READ & TALK

WHAT MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY AT WORK

Host Welcome to Work place and on today’s program we’re looking at the results of two recently
published surveys, which both deal with the same topic — happiness at work. John, tell us about the
first survey.
John Well, this was done by a human resources consulting firm, who interviewed more than 1,000
workers, and established a top ten list of the factors that make people happy at work. The most
important factor for the majority of the people interviewed was having friendly, supportive co-
workers.
Host Mm..hm.
John In fact, 73 percent of people interviewed put their relationship with co-workers as being the key
factor contributing to happiness at work, which is a very high percentage. The second most
important factor was having work that is enjoyable per se, that is people actually liking what they
do.

Host Uh-huh.
John The two least important factors were having your achievements recognized, and surprisingly,
earning a competitive salary.
Host I see. So we're not mainly motivated by money?
John Apparently not.

Host Any other interesting information in the survey?

John Yes, for example 25 percent of the working people interviewed described themselves as “very
happy” at work.However, 20 percent of employees described themselves as being “unhappy.”

Host That’s an awful lot of unhappy people at work every day.

John It is, isn’t it? And there were several more interesting conclusions revealed by the survey. First
of all, small is beautiful: people definitely prefer working for smaller organizations or companies
with fewer than 100 employees. We also find out that, generally speaking, women were happier in
their work than men.

Host Yes, we’re a miserable bunch, aren't we?

John And part-time workers, who only work four or five hours a day, are happier than those who
work full-time. The researchers concluded that this is probably due to a better work-life balance.
Host Are bosses happier than their employees?
John Yes, perhaps not surprisingly, the higher up people are in a company, the happier they are. So
senior managers enjoy their jobs more than people working under them.

Host Uh-huh. Does the period of time you spend with the same company affect how happy you are?
John Well, according to the survey, happiness declines the longer people stay with the same
company or organization. The most contented people were those who’d been with a company for
less than two years, and the least contented were those who’d been in the same place o f work for
more than ten years.

Host So you can stay too long in the same place.

John So it seems. And lastly, according to the survey, apparently the happiest workers o f all are
those who are 55 years old or older, probably because they feel they’re working at the peak of their
abilities.

Host But I guess they haven’t spent more than ten years in the same job.
John Exactly. So how long have you been here, Michael?
Host Eight years! Maybe I should start thinking about looking for a new job...