Job quality — not moolah — counts with knowledge workers

Mukta Magazine in New Delhi

THE degree of dissatisfaction is high among knowledge workers, according to a recent study on attrition rates and satisfaction levels in this category of workers.

The study, ATT-TRACK 2001, conducted by research agency NFO-MBL India, was aimed at identifying the major reasons for the high rate of attrition in people-driven organisations and the rate of satisfaction levels. Besides knowledge workers in the software industry, it covered those in professions like project management, research and consultancy across various sectors like FMCG, hospitality, banking, telecom, financial and media.

A sample of 150 executives revealed that there exists a huge gap between ‘importance factor’ scores and the actual level of satisfaction registered. Thus, job content, which got top rating as a prerequisite for a satisfying job, with a score of 86 per cent, could achieve only a 14 per cent satisfaction score, a yawning gap of 72 per cent. Significantly, while the overall satisfaction scores showed that 28 per cent were dissatisfied with their present jobs, (3 per cent ‘very dissatisfied’ and 25 per cent ‘somewhat dissatisfied’), the ‘satisfaction gap’ on various factors ranged from 29 to 72 per cent. Only 2 per cent said they were extremely satisfied with their jobs and 16 per cent said they were very satisfied with their jobs.

Respondents were asked to rate the importance of various factors considered at the time of employment in any company and their satisfaction levels on these parameters in their present jobs. Job content, work climate and quality work practices topped the list of 10 factors with importance scores of 86, 83 and 82 respectively. But the actual satisfaction scores were 14, 24 and 33 respectively, registering a gap of 72, 59 and 49. Interestingly, quality of work practices ranked no 3 in importance and also figured among the top reasons for attrition.

The other ‘importance factors’ were: communication, interpersonal relationships, training and development, company image, compensation & benefits, hygiene factors and rules and regulations.
The top five dissatisfaction factors were recorded as: job content, interpersonal relationships, work climate, training & development and communication. The bottom five were: work practices, hygiene factors - tools, resources and facilities, company image, compensation & benefits, rules and regulations.

Attrition rates

The three prime reasons for attrition among knowledge workers were identified as career development (17 per cent), job content (16 per cent) and compensation & benefits (15 per cent). Others included work practices (15 per cent), organisational culture (13 per cent), interpersonal reasons (11 per cent), personal reasons (8 per cent) and situational mishappenings (5 per cent).

Interestingly, compensation has moved from being one of the prime reasons for attrition to no 3 position. Since knowledge workers are fairly well-paid, compensation is not a major dissatisfaction factor. It no longer works as a key driver, though it may be a triggering factor. Thus factors like job content and career development gain precedence over compensation, since they want clearly defined roles with a challenging job involving new learning and upgradation of skills.

Communication also figures among the top 5 dissatisfaction factors, with a free flow of communication, sharing of information and achievements across the company being areas of concern. Public recognition often acts as a key motivator among knowledge workers.

Significantly, dissatisfaction with a current job is higher among older employees. Gender-wise, women were found to be more satisfied than their men colleagues.

Says Mr Gautam Nath, director, corporate services & human resources, NFO-MBL, “What emerges clearly from the study is that factors that can check attrition rates include: a value driven organisation, clearly defined roles, values, effective downward and upward communication, cohesion and bonding, reward recognition and new learning opportunities.’’