A study with more than 500 participants from Singapore has revealed what makes employees value their work and stay in their jobs.

The report released on Wednesday, Jan. 16, was done by data collection platform Qualtrics.

Being effective at work makes employees satisfied

Having a job but not being able to do it well is probably the most tortuous experience for workers in Singapore.

Which is why employees reported being able to do their job well as a main driver for job satisfaction.

Receiving sufficient training to perform effectively was also a key factor behind enhanced job satisfaction, as well as an increased desire to go to work and higher staff retention rates.

And employees appreciate it when employers invest in them, the report said.

Employees in Singapore also reported more job satisfaction when they have confidence in the company's senior leadership team, and a helpful manager in resolving work-related issues.

Lowest levels of job satisfaction

However, the experience of employees here is one that does not swing to the edges.

In other words, it is a middling experience with a lack of extremes.

The findings showed that Singapore workers had the lowest levels of work-related stress -- as well as the lowest levels of job satisfaction compared to the other countries.

Just under half of those surveyed were satisfied with their current job.

This is below the global average of 62 percent employee job satisfaction.

About one-fifth stressed majority of time

On the other hand, just 22 percent of those surveyed said they felt stressed or overwhelmed "always" or "most of the time" in Singapore.

Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom were found to be the most stressed at 29 percent.

Salary alone was also found not to be the biggest driver of satisfaction among Singapore employees.

Loyalty

The premium for local employees appears to be sufficient time allocated outside of work.

Work-life balance was found to be linked to job loyalty.

Workers who were happy with their work-life balance, as well as those who said their companies were extremely supportive of a work-life balance, were more likely to indicate that they would stay in their jobs.

About survey

These results are part of a larger survey on more than 6,000 participants globally, including countries like Australia and the US.

It was presented as a multiple-choice format survey with a five-point scale ranging from "always" to "never" or "extremely satisfied" to "extremely dissatisfied".