Many disgruntled; may pack up

Survey: 1 in 6 intend to quit in a year

ATLANTA -- Employers with unhappy workers, take heed: The tables might be turning.

The disgruntled are more likely to bolt these days. And no amount of money is going to keep them if they don't feel connected to the company or their work, according to a new study on worker satisfaction.

"We have a little bit of a leading indicator going on here. We know that employees are getting less satisfied with their jobs. So turnover may increase," said Jim Kochanski, senior vice president at Sibson Consulting, a human resources firm that has been tracking worker satisfaction for the past decade.

The study provides insight into what attracts, motivates and keeps workers. It looks at five elements of reward: pay, benefits, job, career and the worker's affiliation or commitment to the company. "Affiliation" covers how workers feel about the company's reputation, vision, management, support and fairness.

Employers use the study to gauge how they are doing when it comes to finding and keeping workers.

"People show up for work, but they may not give their best effort or they may not be focusing on the priorities of the organization," Kochanski said. Sibson's 2006 "Rewards of Work" research sampled 1,283 U.S. workers and found that one in six intends to quit a job in the next year.

"The main lure is not better pay elsewhere," according to the study. Just over half of surveyed workers said they were "engaged with their organizations." The amount is less than in previous surveys.

It's a warning sign that working conditions and the job market are different from three years ago, said Kochanski, one of the study's leaders. Back then, companies didn't have to do much to keep workers; the job market was still emerging from recession.

Today's job market is much better than it was in 2000 and 2003, the last two times Sibson did the survey. Workers have more options.

"Three years ago, people were just glad to have a job," Kochanski said.

In the latest study, workers reported the lowest satisfaction in career and affiliation, a strong indication that workers were disengaged with their companies.