Personal growth tops the workplace happiness factor for individual contributors (76.7%), junior managers (82.5%), and senior managers (69.2%), according to The Leaders People Love Global Survey 2023 by ACESENCE Agile Leadership.
Workplace happiness factors
Overall, personal growth (72.3%) is a major factor in workplace happiness next to culture (71.4%), salary (65.6%), and career progression (62.7%).
“Amid the talent crunch, developing policies and practices that offer employees the personal growth and culture they desire would be wise and strategic for companies,” Yeo Chuen Chuen, managing director of ACESENCE Agile Leadership, said.
A majority (84.3%) indicated room for improvement in engagement levels. A huge chunk of respondents (72.8%) said that the level of their workplace happiness depends on the leadership effectiveness of their managers.
Managerial behaviours
The top five managerial behaviours desired by employees are recognition, trust, genuine care, empowerment, and clear direction.
Yeo said, “Four of the top five desired behaviours are related to emotion and empathy. This shows soft skills are increasingly important as workers appreciate not just the cognitive value of work but also its emotional value.”
On the other hand, the most undesirable traits of managers are micromanagement, lack of clarity, disregard for work-life boundaries, transactional communication, and insufficient expertise.
Recommendations
In light of the findings, leaders are urged to foster communication transparency, instill trust, and create a shared vision with their teams.
“With the workforce undergoing dynamic shifts, it is imperative for leaders to adapt and connect the dots between people, ideas, and processes,” said Yeo.
