Causes of Job Satisfaction and dissatisfaction among employees of a company and the strategies being adopted by that company

for employee satisfaction.

What is job satisfaction? Job satisfaction is in regard to ones feelings or state of mind regarding the nature of their work. Job satisfaction can be influenced by a variety of factors like the quality of ones relationship with their supervisor, the quality of the physical environment in which they work, degree of fulfillment in their work and so on. Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. The happier people are within their job and they are more satisfied then the other employees working in the same organization. Job satisfaction i9s not the same as motivation or aptitude, although it is clearly linked. Job design aims to enhance job satisfaction and performance by using methods such as job rotation, job enlargement and job reengineering. Other influences on satisfaction include the management style and culture, employee involvement, empowerment and autonomous work position. Job satisfaction is one of the important tools and is frequently measured by the organizations. The most common way of measurement is of rating scales where employees report their reactions to their jobs. There are several methods for measuring job satisfaction of the employees. The commonly used methods are as follows: i) Rating scale: Rating scales are the commonly adopted method that is used in the measuring job satisfaction . It comprises of certain statements describing the attitude of the employees with respect to the job, organization and personal factors. For each declaration or statement, the employee is invited to express his opinion on scale consisting of different expressions. Personal Interviews: Conducting personal interviews has also provided important method of measuring job satisfaction of the employees . The experts conduct these personal interviews where employees express their opinions on job satisfaction. The responses delivered through interviews

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are analyzed to find their level of job satisfaction. It is believed that this method is likely to have personal biased views of the interviewer also. The employees are asked to express their tendency or inclination on several aspects and this reveals their satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Critical Incidents: In this particular method, the employees were asked to describe incidents on their job when they were particularly satisfied or dissatisfied. These set of incidents were then analyzed to determine their positive and negative attitudes.

Any employee who decides to work in an organization may have may reasons for staying there. The following could be the reasons to stay: i) Relationship matters more than the money: An employee can find a job that will pay him more but he would leave behind a wealth of relationships. So when one has to choose among the money and relationships he might choose friends and professional colleagues that he has over money. An employee is doing well compared to peers: Research shows that many people underestimate their skills and their prospects and overestimate others. Hence, they should take time to do a realistic assessment of what they have to offer and its value in todays marketplace.

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All that glitters is not gold: Employees who are desperate to get out of a job tend to see potential opportunities only outside their company. They enthusiastically take a new job and then realize they have taken a wrong decision and what they expected from the job is not theirs.

Now the reasons for leaving an organization, i.e. for dissatisfaction of the employees : i) Relationship with the boss is damaged beyond repair:

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Sometimes the relationship with boss is damaged to the extent that it is difficult to repair. So in that case the employee cannot be expected to work in peace and grow. So he decides to leave the organization . Values are at odds with the culture: Sometimes the values of an employee might not match with the values of the organization. It is very difficult for a person to give up his values and adopt the values of organization in a very few time. The employees who do this successfully works with the organization and the employees who fails to adopt the values leaves the organization. Increase in stress levels: Many times employers ask their employers to complete as many task as possible within a stipulated time, thus creating huge work pressure on the employees. Also, the load of work is so much that it affects the physical or mental health and the relationships with family and friends. So an employee may quit an organization to reduce the stress levels. Different educational background: An employee who has a different educational background but has unfortunately landed in a different profession is seen to develop some kind of dissatisfaction towards the work. This is natural as the employee is unable to match his preference for that kind of job. Workplace politics: Workplace politics and inability on the part of an employee to suit with the office environment is another reason for job dissatisfaction. This also minimizes the efficiency and productivity of the employee. Sudden cuts in salaries, perks etc. : Sudden cuts in salaries ,withdrawal of expected perks, promotion also causes job dissatisfaction in an employee. It must be remembered that a person must get the suitable price for the services he has rendered as nobody likes to work for peanuts. Inefficiency on the part of HR department: Inefficiency on the part of the HR department of the company to place right employee for the right jobs and track their individual performance also causes job dissatisfaction among employees.

Strategies being adopted by that company for employee satisfaction: The following are the strategies adopted by the company to increase the job satisfaction of the employees: i) Walk your talk: Employees also have sense and they can smell the fake or they can find out the wrong . An organization cannot say that employees are their most valuable assets and walk by without acknowledging them. An organization cant advocate openness of communication and not share their vision with the rest of the organization. Successful companies and business owners are authentic. What they say, feel, think and do perfectly match. Employers must think carefully before speaking and acting and encourage the rest of their management team to do the same. They should not make any empty promise and if they promise to do something they should do it. Ask for feedback and mean it. ii) Be fully engaged: An open door policy is one thing and being fully engaged with your employees is another. Some employees leave the organization because the boss hardly ever shared anything with them, whether it was the companys strategies or how well they were performing. Communicating regularly with the employees goes a long way. The employers must take their time to know them, to know what excites them, what they like about their jobs, what challenges they have and how can a company help them. One of the best way to engage employees is to make them feel part of the big picture. Explain to them how their contribution impacts the company.

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Be proactive with employee development: Employees need to know how well they are doing. An employer must regularly talk to their employees and review their goals, provide them regular feedback. One common thing that most of the companies do is that they view the performance review once a year event, instead of making it a year-round practice. Set goals with individual team members at the start of the year, follow up with steady support through coaching and possibly outside training, check in at the mid-year point to ensure theyre on track and then meet at years end.

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Allow people to learn and grow: Many companies shy away from empowering their employees for fear that the employees will not exercise proper judgment in making decisions. Many times employers instead of making employees to come up with their answers to the problem, just tell them what is to be done. So in this way employees are not able to learn and grow. Since they are not been thrown in the problems so they do not even know the ways of handling them. Hence they do not enjoy their work. So they should be allowed to come up with their own ideas and in this way they will also enjoy their work.

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Watch for signs: It is hard to believe that people have their inner urge to move from one position to another despite the fact they like the company or their jobs. There are HR assessments that some companies use to measure how long their employees will do the same thing before feeling the need for change. Many time a company losses its employees and the employees who have left dont have any solid reason for leaving. They even liked the company and were happy also. But when they were put in the assessments, the results showed that those employees needed some changes after a period of two to three years. But once company

introduced some kind of change, the retention of employees might increase. Hence a company must regularly check its employees level of motivation and enthusiasm for their job. vi) Create a fun loving environment: Research have shown that humor and fun in the workplace increases employees creativity and productivity and also help in reducing absenteeism. Involving the employees in deciding how theyd like their workplace to be more fun like. Some ideas include scheduling mini timeouts to help relieve stress, a joke-corner in the lunchroom or regular group lunches.

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Showing care : Everyone wants to be treated with care and properly. No one will want to be with you if you will always shout at him or will behave rudely .Same is the case with employees .They also are required to be treated with care and with politeness. If there is any problem then the employer must politely and calmly discuss the problem with the employee in private and work together to come up with a solution. Choosing the appreciative approach and showing employees that the company cares for them. Appreciating their work and their unique qualities.