Headline Findings

• Over ½ the panel claim to be content in their present position, split 10% very and 49% mostly. 

• 21% claim not to be happy, the rest saying their contentment is variable.

• 69% of the panel say their workplace happiness has reduced or remained static over the past year.  31% say it has improved.  In terms of job function the happiness of Logistics professionals has improved the most and Human Resources professionals the least.

• Unsurprisingly, the current economic situation has left its mark on the panel.  Only 34% say it hasn’t affected their workplace happiness whilst 29% say it remains difficult but they’ve had to learn to adapt.  For 3%, it remains a dark cloud on most days.

• Figures are similar for organizations as a whole with all but 15% being affected; 14% admitting it remains a difficult time for their organization.

• The top two areas that give the panel most workplace satisfaction (excluding promotion & a pay rise) are helping the team reach peak performance and helping their organization improve its competitive position.  The panel say they receive little satisfaction from proving a superior wrong or getting rid of a troublesome team member.  Of course they don’t…

• The top two reasons the panel are likely to experience periods of discontent at work are slow / poor decision-making and actions of colleagues.

• If the panel are asked to take on extra work (without additional resource or remuneration) the highest proportion are likely to view it favourably, believing it confirms the confidence their superiors have in them.  Only 18% feel they are being taken advantage of, whilst 1% refuse to do it.

• The two departments to give the panel most grief on a regular basis are IT & Operations.

• Asked about their families’ happiness the top 2 areas for concern are; the ever increasing cost of living and funding ‘my’ retirement.  

• Children’s debt to fund University
• Ever-increasing cost of living
• How their children will get on the property ladder

In the US their top concerns are:

• Ever-increasing cost of living
• Funding “my” retirement

Whilst just over half of the panel claim to be content in their present position, this means 47% are not.

63% of the panel say their workplace happiness has reduced or remained static over the past year. 37% say it has improved.

Unsurprisingly the current economic situation has left its mark on the panel. Only 31% say it hasn’t affected their workplace happiness whilst 37% say it remains difficult but they’ve had to learn to adapt.

Figures are similar for organisations as a whole with all but 19% being affected; 14% admitting it remains a difficult time for their organisation.

The top two areas that give the panel most workplace satisfaction (excluding promotion & a pay rise) are helping their organisation improve its competitive position & helping the team reach peak performance. The panel say they receive little satisfaction from proving a superior wrong or getting rid of a troublesome team member. Of course they don’t…

The top two reasons the panel are likely to experience periods of discontent at work are slow / poor decision-making and actions of colleagues.

If the panel are asked to take on extra work (without additional resource or remuneration) the highest proportion are likely to view it favourably, believing it confirms the confidence their superiors have in them. Only ¼ feel they are being taken advantage of.

The two departments to give the panel most grief on a regular basis are Operations and Finance.

Asked about their families’ happiness the top three areas for concern are; the high levels of debt their children will take on to fund university, the ever-increasing cost of living and how their children will get on the property ladder.

For the full report please contact  David Clark

We have talked about workplace happiness and the findings of the Richmond Research Panel.

It is perhaps interesting to look at how different departments perceive workplace happiness over the last 12 months, particularly since many of them are talking about the same organisations.

Less happy are Logistics, then IT and particularly Human Resources. 58% of HR people feel happiness has reduced over the last 12 months.

Communications Directors feel it's about the same.

Finance Directors and Marketing Directors are happier, which is interesting because these two groups usually have opposing opinions.

Surprisingly perhaps, Retail executives are happier still, despite the reported difficulties on the high street.

Happiest of all are our PIMS customers from financial services.

Those potentially closest to the problems of the financial crisis appear to have improved most in terms of happiness over the last 12 months.

We leave you to speculate on the reasons, as ever details of our research are available from David Clark