The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s latest employee outlook survey has found that although employee confidence is getting shakier by the day as austerity starts to bite (particularly in the public sector), aggregate job satisfaction is actually up across the board. Then again, people are a lot more likely to be happy with the job they've got if there's a very real prospect of them not having one at all...
The survey of over 2,000 employees represents a bleak picture of employee attitudes throughout the UK, following the £81bn of cuts to public spending announced by the Government in the Comprehensive Spending Review. In the public sector, one in four (25%) workers believe it is likely they will lose their jobs and 63% say stress has increased as a result of the economic downturn, compared to 54% last quarter. Respondents across all sectors are also three times more likely to report their standard of living over the last six months has fallen (29%) than to say it has increased (9%).
So given all that, it seems rather odd that net job satisfaction (i.e. the percentage of people happy in their job, minus those unhappy) has actually risen, to +42 - a seven point rise from the previous quarter. Nor is it the first time this has happened; back in spring 2009, job satisfaction actually rose as high as +46 (before plunging rapidly again). The theory is that when redundancies are in the offing, employees suddenly become much more grateful for what they've got, and stop looking around for new jobs - not least because, as two-thirds of respondents admitted, they wouldn't have much chance of getting another one.
The other alarming point was the number of public sector workers who complained about an increase in ‘stress, conflict at work, bullying by line managers and an increase in people taking time off sick’. Part of that can be put down to the extra work remaining staff are having to take on thanks to the cuts. But the worry is that managers in the state sector - who aren't used to operating in this kind of environment - may be finding it hard to cope. And if they end up alienating their staff, they're going to find it a lot harder to deliver more for less.
Ben Willmott, CIPD Senior Public Policy Adviser, said, "Past findings suggest that the rise in job satisfaction could be a temporary one - particularly for public sector workers. The survey shows some real causes for concern, with job insecurity and stress at high levels and trust in senior management at extremely low levels.
"With just one-fifth of public sector staff agreeing that they trust their senior leaders compared to half disagreeing, there is a danger that employee engagement could nosedive, which could have a damaging effect on the quality of public service delivery. To counter this it is important that public sector employers look to consult and involve staff over proposed changes and ensure that managers at all levels are equipped with the people management skills needed to motivate and support staff during turbulent times. "
