We all belong to the era where having a job or rather having a full fledged career is utterly important.
Today, be it male or female one has to have a good career. This is not only important to meet the rising expenses of lifestyle, but also boosts up the self esteem.
We do come across numerous people, who travel each day to their workplaces and perform several responsibilities.
Some are happier doing their current job while some keep on complaining. Some no longer feel like going though they are in their late 30s, whereas some are energetic even in their 50s.
Now, what are the factors that contributes in making you love your job, bring the job satisfaction and ensure endless efficiency?
There are numerous factors of job satisfaction that brings this feelings in an employee:
Employees Job Satisfaction Factors:
The following mentioned are few factors job satisfaction mainly depends on.
1. Monetary benefits:
Though it sounds exactly the opposite of the phrase called job satisfaction, but somewhere it does hold the truth. Imagine, if you are highly qualified and expect to get paid as per your degree.
However, nowhere you are able to find the salary that you expected. Thus, needless to say you somehow managed to settle for whatever you are getting.
In such cases, no matter how much you love your work, you love your job unless and until you get paid according to your caliber, job satisfaction would never come.
2. Appreciation:
Human race loves to get appreciated. Even for the smaller job that does one seek to have an appreciation, from colleagues, boss, seniors.
When one gets appreciated in front of everyone it gives up a boost to their morale.
When appreciation leads to encouragement, the ultimate result is reflected in the efficiency of work automatically. Therefore, the level of job satisfaction is always higher wherever appreciation is higher.
3. Being fair:
It is highly noticed that wherever the organization tends to be partial between employees the level of job satisfaction drastically falls down.
It is not only for the employee towards whom the organization is partial but also amongst others.
When one realizes that no matter what and how the performance is, the organization is going to be biased, the employee begins to feel detached to the organization which supposedly brings the level of satisfaction down.
On the contrary, if an organization is entirely fair towards each individual. The job satisfaction is grown since, this brings a trust in employees that their performance would get the necessary recognition.
4. The feel of belongings:
Flickr Creative Commons, @Calita Kabir
Most of the organization fails to understand this fundamental factor, whereas many have started acting towards it.
If an employee feels that he is considered as an important part of the team, he belongs to the organization then there are higher chances of job satisfaction.
Texting or mailing an employee on his/her birthday, communicating the crisis to even at ground level employee, making special efforts during festive seasons, all these small little gestures make an employee believe that he or she belongs to the firm. This brings job satisfaction and loyalty together.
5. A mixture of formal and informal approach:
It gives a tough time to management in deciding which approach to adopt. The reality is, a balanced approach is best on any given day.
An employee is going to be highly satisfied with his or her job if the balance between formal and informal approach is strictly maintained.
Suppose, in an organization, seniors and the boss is too strict, they don’t even allow employees to have a friendly chat with each other. And in another scenario, there is one more organization which is too lenient.
Boss is over friendly, everyone keeps on chit chatting. Deadlines are hardly met. Now, both the cases are wrong. In an environment where everything is too formal, an employee is going to feel suffocated.
Whereas on the contrary in an informal environment where there is no completion and pressure, nothing would motivate him or her. In both the cases job satisfaction would be lesser.
6. Anticipated growth:
Each employee or a working personnel, works to get better day after day. If he or she is kept in one place for a longer period of time, then, it is natural that the employee won’t feel good.
The seed of bitterness towards the organization would get sown. The chances of no growth even after years of service would makes the morale of the person fall drastically down.
Whereas, if an employee gets recognition for his or her hard work, his or her promotion or increment is done, he or she will feel satisfied with their jobs. They will see to it as if they are getting the fruits of their hard work which will further inspire them to do more.
7. Adequate working conditions:
There are more than just monetary benefits when it comes to having a career or getting a job. If an organization is not keeping or providing an appropriate working condition, then it is natural for employees to feel dissatisfied and unhappy about the same.
If adequate facilities are provided to each and every employee it assures that there won’t be any complaint from the employees’ side. Having a proper working condition adds up to the level of job satisfactions.
8. Addressing grievances:
Wherever number of people work together, the complaints are ought to rise on either of the sides.
Be its management or workforce most of the time they are into tassels. There are times when management cannot fulfil the demand demanded by the workforce due to numerous reasons.
Whatever the case may be, if the grief of an employee is heard and addressed by the authorities, it restores the faith in the organization. This is another factor that completely contributes to the job satisfaction.
In an organization where the workforce is always blamed and their grievances are never answered, chances of low job satisfaction are more amongst the employees.
9. Initiation and leadership:
If an employee is given an equal number of opportunities to showcase their talent, take the lead and initiate then the chances of having a higher level of job satisfaction is more.
Suppose in an organization, no employee is asked to give suggestions, nobody is bothered to inform them about the decision.
There are only few figures who lead the team always. In such conditions any employee wouldn’t feel satisfied for whatever job he or she is currently doing.
It will seem to them as if they are just machines to follow orders and not to give any opinion to the organization.
10. Credits:
This is certainly more important than monetary benefits given to employees. If an employee does well in his or her project, which is supposed to be represented somewhere at a conference, it means a lot to him or her to have a name below the same.
If an organization never gives the credits to their employees then the chances of being disappointed are higher. This won’t motivate him or her to do better again.
On the other hand, if an employee is rewarded and given due credit for the dedicating hard work that he or she has put into the project, then the level of satisfaction is brought in by the feeling of confidence and accomplishment.
11. Frequent changes:
It is going to be a huge turn off for any employee if she or he has to change the place frequently.
People seek for a job because they want to gain stability in their lives. Most of the time it is seen that people prefer having a fixed job, and a fixed place.
Thus, if an employee is transferred every now and then, it in a way disturbs his or her routine as well as family set up. Most of the working professionals are having children and older aged parents to look after and in such cases transferring or instability at work gives a tough time.
Thus, when there is growth, but not instability and frequent changes in the working style and spirit, the chance of having a higher level of job satisfaction is more.
12. The feel of being loved:
It is noticed that if an employee has good bonding with colleagues and seniors then the job satisfaction level is higher.
One feels like coming to the office and performing the job. If the environment is not friendly, office politics is at its peak, malpractices are done, then all these factors together leave no stone unturned in discouraging an employee for not coming to the office.
Hence this feeling of being loved and wanted by everyone around you brings positive vibes.
13. Safety and security:
These days companies are taking endless measures in order to see that an employee is catered different kind of facilities like health care and medical checkups.
There are a few institutions that also provide insurance policies at a little lower rate. Hence, this aspect of safety and security plays a major role.
If an employee doesn’t feel safe and secured at the organization that he or she works in, the level of job satisfaction is ultimately going to fall. It is as necessary for an employee to have the safety and security of his career as it is to have a monthly salary.
14. Challenges:
There are few types of employees who love to experiment, they like it when challenging job is assigned to them.
To them the challenge is always associated with ability and capability. They feel that if an employee is given a challenging job it means that the leader trusts his or her capacity to fulfill the expectations.
Thus, wherever challenges are involved the level of job satisfaction automatically raises up. If a person is given a monotonous job to perform each and every day the level of interest at which he or she will perform at initial stages dips down as the time keeps passing.
Therefore, maintaining a level of challenge always brings job satisfaction. It restores the faith of an employee that – “yes! I can do it, I deserve it.”
15. Trust of organization:
One more factor that largely contributes when it comes job satisfaction is trust of the organization.
If the management or leaders begin to show that they trust the employees of the organization, the job satisfaction rises as compared to when there is no trust shown in employees.
A person who works where management doesn’t trust their own employees doesn’t feels closely related to the organization. Therefore it is important for an organization to show that they do trust their employees.
16. Responsibilities:
This suggests that when an employee is given a bigger responsibility it makes him or her conscious about the fact that the employers think him or her as a capable and trustworthy candidate.
Jobs where responsibility is involved always carry a higher level of satisfaction. The idea of responsibility and the feel that one gets when the responsibility gets accomplished cannot be traded with anything in the world.
If an employee is not given any responsibility to handle, ultimately the result is that the person feels detached and doubts about self worth which immediately affects the job satisfaction.
An employee handling number of responsibilities is always the one who is confident and hence feels satisfied with the job as compared to the one who hardly gets any responsibility to fulfill.
17. Creativity in job:
Job satisfaction is always higher wherever creativity is involved. If a person is involved in some creative jobs where he or she is suppose to be creative the satisfaction level.
The creative freedom gives a sense of fulfillment whenever any project is complete. It makes an employee feels as if the project belongs to them for their creativity is there.
Even if it is just a creative sentence that they have put in, means a lot to them.
On the other hand, in jobs which are monotonous, the employee won’t feel like he or she belongs to the project. The alienation takes place and hence the job satisfaction level falls drastically.
18. Management:
If the organization is well managed, everything happens on time. There is less amount of mis communication, management works tirelessly and motivates other employees as well then the satisfaction level that any employee would get there would be much higher.
On the other hand, if the management is least bothered and no work is done on time, then automatically the satisfaction level of job comes down.
19. Personal interest and hobbies:
People who pursue their hobbies and interest as their career, gain highest level of satisfaction in whatever they do at their workplace. This is because their job is not a job for them, but a way of getting closer to their interest and making money.
Whatever they will do will be more than just to have a promotion.
When people opt for jobs that are related to their interest they actually put their soul in each project of theirs and this brings lots of job satisfaction to them.
20. Intelligence:
It is also noticed that jobs which involve usage of gray matter every now and then seems to be more mentally fulfilling than the ones where no or lesser usage of intelligence is required.
Jobs like researching, investigating, creating, visualizing are the jobs where one is constantly required to think!
This process of thinking makes him or her feel as if they are not robots working, but humans putting their brains in the work or the duty assigned to them.
21. Recognition:
If an employee is working at a level where higher recognition of the job is involved like, journalists – they get their names below the report, they are seen on television.
Same is with actors, people love them, they recognize them very well. In such job profiles the level of job satisfaction is always higher.
Even if they are paid less still they would love to do the job for the sheer amount of satisfaction that they get.
Conclusion:
For each working personal job satisfaction has a different meaning. There are different factors that influence the level of job satisfaction. The ones that are listed above are the most common job satisfaction factors.
It is vital for an employee to have a satisfaction level derived from the job that he or she is doing.
Merely making money is easy but, then there are times when no matter what you are earning the satisfaction level becomes zero and you end up being depressed. Therefore, seek to have a job satisfaction in any job that you take up.
