OK, so we know that San Luis Obispo, CA is the happiest place to live in the US. But is it the happiest place to work? We have talked about why people work and how to retain your employees, but are they happy? I posed the question to 20 people, chosen randomly, who work at 15 different companies.
Most said they were happy, and most had the same reason: “I am happy to have a job at all.” But when I dialed down a bit deeper, like Maslow, eliminating the basic survival issues, the reasons they were happy varied.
Benefits were the top choice. Health insurance has been tied to our employment for so long now that it is expected to be part of the compensation plan for any company of a certain size. But that does not mean it is taken for granted. Most employees are well aware of the annual double-digit rise in premiums over the last several years, so they appreciate those employers who have chosen to retain the insurance. Many employers have eliminated their contribution toward the premium for dependents, but not one person I interviewed complained about that.
Cable TV provider, Comcast, was cited as one of the happiest places to work in a recent survey conducted by CareerBliss. No surprise to me: the employees get free cable! That’s at least $150 a month right there, plus they don’t have to review all those ads to see if the HD receiver costs extra. Comcast employees also get free financial planning services, tuition reimbursement, commuter benefits, legal benefits, adoption benefits, long-term care insurance and pet insurance. Pet insurance!
My survey respondents cited work-life balance as the next element of work that determined their level of happiness. They called it different things, depending on their age, but for the most part, it was about the employer offering them the flexibility they need to drop their kids off at pre-school before work, not hassling them if they need to leave early or come in late on occasion, not requiring a ton of overtime. To the ears of a Baby-Boomer, that might sound like anarchy, but I get it. Some of our workers have kids and parents who need their attention. The trick for an HR pro or business owner is to find a way to make it flexible and fair.
Other workplace elements that contribute to an employee’s happiness in my survey include being allowed to listen to music, good parking, long lunch hours, monthly pot lucks, having supervisors who treat them with respect,(hello!) lack of drama, and being challenged with assignments that let them learn new things.
For the national survey, next most important element was career advancement, a regular in the top 5 for decades. But I was surprised it was still there, expecting it to have been replaced with “I am happy to have a job at all.”
