How Can You Help Your Unhappy Employees– and Should You?

Given the extra work that many employees have been shouldering for the past few years, combined with the lack of raises, perhaps the results ofa recent Accenture surveyshouldn’t be surprising: More than half of employees responding were dissatisfied with their jobs.

What is surprising?Even as the economy picks up, just 30 percent of respondents said they plan to look for jobs elsewhere. Instead, 70 percent of women and 69 percent of men said they plan to stay at their current company.(Though I just wrote aboutanother survey conducted by MarketToolsthat indicates nearly half of all Americans are thinking about leaving their jobs.)

Why are employees dissatisfied?  Top reasons were:

• Low pay(47 percent of women, 44 percent of men);
• Lack of opportunity(36 percent of women, 32 percent of men);
• No chance for career advancement(33 percent of women, 34 percent of men).

Given these factors, why are they staying? Fifty-nine percent of women and 57 percent of men say they plan to gain additional experience and seek career advancement in-house, rather than looking elsewhere.

“We’re seeing an unanticipated workplace dynamic,”says Adrian Lajtha, chief leadership officer at Accenture. “Today’s professionals are not job hunting, despite expressing dissatisfaction.  Instead, they are focused on their skill sets and on seeking the training, the resources and the people that can help them achieve their goals.”

How can your company be a leader? Aside from better pay—which you may not yet be in a position to provide—the top things employees are seeking at their current workplace were:

• New, challenging assignments(44 percent of women, 48 percent of men);
• Flexible work arrangements(39 percent of women, 34 percent of men); and
• Leadership positions within their companies(22 percent of women, 28 percent of men).

Lajtha suggest companies should support employees by listening to their needs and“providing them with innovative training, leadership development and clearly-defined career paths.”

Hearing that employees are dissatisfied can get a small business owner’s ire up. But there’s definitely a silver lining here.“There’s still a sense of commitment to take action with their current employer,”notes LaMae Allen deJongh, the author of the study and Accenture’s managing director for human capital and diversity.“We interpret that as an opportunity.”

How will you take advantage of that opportunity to keep talented people with your team?

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