get to help young people with their future development and plans. No. 3: HR Professional Working environment No. 4: Actor/Director Stress level 1. Corporate 2. Opportunity 3. Opportunity 4. to Level of Autonomy Opportunity Ability to be Opportunity to Contribute to Community Level of Autonomy B- B+ B- B+ B A- C- B AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: D+ AVERAGE: C The best thing about this job is helping people start new careers and find better opportunities. I enjoy being empowered to make decisions to solve design challenges. 6

8 No. 5: Nutritionist No. 6: Career Counselor Opportunity for promotion Stress Opportunity to Ability to be Level Contribute to Community Opportunity 1. Corporate Opportunity Opportunity to Contribute to Community Ability to be 4. D+ B+ B C+ C B- B B- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: D+ AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- I get a lot of satisfaction from serving the public s well-being. I give others the skills & knowledge that they can apply to their jobs immediately. No. 7: Chef Opportunity to be creative Ability to be Work/Life Opportunity Opportunity for No. 8: Mental Health Counselor / Social Worker Personal fulfillment Corporate Work/Life Opportunity Opportunity to B- D C+ C C- C- C B- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: D- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C I get to be creative and I like the hands on part of the job. My training is being noticed and appreciated. My clinical expertise is valued. 7

9 No. 9: Graphic Designer Working environment Opportunity Opportunity for Corporate to Use Skills Opportunity to Contribute to Community No. 10: Market Researcher / Analyst 1. Corporate Opportunity Opportunity to to Learn and Ability to be C- C- B D- C- B- C C AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: D- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: D+ I like the fact I can be as creative as I want, designing a multitude of things and seeing them published for others to enjoy. AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- I like the flexibility in hours, decision making and task selection. No. 11: Public Relations / Communications Specialist Level of autonomy No. 12: Writer / Journalist Opportunity To Ability to be Level of Autonomy Corporate Opportunity to Corporate Ability to be Opportunity B- B- C C C C C C+ AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- It requires analytical thinking and problem solving skills. If you present your case well, people will listen to you. I get to write for different clients about different products and services every day. I learn about a variety of businesses and meet a lot of new people. Every day is different. 8

10 No. 13: Nurse No. 14: Computer Programmer Personal fulfillment / satisfaction Corporate Opportunity for Work/Life Opportunity to 1. Ability to be 2. Corporate 3. Work/Life 4. Opportunity to D+ D D+ B+ C C C- C+ AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: D- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C I m helping people overcome health challenges and return to an optimum level of function in their daily lives. I like the technical challenge and intellectual stimulation doing the impossible. No. 15: Bar/Restaurant/Hotel Manager No. 16: Web Designer/ er Working environment Opportunity for advancement / promotion Opportunity to Financial Opportunity Rewards & Benefits Ability to be Corporate Opportunity to Work/life Ability to be B- D+ C C+ C+ C B C AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: D+ AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- I like the challenges. Each day is different. I love to be creative and I am always looking for new, fresh ideas to stay competitive. I have the opportunity to be creative in a technical field. 9

11 No. 17: Product Manager Corporate culture No. 18: Construction Tradesperson Corporate Financial Opportunity for Rewards & Benefits Work/Life Opportunity for Work/Life Opportunity Ability to be C C+ D- B- D D C C AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: D+ AVERAGE: D- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: D- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C- The best thing about my job is the relationships I ve developed with my colleagues. Working with people that I respect is one of the best perks. I can be outside and I encourage myself by practicing and perfecting my skills. No. 19: Medical/Biological Researcher No. 20: Engineer 1. Flexibility in Work Hours Ability to be Level of Autonomy Opportunity 1. Opportunity Ability to Opportunity for be Financial Rewards & Benefits B- C- C C+ C C D D+ AVERAGE: C+ AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: C- I enjoy working in an environmental research lab, being hands on with the experiments, producing the data which will hopefully help in bettering the environment. AVERAGE: C- AVERAGE: C AVERAGE: D- AVERAGE: D+ My work is interesting and I am not always confined to an office. 10

12 Conclusions The Workopolis Top 20 Jobs study reveals that the definition of job satisfaction is changing: today s workforce wants to work in a challenging and supportive environment where they are given the opportunity to use their skills as well as to learn on an ongoing basis. Respondents also ranked flexible work hours and work/ life balance highly among the good qualities of their current job. Smart employers will recognize the necessity of knowing what values are important to their employees and should work to create an environment that reflects those values. While it may sound simplistic to consider the fundamental nature of being happy with your job, consider how much of your time is spent there. If you would like more information about the findings of this report or about Workopolis, please contact: Debra Chapman debra.chapman@workopolis.com Or Workopolis