Job satisfaction
Enjoying the work that you do may be the most important factor in/for continuing at an organisation. Organisations benefit in many ways if their employees are satisfied with their jobs. This page tells you what job satisfaction is, what the benefits are, how to measure it, how to increase it and how AnalitiQs can help you achieve greater job satisfaction.
What is job satisfaction?
Job satisfaction is something that you would wish every employee could experience. But what is it exactly? Job satisfaction is the strength of carrying out one’s work with pleasure. Employees with a high level of job satisfaction gain more energy from their work activities than they lose. The most important aspect, however, is finding out what boosts job satisfaction among employees. Though this may differ per employee, there are a number of general drivers that may (greatly) increase job satisfaction among employees:
- A healthy work-life balance
- Good remuneration and labour conditions
- Meaningful work
- Pleasant colleagues
- Feedback and recognition
- Trust in the organisation
- Autonomy and having a voice in decision making
As you can see, most of these drivers can be influenced by the organisation itself. This means that changes or improvements within the organisation can induce greater job satisfaction among its employees!
Generally, employee wishes differ the most across age groups. Young people (aged 18-34), for example, are relatively less driven by remuneration and labour conditions than the older age groups. Instead, they are more keen on receiving feedback and recognition. So, what constitutes job satisfaction is different for everyone. Job satisfaction research can help in identifying the relevant relationships in your organisation.
Benefits of greater job satisfaction
There are many benefits to achieving high levels of job satisfaction. Employees will typically exhibit lower levels of absenteeism, be more productive, work at the organisation for a longer time and, of course, enjoy working there! A high job satisfaction rate thus has many benefits and makes for beaming, happy employees. Job satisfaction research is conducted to find out whether job satisfaction is high among the employees of an organisation.
Job satisfaction research
Job satisfaction research is designed so as to measure the current level of job satisfaction among employees and map ways to raise it.
Measuring job satisfaction
Job satisfaction is measured using a questionnaire, which is distributed among the employees. This questionnaire obviously includes questions about the level of job satisfaction experienced. Employees respond to various statements using Likert scales, with answering options ranging from ‘fully disagree’ to ‘fully agree’. In addition, this survey addresses various other aspects that can impact job satisfaction, ranging from the self-perceived relevance of the employee’s work activities to the collaboration with colleagues. After the questionnaires have been filled out, the results are analysed to answer questions such as: ‘What activities are least pleasurable for employees?’; ‘Are there differences across the various groups of employees, e.g. in terms of age, position and length of employment?’ Once the above has been established, a plan can be drawn up to increase job satisfaction where necessary!
Increasing job satisfaction
After the job satisfaction research, the organisation can start acting on the outcomes, so as to increase job satisfaction. It is important, however, that management is well aware of what constitutes job satisfaction, so that the outcomes are properly understood and the right steps are taken. Since every employee is different, one might use personas, for example, to try and treat everyone in a way that they appreciate. Some of the issues brought up in relation to increasing job satisfaction are the workplace, leadership, room for personal development and work atmosphere. Depending on context, a survey might also include closely related concepts alongside job satisfaction: Satisfaction, for example, can be included to measure how satisfied employees are with the organisation, enthusiasm to measure the levels of energy and productivity and commitment to measure the ties with the organisation.
What Highberg can do for you?
Highberg has experience in conducting (international) job satisfaction research and raising job satisfaction levels and would be happy to help your organisation! Gotten curious about your options? Feel free to contact us without any obligation.
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