22% of Kenyans dissatisfied with what they do, says BrighterMonday Employee Satisfaction Report 2021

East Africa’s leading jobs platform BrighterMonday has today launched a report that unpacks employee satisfaction among Kenyan employees.

The Kenya Employee Satisfaction Report 2021 shows that 90% of respondents believe job satisfaction increases their job productivity while less than half of those surveyed are happy with their current employer.

Sampling 1,760 respondents from Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and other cities through online surveys, the Report also reveals that employee satisfaction goes beyond salary expectations. It also explores themes around company values, employee happiness, flight risk, employer advocacy and job satisfaction.

According to BrighterMonday Kenya CEO Emmanuel Mutuma, as organisations continue to navigate the new world of work, employee satisfaction remains a fundamental aspect in the workplace.

 “Employee satisfaction is crucial because most staff spend a significant portion of their life working. This Report explored and analysed feedback based on age, gender, location, job level and work experience for a demographic overview to provide insights business leaders and HR personnel can use to guide them in building strong employee engagement systems and as a result, boost overall long-term organisational success.” Emmanuel said.

He added that businesses should increase focus on flexibility as staff appreciate the hybrid approach where they benefit from human interaction at the office and also get to work remotely on some days of the week.

Regarding organisational flight risk and employer advocacy by gender, the report shows that men are slightly happier with their employer but pose a slightly higher flight risk than women.  This means they are more likely to leave their employer. 43% of them are happy but 55% are willing to leave their job. On the flip side, 54% of women said they are willing to leave their current employer while 42% are happy with their current role.

Levels of satisfaction per segment

According to the Report, Mombasa has the most unhappy respondents and poses the highest flight risk as the majority sampled are willing to leave their current employer in the next 6 months. Nairobi has the highest number of respondents who are neutral about their happiness and the majority of respondents in Kisumu are happy with their employer.

52% of Kisumu residents on their part said they are happy with their current roles while 31% are neutral about whether they are willing to leave their current employer.

Looking at the different age groups, the Report shows that the majority of respondents aged between 18-24 years are happy with their current employer, however, the majority of respondents aged between 25-35, 36-45 and Over 45 are neutral about their happiness. In addition, there is also a high flight risk rate across all age groups, especially respondents over 45 years of age.

The insightful report, which serves as a call-to-action for employers to evaluate the fundamental factors that foster employee satisfaction, also provides crucial market insights which can be used as a guideline to prioritise employee satisfaction in the workplace and improve productivity. The full report is free for download on: https://www.brightermonday.co.ke/research 

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