The Many Facets of Job Satisfaction

 Job satisfaction is the positive feeling that someone experiences about his job. It includes the positive or negative feelings that employees hold against their job. The happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. The job satisfaction of the employees is a major aspect of the employment policy of large and successful organizations. These organizations attempt through job design to enhance job satisfaction and performance using methods that include job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment. Satisfaction can be influenced also by the management style and culture, employee involvement, empowerment and autonomous work groups. Job satisfaction is a very important attribute which is frequently measured by organizations.
 There are various methods of determining job satisfaction which use various indicators to determine the satisfaction levels. One of the most popular methods to describe job satisfaction is the job descriptive index (JDI). Job Descriptive Index is a scale used to measure five major factors associated with job satisfaction: the nature of the work itself, compensations and benefits, attitudes towards supervisors, relations with co-workers, and opportunities for promotion. The JDI was first introduced in 1969 and since then has been used by over 1,000 organizations in many sectors. Measurements of strengths and weaknesses within each factors will tell practitioners where improvements can be made. There are also other methods of satisfaction that add more indicators. One of them is the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire which measures 20 scales of satisfaction. Some of them are ability, utilization, co-workers, moral values, achievement, creativity and recognition, activity, independence and responsibility (University of Minnesota, 2009).
 Even though job satisfaction is measured through common indicators, it is not perceived the same way throughout different cultures. Robbins and Judge state that although job satisfaction appears to be a relevant concept across cultures, that doesn't mean there are no cultural differences in job satisfaction(Robbins and Judge, 2009, p. 91). Usually global values are combined with local cultural  values  to provide an integrated value framework within a diversified work environment which affects the business level of job satisfaction. Po-Keung Ip, in his research for developing a concept of workplace well-being for greater China, notes that business well-being is not always associated with economic well-being. He says that,
There is no denial that people’s well-being is closely affected by their economic well- being. However, as a result of the increase of business intensity in people’s daily lives, the effect  of  business  activities  on  people’s  general  well-being  is  becoming  profound  and difficult to ignore. People’s activities and interactions with others are increasingly mediated and shaped by business transactions and processes. It is difficult to imagine that the basic activities of people—working, learning, interacting, entertaining, cooperating—can be smoothly conducted without the aid and involvement of business elements. The goods and services provided by business in effect form the infrastructure of modern life without which  a  comfortable  and  normal  life  is  impossible. (2008).

 Another study which shows that culture differences affect the job satisfaction ratings is the one conducted by Benz and Frey. This study shows that the job satisfaction ratings are higher in western countries than the rest of the world. This fact indicates that different cultures weight differently the various parameters of job satisfaction. As western societies emphasize more on individual happiness and success and promote a materialistic approach on employment, in eastern societies moral values, social responsibility and work life balance value more (Benz and Frey, 2003).  
 Moving on, there are evidences that job satisfaction is closely related with the appropriate work life balance. There are findings that relate the appropriate work-life balance to the increase of job satisfaction and as a result of job performance. In the last years the average working time of workers has increased due to the consumerist culture developed in the western cultures. Madeleine Bunting ,in her recent book, "Willing Slaves – How the Overwork Culture is Ruling our Lives", stated that from 1977 to 1997 Americans working full time have increased their average working hours from 43.6 hours to 47.1 hours each week (Bunting, 2004). This fact causes many people to experience burnout due to overwork and increased stress. This condition is seen in nearly all occupations especially in the management section. As a result, these stressful conditions lead the employees to seek for better work time arrangements that will accommodate their need for better work life balance and provide them the ability to cope with their family responsibilities. A study conducted by Aryee, Luk and Stone verifies their hypothesis that satisfaction with work schedule flexibility and supervisor work-family support will be positively related to organizational commitment and negatively related to turnover intentions. Their findings revealed not only a positive but also significant effect of supervisor work-family support on both organizational commitment and turnover intentions   (Aryee, Luk and Stone, 1998). So we can conclude that work life balance is an important aspect of job satisfaction.
 Another study with interesting conclusions is the one published by Origo and Pagani which discusses the workplace flexibility and job satisfaction Europe. Their conclusion is that
 workers attach great importance also to non-monetary aspects of the job, which are more likely to be improved by many forms of functional flexibility rather than numerical and working time flexibility. Given the same wage level, workers may then be more satisfied (and hence more productive) if they perceive some enhancement in the intrinsic aspects of their job (such as control on their tasks and possibility to use their creativity). (2008)
This implies that job satisfaction indicators are not only quantitative but also qualitative.
 The above findings from various studies can lead to interesting conclusions for management practices to develop and retain a satisfying job environment. A major weakness of modern corporations is the inability to retain their staff. This phenomenon is mainly caused by high rates of job dissatisfaction. High employee turnover results to higher costs to recruit and train new staff members.  Especially in cases of highly specialized firms, like in the technology sector, the cost increases even more. Smith reports that a low waged employee costs $4000 to $7000 to be replaced, a middle waged one costs $40000 and a Silicon Valley employee costs $125000 (Smith, 2001). So the big challenge for the modern manager is to to find ways to increase job satisfaction and as a result increase the staff retentionship. Smith also gives basic guidelines for a successful retention strategy. This strategy must be based on actions that a manager needs to take. A manager should always give a clear sense of direction and purpose to his or her staff, must show that cares about the staff, must provide flexible benefits, must communicate with the employees, maintain an engaging environment for them and also award their effort and performance.
 Summarizing, job satisfaction is a worldwide concept and a major aspect of the employment policy of large and successful organizations. Although a global concept, job satisfaction is not perceived the same way throughout the globe. It is closely related with the local culture and beliefs of each working place. This fact leads to different ways and methods of measuring job satisfaction which might not agree on the factors they measure.  But even though, it is obvious that the management of the corporations must pay attention to this subject and develop effective retention strategies and increase the satisfaction level within their personnel in order to gain long term benefits for their companies.

References

Aryee, S., Luk, V., & Stone, R. (1998, January). Family responsive variables and retention-relevant outcomes among employed parents. Human Relations, 51(1), 73.
Benz, M., & Frey, B. S. (2003, November). The Value of Autonomy: Evidence from the Self-Employed in 23 Countries. Institute for Empirical Research in Economics.
Bunting, M. (2004). Willing Slaves: How the Overwork Culture is Ruling Our Lives . HarperCollins Publishers Ltd .
Ip, P. K. (2008, October). Developing a Concept of Workplace Well-Being. Springer.
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. (2009, December 3). Retrieved December/‌January 3, 2009, from University Of Minnesota website: http://www.psych.umn.edu/‌psylabs/‌vpr/‌msqinf.htm
Origo, F., & Pagani, L. (2008, March). Workplace flexibility and job satisfaction: some evidence from Europe. International Journal of Manpower, 29(6), 539-566.
Robbins, S. P., & Judje, T. A. (2009). Organizational Behavior. New Delhi: PHI Learning.
Smith, G. (2001). Here Today, Here Tomorrow : Transforming Your Workforce from High-Turnover to High-Retention. Dearborn Trade, A Kaplan Professional Company .