Least Rewarding Jobs

 
”The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits,“ said Tom Smith, director of the General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.”
 
This is the conclusion of a survey of 27,000 randomly chosen people who were asked questions about job satisfaction and general happiness. The results made headlines. What was also discovered but not as widely reported was the data on the least rewarding and least satisfying jobs.
 
They are:

  • Laborers, except construction—21 percent
  • Apparel clothing salespersons—24 percent  
  • Handpackers and packagers—24 percent
  • Food preparers—24 percent
  • Roofers—25 percent
  • Cashiers—25 percent
  • Furniture and home-furnishing salespersons—25 percent
  • Bartenders—26 percent
  • Freight, stock and material handlers—26 percent
  • Waiters and servers—27 percent  

The percentage figure is the percentage of people that were “happy” within those positions.
 
In my experience with many different companies, poor customer service and poor job performance is almost always a morale issue. Companies throw training dollars at the problem with little positive result. “Rah Rah” seminars are an even bigger waste of money.
 
So what works? If you employ people in any of these positions or if you have dissastisfied employees in any position start by giving them a voice. Listening to them makes them feel more important and will immediately improve morale and performance. How long that lasts depends on you.
 
I can’t/won’t conclude without saying some people are just sour. Listening doesn’t mean opening the door to regular “bitch” sessions. The ones that perform poorly and always have a complaint about the company should be shown the door.
 
Why did I post this? If you are in a low job satisfaction industry (according to this survey) you have a great opportunity to beat up on your competitors. This problem is very cheap to fix and will pay you back a hundred fold.
 
Chris Reich
Author of TeachU’s Business Talk