what job applicants look for in a company

What Job Applicants

Look for in a Company

By CLIFFORD E. JURGENSEN, Minneapolis Gas Company

A L L of us have heard persons say, “Company X is the best company to work for in the whole state.” Similarly, we have heard persons say “I wouldn’t work for company Y if it were the last place on earth.” Applicants frequently state in their interview for employment, “I would like a job here because everyone says it’s a good place to work.” These opinions which people have toward any company are important to that company, and are particularly important in the case of a public utility. They do much to establish and maintain good or poor public relations; and they make it easy or hard to build up an adequate pool of job applicants from which to select satisfactory employees.

Favorable opinions of the company as a place to work are also important so far as our present employees are concerned. It is a source of pride and job satisfaction to work in a company that is well thought of. Happy and satisfied employees result in increased work output, improved quality, and decreased costs. Job satisfaction also has an important bearing on labor relations.

What are the factors by which persons decide whether a job is a “good” job or a company is a “good” company? Dis- cussion with executives, supervisors, union officials, employees,

Cli ford E. Jurgensen has been Personnel Director of the Minneapolis Gas Company since 19@. Prior to this he was Chief Psychologist of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, having joined that company after receiving the M A . degree f rom the Unicersity of Iowa in 1937. During the war years he was also a n Znstructor of Industrial Psychology in the Extension Division of the Unicersity of Wisconsin, He i s a n associate member of the American Psychological Association and i s a member of the Psychometric Society. He is immediate Past President of the Minneapolis Vocational Guidance Association and has been on the Executive Committee of the Minnesota Psychological Association.

433

434 CLIFFORD E. JURGENSEN

and job applicants will bring to light a number of such factors. This discussion will be limited to the following ten :

Advancement (Opportunity for promotion) Benefits (Vacation, sick pay, insurance, etc.) Company (Employment by company you are proud to work

Co-workers (Fellow workers who are pleasant, agreeable, and

Hours (Good starting and quitting time, good number of

Pay (Large income during year) Security (Steady work, no lay-offs, sureness of being able to

Supervisor (A good boss who is considerate and fair) T y p e of work: (Work which is interesting and well liked by

Working conditions (Comfortable and clean ; absence of noise,

All persons will probably agree that these ten factors are important. Opinions will differ, however, as to the relative importance of the factors. Within management it is not uncommon, for example, to hear two statements: “The most important thing to any employee is the size of his pay check,” and “security is more important to any employee than any- thing else.” Obviously, both of these opinions cannot be right. Usually arguments on this subject are ended with no change of opinion, although sometimes they are won by the man who is the best talker or by the man who has the position of highest authority.

Similar disagreements arise in contract negotiations, grievance hearings, and other meetings between management and union officials. Solution of industrial conflict is frequently stalemated because representatives are unable to agree on what is desired by employees. Each representative, of course, is sure that he knows what employees want and that opposing opinions are wrong.

for)

good working companions)

hours per day or week, day or night work, etc.)

keep your job)

YOU)

heat, cold, odors, etc.)

WHAT JOB APPLICANTS LOOK FOR 435

It is interesting to speculate on the reasons for this diversity Two things appear to be particularly important

1. We tend to attribute to others those interests and desires

2. We tend to overemphasize those factors which we hear

Since V-J Day, the Minneapolis Gas Company has been collecting information on what job applicants want most. This has been done by means of a questionnaire containing the ten factors and definitions previously listed. Each applicant was asked to decide which of the ten factors was most important to him, and to place a 1 in front of that factor. Then he was to decide which was second in importance to him and to place a 2 in front of it. He continued in this way until all ten of the items had been ranked in order of importance to him. Each applicant was told that there were no right or wrong answers, and that he was to answer according to what he thought rather than what he believed others might think. Applicants were not asked to sign their names, although for research purposes they were requested to give their sex, marital status, number of dependents, age, salary, amount of education, and main occupation.

Nearly four thousand applicants for jobs were asked to rank these factors in importance to them. The results showed Job Security to be most important, Opportunity for Advancement second, and Type of Work third. Fourth in importance to these job-seekers was pride in the Company. This finding indicates a need for a greater effort to sell the company as a place to work and as an employer the worker can be proud of. Instead of ranking first or second, as might have been expected, Pay tied with Co-workers for fifth place among the ten factors. These findings characterized the group as a whole. There are in addition important differences in the relative sig- nificance of these factors between types of applicant (men or women, older or younger, sales, clerical, skilled, semi-skilled or

of opinion. in determining our opinion of what others want:

which we ourselves have.

most about.


unskilled). These differences among groups repay further study.

This report is based on data collected in the two years imme- diately following V-J Day in August, 1945. Three thousand, seven hundred and twenty-three applicants are included : 3345 men and 378 women. This report will be limited, in the main, to a discussion of job preferences of men. Not only are more data available than for women, but the typical company employs far more men than women.

FINDINGS FOR MEN APPLICANTS 1. Security was the most important factor so far as men are

concerned. As might be expected, it was more important to married men than to single men. Its importance decreased as extent of education increased. Mechanical workers were more interested in security than were clerical workers, and sales applicants were relatively least interested in security. The emphasis given security appears well warranted.

9. Advancement was second in importance. Applicants wanted opportunity for promotion. Whether they wanted promotion on the basis of merit or seniority cannot be deter- mined from these data.

The importance of advancement became greater as extent of education increased. Sales, clerical, and skilled applicants were most interested in advancement, and they were followed by those who are semi-skilled. Unskilled laborers were less interested in advancement than were any other groups. It is interesting to note that those who were already at the top of the occupational ladder were most interested in further advancement, and those at the bottom were least interested in advancement. It would be interesting to know whether ambition to progress results in a high job level or whether increase in job level results in an increase of ambition. Some light is slied on this from the responses of high school students who considered advancement less important than did most occupational groups. This appears to indicate that ambition

438

Total

3.6 7.2 4.9 6.0 6.8 6.3 2.9 6.1 4.0 7.2

2252

--

CLIFFORD E. JURGENSEN

Skilled

3.2 7.3 4.9 6.2 7.2 6.4 2.9 6.2 3.4 7.3

287

-

TABLE 2 Average (Mean) Ranks Assigned Job Factors bv

Various Occupational Sub-Groups of Men (1 .O indicates maximum importance. 10.0 indicates minimum importance)

20-24 25and over -____ 4.7 4.7 8.2 8.0 5.2 4.9 4.8 5 .3 6.5 6.7 6.7 7.3 4.7 4.3 5.1 4.9 2.7 2.7 6.4 6.2

120 75 ---

Advancement. . . . . . . . . Benefits. . . . . . . . . . . , . . Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . Co-workers . . . . . . . . . . . Hours.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Security. . . . . , . . . . . . . . Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . Type of work. . . . . . . . . Working conditions. . .

F.S. Diplom

4.8 8.2 5.5 5.7 5.9 6.2 4.4 5.4 3.0 5.8

216

Number of cases. . . .

College

4.4 8.5 5.5 5.1 6.3 6.3 5.3 5.6 2.2 5.8

93

STUDENT

3.9 7.7 6.3 5.8 6.1 4.6 4.6 6.4 3.3 6.4

Student Clerical --- 5.0 4.8 (3) 8.2 8.2 (10) 6.6 5.0 (4) 6.2 5.3 (6) 5.1 6.3 (8) 5.3 6.8 (9) 4.5 4.5 (2) 6.4 5 .1 (5) 2.4 3.0 (1) 5.3 5.9 (7) --- 95 213

~~

SALES CLERICAL

4.8 8.2 5.4 5.4 6.1 6.4 4.6 5.4 2.8 5.8

3.2 7.9 4.1 6.5 7.9 4.9 4.2 6.3 2.6 7.3

4.8 8.3 5.8 5.9 5.5 5.8 4.8 5.9 2.9 5.3

3.2 (2.5) 7.8 (10) 4.7 (4) 6.3 (6) 7.2 (9) 6.0 (5) 3.2 (2.5) 6.4 (7) 3.1 (1) 7.1 (8)

322 1 222 I 259

I6ECEANICAL

Semi- skilled

3.6 7.2 4.8 6.0 6.9 6.3 2.9 6.0 3.9 7.2

1626 -

-_ U n-

;killed - 4.0 7.0 5.1 5.5 6.4 6.2 2.9 6.0 4.8 7.3

338 --

___

TABLE 3 Average (Mean) Ranks Assigned Job Factors by

Various Sub-groups of women (1.0 indicates maximum importance. 10.0 indicates minimum importance)

AGE I EDUCATION I OCCUPATION

I-I- Advancement (3). . . . . . . . . . Benefits (10). . . . . . . . . . . . . . Company (5). . . . . . . . . . . . . Go-workers (5) . . . . . . . . . , . Hours (8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . Pay (9).. .. . . . . . , . . . . . . . . , Security (2). . . . . . . . . . . . . , Supervisor (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . Type of work (1). . . . . . . . . Working conditions ( 7 ) . . .

Number of cases.. . . . . . . IF1183

to progress may often follow rather than precede actual advancement.

3. Type of work was, suprisingly, listed third in importance.


Single men were more interested in type of work than were married men, and the importance of this factor decreased as number of dependents and age increased. Type of work increased in importance as the job level increased, the order from low to high being: unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled, clerical, and sales. It is interesting to note that the persons who worked on the least pleasant jobs were those who were least interested in type of work.

4. Company was listed fourth in importance. It was relatively more important to applicants with a large number of dependents, older applicants, and those on the higher job levels. Much more importance was assigned to working for a good company than would be expected on the basis of the small amount of time and effort expended by most companies to “sell” the company to the employees. These data indicate the need for greater activity of this type. House organs, bulletin boards, employee induction manuals, and other communication lines can be used to give information to employees and increase their pride in their company.

5. Pay was listed in the fifth position. There was consider- able discrepancy between the importance pay is usually believed to have and the position actually assigned it by applicants. Surprisingly, pay decreased in importance as the number of dependents increased and as age increased. It became more important as the extent of education increased. Sales applicants rated pay higher than did applicants for other positions. The viewpoint toward pay can be summarized by saying that relative to other factors it was considered by applicants to be only average in importance, and that it was least important to those applicants who might be assumed to be in greater need of high pay.

The discrepancy between typical opinions regarding the importance of pay and its importance as actually given by almost four thousand applicants needs some explanation.

Perhaps pay is more important than admitted by job applicants in this and other similar studies ; a pay increase is usually


the first demand of any union. On the other hand, let us look at the experience of companies which have tried to forestall unionization by giving large and numerous wage increases. History indicates the futility of these attempts, and in many cases unionization occurred quickest in those companies paying the highest wage rates. Furthermore, the most intense labor strife frequently has been in those industries and companies which have paid the highest wages. Pay obviously is not a panacea which will solve all controversies.

From the employee viewpoint there are several reasons which may explain the undue emphasis on pay. All employees would like to secure more pay than they have secured in the past, and if they believe they can get more they may try to do so. Further, demands for greater pay are often used as a substitute for other wants which may be either conscious or unconscious. Sometimes these other wants are those which the employee has learned through bitter experience are not seriously considered or acted upon if presented to management. For example, an employee is not apt to present a grievance against a supervisor because of the manner in which the supervisor says “Good morning!” to his subordinates. Nevertheless, an accumula- tion of minor factors of this type may cause employees to be depressed, anxious, and tense. Since grievances of this type are not generally settled satisfactorily if presented directly, they are often presented indirectly in such form as a demand for higher wages.

The demand for higher pay is given further emphasis when employees are on strike. Not only do the foregoing reasons apply, but additional reasons enter into the picture. No group of employees strikes against an employer unless there is intense feeling on both sides, and there is frequently a desire to hit the opponent in a sensitive spot. The pocketbook is such a sensitive spot, and so employees frequently emphasize a pay increase even though the basic reasons for the strike are far removed from the question of wages.

Striking employees may also over-emphasize pay increases in


order to arouse public sympathy in their favor. Sympathy is particularly easy to arouse if the public can be made to believe that the workers involved are grossly underpaid. Use of this technique has often resulted in the public holding serious mis- conceptions regarding wages paid in particular industries. For example, few persons realize that miners are relatively high paid, both from the viewpoint of hourly pay and annual earnings. In the year 1944 (latest figures available) employees of all private industries averaged $2,189 income, whereas anthracite miners averaged $2,494 and bituminous miners averaged $2,534. These figures are quite different than many persons would guess.

In summary it appears that the relative importance of pay has often been over-emphasized. This is not to say that pay is unimportant or that substandard wages will not result in employee discontent. It does mean, however, that other factors are of equal or greater importance, and they should be emphasized more in the future than they have been in the past.

In general, the various groups were quite consistent in their rating of co- workers, though it was rated somewhat more important by unmarried men, and those with less than high school education. Applicants for unskilled work tended to rate co-workers somewhat higher than did other groups.

7. Supervisor was rated in seventh position, being almost tied with pay and co-workers. The importance attached to the supervisor increased as age and number of dependents increased, and decreased as extent of education rose. The importance attached by applicants to a good boss who is considerate and fair needs to be emphasized, particularly to the supervisors themselves. Few persons realize that the supervisor is within a hair’s breadth of being just as important to applicants as their rate of pay, and the implications of this fact have most assuredly been lost by the wayside.

8. Hours were rated eighth in importance by job applicants. Hours became relatively less important as education, de-

6. Co-workers were tied in importance with pay.


pendents and age increased, and was less important for married men than for single men. Hours also decreased in importance as job status rose. All groups, however, rated hours as being relatively unimportant. Considering the enormous improvement in hours of work which has been obtained, it would appear that the point of diminishing returns has been reached, and that more time might profitably be devoted to factors currently considered more important by the average job applicant. 9. Working conditions were rated in the next to last position.

Although all groups considered working conditions to be quite unimportant, it was least so for those applicants who had the most dependents. As with the factor of hours, far too much attention, relatively, has been given to working conditions. Although this factor may have warranted the attention given it one or two decades ago, conditions have improved to the extent that workers are not particularly interested in further improvement. This, of course, must be interpreted from the viewpoint of the average job applicant toward the average job,

10. BeneJits were relegated by job applicants to the last position. Married men were slightly more interested in benefits than were single men, and the importance of the factor rose as age and number of dependents increased. Benefits became less important as extent of education and job level increased. In view of these results, it would appear worthwhile to review reasons for emphasizing the importance of benefits. There certainly is no justification for emphasizing benefits on the basis of these applicant’s desires, although emphasis may be warranted by employee need.

In summary it can be said that male job applicants consider security, type of work and advancement to be most important. An intermediate position is given company, pay, co-workers, and supervisor. Least importance of all is attached to hours, working conditions and benefits.

FINDINGS FOR WOMEN APPLICANTS Women applicants differed from men. Women considered

type of work, security, and advancement to be most important.


(Those are the same factors as emphasized by men, but the order differs.) An intermediate position was given by women to supervisor, company, co-workers, working conditions, hours, and pay. Benefits were rated as being least important.

Attention should be called to the fact that although pay received a mean rank of 6.4 among women, it was ninth in order of importance.

In general it can be said that women were less interested than men in advancement, benefits, company, pay and security. On the other hand, women were more interested in co-workers, hours, supervisor, type of work, and working conditions. These differences form a definite pattern. Women were particularly interested in short range or temporary factors which increased the pleasantness of work; whereas men were more interested in the factors of greatest importance for a lifetime of work to support themselves and their families.

CONCLUSIONS These data have important implications in selecting, train-

ing, and supervising employees. For example, excellent results have been obtained by writing help-wanted advertise- ments which emphasize those factors ranked highest by job applicants. The job preference blank has been an exceedingly valuable tool when used in employment interviews.

These findings may be even more valuable in determining personnel policies and conducting union negotiations. Data indicate that many persons have erred considerably in their opinions of applicants’ job preferences; and it must be remem- bered here that future employees come from today’s applicants. Union agreements typically emphasize “wages, hours and working conditions” which factors did not turn out to be the most important in the opinion of almost four thousand job applicants. In negotiation of union contracts, as well as in day-to-day relationships between management and union, con- siderable emphasis is placed on security and benefits. Security would appear to warrant such emphasis, but benefits may not.

Discrepancies between union demands and preferences of


applicants can be explained by any or all of the following hypothesis: (1) union officials do not know what employees desire most, (2) union officials are more interested in what they believe employees should have rather than what they actually want, or (3) union officials are most interested in items which will “sell” the union to employees.

The type of work being done by the employee is frequently considered by management to be of little importance to employees except in

Management has also erred in many respects.

3

e

I k Male applicants 0 Female applicants I:. A

- ADVANCE- BENEFITS COMPANY GO- HOURS PAY SECURITY SUPER- TYPE OF WORKING

VISION WORK CONDITIONS MENT WORKERS

FIG. 1. Mean rank assigned to each of 10 factors by 259 male and 213 female clerical

Male applicants. 0 Female applicants. Numbers a t the top of each bar rep- job applicants.

resent the rank of that factor. One is most important; 10 least.

terms of gross classification such as sales, mechanical, clerical, and administrative. These findings indicate the importance of managements making transfers or promotions only after discussion with the employees involved. Although management may contend that few employees verbally object to un- discussed changes, this cannot be interpreted as absence of objections. It is highly probable, in light of these data, that employees do not object to such changes because of fear of con- sequences or feelings of futility. Such fears and feelings do not


build favorable employee morale. It would appear highly profitable for representatives of management and unions co- operatively to develop methods and procedures which would insure better placement of employees in the type of work which they would most enjoy.

The high importance given by these applicants to working for a good supervisor warrants emphasis; particularly for those companies which consider the supervisor to be a necessary evil or a glorified worker. It appears likely that companies could earn a large profit in terms of dollars as well as improved employee morale if they were to develop better techniques for selecting and training supervisors.

Space does not permit discussion of many other implications of these findings. Any interested person can find many important implications by studying the original charts upon which this report is based.

In summary, too much emphasis has often been given factors which according to this study are considered relatively unimportant by applicants. There would seem to be an excellent opportunity to devise principles and procedures which would result in greater job satisfaction on the part of employees, and consequently in improved quality of work, increased quantity, and lower costs.

For the benefit of those who wish more details than could be given in this report, three tables are included which contain the original data on which this report is based.

what job applicants look for in a company

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