The call for more leisure time is becoming quieter.

Compared to 1988, the call from employees for shorter working hours (1988: 38 – 1992: 35) and more vacation time (1988: 34 – 1992: 29) is less pronounced today. This is the finding of a recent representative survey conducted by the BAT Leisure Research Institute, in which 2,000 people in the former West Germany were asked how their job satisfaction could be improved.

Job satisfaction has now become the most important motivating factor for employees (62 %) and civil servants (69 %), for managers (61 %) and freelancers (69 %). What applies to leisure time is also expected at work: enjoyment and satisfaction in one's own work and abilities. Work must offer variety, challenges, and opportunities for success; otherwise, employees will lose their motivation. Managers must become organizers of job satisfaction. The more satisfaction, the greater the performance. Leadership then means not only directing and guiding people, but also providing opportunities for success in the workplace.

Not all occupational groups are equally inclined towards post-materialist value orientations. As in 1988, workers maintained their demand for higher incomes in 1992. Anyone wanting to motivate workers to increase their productivity must first pay them higher wages (1988: 64 % – 1992: 69 %). And yet: For the majority of the working population in West Germany, enjoyable work is now more important (63 %) than a higher income (59 %).

A new quality of work: Remuneration with meaning

The growing need for self-realization in all areas of life is also intensifying the desire of working people for a more meaningful, and therefore more personally fulfilling, working life. In this respect, the expectations of West German employees have changed most significantly over the last four years. Almost half of all employees (45 %) can now only be motivated to perform better by "meaningful work" (1988: 34 %). Meaning explains why one does something. Employees expect meaning in their work, not just mere employment. If this shift in attitudes continues, then in the future, reward based on meaning could become just as important as monetary reward. This will pose a major challenge for companies when the focus shifts to job content and job satisfaction, rather than solely on money and leisure time.