Almost half (47 per cent) of Canadian professionals are unhappy in their current job, according to a survey by recruitment firm Hays Canada.
Furthermore, 86 per cent of employee respondents believe their fit with a company and its people is essential to contentment and success. In fact, a lack of workplace fit is the number one reason Canadians leave or lose a job.
According to the employer respondents to the survey, hiring someone who wasn’t a match for their team or company culture had a harmful impact on team morale, productivity, and 56 per cent of these hires ended in the person’s dismissal.
Read: Just 13% of global workers are highly engaged at work: survey
The survey also found:
- 49 per cent of employer respondents admit to interviewing people they felt were not a fit with their team or culture, but hired them anyway; 94 per cent say ignoring their initial impressions cost their company anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 and, in a few instances, more than $100,000;
- 30 per cent of employee respondents are confident they are well-matched with their current working team, and a similar number say they simply don’t know;
- Quebec has the highest percentage (69 per cent) of people who are somewhat to very happy with their current position;
- Gen Y has the highest levels of happiness at work — 26 per cent are very happy, which is in contrast to boomers — 17 per cent of whom are very happy.
Read: Employee engagement difficult to measure: survey
Hays Canada notes rethinking traditional recruitment processes may reverse some of the trends that lead to occupational dissatisfaction. For example, at the time of hire, both employer and employee respondents felt work ethic was the most important characteristic to evaluate, while social interaction fell to the bottom of the list.
However, in instances when someone quit or was fired, both groups note social incompatibility was the main cause.
This article was originally published on Benefits Canada’s companion site, Advisor.ca