Job Satisfaction
Presented By:
Rupinder Singh
Contents
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Introduction
Concept Of Job Satisfaction
Importance Of Job Satisfaction
How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction
Theories of Job Satisfaction
Assessment of Job Satisfaction
Job Satisfaction
• Overall measures of satisfaction may be too
broad: current measures address different facets
of job satisfaction
• Overall job satisfaction rate has remained the
same for over 50 years
• When people say they are satisfied, they often
mean they are not dissatisfied!!
Concept Of Job Satisfaction
• Job satisfaction is simply how people feel about their jobs and
different aspects of their jobs. It is the extent to which people like
(satisfaction) or dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs. (Spector, 1997)
• An alternative approach is based on the assumption that there are
basic and universal human needs, and that, if an individual’s needs
are fulfilled in their current situation, then that individual will be
happy. This framework postulates that job satisfaction depends on
the balance between work-role inputs - such as education, working
time, effort - and work-role outputs - wages, fringe benefits, status,
working conditions, intrinsic aspects of the job. If work-role outputs
(‘pleasures’) increase relative to work-role inputs (‘pains’), then job
satisfaction will increase.
Determinants of Job Satisfaction
1. The work
itself
2. Pay
4. Supervision
3. Growth and
upward
mobility
5. Coworkers
6. Attitude
toward work
Personal Characteristics and Job
Satisfaction
• Age: in general, increases with age
▫ Malcontents have stopped working
▫ Older workers have greater chance of fulfillment
• Gender: inconclusive results
• Race: whites are happier
• Cognitive Ability: slight negative relationship
between level of education and satisfaction
Personal Characteristics, Cont.
• Use of Skills
• Job Congruence
• Personality: less alienation and internal locus of
control lead to higher satisfaction
• Occupational Level: the higher the status level
the greater the satisfaction
Importance Of Job Satisfaction
• Investigated by several disciplines such as psychology,
sociology, economics and management sciences, job
satisfaction is a frequently studied subject in work and
organisational literature.
• This is mainly due to the fact that many experts believe that
job satisfaction trends can affect labour market behaviour
and influence work productivity, work effort, employee
absenteeism and staff turnover.
• Moreover, job satisfaction is considered a strong predictor of
overall individual well-being, as well as a good predictor of
intentions or decisions of employees to leave a job.
Job Satisfaction
• Measuring Job Satisfaction
▫ Single global rating
▫ Summation score
• How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs?
▫ Job satisfaction declined to 50.4% in 2010 from
52.1% in 2001.
▫ Decline attributed to:
 Pressures to increase productivity and meet tighter
deadlines
 Less control over work
How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction
Exit
Voice
Behavior directed toward
leaving the organization.
Active and constructive
attempts to improve
conditions.
Loyalty
Neglect
Passively waiting for
conditions to improve.
Allowing conditions to
worsen.
Responses to Job Dissatisfaction
Source: “When Bureaucrats Get the
Blues,” Journal of Applied Social
Psychology.
The Effect of Job Satisfaction on
Employee Performance
• Satisfaction and Productivity
▫ Satisfied workers aren’t necessarily more
productive.
▫ Worker productivity is higher in organizations with
more satisfied workers.
• Satisfaction and Absenteeism
▫ Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable absences.
• Satisfaction and Turnover
▫ Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
▫ Organizations take actions to retain high
performers and to weed out lower performers.
Job Satisfaction and OCB
• Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship
Behavior (OCB)
▫ Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by and
are trusting of the organization are more willing to
engage in behaviors that go beyond the normal
expectations of their job.
Job Satisfaction and Customer
Satisfaction
• Satisfied employees increase customer
satisfaction because:
▫ They are more friendly, upbeat, and responsive.
▫ They are less likely to turnover which helps build
long-term customer relationships.
▫ They are experienced.
• Dissatisfied customers increase employee job
dissatisfaction.
Low Satisfaction and Job Behavior
• Absenteeism: any given day 16-20% of
workers miss work. Costs businesses $30
billion dollars a year
▫ Younger have higher absence rates
▫ Rates are influenced by economic conditions
• Turnover: Not always a bad thing!
▫ Functional Turnover: when bad workers leave
▫ Dysfunctional Turnover
Theories of Job Satisfaction
• Each theory of job satisfaction takes into account
one or more of the four main determinants of job
satisfaction and specifies, in more detail, what
causes one worker to be satisfied with a job and
another to be dissatisfied.
• Influential theories of job satisfaction include
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The Facet Model
Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory
The Discrepancy Model
The Steady-State Theory
• These different theoretical approaches should be
viewed as complementary.
The Facet Model
• Focuses primarily on work situation factors by breaking
a job into its component elements, or job facets, and
looking at how satisfied workers are with each.
• A worker’s overall job satisfaction is determined by
summing his or her satisfaction with each facet of the
job.
• Job facets:
▫ Ability utilization: the extent to which the job allows
one to use one’s abilities.
▫ Activity: being able to keep busy on the job.
▫ Human relations supervision: the interpersonal skills
of one’s boss.
Average Job Satisfaction Levels by
Facets
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Overall (78 %)
Work Itself (76 %)
Coworkers (70 %)
Supervision (66 %)
Pay (58 %)
Promotion (20 %)
Hertzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory
• Every worker has two sets of needs or
requirements: motivator needs and hygiene
needs.
• Motivator needs are associated with the actual
work itself and how challenging it is.
▫ Facets: interesting work, autonomy, responsibility
• Hygiene needs are associated with the physical
and psychological context in which the work is
performed.
▫ Facets: physical working conditions, pay, security
Hertzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory
• Hypothesized relationships between motivator
needs, hygiene needs, and job satisfaction:
▫ When motivator needs are met, workers will be
satisfied; when these needs are not met, workers
will not be satisfied.
▫ When hygiene needs are met, workers will not be
dissatisfied; when these needs are not met,
workers will be dissatisfied.
The Discrepancy Model
• To determine how satisfied they are with their
jobs, workers compare their job to some “ideal
job.” This “ideal job” could be
▫
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What one thinks the job should be like
What one expected the job to be like
What one wants from a job
What one’s former job was like
• Can be used in combination with the Facet
Model.
The Steady State Theory
• Each worker has a typical or characteristic level
of job satisfaction, called the steady state or
equilibrium level.
• Different situational factors or events at work
may move a worker temporarily from this steady
state, but the worker will eventually return to his
or her equilibrium level.
Assessment of Job Satisfaction
• Job Descriptive Index
▫ work
▫ pay
▫ promotion
opportunities
▫ supervision
▫ coworkers
• Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire
▫ intrinsic satisfaction
▫ extrinsic satisfaction

Job in General Scale
 similar to JDI, but
measures global job
satisfaction
Advice to Managers
• Realize that some workers are going to be more satisfied than others with the
same job simply because they have different personalities and work values. Also
realize that you can take steps to increase levels of job satisfaction because it is
determined not only by personality but also by the work situation.
• Try to place newcomers in work groups whose members are satisfied with their
jobs.
• Ask workers what facets of their jobs are important to them, and do what you
can to ensure that they are satisfied with these facets.
• Because job satisfaction has the potential to impact workers’ behaviors in
organizations and their well-being, use existing measurement scales to
periodically survey your subordinates’ levels of job satisfaction. When levels of
job satisfaction are low, follow the advice in the preceding step.
• Recognize that workers’ evaluations of job facets, not what you think about
them, determine how satisfied workers are and that changing some facets may
have longer-lasting effects on job satisfaction than changing others.
Managers Can Create Satisfied
Employees
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Mentally Challenging Work
Equitable Rewards
Supportive Working Conditions
Supportive Colleagues
Source: Society for Human Resource Management
(www.shrm.org)
Yearly Average Job-Satisfaction Levels:
Public and Private Sector Workers in India
Year
Mean Job Satisfaction Public
Mean Job Satisfaction Private
2001
5.66 (1.39)
5.43 (1.56)
2002
5.61 (1.28)
5.46 (1.40)
2003
5.51 (1.32)
5.41 (1.38)
2004
5.44 (1.37)
5.35 (1.41)
2005
5.47 (1.30)
5.33 (1.39)
2006
5.46 (1.28)
5.38 (1.34)
2007
5.50 (1.25)
5.43 (1.32)
Job Satisfaction in the USA
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Very satisfied
49
49
46
48
48
48
Moderately satisfied
38
40
38
40
38
39
A little dissatisfied
10
9
11
10
10
10
Very dissatisfied
3
2
4
3
4
4
Source: International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), 2007
Thank You