Are you happy at your job? Do you think the economy is getting better where you live? These are a couple of the questions Glassdoor recently surveyed employees from every major market in the US. The results…not shocking. It’s true, Phoenix ranked 46th out of 50. You might start asking yourself if you are happy right now at your job. What is it that really determines your happiness at work? In order to better understand why Phoenix ranked so low, I want to first look at who made the top of the list.
Silicon Valley cities, San Francisco and San Jose (not surprising to me at all) were ranked #1 and #2 respectively for employee satisfaction. In a area where technology is expected. Innovation is a lifeblood, you are required to out perform yourself daily, how can people be so satisfied with so much pressure? Culture! This area of the world is well known for Company Culture. When you think of working for Google or Apple, do you think of boring cubicles? Never. You think of creativity, innovation, core values. Company Culture is driving the behavior of Silicone Valley. When organizations put People before Profits, there is a staggering result…you actually get more Profits. This has not been an overnight success story of employee satisfaction for the two Silicon Valley cities. This has been a 2 decade mantra. Putting people first. It’s now become the first competitive advantage. How does Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Tesla…etc compete for talented employees? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not compensation.
Phoenix can learn a big lesson here. We have a market that has been built on construction and real estate success. When the economy tanked, so did the optimism. My biggest takeaway in the survey is noting the question: Over the next 6 months, what is your business outlook, getting better? Staying the same? Getting worse? Phoenix ranked 2nd highest in the view business is getting WORSE over the next 6 months. What a sad statistic to read. I believe this is a direct correlation of company culture. When we live in a market where People are not placed before Profits, we are going to always have lower satisfaction now and low optimism for the future.
If you are a business owner reading this, it should be as bright as day to what you need to do in your organization. It’s time to get laser focused on Company Culture. If you want your employees to be satisfied, you need to shake up the behavior and drive an environment where People are before Profits.