There is a very good article on Rozee.pk about job satisfaction. I thought I should share it on my blog too. I am pasting the article here for convenience. The article link is http://blog.rozee.pk/2010/05/20/job-satisfaction/
Here is the article.
How many times have you thought about leaving your job in the last month? Losing interest in your job and thinking of quitting repeatedly is a sign of low job satisfaction. As the level of job satisfaction in an employee decreases, the quality of his work deteriorates and sooner or later the company decides that it is time to let him go. Job satisfaction can be achieved to some level by putting in effort to redress the factors that are causing job dissatisfaction. The more satisfied a person is with the job the better he will perform and his stress level will be lower as well. However, in order to increase job satisfaction it is pertinent to identify the factors that make employees feel discontent at their job.
Factors that negatively affect job satisfaction:
Some of the most common factors that are responsible for a decline in job satisfaction level of the employees are:
Fear of losing the job:
When a person feels that his job is not secure, he fails to put maximum effort in work. Most employees who are hired on contract basis face this situation as they have the Damocles sword hanging over their head. These employees are so concerned about their job security that they find it hard to concentrate on their work.
Mundane routine:
When a worker has to undergo the same routine over and over again, he loses the will to perform well at the job. Doing the same tasks repeatedly curbs the creativity of an employee and when the employee feels like he is capable of doing nothing other than following the routine, he gets frustrated with his job.
Feeling undervalued:
When an employee is feeling undervalued at work, it soon leads to lessening the level of job satisfaction. If the supervisors and managers do not value your hard work and criticize your every move, you are bound to lose all interest in your work and lose jobs satisfaction as a consequence.
Lack of opportunities:
Feeling trapped in a job where there are no growth opportunities makes an employee lose job satisfaction. Unless we feel challenged regularly, most of us fail to perform well on the job and soon start looking for another job that might be a little more exciting than the last one.
Rifts with supervisor:
Problems with the coworkers or a manager can lead to high level of job dissatisfaction as one finds it difficult to deal with such problems on daily basis and work in such a negative environment.
Feeling like a failure:
When an employee fails to achieve a target or goals set by the superior repeatedly, he starts feeling like a failure. What people fail to realize is that failure is part of life and should be taken as a learning experience. If you learn from each failure you are bound to improve your skills and capabilities rather than taking every failure to heart and stop trying at all.
Low pay scale:
Most of the times a low pay scale is the basic reason for employee discontent and leads to most of them looking for a new job. Such employees feel that they are not being paid in accordance with the degree of expertise that they command and do not work well.
Improve your job satisfaction level:
Here are a few tips on how you can improve your job satisfaction level and work better to enhance your productivity.
Think positive:
The first step to improving your job satisfaction is curbing negativity of thoughts and being positive. Whenever you feel like your job is worthless or you are a looser, stop yourself immediately and start thinking about the good things that are associated with your job.
Break the routine:
If you feel bored or overworked when at work, try to take small breaks in between and find something refreshing to do. Even taking a small break to chat with your coworker might provide the much needed relief and help you in getting rejuvenated.
Improve your job skills:
While working somewhere, you can easily take on courses that will help you enhance your skills and will help in keeping you updated. This way you do not feel like you are wasting time at a job that has nothing to offer. Personal grooming and honing your skills will pay off sooner or later and will increase your job satisfaction level.
Volunteer work:
If your daily routine is boring and monotonous, then try volunteering for work that interests you and makes you feel like you are learning something new every day. You can also ask to be reassigned to another department that requires the same job skills that you posses but has new challenges to offer.
Be grateful:
You have to keep in mind that everyone encounters good days and bad days on the job but it does not mean that you should lose all interest in work and start looking for something else. Getting a job in today’s recession hit job market is not easy and the fact that you have a job while millions have been fired bodes well for your future.
Maintain balance:
If you wish to achieve higher level of job satisfaction, you have to maintain a balanced approach towards work and life. If work takes place of all the other things in your life, sooner or later you will start resenting it and then fell discontent at work.
What employers can do to boost the job satisfaction level of employees?
When it comes to job satisfaction, the people most affected are the employers and the managers. If the employees are not happy with their jobs, they start losing interest in work and the company has to suffer. If the employers want the workers to deliver the very best they have to make sure that their job satisfaction level is good.
In order to improve the job satisfaction level of the employees, the managers should follow some simple but very effective steps. These include:
- Improving the work environment and creating a friendly workplace for the employees so that their stress level stays in control.
- Providing incentives and rewards to keep the employees motivated.
- Paying the employees what they deserve as being underpaid is the most common reason for employee dissatisfaction from job.
- Keep challenging the employees and keep setting goals for them to achieve.
- Encourage communication between the employees and the managers so that they know who to talk to when they have a work related problems.