Job Satisfaction

 Defining Job Satisfaction

JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction is the level of contentment a person feels regarding his or her job. This feeling is based on an individual's perception of satisfaction. Job satisfaction can be influenced by a person's ability to complete required tasks, the level of communication in an organization, and the way management treats employees. There are often two different levels of job satisfaction: affective job satisfaction and cognitive job satisfaction. Affective job satisfaction is a person's emotional feeling toward the job as a whole. Cognitive job satisfaction is how satisfied a person feels concerning an aspect of his or her job, such as pay, hours, or benefits.

It isn't always easy to measure job satisfaction, as the definition of satisfaction can be different for different people. Whether a person is satisfied with his or her job can impact their job performance. Some studies have shown, however, that some high performing employees didn't feel satisfied with their job at all. If an organization is concerned about job satisfaction of their employees, management may want to conduct surveys to determine the current level of job satisfaction experienced by employees and employees say would need to improve to increase their level of satisfaction. Because job satisfaction can vary for individuals, management may want to implement several different strategies in order to help the majority of employees within an organization feel satisfied with their place in the company. There have been studies that show when human resources implement a series of positive practices there is financial gain for the organizations, creating a belief that there is a link between flexible work environments and shareholder value.

What can you do to maximize your job satisfaction? Based on research and the experience of professional career specialists, here are eight recommendations:

(1)Know yourself. Know what is important to you and what is not. What kinds of work tasks or activities are attractive to you? Be clear about what you expect from or require of a job. Write your ideas down. Then, you will know what to look for when choosing among jobs or careers.

Review the "ten job expectations" most frequently mentioned by workers and rank their importance to you. Are there others, not mentioned, like autonomy or prestige, that are important to you?

Also, do the activities listed in Learning More about Yourself that you think will be most helpful.

(2) Learn about jobs that are most likely to meet your expectations. A helpful step is to take The Career Key® test. It will help you identify occupations that fit your personality and to get accurate information about each of them. The activities in Learn about the Jobs that Interest Me are highly recommended.
(3) Consider consulting a professional career counselor.

(4) Do not allow your job dissatisfactions to go unresolved for long. Job satisfactions and dissatisfactions are barometers of your adjustment to work. They may lead to something worse -- job loss, accidents, even mental illness. Depression, anxiety, worry, tension, and interpersonal problems can result from, or be made worse by job dissatisfaction. In fact, job satisfaction was found to be the best predictor of how long you live . . . better than a doctor's rating of physical functioning, use of tobacco, or genetic inheritance. So, it is important to work out a solution if your job is making you unhappy.

(5) Have realistic expectations for work. Overall job satisfaction is a trade-off (like many things in life). You should not expect 100% satisfaction or 0% dissatisfaction. There are usually dissatisfactions even in the best jobs. And, in today's work world you cannot expect your company to look out for you; you have to take the initiative yourself (see Free Agent Worker for more).

(6) Look separately at the kind of work you are doing versus the conditions of work (pay, supervisor, coworkers, company, physical working conditions). If you are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the kind of work you are doing, you should consider a career change. If you are dissatisfied with the conditions of work, you might be able to set matters right by negotiating with your supervisor or your coworkers, or by changing companies.

(7) Look down the road at your possible career progress. Present dissatisfactions might be worth bearing if you see your career progressing.

(8) Examine your values -- what is most important to you. You have to answer this question honestly: How important is your job, your career to you? Only when this question is answered can you put your job satisfaction or dissatisfaction in proper perspective.

This was adapted and updated from an earlier article by Dr. Rene Dawis, with his permission: Dawis, R. V. (1992). Job satisfaction. In L. K. Jones (Ed.), Encyclopedia of career change and work issues (pp. 142-143). Phoenix: The Oryx Press. Dr. Dawis is the author or coauthor of more than 100 publications, and is an international authority on job satisfaction and work adjustment.