We’ve felt it for quite some time, but we just couldn’t put our finger on it. We know very well that what’s making us satisfied at work is supposed to be a great salary, promotion prospects, and the number of days off. After all, that’s what we’ve enquired about when we were applying for the job and stated them as our main factors when it comes to career choice. Ideally, if these are in order, we’re expected to be more productive. However, the research and figures disagree.
Let’s take a look at the somewhat unusual factors which actually have a massive influence on workers’ efficiency.
Hard floors
Since we usually associate jobs with office desks and chairs, this may come as a surprise. Nevertheless, there are plenty of workers out there who are doing their job standing, and this is one of the major problems. Some tasks just can’t be completed while sitting. Perhaps this wouldn’t be such a worrying issue if Millennials didn’t have the standing abilities of a Baby Boomer. According to Australian study of standing fatigue, Generation Y is just as physically fit to endure a standing position as their grandparents.
Free food (or lack of it)
Believe it or not, but free snacks at work is what makes a difference between a productive and a lazy one. Once again it is confirmed that life is all about the little things. Bearing in mind that happy employees are 12% more productive, and that almost 70% of the full-time employed admitted having access to free food makes them “extremely” or “very” happy so the maths is pretty clear.
The feeling of happiness
As we’ve mentioned before, a happy worker is a productive worker. If they feel blissfully satisfied with their lives, the company is bound to receive large profits. The only problem is to find the exact tools for keeping employees happy, though this list is giving you some pretty useful advice. The shocking facts show 36% of workers are willing to be taken $5,000 off their salary a year if that could guarantee greater work satisfaction.
Friendships
As we’re getting to the end of our list, it seems that labour force is nothing else but a group of young children. Because that was the age when we valued friendship more than anything, and our whole day used to be ruined if we had a quarrel with our bestie. Well, apparently, the situation hasn’t changed much. Close work friendship is a huge incentive since it boosts the productivity immensely. This factor increases work satisfaction by 50%, and we all know what that means.
The amount of fun
Last but not the least, it’s fun that the workforce needs to strive for. It’s hard to imagine that this rings true for all the workers, even lawyers in legal firms. Around 90% of people surveyed confirmed that a fun environment is all they needed to boost productivity. Competitions, bowling, paintball, sports, company picnic and many other leisure activities are what makes employees contribute more to the company’s bank account balance. Surely not something to put in your CV or communicate to the HR at an interview, but in reality, this is our driving force.
Even though most of these factors seem pretty odd, they are actually a great indicator and reminder that we are just humans, and actually prefer inner values to financial matters more than we are willing to admit.