Your Happy Employees Are Still Job Hunting (Infographic)

Bad news bosses: most of your employees are looking for a new job.

You might be scratching your head about this, especially since most of your workers seem to be happy working for your company. Well, we’re scratching our heads too, over here.

Salary.com surveyed of more than 1,200 people about their current jobs and whether they plan to search for a new job this year. They found that 83% of people surveyed said they will look for a new job in 2014, which is up 6% from last year.

What’s more surprising, though, is that while job hunting saw a rise this year, so did employee satisfaction, which rose 23% from last year.

It turns out that 28% of people on the hunt this year said they are perfectly content in their positions. Despite this, about a quarter of respondents said they are looking for a new job every day, and another quarter are hunting a few times a week. Some of these job hunters are even looking while they’re at work.

The job-hunting process includes posting their resumes online, applying to jobs online, and even going on job interviews–almost 40% of respondents said they’ve gone on an interview within the last three months.

Sixteen percent of this year’s respondents said money was their top concern, but that’s actually down 8% from last year. Not surprisingly, then, only 29% of workers said a raise would help them stay put, down 7% from last year. In fact, half of the employees looking for jobs this year already received a raise in the past year.

So what’s the issue?

While we can’t account for why happy workers are still looking for new work, of those not content in their jobs, 15% said they are looking for a new job because there is no possibility of advancement, and 13% said they feel underappreciated.

Workers did say, however, that a number of things apart from pay could make them stay where they are:

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  Ten percent want Better work-life balance.

  While some believe that work-life balance is a myth and others instead opt for work-life integration, the likes of Arianna Huffington believe work-life balance is truly attainable. Before your job can help you out in this department, though, she says you must first take care of your own well-being and health, embrace ancient wisdom, and stop navel-gazing so much. Employers can help with work-life balance by providing stress-reduction policies and services in the workplace.

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  Nine percent want A new boss.

  Instead of firing yourself, there are ways to increase your emotional intelligence and become a better boss. Emotionally intelligent bosses share several characteristics, like being nondefensive and open to criticism, aware of their and others’ emotions, available to their employees, and nonegotistical.

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  Eight percent want Clearer goals.

  As we recently learned, hanging on to a new hire means being clear and open about an employee’s goals and responsibilities. The same rule holds true for all employees, though. Being open and honest from the get-go with your workers and what they hope to accomplish is the key to employee happiness.

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  Five percent want Flexible scheduling.

  Recent studies have revealed that while more than half of Americans in fact are looking for more flexibility, they only sometimes get it. Sure, 67% of companies now allow employees to telecommute, but when it comes to long-term options like sabbaticals and job shares, companies are allowing less and less. Keeping your staff on board could mean opening your pocketbooks a little more and being open to long-term flexibility.

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  Four percent want Better benefits.

  Benefits like health care can cost employees a pretty penny, and there are plenty of companies out there that realize these perks are oftentimes more important to workers than salary. Stay ahead by offering ample benefits, and consider including other perks like training opportunities and travel compensation.

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  Three percent want More recognition.

  It’s surprising that people complain about not being recognized for their work–how hard is it to say “thank you” or “nice work” every once in a while? Trying implementing performance reviews as a regular process, not a special occasion.

If you do wind up losing some of your best employees, use the exit interview to get the skinny on the real reason why they left–it might be the best way to figure out how to keep your remaining employees there.

Hat tip: Salary.com