Business climate important for job satisfaction

Positive working atmosphere for job satisfaction most important

01/04/2012

A positive working environment is, according to most employees, crucial to job satisfaction. This is the conclusion of a comprehensive study by Barmer GEK and the Bertelsmann Foundation.

A good working atmosphere with a good relationship with colleagues and supervisors is therefore more important to most workers than, for example, pay or job security. In the Barmer GEK survey, 72 percent of employees said that job satisfaction depended mainly on a positive working atmosphere. Factors such as job security, work-life balance or health were, according to the study, rather negligible.

Satisfaction in the job depends primarily on the working atmosphere
In the joint study by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the largest German health insurance company Barmer GEK, 72 percent of those surveyed stated that a good working atmosphere was crucial for their job satisfaction. As a result, employees were much more comfortable with their superiors and colleagues than, for example, paid remuneration, which only 35 percent of respondents rated as decisive for job satisfaction. Safety at work was only mentioned by eleven percent of respondents, job-life balance was crucial to only eight percent of respondents, and health protection was a factor in job satisfaction for only six percent of employees, the report said the Barmer GEK.

Just wages are also important
A little different, however, the verdict of the respondents, if they were addressed directly on the fairness of wages and salaries. Here, the remuneration gained a significantly greater importance than the original query would suggest, said the chairman of the Barmer GEK in Lower Saxony, Heike Sander, told the news agency „dpa“. For example, 82 percent of employees asked for equal pay to balance the pay of permanent and temporary workers. In addition, 87 percent plead for equal wages for men and women. According to 96 percent of those surveyed, employees also had to receive significantly more money for work on weekends and at night. For example, pay seems to play a significantly greater role in job satisfaction than the above-mentioned study results suggest. It is noticeable, however, that the working atmosphere is assigned a much greater importance than was originally expected. (Fp)

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