Management, Books and Learning

Keys to Employee Satisfaction What You Can Do to Increase Employee Satisfaction BY  SUSAN M. HEATHFIELD Americans of all ages and income brackets continue to grow increasingly unhappy at work -- a long-term trend that should seriously concern employers, according to a report by The Conference Board. The report, based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households conducted for  The Conference Board  by  TNS , finds only 45 percent of those surveyed say that they are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61.1 percent in 1987, the first year in which the survey was conducted. The Bad News About Employee Satisfaction While overall employee satisfaction has declined to 45 percent, the percentage of employees satisfied with their jobs is lowest in the under 25 age group with only 35.7 percent satisfied. Among employees in the age group 25-34, 47.2 percent are satisfied; employees in the age group 35-44 scored 43.4 percent in job satisfaction. ...

  The biggest advantages are know how, previous experience, ability to deal with ambiguity and the ability to create value in a very short period of time.  Too often clients hire people and call them 'consultants' just because they are on a contract.    There's a huge difference between contractors and consultants IMO. Contractors are usually brought in to fill staff augmentation roles for a period of time.  Think - I need a Project Manager to manage project 'xyz' for 3 months.  They need only have generic PM skills in many cases and the ability to execute.    True consultants are brought in because of their expertise in a specific functional area or areas.  They bring knowledge to the table which isn't available in house and can both execute the tasks at hand as well as guide the client and provide advice towards decisions which need to be made now and in the future.  By bringing in additional subject matter expertise there's a ty...