Uninspiring leadership generating 'culture of unhappiness' in HK

As well as unsatisfactory opportunities.

A perceived lack of inspired leadership, shortfalls in career development opportunities and poor training is apparently creating a culture of unhappiness in Hong Kong.

According to a release from jobsDB, based on its latest jobsDB Job Happiness Index, less than half of local employees expressed happiness with their current position, and the number of satisfied staff is expected to drop still further during the next six months.

Conducted by SEEK Asia, represented by the jobsDB and JobStreet brands, the Job Happiness Index is calculated on a 10-point scale and conducted in seven countries across Asia. Polling 1,045 respondents, Hong Kong scored 5.56 on current happiness and 5.25 for the following six months.

The unhappiest group were employees that have been with their firm for between three and five years, or at the manager level; while the happiest were the newest faces – people with the company for six months or less – or after they had reached Director/VP/CEO level.

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On the other hand, good location, great colleagues and company reputation were things that employees felt happy about.

On the regional level, Singapore was bottom of the job happiness table at 5.09 today and even lower six months from now at 4.93. The Philippines had the happiest employees, with a score of 6.25 today, although it was predicted to drop to 6.18 over the next half year.

“The picture isn’t as bleak as it may seem and Hong Kong has actually a fairly neutral score. However, the overall trend is towards less satisfied employees who feel unrecognized and poorly led. Companies that want to retain their most important asset – talented people – can steal a march on their competitors by taking steps to improve morale,” said Justin Yiu, General Manager of Jobs DB Hong Kong Limited.

According to Yiu, the action doesn’t have to be dramatic. Even a small improvement can pay dividends down the line.

“Our research found that the top way to increase job happiness was salary increases (29%), although the impact of pay raises is usually temporary. Other significant factors included providing more recognition (9%) and promotion (8%) for employees doing good or great work, which is an easier thing to implement but can have far reaching impact,” Yiu explained.

On the other hand, some employees stated the best way to improve their personal job satisfaction was by getting a new job (21%).

The survey also found that employees working in the fields of insurance, manufacturing and property or real estate were the unhappiest group; while those working in people-oriented professions, such as medical services, beauty care, health, and hospitality or F&B were the happiest.

For two of the three unhappiest job functions – property and manufacturing – the overwhelming majority of respondents were intensely disappointed with the management and leadership team in their firms, which was the predominant factor fueling their dissatisfaction.

As for the happy camp, two thirds of beauty and healthcare respondents mentioned colleagues as a major good morale factor. The same number in medical services cited company reputation, and just over half of the people from the profession of hospitality and F&B put their positive outlook down to a great work location.

“Companies may ask where we could begin the improvement process, and the short answer is ‘everywhere’. In the case of the 3-5 year staffers, common causes are a feeling that their career has stalled, so training on management style, better internal communications, demonstrating clearer career paths and providing more employee training and support may resolve the issue,” Yiu said.

“But, don’t overlook the happiest group – the half-year people – who are ramping up and may well produce the stars of tomorrow. It is important to maintain and improve their spirits to ensure a successful future,” Yiu added.