Most South Africans are not happy in their jobs, according to a survey. The JobCrystal happiness indicator showed that less than half were happy in their roles.

"It is clear that the companies that focus on gaining staff buy-in for company-wide goals and objectives, at the expense of meeting employees' individual career goals, are going to find it difficult to hold on to top talent. The two go hand in hand in terms of attracting and keeping star performers," says Kevin Laithwaite, managing director of JobCrystal.

JobCrystal compiles the happiness indicator from the data it collects when candidates enter their details on the talent management portal.

JobCrystal completed a second happiness indicator, which looked at which South African companies had the happiest staff and were the best places to work.

There was a low correlation between companies where employees were the happiest and those rated the best place to work - which has an important lesson for companies, says Laithwaite.

"Even if employees buy into the company culture, vision and environment and so rate the company as a good place to work, they also need to have their individual goals and requirements met in order to be happy," he says.

Vicki Marais-Swanepoel, the managing director of Kelly, says employers and employees have a part to play in the process.

"I firmly believe that an employee-employer relationship is a 50/50 responsibility in every way - also when it comes to staff satisfaction.

"Employers are responsible for supplying employees with all the tools and reasonable accommodation required to do their jobs.

"The recession has again highlighted people's needs for fulfilling all their basic needs and taking care of their family. Companies have not been able to give increases, and I can see this contributing to the high level of unhappiness in the workplace right now."

What should companies do to improve the happiness of their employees? Kelly recommends:

• Building a corporate culture that requires employees to be an integral part of the company.
• Job expectations must be clearly defined and communicated.
• Regular and fair performance feedback is required by all employees. Research has found that most employees in today's economy want to believe that they contribute to the overall success of the company. However, if the employee is not sure how his or her job fits into the bigger picture, an employer may suffer a reduction in productivity or morale.
• The compensation, benefits and rewards systems must be aligned. Employees emulate behaviour that they see being rewarded. When employees see members of the executive and management being rewarded for behaviour or work that does not support the stated vision of the company, they may become disgruntled. These employees will either change their own behaviour to mirror the rewarded behaviour or become disillusioned with the lack of recognition they receive for doing what is expected of them.
• Comprehensive employee orientation and induction programme must be in place.
• Fairness and equal treatment of employees is crucial. An effort to equally delegate tasks among employees must be made across all brands. This will lessen the likelihood of employees feeling overwhelmed with responsibilities.
• Non-financial recognition is a key driver of staff satisfaction. Alternative ways of recognising efforts and achievements has a significant impact on employees' perceptions and satisfaction levels.