Good Jobs Boost Profit Margins
Would you like to see your profit margins outperform your competitors by 55%? The answer is a resounding yes.
The key to unlocking this profitability lies with your team. Consider this: do your employees view their roles as fulfilling?
Defining what constitutes a "good job" is crucial, and while many leaders assert that their organizations excel in this area, the true measure comes from the employees themselves.
The stakes are high.
Companies where employees rate their jobs positively experience significantly lower turnover, absenteeism, and higher productivity, directly correlating to superior financial performance.
Defining a Good Job
So, what is a good job?
You may immediately think of compensation. It is only a smart part of the equation. A good job extends beyond pay. It encompasses the entire quality of the working experience from the employee’s perspective. This includes engaged leadership with the capability and desire to create meaningful work, a strong sense of purpose within the business, opportunities for growth and skill development, and a fair working environment where employees feel safe to be themselves, are compensated fairly, and have the flexibility to contribute optimally.
Current Landscape in Atlantic Canada Where do we stand in Atlantic Canada? In studies we completed in late 2024, the overall good job rating for Atlantic Canadian businesses as scored by employees was 65.4%. We got a C. That is not a report card to take home with pride and energy. We need to do better.
Atlantic Canadian businesses scored lowest in the perception of leadership. Employees did not see the decision-making quality that gave them confidence and spoke to the engagement of leaders in the working environment they created. We spend so much time talking about the sagging engagement scores for employees (the lowest in more than thirty years), but we never take about the engagement scores of leaders. And we need to. The highest score was in the perception of fairness in the workplace.
Employees felt they could be themselves safely – a critical perspective – and they appreciated the flexibility they have regarding how, where, and when they work. Let’s build on that. Steps to Improvement As leaders, recognizing that this rating belongs to the employees is your first step. We cannot simply claim to provide good jobs without their endorsement.
Next, measure your company's Good Job ranking to identify strengths and areas for improvement. You may smile to yourself and shake your head knowing all the other things you have on your plate right now. Good jobs – really – is that where your time should be focused. Yes! I have been measuring employee experience for years, and my description of the workplace culture in general is ‘tired’.
People seem to be disconnected, scrolling on smartphones, and feeling stressed. At a time when our productivity is poor compared to our counterparts and turnover and lack of energy is high, we need to make the saying ‘people are our greatest assets’ true.
Stop saying it if you don’t mean it. Invest time in understanding and improving the quality of jobs within your organization.
Start by finding out where you stand and take the needed actions from there. Your business—and your bottom line—will thank you.
Find out how to ask the question by touching base with me at michael@workinsights.io and check out our SME AI Adoption Fund for grants on getting a grip on AI.