A survey by Qualtrics, the insight platform provider with its European HQ in Dublin, has found that Irish workers are comparatively productive, though they show a distinct lack of concern for punctuality.
The 2016 Global Attitudes Toward Work Report is based on analysis and comparisons of information from around 6,250 respondents from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK and US. Questions covered work issues ranging from productivity and motivation to work/life balance and punctuality, management, work attire and job hunting.
“The Greeks reported the lowest level of satisfaction with their work/life balance as well as the lowest level of satisfaction with their jobs, followed by the Polish and Italians”
The survey found responses from the French and Americans were strikingly similar in several categories. Both reported the greatest work/life balance satisfaction with 68% and 67.5% respectively. And both, along with Germany, reported the greatest overall job satisfaction, with just over 64% of respondents in these three countries stating that they are “extremely or moderately satisfied” with their jobs.
The Greeks reported the lowest level of satisfaction with their work/life balance as well as the lowest level of satisfaction with their jobs, followed by the Polish and Italians.
Integral part of life
“Considering work is such an integral part of a person’s life, a country’s collective satisfaction at work says a lot about how satisfied its people are overall,” said Dermot Costello, managing director, Qualtrics Ireland. “This is why it’s so important to understand what employees are looking for and how to keep them engaged.
“This survey shows big differences and some surprising similarities between how people in various countries view their jobs and their motivations to work. With the presence of so many large multinational companies here, we now have a more diverse workforce in Ireland, so this report will be valuable for marketers, recruiters and business leaders looking for a deeper understanding of people on a country-by-country basis.”
Motivational factors at work were also revealing. The survey found that for the Irish, as well as most others surveyed, the primary motivator was a need to support themselves and their families financially, followed by enjoyment and building wealth. Whereas for other countries, factors such as saving for retirement (Spain), feeling like productive members of society (Netherlands) and being with other people (Sweden) were also important.
The Irish proved to be above average for productivity, reporting that 67.3% of hours worked are productive compared to Germany (72%) and Italy which reported less than half (48.5%) of hours worked being productive.
Productive hours
When asked to evaluate what percentage of hours worked were productive on average here, Irish respondents said 62%, similar to the Dutch who reported 67.8%. Again the Italians reported the lowest levels of perceived national productivity with less than half (46%) of hours worked being reported as productive.
With regard to punctuality, less than half (41.2%) of Irish respondents regard it as being ‘very or extremely important,’ compared with more than two thirds (67.3%) in Sweden, followed by roughly the same (66.7%) in Germany.
Job satisfaction too was below average in Ireland, with more than half (51.2%) expressing dissatisfaction. When asked about work/life balance, just over half (50.5%) of Irish workers surveyed reported satisfaction.
Drivers of where to work reported by Irish workers were salary (23%), work/life balance (16%) and location (11%), while having the option to work remotely, knowing the company direction and working within a specific industry were the least important, respectively.
Looking at preferences for the type of company that is most appealing to work for found that, for the most part, that working for a large established company is the most appealing — except in Ireland and the Netherlands. That said, being part of a start-up was not all that appealing for the Irish (11.8%), in common with most other countries, bar the French (16%) who, out of all countries surveyed, were the most likely to report working at a start-up as the most appealing kind of job to have.
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