Job Satisfaction

Job Satisfaction

Definition

Job satisfaction is how content an individual is with his or her job, in other words whether or not they like the job or individual aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature of work or supervision. Scholars have noted that job satisfaction measures vary in the extent to which they measure feelings about the job (affective job satisfaction)] or cognitions about the job (cognitive job satisfaction.)

Building Job Satisfaction

Once you have identified the blend of status, power, or intrinsic enjoyment that need to be present in your work for you to feel satisfied, you then need to work on some of our seven 'ingredients' for a satisfying job. These ingredients are:

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.

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. 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.

4. 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

5. 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.

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

7. Examine your values. 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.

Influencing factors

• Environmental factors

Communication overload and communication under load

One of the most important aspects of an individual’s work in a modern organization concerns the management of communication demands that he or she encounters on the job. Demands can be characterized as a communication load, which refers to “the rate and complexity of communication inputs an individual must process in a particular time frame.” Individuals in an organization can experience

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