ECO_SalzburgNr.3

SOFT SKILLS
HAPPY EMPLOYEES –
THE KEY TO SUCCESS
AUSTRIA’S HAPPIEST EMPLOYEES WORK IN VORARLBERG.
AND THE BENEFITS THAT JOBSEEKERS GET MOST EXCITED ABOUT
The most important ingredient in any
smooth-running enterprise is happy
staff, and at ECO-WE LOVE SALZ-
BURG, we’ve been looking into the
winning formula for companies who
want to see their employees arrive at
work with smiles on their faces. With
more than 1.2 million anonymous reviews
across roughly 264,000 companies,
Europe’s biggest employer evaluation
platform, kununu, provides some
insight into what makes a company a
big hit with its workers. It’s a platform
where past and present employees,
job applicants and apprentices can
rate factors like working conditions, career
opportunities and salaries.
Happiness isn’t about the money
Money alone doesn’t guarantee happiness,
especially not in the long-term,
and achieving lasting satisfaction
means focusing on so-called ‘soft factors’.
According to Dr Ekkehard Veser,
managing director (Germany, Austria
and Switzerland region) at kununu, a
comfortable work environment and
good relationships with our superiors
are more important to us than a fat
salary. Happy employees tend to prefer
trust over supervision, since self determination
and autonomy can lead to
long-term motivation and productivity.
Looking at the most searched terms
on the evaluation platform, it’s obvious
how highly prized liberties like flexible
hours and the possibility of home working
are.
New analysis by kununu also shows
which Austrian states have the happiest
employees. The so-called ‘happiness
ranking’ takes into account more
Alle Fotos: © olly - Fotolia.com
than 100,000 ratings across more than
30,000 Austrian companies, and calculates
a ‘happiness score’, which combines
factors like managerial behaviour,
team spirit, job interest and work environment.
The mountainous Austrian
state of Vorarlberg leads the ranking
with a score of 3.72 (out of 5). Styria
and Burgenland follow, while Salzburg
places second to last with 3.57 points
and Vienna comes in bottom with only
3.45 happiness points.
Top benefits for employees
Further recent analysis was based
around over 55,000 search requests,
and revealed the perks and possibilities
that are most relevant when people are
looking for a new job. More than half
of all applicants wanted flexible working
hours, a third dreamed of working
from home and more than a quarter
fancied taking their dogs into work with
them. With about 15% of the vote, a
company car ranked 4th among the
top benefits.
These results show that less material
factors are becoming more and more
important for employees. Bosses score
highly on flexible working hours and locations,
instead of on company phones
and free lunches. According to Drc Veser,
it’s about systematically examining
the real and ever-changing needs of
your employees, and offering benefits
that are geared explicitly towards them.
Ideally, benefits would be discussed and
developed mutually between employer
and employee, with regular reviews and
adjustments if necessary. Nil Stranzinger
Quelle | Source: www.kununu.com
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