Job Satisfaction

Subjective attitudinal state stemming from appraisal of one's job 



Evaluation of a target (event, idea, experience, person)



Beliefs (based on our experience and available information 

Values (stemming from upbringing)



Value- percept theory of job satisfaction 



Comparisons inform how employees feel about their job 



Five core values

  1. Pay satisfaction - weakest correlation to job satisfaction 

  • Magnitude of salary 

  • Security of salary (lower for casual work) 

  • Availability of benefits and perks 

  • Affected by comparison (own expectations, colleagues, industry standard) 



  1. Promotion satisfaction - .43 - moderate - strong 

  • Nature of promotion policies (clarity regarding criteria for promotion and promotion rules 

  • Execution of promotion policies 

  • Not universally preferred (promotions bring more opportunities but also more responsibilities) - 



  1. Supervision satisfaction - .40 moderate - strong

  • Communication (ability and frequency) 

  • Competence (knowledge and leadership)

  • Ability to assist employee in attaining goals (provides resources, mentorship, rewards) 



  1. Co-worker satisfaction - .42 moderate - strong 

  • Support (providing assistance and help) 

  • Competence (capable and responsible in their role) 

  • Morale (promote a positive work environment) 

  • There is no universally preferred personality profile 



Interaction fluency 

  • Human and robotic employees create a well-synchronized team and perform joint activities with high level of coordination 



  1. Satisfaction with work itself - .78 - strongest correlation in satisfaction

  • Extent to which job tasks are challenging, interesting, meaningful, relevant to their skills/strengths




Psychological states affecting satisfaction with work



Degree to which work is perceived as purposeful 

  • Affected by three job characteristics:

    • Variety 

    • Identity

    • Significance 



  1. Variety 

  • Offsets monotony and repetition 

  • Novelty associated with dopamine release in the brain (assosciated with feelings of pleasure, satisfaction, motivation 

  • Degree to which a job involves different activities that require an assortment of skills 



  1. Identity 

  • Degree to which a job involves completing an identifiable piece of work, from start to finish 

  • Contributes to understanding of why work is being performed 



  1. Significance 

  • Degree to which a job has an impact on broader society beyond the organization 

  • Associated with greater motivation and productivity 




Degree to which own efforts are seen as having an impact on organization 



  • Affected by job characteristics of autonomy 

    • Flexible work arrangements 

    • Control over procedures and method 

Job satisfaction and remote work 

  • Positive correlation between remote work and job satisfaction 

  • Greater feeling of autonomy 

  • When imposed or requested 



Affected by job characteristic of feedback 

  • From supervisor, colleagues, clients 

  • Weather carrying out job tasks provides employee with feedback about their performance 



Autonomy x feedback 

  • Low levels of each substantially compromise and satisfaction with work 




Job rotation 

  • Involves moving employees between jobs/departments (lateral)

  • Helps to make an organization more adaptable and cooperative 

  • Can reduce stress by allowing for breaks from more demanding roles 

  • Requires investment in training to ensure proper qualifications 



Job enlargement 

  • Adding activities within the same level to an existing role 

  • Increases variety and identity

  • Existing skills are broadened (more opportunities for advancement)

  • Positive effects diminish over time 

  • Quantity of work can be overwhelming (reduced job performance) 



Job enrichment 

  • Involves increasing the depth and complexity of job tasks 

  • Maximizing variety, identity, significance, autonomy, feedback 

  • includes : more supervision, more challenging work, responsibility for larger share of work, work with greater possibility of growth and advancement 



Emotions 

  • Intense feelings 

  • Typically lasting a short duration 

  • Directed toward a specific object or circumstance

  • Unique from moods (milder, generalized, longer duration)



uplift : receive praise, complete a project on time 

hassle : negative interaction with co-worker, receiving extra work 



Personal dispositions 

  • Personality 

  • Ability 

  • High A and C, low N, high El



Surface acting 

  • Superficially displaying emotions (insincere role-playing)



Deep acting

  • Changing internal feelings to match external emotions (requires cognitive effort)



Agreeableness (deep)

Extraversion (deep)

Conscientiousness (deep)

Narcissism (surface)

Machiavellianism (surface)



Positively related to job satisfaction 

  • Better job performance, emotional exhaustion of prolonged 



Work-life balance 

  • Reduced job satisfaction during disruptions 



FFSB

  • Informal and formal actions by a supervisor that promote work-life balance 



Meta-analyses support the above casual chain