What’s Important to Employees

by Todd Raphael
Jul 8, 2009,
SHRM had employees use a 4-point scale to indicate what’s “very unimportant” (that’s a 1) or “very important” (that’s a 4).
The percentages below indicate how many people gave the item a 4, meaning “very important.”
The 601 full- or part-time employees were randomly selected from the U.S. telephone population.

Job security 63%
Benefits 60%
Compensation/Pay 57%
Opportunity to use skills/abilities 55%
Feeling safe in the work environment 54%
Relationship with the immediate supervisor 52%
Management recognition of employee job performance 52%
Communication between employees and senior management 51%
The work itself 50%
Autonomy and independence 47%
Flexibility to balance life and work issues 46%
Meaningfulness of job 45%
Overall corporate culture 45%
Relationships with co-workers 42%
Contribution of work to organization’s business goals 39%
Job-specific training 35%
Variety of work 34%
Career advancement opportunities 32%
Organization’s commitment to corporate social responsibility 31%
Organization’s commitment to professional development 30%
Paid training and tuition reimbursement programs 29%
Career development opportunities 22%
Organization’s commitment to a “green” workplace 17%