How to increase your nanny’s job satisfaction

Nannies

care for children in private households and provide support and expertise to parents in satisfying children’s physical, emotional, intellectual, and social needs. Duties may include meal planning and preparation, laundry and clothing care, organization of play activities and outings, discipline, intellectual stimulation, language activities, and transportation.

Last updated: December 14, 2020

Table of Contents

Job description

Nannies care for children in private households and provide support and expertise to parents in satisfying children’s physical, emotional, intellectual, and social needs. Duties may include meal planning and preparation, laundry and clothing care, organization of play activities and outings, discipline, intellectual stimulation, language activities, and transportation.

• Remove hazards and develop appropriate boundaries and rules to create a safe environment for children.
• Instruct and assist children in the development of health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet behavior.
• Instruct children in safe behavior, such as seeking adult assistance when crossing the street and avoiding contact or play with unsafe objects.
• Help prepare and serve nutritionally balanced meals and snacks for children.

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Salary

Nannies with little to no experience tend to make between $17750 and $19640 while the more experienced ones can earn over $27900 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Nanny is to move to a higher paying state like DC. Right now, the highest paying states for Nannies are DC, MA, VT, WA and NY.

However, a higher pay at DC doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at DC might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Nanny is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Nannies what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a High School Diploma followed by less than a High School Diploma.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Nanny .

Employers face a consistent demand to compete within today’s economy, while maintaining the engagement of their workforce. The two major factors that affect employee engagement are job satisfaction and morale.

In this article, we will define the difference between job satisfaction and morale and how you can maintain these concepts in the workplace.

What is employee morale?

Employee morale is a description of the emotions, attitudes and feelings of employees within their workplace environment. Employees that are happy and show a positive attitude at work are known to have high morale, but employees who don’t favor their work environment have low morale.

A few aspects of a workplace that can influence an employee’s morale include working conditions, support from management and job security. For example, If Jane sits down with her manager and she is communicated that she is on task with her work, then she’ll have a higher likelihood of feeling emotionally at ease and feel less pressure because of receiving a vote of confidence from management.

What is job satisfaction?

Job satisfaction displays the amount the gratification that employees have when they’re in the workplace and plays a crucial role in employee productivity. An emphasis on employee job satisfaction can lead to their talent maximizing their potential, creative abilities and the strengths that give your business a competitive advantage.

During an annual performance review, an employee may be asked how they feel about the working they’re doing and evaluate their environment. This question gives the employee a chance to answer the question directly about whether the job is fitting in with their career goals.

How to improve employee morale and job satisfaction in the workplace

It’s important for you to analyze employee morale and job satisfaction as two separate concepts. If you notice an employee with decreasing satisfaction, morale or both, you can assess how they can proceed in finding solutions to help them regain their morale or passion for their work.

Morale

Here are strategies for improving your workforce’s morale and job satisfaction.

Create a cordial work environment

The success of your organization can be determined based on how your workforce communicates with one another. Therefore, fostering positive behavior within your workplace is crucial to ensure your workplace can manage projects they’re working on and interact with clients in a friendly way.

Create employee events that are focused on engagement such has Happy Hours or gatherings that generate communication from your employees. This will increase the likelihood of earning potential for your business if you see positive feedback from clients and from employees during their performance reviews with their manager.

Evaluate managerial support and behavior

Employees who work with clients on a day-to-day basis are brand ambassadors for your organization. Whether if it’s sales, marketing or another department, employees may not receive direct feedback from clients about their performance. If you receive feedback from the client about an employee, present feedback in an honest manner, but ensure that you’re making them feel like they’re doing well and are taking the necessary steps to better their performance when necessary.

Check in with managers monthly to see if they’re proceeding in enacting the steps to render employee feedback and what responses they’re receiving.

Involve employees in decision-making

Another method of fostering an all-inclusive workplace is to elicit feedback from team members as to areas of growth on a specific strategy or tactic. Giving employees more autonomy when it comes to resource allocation, setting priorities and alignment or organizational and client goals is conducive to the success of your strategy. Also, it empowers employees to execute their tactics with clarity as they were in the same room as their team members who are working towards a common goal.

Note opportunities for training and advancement

It’s your responsibility to ensure that your workers are receiving the training necessary to perform their tasks. Communicate with your team members individually to see if these tasks are aligned with their career goals and express interest in advancing up the ranks of the organization. Their response should be an indicator of their project status on various tasks besides finding out where they see themselves.

Job satisfaction

Here are strategies for improving your workforce’s job satisfaction:

Measure satisfaction

Hold individual meetings with your employees periodically to gauge the motivation they have to work their current position. When you get a response from the employee, you have a better idea what their motivations are and how to build on them. Performance reviews also can give the employee an avenue to express their opinions in writing about additional comments they may have about their current role.

Receive feedback from employees regularly

Have a direct communication line with your employees that extends beyond one manager. It’s important to have the manager’s evaluation of the employees, but establishing an open-door policy allows for free flowing conversation and opens up the silo between upper and lower-level employees.

Give personal recognition

Create an Employee of the Month initiative at your business to spotlight an employees’s performance. Once the employee of the month is announced, have a meeting with your staff to congratulate them and their contributions to the team.

Another method is you can implement is to create a cash- or event-based incentive for employees that celebrates their performance from the past week. The more creative an approach is, their higher likelihood an employee will be engaged. For example, give your employees an opportunity to drive your company’s CEO car for a week or the chance to leave work early. The more actionable an incentive is, the higher ceiling of fulfillment it has for the employee.

Develop workers skills and potential

Align training and education methods to your employee’s career goals to help them be more productive and inventive in the workplace. Introduce personalized training initiatives for your team and gear it towards a particular skill.

Have a sales team listen to a trainee’s first cold call allows the trainee to earn hands-on experience right away while their peers cheer them on. After, the trainee can receive tips from management as to work with the scenario the employee had to encounter with the customer. This way, the sales team can take notes about they can improve their situational analysis with customers.

You just can’t avoid working, it is what you do to pay all your bills and above all turn your dreams into reality. But, most of the times, it seems that your office work tends to squeeze out most of your energy and you are only left with feeling tiresome and unfulfilled. It forces you to wonder is there any better way? Is there any way you can love your job?

There are numerous ways in which you can increase your job satisfaction and I am going to discuss 7 of them. Relax and follow these ways to realise your actual potential at your workplace.

1. Have clear and challenging goals

If you feel disengaged in your workplace, it is because you are not growing or learning new things/technology. Make sure you have challenged & pushed yourself and most importantly make your best efforts to gain new proficiencies. Trust me, this will certainly help you to keep yourself engaged in your career.

It is also important to make your best efforts towards meaningful goals that are basically challenging & rewarding as well, yet attainable. This will help improve self-efficacy and also give a boost to your work skills, both of which will surely help your work engagement in a positive manner.

2. Develop management methods

If you are not able to concentrate on your job, it can be due to two main reasons – stress and burnout. No matter what is the nature of your job, stress has become an imperative part of every job and to deal with this stress smartly will certainly make the difference. At times, relaxing and taking rest really works out to get refreshed with your work.

You can opt to identify varied ways through which you can amend stressful working conditions. You can also take the help of your colleagues or maybe have a word with your employer to provide you with right tools or other resources needed to do your job.

3. Build trust with senior management

It is imperative for the senior management to build trust with the employees at all levels. And as an employee, you need to be able to put trust on all those who have been given some authority at your workplace. Talking about the leaders, they can build the trust by showing integrity and credibility in everything that they do. This means what they say and what they do. Communication has always been a key element in building trust.

You as an employee don’t mind handling a bad news when it is shared with you, but I am sure you don’t like the perception that there are secrets. Clear communication often helps when trying to explain the reasons behind the decisions and without a doubt comes handy in building trust element.

4. Mend your workplace relationships

Always make your efforts to have interactions with others that promote positivity while you are at your workplace. It has been found that employee conversations, even with short-term connections, mainly when they are of high-quality, can prove refreshing.

So, you can increase your job satisfaction by taking some time out to build new relationships with your colleagues and your customers. This can be done by mentoring less experienced or new employees at your workplace. Even chatting with your customers can help you derive more meaning to your work.

5. Get organised

One of the practical ways, both at the workplace and outside the workplace, to make your life simpler is to “get organised.” When we talk about job satisfaction, we are focusing on how you can manage your workload efficiently. The best way to do this is to make a to-do list at the end of the day.

You need to jot down what you need to achieve and what tasks you will be doing, as per its importance, the next day. So, the next day when you come, you are well-aware of what you need to and achieve. Make sure you have taken a printout of that list and stick it to your computer so that you can refer it throughout the day.

6. Anticipate ups and downs

Make sure you don’t believe in the career myth that once you have started your career, your job satisfaction will be on a positive until you retire. Instead, you should be prepared to face the unexpected, including that job satisfaction ups and downs are quite common and will be an imperative part throughout your career.

7. Give second priority to work in your life

If you really looking to achieve satisfaction both in your life and at your workplace, it is important you have kept your job at the 2nd place on your priority list. Improving job satisfaction means that you are well-aware of the fact that your job is just one element of the equation and it shouldn’t be given top priority. Your family, hobbies, self-identity should always be on your top position of your priorities. Always remember when you have a happy family life, it shows the quality of work that you do at your workplace.

This is especially true when something bad happens at your workplace, but if your family life is in order, it will give you the strength to deal with all the issues at your workplace. When you know you get to go home to something you enjoy at the end of the day, will help you prepare to handle all the work-related issues boldly.

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Sophia Jones

Sophia tries to live her life like the sun – setting her sights high and vowing to always rise up again. Always game for an adventure, Sophia loves widening readers and her own expectations of our vast, beautiful world. As a journalist, Sophia writes to inform. As a creative writer, Sophia strives to inspire. Overall, she hopes to captivate. She currently writes for sites like Qwikfix and EMI Calculators etc.

Wondering what it takes to keep loyal and happy workers on the job these days? You might be doing better at fostering employee job satisfaction than you think.

In an OfficeTeam survey, workers were asked whether they think managers deserve a pat on the back, and most of them (80 percent) said they’re cool with their bosses. If you’re among that group of leaders, keep up the good work, and if you want to make sure you continue to cultivate a positive working relationship — and encourage your staff to stay put and stay engaged — read on.

Our staffing specialists have assembled these tried-and-true techniques for managers to stay off the list of bosses who get less-than-stellar reviews (the 23 percent described as micromanagers or 16 percent described as incompetent in our survey, that is!).

1. Improve your workers’ morale with a simple thanks

Let employees know when you’re pleased with their work, so they realize you notice their contributions. This step doesn’t take much effort — a handwritten thank-you note or a “great job!” mention at a meeting will do — but can greatly affect overall job satisfaction. Written accolades are rare in this day and age but can be quite meaningful.

2. Boost job satisfaction by soliciting employee opinions

Have a problem to solve or a new business opportunity to explore? Why not solicit ideas from your administrative staff? They may bring a fresh perspective to the situation and no doubt will appreciate the respect shown by asking for their input.

Looking for administrative professionals to join your team?

3. Earn their loyalty by investing in their development

Let staff know you care about their professional development by encouraging them to earn certifications and attend association meetings, conferences and seminars — and then covering related expenses. (Asking them to foot the bill is not cool.)

4. Provide promising career paths

The last thing you want is for your administrative staff to feel their prospects at your company have hit a dead end. That’s guaranteed to drain motivation and send your employees fleeing into the job market.

So, make sure you spell out the career paths available to everyone and then provide the necessary tools to support advancement, such as pairing staff with mentors and providing training.

5. Be flexible

Work-life balance is a goal for so many workers, so do what you can support it. Consider offering flextime, telecommuting and other work options that make it easier for people to juggle work and personal demands.

6. Celebrate achievements and milestones

Who doesn’t like a party? Mark special occasions such as holidays, work anniversaries and the completion of key projects. Taking a short break during the workday for fun can build camaraderie and lighten the mood in the office.

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How satisfied are you at work?

While many employees today are grateful to have a paycheck in a tight economy, that doesn’t mean job satisfaction is off the charts.

Management may have little time or inclination to bolster your satisfaction levels; it’s sometimes up to you.

So here are five ways to help move you in the right direction:

Improve Your Environment

A disorganized work environment makes every task more difficult. And looking around at dull walls do nothing for anyone’s mood.

So start to improve your day-to-day enjoyment of your job by making your environment as pleasant as possible. If you have a cubicle or office, clean and organize the entire area. Get an attractive desk set as well as shelf organizers and baskets. Even if you work in a retail establishment or restaurant, you can organize your general area to make it a more efficient work space.

Become a Mentor

Recapture that excited feeling you had when you first started your job by becoming a mentor at work.

Find a new employee or trainee and volunteer to take him under your wing. Make it your project to turn this neophyte into a great team member.

Teach him all the little tricks you’ve taken years to learn, and clue him in on the corporate culture and ways to rise in the company. You’ll get a sense of pride for a job well done by watching your trainee improve on a weekly basis.

Practice Gratitude

It’s not always easy, but finding the little things about your job that make you happy can go a long way. There are good things all around you, if you work at noticing them.

Start every morning searching for gratitude and keep that feeling throughout the day.

Your job may be dull or stressful, but at least it’s paying the bills, allowing you to indulge in hobbies and down time and offering social occasions with fellow employees.

Whether it’s a fun group you eat lunch with every day, or a customer who always gives you a sunny smile, there is something good about every job that can make you feel a bit better about being there. You just have to find it.

New Challenges

If you feel that your job is dull and boring, it may be because you’re not challenged any more.

Few people are bored when they first start a new job. There is too much to learn, too many new skills to master.

But now, you may be feeling complacent because nothing new ever happens in your workplace. Give yourself a new challenge in your job. Volunteer to learn a new skill or job rating. Take on the task of organizing the company picnic or holiday party. Put together a company weight-loss competition. Get involved with something new and completely different from your daily tasks to perk up your interest in your everyday work.

Make It Less Important

Unless you’re working at your ultimate dream career, your job is sometimes just a means to an end. You might choose to spend your time working at a job you don’t enjoy because it’s just a stepping stone to something better.

If you feel this way, try to to focus on the good things that the job brings to your life outside the office. While you should always do the best job possible, it’s not necessary to make the job the most important part of your life.

Do a mental downgrade and start focusing on what you truly enjoy. Look at your daily tasks as a way to earn money for vacations, or the ticket to getting those flying lessons. Or even as a necessary stop before going on to crafts with your children. Take the importance out of your job and the stresses may seem less important.

The most important thing to remember is that you play a big role in your job satisfaction levels. You’ll be happier and healthier if you change your actions and attitudes, making your day run as smoothly as possible before getting on to the truly important parts of your life.

Dunya Carter is a marketing and recruitment specialist from Brisbane, Australia. She writes on topics related to business and career development for several websites and blogs. She is currently working for Ochre Medical Recruitment as a consultant.

Author

Assistant Professor of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science

Disclosure statement

Shoshana Dobrow Riza does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Are you part of the whopping 60% of people in both the UK and US who are feeling unhappy at work? Now that it’s spring – a time of new beginnings – perhaps you are scratching your head, wondering if it’s worth leaving your job and looking for something new, something more exciting and meaningful, something more satisfying.

Some of our recent research analysed data spanning 40 years from 21,670 people in a diverse array of occupations and found that people’s job satisfaction goes in cycles throughout their lives. Here are five job satisfaction tips we discovered.

1. Change jobs

We found that job satisfaction generally increases as people get older – but not for the reasons you might think. Paradoxically, as people progress in a given job over the years, their job satisfaction tends to decrease.

This is because when people switch jobs and start in a new organisation, they get a boost in job satisfaction. Think of the early days in a new job as the “honeymoon” phase. Remember, however, that this phase is temporary and the “hangover” phase of decreasing job satisfaction begins almost right away – typically after just a few months.

People proactively can leverage this honeymoon/hangover cycle by changing organisations periodically, thus shifting themselves from “hangover” at an old job to “honeymoon” at a new organisation.

It is the switching of jobs over your career that tends to result in older people having greater job satisfaction. You can think of it as two steps forward in job satisfaction when you switch organisations, then one step back as your years on the job increase. Over time, therefore, job satisfaction increases, thanks to the boosts people get from changing workplaces.

That is not to suggest that moving organisations will guarantee an increase in job satisfaction, nor do I suggest that increasing one’s job satisfaction is the only key factor when making the decision to change jobs. The below considerations are important, too.

More is more. shutterstock.com

2. Earn more

Our research highlights one reason why people become more satisfied with their jobs as they become older and move across organisations: they earn more. Indeed, people can even experience higher job satisfaction within the same job – and so buffer against the natural decline in job satisfaction over the years – if their pay increases.

3. Expect ups and downs

Don’t fall prey to the career myth that once you start your career, job satisfaction will be on a positive, straight upward trajectory until you retire. Instead, expect the unexpected – including that job satisfaction ups and downs are entirely normal throughout your career.

If you understand this as an employee, you can manage your expectations about the likely trajectory of your job satisfaction levels over time and make better-informed career decisions.

If you’re a manager, on the other hand, you can anticipate seeing your employees’ – and your own – levels of job satisfaction decline as their time in the organisation continues. You can then calibrate their – and your – expectations accordingly.

Indeed, one reason older workers may experience higher job satisfaction is that they have more realistic expectations of work.

4. Mimic changing jobs

If a change of jobs isn’t on the cards, both employees and employers can still prevent a decline in satisfaction levels by mimicking the novelty of a new job. This can be done through things such as job rotations, temporary or permanent relocation assignments, sabbaticals, or other forms of leave. It is important for managers to help create these opportunities and for employees to take advantage of them.

5. Make work more meaningful

Meaningful work is also linked to higher job satisfaction. People who view their work as particularly meaningful are often referred to as experiencing a strong sense of calling. Some of my research shows that rather than seeking and finding a calling, people can develop one – through being more involved in a particular work domain, for instance, and socially engaging in this area.

Employees and managers can also find ways to redesign work to make it more meaningful. For instance, savvy managers can deploy more satisfied older members of the team to mentor younger members of staff – re-energising older workers and motivating younger workers at the same time.

Related

• What Qualities Must You Have for a Security Job?
• How to Not Change Jobs a Lot
• Job Strain
• The Reason for a Desire to Switch Jobs
• What Is the Role of Job Satisfaction on Retention?

More than 56 percent of American employees are worried about job security, according to a 2013 Harris Interactive Poll. Job security provides workers with a much-needed sense of structure. People want to know their job is available for as long as they wish to hold it. When job security decreases, satisfaction and performance levels also take a hit.

Decreased Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction levels decrease when an employee feels threatened by a lack of job security. A worker is filled with feelings of discontent and uncertainty when his future at the company is uncertain, which leads to resentment. However, an employee with job security is able to envision his future at the organization, making him feel valued and satisfied with his current position.

Lower Performance Levels

When an employee feels threatened by a lack of job security, she may stop putting the necessary effort into completing assignments and interacting with colleagues, due to a belief of having no future with the organization. Conversely, a worker with a solid sense of job security plans to work for the company for the foreseeable future, so she maintains relationships with colleagues and completes her work to stay employed.

Increased Turnover Levels

A worker with a lack of job security is vulnerable, as his employment future is unknown. He is likely to seek work at a more stable company if he feels his job is at risk. A 2012 survey by HSD’s ExitRight research reveals that top performing employees cite job security as a leading cause of voluntary turnover. Increased turnover levels can lead to a loss of key knowledge, low levels of commitment and a lack of team identity, resulting in low performance.

Decreased Customer Satisfaction

Customers, vendors and suppliers enjoy having a relationship with a specific person at a company. Business improves and revenue increases when clients build a rapport with a trusted company representative who can quickly meet customer needs. When client-facing employees feel secure in their jobs, they’re more likely to stay with the company, thus improving performance levels. However, a client is likely to take her business away from an organization if high turnover levels diminish the personal relationship.

• Wall Street Journal: When People Come and Go
• The University of Rhode Island: Job Satisfaction

Laura Woods is a Los Angeles-based writer with more than six years of marketing experience. She has a Bachelor of Arts in communications from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Robert Morris University.

Salaries are to jobs as chargers are to phones. Without them, we are essentially talking about dead weights. There was a time when people could buy things in exchange for chicken and goat, but one would be hard pressed to imagine how many one would barter for the latest iPhone 7. Two chickens, a goat and half of your soul perhaps!

Our paycheck is the obvious motivating factor behind our daily ritual of willing, and sometimes unwilling, servitude to the overlord employers. It is why we love the time of the year our bonuses roll in, our performance reviews garner a raise and we are finally able to put a down payment on a house, a car, an Xbox or take that trip to the beach with the family.

So there is no doubt that salary and compensation are super important to keep the smile hovering about on an employee’s face. Decent pays, with ample benefits, have almost always managed to keep workers whistling a happy tune.
But as logical as the question of salaries, and its sufficiency may sound, a mind boggling fact is that that is not all that needs to meet ones’ job satisfaction criteria. Money may bring that smile, the first of every month, but it is not what sustains that grin!

And companies need to be aware of this fact. More so because each time a disgruntled employee walks out of the main door, companies lose a bit of their pocket weight. It brings about costs of hiring a new staff, training and bringing him up to speed, getting him to go beyond the initial training to full on learning and development, and finally the cost to fit him into the previous Cinderella’s shoes. As per a study published on LinkedIn, a single employee’s goodbye may cost the company upwards of 1.5-2X of his annual salary to just start afresh.

It is probably imperative to know, then, what is it that keeps an employee going on and moving ahead, within the company, rather than in the neighboring one. What constitutes job satisfaction? Can someone be made to like a job by tempting him with a wad of cash? Is money really that important or is salary only one of the many things that brings about employee retention?

Is a high salary enough to make a job satisfactory?

Glassdoor’s study, based on employee reviews, rated companies in a top n list of most desirable places to work, in 2017. With nearly all five star ratings, Bain & Company, Facebook, Google and LinkedIn were among the top 10 to receive the best employer crowns.

The ratings were based on a combination of five different categories of company evaluations.

• Its culture and values
• The work life balance of its employees
• The career opportunities and growth areas that it has to offer to its workers
• The kind of Senior Management, and leaders, it has
• And finally the compensation and benefits that it has to offer

The pie chart below shows the correlations of the individual parameters with the overall ratings, for the top ten best companies, in Glassdoor’s study. What is clear is that the beacon of employee satisfaction is clearly not carried solely by the Comp and Benefits slice. The ultimate determinant is a combination of all the good practices which add up to create an environment of trust, development, respect and recognition of employees as valuable assets.

(Source: Review Trends from Glassdoor.com. Correlation of individual rating factors with the overall rating of companies, on Glassdoor)

The Right Management Group did a survey, in 2015, to assess Global Career Aspirations, looking for answers to questions like what employees aspire from their jobs. Their survey revealed that when asked What would make your job successful,the answer was led by 26% voting for workplace enjoyment, and happiness, 19% weighing it on salary, 18% on the kind of work, 15% on recognition and finally 10% on performance.

Yet another 2016 study by Adobe, showed that 47% American, 48% British and finally, 48% Indian employees are likely to leave their current job for an Ideal job, even with less pay.

And finally, Gallup performed a research on the value of Engagement at Work, studying its effect on employee performance during tough economic times. They conducted this research in 2012, examining 49,928 business or work places, involving about 1.4 million employees in 192 organizations, and across 49 countries.

Their key findings showed that employee engagement has a direct relation to organizational success. The research, post the recession of 2007-2009, tried to assess the importance of employee engagement even when layoffs, and other financial strains, were clouding the thoughts of many workers, all over the world. And even in those harsh times, the good quality of employee work environment was the root of lower absenteeism, low employee turnover, less staff shrinkage, fewer safety or quality incidents, higher productivity and definitely higher profitability.

Though the correlation between the contribution of compensation, to job happiness, is not quite evident from this study, it does manage to suggest that while employers were probably struggling to meet financial ends, perhaps even having to strain employee raises and benefits during an economic downturn, employees still managed to find satisfaction in other engagement opportunities.

The subsequent Gallup study that was was able to assert the above inference showed that engaged employees were eager to continue working at their happy job even if they were offered a $10 million lottery win. 63% of engaged, and satisfied, employees would gladly continue taking the train to work even with millions reaping in massive interests in their overflowing bank accounts!

Clearly, fat paychecks cannot buy happiness. Of course, there is no denying the content of a comfortable livelihood. But if you want a persistent feeling of gladness, you better find more things to like about your job than the salary package.

After all, what good would a high salary do if you end up spending half of it in work related therapy!

So the next time you are offered a new job, make sure you get a chance to talk to existing, and past, employees. Chances are, their frowns may give away way more than the seemingly generous pay.

According to an Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 88% of US employees reported overall satisfaction with their current job in 2015.

This number is the highest level of satisfaction in 10 years. The purpose of the survey was to identify those factors that contribute to employee satisfaction in the workplace.

Employees who are satisfied with their jobs are more committed, productive, and more likely to stay with an organization.

And, when employees are dissatisfied, there is higher turnover and a higher instance of employee absenteeism.

This report for 2015 shows that respectful treatment of employees at all levels was the most important aspect of job satisfaction.

Employees know a strong economy results in competitive pay, and with a booming economy, pay and benefits now also hit the top of the list.

In order of importance, the top five aspects of job satisfaction rated as “very important” were:

1. Respectful Treatment of Employees at All Levels
2. Pay and Compensation
3. Overall Benefits
4. Job Security
5. Trust Between Employees and Senior Management

13 Tips For Improving Job Satisfaction

1. Work on The Culture. The culture of an organization is influenced by the behaviors of its leadership. Employees empathize with each other and demand respectful treatment of all employees.

Senior leaders should set an example for these behaviors by demonstrating respect toward others while holding people accountable for doing the same.

Respect for others can be demonstrated through professional communication and internal policies that are honoring to employees.

For example, if the organization is forced to make some difficult changes that impact an employee’s job, those changes should be communicated in a sensitive way to honor the employees who may be impacted by the change.

2. Establish Trust with Senior Management. Senior management needs to establish trust with employees at all levels. Employees need to be able to trust those who have been placed in a position of authority.

Leaders can establish this trust by demonstrating credibility and integrity in everything they do. This means doing what you say and saying what you do.

Communication is often a key factor in trust. Employees can handle bad news when it is shared. What they don’t like is the perception that there are secrets.

Communicating clearly and often while striving to explain the why behind decisions can help to minimize issues of trust.

3. Expand job benefits. Explore the benefits that employees appreciate and value. Benchmark your total benefits package to ensure your package is competitive.

Focus on health and medical, paid time off, defined contribution plans, defined benefit pension plans, work-life balance, and family-friendly benefits.

Often the low cost or no cost benefits get the greatest impact on satisfaction.

4. Offer competitive compensation. Look at all aspects of your compensation strategy. Evaluate employee pay grades, health benefits, and retirement contributions to ensure your compensation package is competitive.

Benchmark like jobs and work to keep salary ranges in line with similar jobs.

If the recent regulation cuts have helped your business, share the benefit with employees by increasing their pay.

5. Foster job security. Employees are just now feeling relief from the recent recession that caused workers everywhere to feel job insecurity.

Employers can help ease this by communicating with employees about the financial state of the organization, strategic goals and objectives, and overall performance.

When employees know their employer is doing well, they feel more job security.

It is also important to include employees in global problem solving to ensure they feel like they are part of the process and solution to organizational growth and success.

6. Strengthen employee relationships. Job satisfaction is also connected to relationships that the employee has with coworkers.

Use teams of employees to problem solve and use team-building exercises to help develop and strengthen coworker relationships.

7. Focus on employee engagement. Invest the time and resources in creating an environment where employees thrive and love to work.

Monitor employee engagement and strengthen areas that foster it.

8. Provide opportunities for career advancement. Employees want to know that there are opportunities within the organization to grow and advance their careers.

Develop employees through coaching and mentoring programs, leadership skill development, and succession planning to help ensure that employees are prepared when higher-level job openings become available.

9. Train on job skills. Employees value the investment organizations make into ongoing job skill training.

This results in employees being more engaged in their roles, improved internal processes, and increased worker productivity.

10. Provide professional development opportunities. Investing in the career development of an organization’s workforce results in employees who feel valued and grow professionally.

This includes training that results in certifications or degrees that enhance employee skills and professional knowledge.

11. Provide a clear career path. Provide high performing employees with developmental plans that prepare them for promotions and increased job responsibilities.

Use the performance management process to highlight gaps in skills and to plan for specific skill development.

12. Strengthen relationships with immediate supervisors. The relationship with the immediate supervisor has always been a strong indicator of job satisfaction.

This means organizations need to invest time and resources into strengthening these relationships.

One way to help with this is to provide adequate training and a transition plan for employees who are promoted to a supervisor role.

13. Recognize employee job performance. Employees want to know that management recognizes their contributions and accomplishments.

Positive feedback, that reinforces performance behaviors, can impact improved job performance.

Make recognizing employees a part of day-to-day management practices.

Finally, most employees come to work with the intention of doing a good job.

However, it is the organization’s responsibility to communicate effectively, let employees know what is expected of them, give them the tools they need to do their job and reward them for a job well done.

These management tactics can take an organization a long way toward fostering satisfied employees, improving employee engagement, and achieving business objectives.

How satisfied are your employees?

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