A new study of more than 1000 Australians has revealed that those who identify as church-going Christians experience greater job satisfaction than their colleagues.
The State of Work in Australia study was initiated by Reventure, a new organisation specialising in faith and work research, utilising the Barna Group, a globally recognised polling firm.

While under half (44%) of Australian workers are satisfied with their jobs, Christians show a higher degree of satisfaction (51%), with 63% saying that they enjoy going to work everyday, compared to 53% among the general population of workers.

“It seems clear that the Christian faith makes a difference to the degree of satisfaction workers find in their jobs,” explains Reventure Managing Director Dr Lindsay McMillan, “And I believe a key ingredient to that is related to the purpose and meaning they find in their work.”

Christian workers responded significantly higher than their colleagues on three dimensions of finding meaning in work:

• I am looking for ways to live a more meaningful life (77% Christians/72% total). 
• I find purpose and meaning in the work I do (69% Christians/60% total).
• I feel my contributions at work are valued (69% Christians/59% total).

“While a deep search for purpose and meaning is significant for all workers, Christians in particular seem wired for meaning, and enjoy discovering that in their work,” Dr McMillan said.

Christian workers are also more likely to develop deep friendships at work, which assist them in finding satisfaction in their work. 65% of Christians report that they have a personal friendship with someone at work that they are comfortable going to for advice.

Christian workers also seem more satisfied with the training, resources and coaching they receive (60% versus 52%), and also report more regularly receiving praise and recognition for their work (55% versus 47%)

“While accounting for these differences is open to speculation, it demonstrates that Christians appear to be more proactive in developing relationships which allow them to seek resources and feedback,” Dr McMillan said. “It is certainly is an area worthy of further research.”

Details of the study:

• The study was conducted in April 2016 and consisted of a nationally-representative survey of 1,001 Australian employed adults with an oversample of church attenders with 321 identifying as church-going Christians.
• The study was representative of all major denominations.
• The sample was balanced for gender and age and included fulltime (57%), part-time (33%) and 10% self-employed/independent workers.
• The sample included a representation of workplace settings including 40% professional office workers, 12% working in retail, 11% working from home, 9% in education, 6% in a health setting.

How is your church equipping members to be effective in sharing their faith in their workplace? For many the business/work setting is their primary mission field…..

 

For more information:
Contact Dr Lindsay McMillan, Managing Director, Reventure Ltd, +61 (0)409 186 322.
 

Source: BUV News