Salary is not the biggest driver of satisfaction among Singapore employees, according to a study by data collection platform Qualtrics, with more than 500 participants here.
This result is part of a larger survey of more than 6,000 participants globally, including in countries such as Australia and the United States.
The survey was done in a multiple-choice format with a five-point scale for participants to choose from, ranging from "always" to "never", or "extremely satisfied" to "extremely dissatisfied".
The report released yesterday sought to provide details of the daily experience of Singapore's workers, and how key engagement metrics such as work-life balance, job satisfaction, motivation at work, attrition and retention vary across the working population.
The findings suggested that the main drivers for job satisfaction locally were confidence in the company's senior leadership team, and a helpful manager in resolving work-related issues.
A unique factor for workers in Singapore, in comparison with those in the other countries, was that receiving sufficient training to perform their jobs effectively was also a key factor behind enhanced job satisfaction, as well as increased desire to go to work and higher staff retention rates. This suggests that employees appreciate it when employers invest in them, said the report.
The findings also showed that while Singapore workers had the lowest levels of job satisfaction compared with those in other countries, they had the lowest levels of work-related stress.
Just under half of those surveyed here were satisfied with their current jobs, below the global average of 62 per cent.
When it came to stress, 22 per cent said they felt stressed or overwhelmed "always" or "most of the time".
Workers in Australia, the US and the United Kingdom were found to be the most stressed, at 29 per cent.
Work-life balance was found to be linked to job loyalty. Workers happy with their work-life balance, as well as those who said their companies were extremely supportive of it, were more likely to indicate that they would stay in their jobs.
Singapore workers may be seeing an improvement to their work-life balance in future.
More employers are offering formal flexible work arrangements, according to the latest Conditions of Employment report released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday.
Last year, 72 per cent of employees worked in companies that offered at least one such arrangement, such as part-time work, flexible hours or teleworking, up from 70 per cent in 2017.
Flexibility in working arrangements had the greatest impact on staff retention, said the MOM report, corroborating the findings of the Qualtrics study.
