Job satisfaction is a psychological aspect. It is an expression of feeling about the job. Job satisfaction is an attitude. It is a permanent impression formed about the job. Employees interact with people and other resources while working with the job. In the process, they experience positive or negative feelings about the job context and content. The concept of job satisfaction has gained importance ever since the human relations approach has become popular.
Most Important Determinants of Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is intangible and it is multi-variable. A number of factors influence job satisfaction of employees. They can be classified into two categories. They are organizational and personal variables. They are discussed below:
Organizational Determinants:
Employees spend most of the time in organizations. Therefore, a number of organizational factors determine job satisfaction of the employees. Organizations can increase job satisfaction by organizing and managing the organizational factors. Let us learn the organization determinants of job satisfaction.
- Wages: Wage is the amount of reward worker expects from the job. It is an instrument of fulfilling the needs. Everyone expects to get a commensurate reward. The wage should be fair, reasonable and equitable. A feeling of fair and equitable reward produces job satisfaction.
- Nature of Work: The nature of work has significant impact on the job satisfaction. Jobs involving intelligence, skills, abilities, challenges and scope for greater freedom make the employee satisfied on the job. A feeling of boredom, poor variety of tasks, frustration and failure leads to job dissatisfaction.
- Working Conditions: Good workings conditions are needed to motivate the employees. They provide a feeling of safety, comfort and motivation. Poor working conditions give a feeling that health is in danger.
- Job Content: Job content refers to the factors such as recognition, responsibility, advancement, achievement etc. Jobs involving variety of tasks and less repetitive result in greater job satisfaction. A job, having poor content produces job dissatisfaction.
- Organizational Level: Higher level jobs are viewed as prestigious, esteemed and opportunity for self-control. Employees working at higher level jobs express greater job satisfaction than the lower level jobs.
- Opportunities for Promotion: Promotion is an achievement in the life. Promotion gives more pay, responsibility, authority, independence and status. Therefore, opportunities for promotion determine the degree of satisfaction to the employees.
- Work Group: Existence of groups in organizations is a common phenomenon. It is a natural desire of human beings to interact with others. This characteristic results in formation of work groups at the work place. Isolated workers dislike their jobs. The work group exerts a tremendous influence on the satisfaction of employees. Satisfaction of an individual depends largely on the relationship with the group members, group dynamics, group cohesiveness and his own need for affiliation.
- Leadership Styles: Leadership style also determines the satisfaction level on the job. Democratic leadership style enhances job satisfaction. Democratic leaders promote friendship, respect and warmth relationships among the employees. On the other hand, employees working under authoritarian leaders express low level of job satisfaction.
Personal Determinants:
Job satisfaction relates to the psychological factors. Therefore, a number of personal factors determine the job satisfaction of the employees. They are mentioned below:
- Personality: Individual psychological conditions determine the personality. Factors like perception, attitudes and learning determine the psychological conditions. Therefore, these factors determine the satisfaction of individuals.
- Age: Age is a significant determinant of job satisfaction. Younger age employees possessing higher energy levels are likely to feel more satisfied. As employees grow older, aspiration levels increase. If they are unable to find their aspiration fulfilled, they feel dissatisfied.
- Education: Education provides an opportunity for developing one’s personality. It enhances individual wisdom and evaluation process. Highly educated employees possess persistence, rationality and thinking power. Therefore, they can understand the situation and appraise it positively.
- Gender Differences: The gender and race of the employees determine Job satisfaction. Women are more likely to be satisfied than their counterpart even if they are employed in small jobs.
Certain other factors that determine job satisfaction are learning, skill autonomy, job characteristics, unbiased attitude of management, social status etc. Managers should consider all these factors in assessing the satisfaction of the employees and increasing their level of job satisfaction.