Construction craft professionals are among the happiest people in the workforce when they're employed by an ethical contractor who invests in their employees, a recently released report found.
The 2015 Best Industry Ranking Report by TINYpulse says construction professionals and facility service workers are the happiest, followed by people who work in consumer products, technology, and software. After that were telecom, energy, and utilities. Health care rounded out the top five. In last place was manufacturing.
But this survey was not simply a ranking of which employees are the happiest. There are lessons to be learned about why certain employees are much more satisfied by their work than others.
The story comes to us via a website called Fast Company:
“Nearly half, or 49% of employees said a negative relationship with their supervisor factored in to their overall dissatisfaction. Though many manufacturing facilities have evolved into well-lit, clean, and highly technical environments, Dan Davis, editor in chief of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, commented on dissatisfaction among the ranks of the industry. He says that the lack of routine safety meetings could send a message to staff that their employer doesn’t care what happens to them.
A president of another facility that got high marks for employee satisfaction advised: "Always ask for their thoughts on how to solve a problem. Always follow up with people on their ideas for improvement."
According to TINYpulse’s recent culled from responses to its anonymous feedback surveys, 26% of employees say they are frustated by the lack of tools they could use to do their jobs better. More than half, or 66% of all employees don’t feel they have strong opportunities for professional growth for two reasons—staff isn’t always aware of what might be available to them, as well as a lack of training and mentorship.
In the construction industry, a variety of organizations offer coaching and career mentorship to students. Once they're ready for the workforce, the industry has a long history of providing new workers with apprenticeships so they can learn the skills required to move on to tackle more challenging work.”
In the survey, there were three things that respondents said over and over were roadblocks to a happy workplace. Those problems were managers that were not supportive, a lack of the tools needed to succeed, and the lack of a career path.
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