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What Would You Change About Your Job?

What Would You Change About Your Job?

How many times have you heard that money is NOT the greatest motivator? Do you believe that? Is that true for you?

In a recent poll I conducted on LinkedIn (November 2010) I asked a simple question:

“If you could change one thing in your current job what would it be?” Possible responses included:

  • More time off
  • Less stress
  • More money
  • Chance to learn new things
  • More recognition

In a period of a couple of weeks, 94 professionals responded. To my surprise, money was the #1 response!

http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/109318/ejdvp

In my graduate work in Industrial/Organizational Psychology I often heard that people are motivated much more by the challenge of the job, the work itself, recognition for a job well done, etc. Money seemed to always be a lagging motivator.

So my question for you is:

  • Why is money at the top of the list?
  • Is it the economy?
  • Has human motivation changed over the past 20 years?
  • What other factors account for these results?

This simple poll, of course, is not a scientific study—only a sampling of professionals today from across the nation and a few international responses, as well.

Combine Stress and Money

We see that the #2 item was “Less Stress”. When we look at this response in combination with “More Money” we might conclude that if people are experiencing more stress on the job than they believe is expected, they might believe that it’s only worth if it they could get significantly more money.

Much research today talks about the majority of workers in the U.S. are considering leaving their current job as soon as the economy turns around. This should be a big red flag for employers everywhere.

According to this very simple poll, it might not take too much to lure the best performers away from their current jobs with a little extra cash incentive.

In my next post, I’ll discuss some of the other demographic ways of looking at the data:

  • Job title
  • Company size
  • Job function
  • Gender
  • Age

Stay tuned!

{ 1 comment… add one }

  • rosie zaldatte December 3, 2010, 2:29 pm

    Kathy,
    Such a great blog! Two things that you pointed two were right on target. 1. The statement about employees leaving to find better jobs once the economy turns around is correct. I heard that on CNN this morning. Most prospective employees have had to go through many hoops, ring many bells just to get the job they have now and are more likely being paid less and having less hours. This is a trickle effect from the recession. Employers aren’t seeing clear markers for what direction the economy will be going and this makes employers hesitant to hire quickly as in the olden’ days.
    2. The second statement you made was regarding motivators for employees. You are right until recently money had been close to the bottom of the list a key motivators for keeping a job. Research and literature have always shown this to be true. I would love to hear what or why you think this has changed now?
    Thanks for your post!!!

    Rosie
    Social Media Strategist

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