Americans fortunate enough to have avoided layoffs may be grateful to have a job, but it doesn’t mean they’re happy with it. For employers, addressing worker dissatisfaction may be more urgent now than it was in prosperous times.

Job security has become of paramount importance since the recession first took hold in the United States. Nonetheless, workers are becoming increasingly unhappy with their jobs, according to a number of recent findings.

Based on surveys of employees, several recent reports indicate that many U.S. workers are not only dissatisfied with their jobs, but are likely to try to change jobs as the economy improves over the next year.

In a late-2009 CareerBuilder.com survey of 4,285 full-time private-sector employees, 40 percent reported they have difficulty staying motivated in their current jobs, and a quarter said they do not feel loyal to their current employer. Meanwhile, Robert Half International, Manpower‘s Right Management and, in a separate survey, CareerBuilder.com have all recently found that a significant number of Americans intend to change jobs, careers or industries over the next year or two.

Last month, The Conference Board reported that only 45 percent of more than 5,000 survey respondents are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61.1 percent in 1987.

“Employees are clearly expressing their pent-up frustration with how they have been treated through the downturn,” Douglas J. Matthews, president and COO at Right Management, said. “While employers may have taken the necessary steps to streamline operations to remain viable, it appears many employees may have felt neglected in the process. The result is a disengaged and disgruntled workforce.”

Although recent improvements in the economy may have some workers preparing to move to a new job in the near future, the recent Conference Board findings represent a long-term trend.

“While one in 10 Americans is now unemployed, their working compatriots of all ages and incomes continue to grow increasingly unhappy,” Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center, said in a statement last month. “Through both economic boom and bust during the past two decades, our job satisfaction numbers have shown a consistent downward trend. The downward trend in job satisfaction could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity.”

The Conference Board has defined employee engagement as “a heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work.”

For employers, there is a clear link between engagement and profitability, which makes engagement a more urgent issue now than it was in prosperous times. According to recent research, highly engaged employees miss fewer days of work, are more likely to be top performers and tend to be more resilient to, and supportive of, organizational changes.

Unsurprisingly, having loyal employees typically leads to better company performance overall, as businesses with high employee engagement have higher customer advocacy, higher productivity and higher profitability compared to companies with low employee engagement.

According to Hay Group Insight, companies that engage and enable their employees outperform in revenue growth and profitability. Businesses with high levels of engagement have customer satisfaction scores 22 percent higher than companies with low levels of engagement. Companies with high engagement levels show turnover rates 40 percent lower than companies with low engagement levels.

At the Society for Human Resource Management, Tom McMullen, vice president of the North American Reward Practice at Hay Group and author of the firm’s 2009 Reward Next Practices Research report, recently wrote six practical steps that managers can take to improve employee engagement:

1. Help employees view their pay as more than base salary increases and bonuses. Total rewards include recognition, meaningful work and career opportunities.
2. Understand what truly engages and motivates employees. It is often much more than money. Be mindful that different people value different rewards.
3. Communicate the link between performance and rewards clearly. Clearly explain the reasons for the reward and the amount of the reward.
4. Ensure that performance assessments and total rewards differentiate among employees appropriately. Distinguish between the best, solid and weakest performers.
5. Assess and improve the organization’s work climate. Train managers how to motivate employees.
6. Use feedback as a gift. Make it meaningful. Give it often.

As concerns rise over the possible long-term effects that layoffs, pay cuts, frozen salaries, forced furloughs, reduced retirement and health benefits and other fallout will have on employee morale and engagement, it becomes vital for business leaders to recognize they should be placing a much greater emphasis on their people, who are at the heart of their organizations.

Related

Making Disengaged Employees Feel Valued

Are Managers Communicating Enough?

5 Ideas for Maintaining Morale after Layoffs

Why Having Engaged Employees Matters

“I’m Not Paid Enough to Fully Engage In My Job. But That’s Only Half the Point.”

5 Strategies for Managing Employees after Layoffs

8 Things We Want from Work

24 Questions to Ask Employees

Resources

Nearly a Quarter of Employers Rate Their Organization’s Employee Morale as Low…
CareerBuilder.com, Nov. 17, 2009

Employment Dynamics and Growth Expectations Report
Robert Half International and CareerBuilder.com, Aug. 25, 2009

Employee Discontent Expected to Reach Crisis Level Next Year
Right Management (Manpower), Nov. 17, 2009

Despite Competitive Labor Market, One-in-Five Workers Plan to Change Jobs in 2010…
CareerBuilder.com, Jan. 7, 2010

I Can’t Get No…Job Satisfaction, That Is
by Linda Barrington, Lynn Franco and John Gibbons
The Conference Board, January 2010

U.S. Job Satisfaction at Lowest Level in Two Decades
The Conference Board, Jan. 5, 2010

Employee Engagement A Review of Current Research and Its Implications
by John Gibbons
The Conference Board, November 2006

The Economics of Engagement
by Allan Schweyer
Human Capital Institute, June 2009

Watson Wyatt Identifies Steps to Keep Employees Engaged, Productive in a Downturn
Towers Watson (formerly Watson Wyatt), March 31, 2009

Tough Decisions in a Downturn Don’t Have to Lead to Disengaged Employees
Hay Group Insight, Aug. 13, 2009

The Economic Crisis: A Leadership Challenge
by Jennifer Robison
Gallup Management Journal, May 12, 2009

Reward Next Practices Research
by Tom McMullen
Hay Group and World at Work, May 14, 2009

Handling Bonus Season: Frustrated Employees, Nervous Managers
by Tom McMullen
Society for Human Resource Management, Dec. 4, 2009

Reward Next Practices Research
by Tom McMullen
Hay Group Insight and World at Work, May 14, 2009