Job Satisfaction

A lack of personal satisfaction is a frequent reason many people speak of when quitting a job. What is personal satisfaction? What can a manager do to develop levels of satisfaction in people on jobs? Fortunately, there are many things that can be done to provide working conditions where satisfaction can develop. There are no assurances that it will develop but at least conditions encouraging the development of satisfaction can be maintained in the work place.

Employees should be able to understand where they fit into the business. They should know the importance of what they do, how it affects other people, parts of the business and the consequences on other people of both good and bad performances of their duties. This can be accomplished by requesting them to work a day or more at a variety of tasks as part of an orientation process. Some production units require a person to work one day each month in some other part of the business other than their normal duties.

Encourage regular contacts with other employee’s suppliers and customers. As people become aware of their needs in a position, they should also understand the needs, pressures and concerns of the people they work with, buy from and sell to. The learning possibilities from this type of situation are endless and the opportunities for the development of ideas, people and methods are much greater where communication is open and encouraged. Do everything possible to develop a person’s skills. While someone may have been hired for a particular position or task, they may have especially good skills or abilities to do other things. Allowing the full range of skills to develop and encouraging a person to change can lead to increased job performance and personal satisfaction.

Initiative and independence must be developed as well. People need to be allowed to choose how their work should be organized and done. The concept of "we do it this way here", does not lead to job or personal satisfaction. For instance, if a person is left-handed, they are far better off doing things in a method that suits their abilities rather than trying to convert to the prescribed way of carrying out procedures. Similarly, if a person wishes to do the scheduling or book work entries at the start of the day rather than at the end of the day, management should try to make the arrangements necessary to make this happen. The opportunity for the individual to manage their own time and work is a large part of job satisfaction.

There must be standards of comparison. People need to know how well they are doing at their jobs and where they could improve. This is usually the reason for a performance appraisal, but it is important to keep in mind that appraisals do not equate to criticism. It may be necessary to explain the importance of completing tasks within timelines or changing the technique of doing a task. Unfortunately, many performance appraisals only frustrate the employee by adding more tasks to what appears to be an already overloaded agenda.

Job satisfaction needs to include an opportunity for growth and development. As people develop new attitudes and skills, their wants, needs and performance will change. An astute manager will be aware of these changes occurring and will be willing to provide training, job reclassification or a totally new position to take full advantage of the development of the employee.

We watch our kids go through school and are amazed at their changes and development, but rarely do we ever look at an employee in the same light.