Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction

Everything you need to know about the factors affecting job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is the result of various attitudes possessed by an employee.

In a narrow sense, these attitudes are related to the job and are concerned with such specific factors as wages, supervision, and steadiness of employment, conditions of work, advancement opportunities, and recognition of ability, fair evaluation of work, social relations on the job, prompt settlement of grievances, fair treatment by employer, and other similar items.

Job satisfaction is derived from and is caused by many interrelated factors which cannot be completely isolated from one another for analysis. Besides, these factors may also change from one situation to another.

The three major factors affecting job satisfaction are categorised into:-

A. Personal Factors:

1. Sex 2. Age 3. Number of Dependents 4. Time on Job 5. Level and Range of Intelligence 6. Level of Education 7. Attitude 8. Personality

B. Factors Inherent in Job:

1. Nature of Job 2. Skill Required 3. Occupational Status 4. Geography

C. Factors Controllable by Management:

1. Security 2. Fringe Benefits 3. Co-Workers 4. Flow of Communication 5. Working Conditions 6. Responsibility 7. Supervision 8. Wages 9. Opportunities for Advancement.

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Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction: Personal Factors, Factors Inherent in Job and Factors Controllable by Management

Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction – 2 Important Groups: Characteristics of the Individual and Characteristics of the Job

In practical life there are several factors affecting job satisfaction which may be divided under two groups.

They are as follows:

1. Characteristics of the Individual and

2. Characteristics of the Job.

The detailed discussion of these two are as follows:

1. Characteristics of the Individual:

Individual mind in full of variable situations and thus the study of job-satisfaction becomes complicated.

Following are the important characteristics of an individual regarding Job-satisfaction:

(a) Job-Satisfaction and Individual Differences:

Individual differences make the study of job-satisfaction complicated, as such; one is different in his habits, attitude, nature etc. So each one differs in his perception about self, his job and the organisation he works for.

One may be satisfied, while others may be fully dissatisfied, some others may be quite indifferent in the similar work environment. Thus, individual differences provide the extent of job satisfaction.

(b) Relationship of Age and Job Satisfaction:

Herzberg has established an important relationship between age and job-satisfaction. According to him, in the early years of his employment the morale of the youth remains high and it decreases after sometime. But there are differences of opinions that there is any relationship between age and job-satisfaction.

Some other researches show that taking into account the occupational level as constant, there is generally a positive relationship between age and job-satisfaction up to the age of early sixties and then there is a sharp decrease. Other studies show that there is no relationship between age and job.

(c) Educational Level and Job-Satisfaction:

Studies by Vollmer and Kinney indicate that with occupational level held constant, there is negative relationship between educational level and job-satisfaction particularly the pay satisfaction. ASH studies in the year 1954 have established no relationship between these two variables. It is very difficult to find out the reasons for the differences in outcome of the various studies because these researches are based on theoretical framework.

(d) Sex and Job Satisfaction:

Further, the studies of Huim and Smith in the year 1964 found no relationship between sex and job-satisfaction. There is a group of variables relating to sex which concerns the job-satisfaction, such as pay, promotional avenues and occupational level etc. The studies of this period have revealed that women workers are more satisfied with their job than men despite the fact that men and women were getting the same pay and status.

2. Characteristics of the Job:

Certain Jobs have got its own peculiarities.

The important characteristics of the job are as follows:

(a) Occupational Level of Job:

Occupational Level of Job means that higher the level of job, the greater the job satisfaction. Because the various needs are satisfied at different levels of job. People in society value some jobs higher than others hence persons, like such highly valued jobs in comparison to lower level jobs.

In this connection GURIN, VEROFF and Feld experiment in the year 1960 found that men of high status have more ego-satisfaction than men of low status in the organisation. Again PORTER has established this fact that higher level of jobs satisfies the ego of the person because they get high status and more pay. It happens due to social system.

(b) Greater the Variations in Job, Greater the Satisfaction:

Various researches indicate that the greater the variations in job contents the greater the satisfaction of the individuals involved. The research study made by Walker and Guest in an automobile assembly plant found that in the jobs that involved five or more distinct operations, 70% of the workers working on the operations had favourable job feelings and the rest of the workers engaged on single operation job liked their job.

(c) Social Interaction and Working in a Group:

Interaction of people with others or group may result in job-satisfaction and dis-satisfaction. If interaction is unsatisfying, a person may withdraw himself in case of voluntary group.

But if it is not always possible in an organisation group to withdraw the result is frustration and the more the interaction, the more the frustration. If others behaviour in the group is similar to his own and others recognise him or when interaction facilitates him in the achievement of goals the interaction is more satisfying.

(d) Job Security:

Job security is an important consideration on lower level or unskilled jobs. On the other hand, it is secondary consideration on higher level or technical or skilled jobs. Therefore, if the organisation provides job security, the people in the organisation feel satisfied and if they are quite insecure they will be frustrated.

(e) Pay and Promotional Opportunities:

These two variables are tied up with occupational level and social prestige. In addition each of these variables also has the capacity to fulfill an increasing number of needs. If there are promotional avenues open in a particular job the person concerned will feel satisfied because promotional avenues are important considerations in job satisfaction.

If there is no promotion or if the job lacks promotional avenues a person will feel dissatisfied. Though promotional opportunities are closely related to the merit but seniority is also considered.

(f) Working Conditions:

If working conditions on the job in an organisation are better in comparison to similar jobs in other organisation, the workers will be more satisfied. If these are worse, they will feel dissatisfied.

(g) Intrinsic Value or Aspects of the Job:

As the intrinsic value of job differs from man to man, so job-satisfaction also differs. A person is satisfied with his job because he is especially trained for that job and has the capacity of performing it well. Another person prefers that job only because, through this he gets recognition in the group or in the society, still others may be interested in the job because it is easy to perform.

Whatever may be the reason for accepting the job, a person may feel satisfied or dissatisfied with the job due to a member of reasons. For example—a more skilled worker may feel dissatisfied if there is low job requirement.

(h) Considerate Leadership:

Considerate leadership results in higher job satisfaction than inconsiderate leadership. Although different studies used the different instruments of measurements, procedures etc. yet the trend of their findings is almost consistent. Supervisory behaviour and the position held or the social status of the supervisor and the feelings among sub-ordinates for him are some of the considerations that affect the satisfaction of the jobs.

If the supervisors or superiors co-operate with their sub-ordinates, the subordinates will be more satisfied and if their inconsiderate decisions harm the subordinates or they lack leadership qualities, the sub-ordinates will feel themselves dissatisfied.

To conclude in job satisfaction the significance of a factor depends on nature of man and the situations of the case. Wages may be an important factor for one while others may feel promotional avenues more important. Some others may prefer job security and its social values in feeling satisfied.

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Factors Affecting to Job Satisfaction – 3 Major Factors: Personal Factors, Factors Inherent in Job and Factors Controllable by Management

Job satisfaction has been a subject of hot chase by researchers. There have been more than 3,000 pub­lished studies on job satisfaction during about last three decades. Job satisfaction is the attitude one has towards his/her job. Stated another way, it is ones affective response to the job. It is concerned with the ‘feeling’ one has towards his/her job. The importance of job satisfaction is fairly evident from the fact that it boosts the morale of a worker.

If a worker is not satisfied with his/her work, then both the quantity and the quality of his/her output will suffer. If his/her job satisfaction increases, then there is an improvement in both the quality and the quantity of production. Factories in which the workers are satisfied with their work are also characterised by a high morale. However, job satisfaction is dependent on one’s ability to execute the job well.

Job satisfaction is derived from and is caused by many interrelated factors which cannot be completely isolated from one another for analysis. Besides, these factors may also change from one situation to another. Some such important factors are discussed further.

1. Personal Factors:

i. Sex – Other things remaining the same, women are more satisfied with their work than men because relatively, women have limited needs and are less ambitious.

ii. Age – Usually young workers have higher level of job satisfaction, but by and by it shows a declining trend. However, certain studies on the subject have revealed positive results between advancing age and job satisfaction.

iii. Number of dependents – The greater the number of dependents one has, the less job satisfac­tion he/she will have. Financial stress causes greater job dissatisfaction.

iv. Time on job – Job satisfaction is relatively higher at the beginning of career, but by and by it starts dropping down by the time one reaches between fifth and eighth years on the job and surprisingly again starts going high with more time on the job.

v. Level and range of intelligence – Research findings reveal that the relation of intelligence to job satisfaction depends upon the level and range of intelligence and the challenge of the job.

vi. Level of education – Research studies reveal different results on the relationship of education to job satisfaction. For example, some studies have revealed that less educated people have more job satisfaction, while the findings of some other studies have been contrary to it.

vii. Attitude – People having positive attitude have more job satisfaction.

viii. Personality – People having positive traits in their personality usually have job satisfaction.

2. Factors Inherent in Job:

i. Nature of job – If the type of work involved in a job is of ‘varied nature’, then it brings more job satisfaction than does a job having ‘routine work’; some jobs do not appeal to the job holders.

ii. Skill required – In case a job involves high skill requirement, it gives more job satisfaction than does a job in which skill demands are at a lower level.

iii. Occupational status – Research studies have revealed that jobs having high social status and prestige give more job satisfaction.

iv. Size of the plant – Usually, in small plants, people get more job satisfaction because of attention they receive from the management, and also due to respect they get for their ability.

v. Geography – Workers in large towns are less satisfied with their jobs as compared to those working in small towns.

3. Factors Controllable by Management:

i. Security – The higher the security of job, security of retirement benefits, security of life and security of finance provided by the management, the greater will be the job satisfaction to the employees.

ii. Fringe benefits – Although the provision for fringe benefits affects the job satisfaction, these benefits occupy low position of importance.

iii. Co-workers – The job satisfaction is likely to be more if the co-workers are good. Hence, man­agement and workers all should try to create and maintain good human relations in the indus­try in order to create friendly environment.

iv. Flow of communication – In case communication flows adequately and smoothly, workers are likely to have more job satisfaction.

v. Working conditions – Where working conditions are better, workers get more job satisfaction because good working conditions leave an impact on the mind of the worker.

vi. Responsibility – Those jobs in which a lot of responsibility is involved give more job satisfac­tion, especially to the educated and highly educated people.

vii. Supervision – Jobs supervised by good-tempered and human relations-oriented supervisors are source of more job satisfaction, whereas ill-tempered supervisors become the source of dissatisfaction to the workers.

viii. Wages – Jobs carrying attractive wages and pay scales give more job satisfaction. Wages are of more significance as long as physiological needs are not fulfilled.

ix. Opportunities for advancement – Employees, especially the ambitious and potential ones, get more job satisfaction in jobs offering opportunities for advancement.

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Factors Affecting to Job Satisfaction – 3 Basic Categories of Factors: Personal Factors, Factors Inherent in the Job and Factors Controllable by Management

The terms ’employee attitude’, ‘job satisfaction’, and ‘industrial Morale’ are in many instances used interchangeably. Blum, however, has made the point that they are not synonymous. An attitude may contribute to job satisfaction since the latter is comprised of a number of attitudes. Similarly, job satisfaction is not the same as industrial morale, although it may contribute to morale.

Job attitude is the feeling the employee has about his job, his readiness to react in one way or another to specific factors related to job. Job satisfaction or dissatisfaction is the result of various attitudes the person holds towards his job, towards related factors, and towards life in general. Industrial morale is generated by the group. For the individual it is a feeling of being accepted by and belonging to a group of employees through adherence to common goals.

Job satisfaction is the result of various attitudes possessed by an employee. In a narrow sense, these attitudes are related to the job and are concerned with such specific factors as wages, supervision, and steadiness of employment, conditions of work, advancement opportunities, and recognition of ability, fair evaluation of work, social relations on the job, prompt settlement of grievances, fair treatment by employer, and other similar items.

With a large number of studies on job satisfaction during the last three-four decades, there have evolved many different scales used to measure it. The scales can be divided into two general categories. One is called ‘tailor-made’ scales, which are constructed for a particular setting or project.

The second set con­sists of ‘standardised’ scales, which establish group norms on the scales and ensure the reliability and validity of the measuring instruments. Thus, we find that job satisfaction is an important and interesting concept and has duly received the attention it deserves.

There are reasonably good instruments to mea­sure it, and there are also well-formulated theoretical explanations of it. In case there exists a provision in an organisation to measure job satisfaction periodically, it may be possible to understand in a better manner the extent to which the organisation is meeting employees’ needs and expectations.

However, a more comprehensive approach requires that many additional factors be included before a complete understanding of job satisfaction can be obtained. Such factors as employee’s age, health, temperament, desires and level of aspiration should be considered. Further, his family relationships, social status, recreational outlets, activity in organizations- labour, political, or purely social – contribute ultimately to job satisfaction.

In short, job satisfaction is a general attitude which is the result of many specific attitudes in three areas, namely specific job factors, individual characteristics, and group relationships outside the job.

Job satisfaction is derived from and is caused by many interrelated factors which form basic three categories:

1. Personal Factors

2. Factors inherent of the job

3. Factors controllable by management.

1. Personal Factors:

(1) Sex – Women are found to be more satisfied with their jobs than are men.

(2) Number of dependents – Results of a study of white-collar workers indicate that the more dependents one has, the less satisfaction he has with his job. Perhaps the stress of greater financial need brings about greater dissatisfaction with one’s job.

(3) Age – Studies have found different results in different groups on the relationship of age to job satisfaction. There was higher intrinsic job satisfaction among older white-colour employees, but lower financial and job status satisfaction among this group.

From the consensus of other studies, age has little relationship to job satisfaction for all employees, but it is important in some job situations. In some groups job satisfaction is higher with increasing age, in other groups it is lower; and in others there is no difference.

(4) Time on Job- Several investigations have indicated that job satisfaction is relatively high at the start, drops slowly to the fifth or eighth year, then rises again with more time on the job. The highest satisfaction is reached after twentieth year.

(5) Intelligence – Relation of intelligence to job satisfaction depends on the level and range of intelligence and the challenge of the job.

(6) Education – There is a great deal of conflicting evidence on the relationship between education and job satisfaction so no generalization can be made. Organizational policies on advancement in relation to education are important.

(7) Personality exclusive of intelligence- One criterion of personality is the existence of neurotic behaviour. Neurotic tendency leads to job dissatisfaction only when the job itself is one of a ‘greater’ strain.

Another possible criterion of personality is general satisfaction with non- job conditions. Very high correlation between general and job satisfaction is shown. Some job dissatisfaction is caused by the personality traits that made these employees unhappy off the job.

In yet another study it was found that persons who were rated high in interpersonal desirability by their fellow employees were the most satisfied with their jobs. Again, there is an implication of a general personality patterns of happiness. It is likely that personality maladjustment is the source of some job dissatisfaction, but it is not clear how strong the relationship is.

2. Factors Inherent in the Job:

These factors are important for management to plan and administer jobs more advantageously for its workers:

(1) Type of work – This factor is very important, shown that varied work brings about more routine work.

(2) Skills required – Skill in relation to job has a bearing on several other factors such as kind of work, occupational status, responsibility etc. Where skill exists to a considerable degree it tends to become the first source of satisfaction.

(3) Occupational Status – Occupational status is related to, but not identical with, job satisfaction. It has been observed that employees are more dissatisfied in jobs that have less social status and prestige.

(4) Geography- It is general observation that workers in larger cities are less satisfied with their jobs than are those in smaller cities and towns.

(5) Size of Plant- In small plants individuals know each other better and are therefore more cooperative. The favourable attitudes in small plants are based specifically on optimism about advancement, opportunity for making suggestions, treatment of employees, and respect for the ability of management.

3. Factors Controllable by Management:

(1) Security – Industrial employees say that what they want most is steady work.

(2) Pay

(3) Fringe benefits

(4) Opportunity for advancement |

(5) Working conditions

(6) Co-workers

(7) Responsibility

(8) Supervision

(9) Down-ward flow of communication – information.

In recent years employees have been desiring much more information about the job and the company.

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Factors Affecting to Job Satisfaction – Top 6 Factors

There are number of dimensions which effect job satisfaction. Value system possessed by an individual and the culture supporting the value system in the organization can be called as an important and basic for job satisfaction.

However some of the important factors that affecting job satisfaction of the employees in the organization are as under: –

Factor # 1. Work Content:

Content of the work itself is a major source of satisfaction. The work must be challenging. It should lend itself opportunities to use employee skills, ability and experience. The content of the work should be encouraging and interesting and have variety inbuilt in it so that it is not boring.

Positive feedback from the job and autonomy has been considered to be important for motivation of employees. Too tough or job having two little challenge brings frustration and feeling of failure hence the job should be moderately tough so that the individual has to stretch his ability, imagination and skills. Once such job is completed successfully, the workers get a great sense of satisfaction.

Factor # 2. Pay and Promotion Policy:

Salary and wages play decisive part in the study of job satisfaction. Equitable rewards is multidimensional in nature. The benefits are of varied nature namely pay, perks and rewards are associated with motivation of employees. Pay system and promotion policy of the organization must be just, unambiguous and in line with the prevalent industry norms and employee expectations.

Employee wages and salary must ensure him the social status and should be able to fulfill the expectations. Individual must perceive salary administration and promotion policy as being fair.

Organization should ensure that their polices are growth oriented and incremental in nature so that employees take on an additional responsibility voluntarily. Apart from financial benefits, organization must provide adequate perks and non-financial benefits so that they are motivated and display high level of satisfaction.

Factor # 3. Supportive Working Condition:

Working conditions have a modest but lasting effect on job satisfaction. Due to fast development of technology, it is necessary that the organizations are operating on upgraded technology, latest systems and procedures. The layout of work place must be ideally suited from operational point of view and the employees should display great degree of satisfaction.

The place should be neat and clean with necessary facilities as per Factories Act. Light, ventilation, cleanliness, enough space for work, immediate availability of supervision, adequate latest tools and generally good surrounding will definitely add to job satisfaction. If the work place were closer to home, it would add to employee retention.

Factor # 4. Work Group:

The concept of work group and work teams is more prevalent today. Work group of multi skilled persons with one goal will be able to function effectively if they are friendly and co­operative. The work group serves as a source of support, comfort, advice and assistance to individual worker. A good work group makes the job more enjoyable.

The factor of work group support is essential for job satisfaction. If the reverse conditions prevail, the people may not be able to get along with each other and the level of job satisfaction will be reduced.

Factor # 5. Supervision:

Supervision is one of the moderate factors, which affect job satisfaction. Qualified supervisors should be available for advice, guidance and problem solving. Supervisors should be placed close to the place of work and should be available. They should take personal interest in the affairs of employees both on personal and official level.

Supervision is related to leadership. In Defence Services the leadership is so proactive that the-leader carry on him details of each soldier under his command. The details include dependants of soldier’s family, their economic position, details of children, the class they study, home address and other demographic details, soldier take his boss as guide and philosopher who is always available to him for advice. Such supervision improves the morale and job satisfaction of employees.

The concept of supervision has changed. What is in vogue and in practice today is self-serviced teams and work group. The group prefer more freedom of work in relation to work hours, time management, frequent breaks between work hours and autonomy as long as job is completed in time.

Flater organizational structure therefore has come into practice. Steps in command structure have reduced. There is a participative management and work has to meet the established standards in terms of quality and quantity. The levels might have been reduced but not the value of supervision as a factor of job satisfaction.

Factor # 6. Personality Job Fit:

Individuals should be assigned the jobs that suit their interest. Recently it has been seen that MBA graduates are satisfied with their job if they get the job related to the “specialization” they have chosen during the MBA degree. Persons having analytical approach should be assigned job in R&D department so that their level of job satisfaction increases.

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