Job Satisfaction as an Attitude
Attitudes greatly influence the choices that people make. At the workplace, it is no different; attitudes of workers greatly influence the way they work and their motivation. Of the many different attitudes that affect workers and their motivation, job satisfaction is the most important of them. Job satisfaction has been described variously as the pleasurable emotional state that one feels after their job or their job experiences are appraised. As Bernstein and Nash (2008) assert, the emotional state, that is job satisfaction, has a potential to induce cognitive and behavioral differences that influence one’s motivation at work. This paper is an in-depth analysis of the emotion of job satisfaction and its influence on employee motivation and by extension – its influence on organizational productivity. The paper starts by first examining the various causes of employee attitudes including job satisfaction before tying these up with the employees’ motivation for work by using various motivational theories.
Employees’ attitudes are caused by various modifiable and non-modifiable factors both at the workplace and away. Saari and Judge (2004 p.396) argue that some employees are, however, predisposed to either job satisfaction or job dissatisfaction regardless of their current job situations. They report that some employees have the same level of job satisfaction even after changing employment and the situation at their work-station severally. The fact that job satisfaction was influenced by dispositional factors was further evidenced by a study, which revealed that childhood temperament strongly influenced one’s job satisfaction in their later life – up to 40 years later (Saari and Judge, 2004 p.397).
Dispositional factors affect how emotionally significant events at the workplace are perceived by an employee hence their job satisfaction. For instance, an employee with a bad childhood temperament is likely to take emotionally significant events in their childhood with intense emotions of anger hence they can develop hate for their jobs and workplace – something which would explain the low levels of job satisfaction among such people (Saari and Judge, 2004 p.396). Other scholars attributed this relationship between dispositional factors and job satisfaction to personality traits of the individuals. The most important of the personality traits, in this case, was thought to be core self-evaluation. Core self-evaluation informs one of their rankings at the job and whether they are being appreciated at the workplace or not (Saari and Judge, 2004 p.397). Moreover, self-evaluation is very important in the formation of opinions on one’s job. As such, self-evaluation comes out as a personality trait which strongly influences one’s views on the most important situation factor of one’s job satisfaction – the job itself. In addition, there has been good evidence of the strong association between personality and job satisfaction in recent times. In fact, this knowledge is what informs recent trends in the selection of employees which look to choose those employees whose personalities suit the employment in question.
A study by Furnham and colleagues (2009 p.765) established an unquestionable link between job satisfaction and the five big personality traits. Earlier, a meta-analysis by Judge et al. (2002 p.530) had established the same thing. In the studies, the five major personality traits which were examined were openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Of the five, neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness were found to have the greatest association with job satisfaction (Judge et al., 2002).
Apart from personality factors, the age of employees is an important non-modifiable personal factor that can significantly influence their satisfaction at work. DeSantis and Durst (1996 p.327) assert that most workers usually have an early period of great job satisfaction followed by a dip in their middle ages and later by an increase in their satisfaction levels as they move towards retirement. Wan and Leightly (2006) established a general trend in employee satisfaction – they found that the level of satisfaction increased with an increase in age. This trend is most likely due to the fact that older employees generally have lesser expectations and that the older employees who might have been very unsatisfied decided to retire earlier thus leaving behind somewhat satisfied older employees.
Cultural factors have also been shown to greatly influence the employees’ attitudes and job satisfaction. Cultural factors can be thought of as either national or specific for one workplace. There are various dimensions in which cultural factors and their influence on job satisfaction have been examined (Saari and Judge, 2004 p.398). The first of these dimensions is individualism versus collectivism. Here, employees whose personalities enable them to be good at working in groups and enjoying it are likely to have higher levels of job satisfaction in countries or firms where collectivism predominates. Conversely, employees who are naturally loners and tend to shy away from collective activities are likely to be more satisfied while working in countries where individualism predominates. The second dimension is uncertainty avoidance versus risk-taking (Saari and Judge, 2004 p.398). Here, employees who are naturally risk takers are likely to thrive and be happier in environments where risk taking is a norm. On the other hand, people whose personalities make them uncertainty avoiders are likely to be more satisfied in countries or firms where uncertainty avoidance predominates. Other cultural dimensions which are likely to affect job satisfaction for individual employees are masculinity versus femininity and power distribution. Indeed, the influence of cultural factors on employee attitudes and job satisfaction is greatly dependent on their personalities.
The work situation factors also greatly influence employee attitudes and their job satisfaction. As earlier alluded to, the most important of these work situation factors is the job itself, or more comprehensively – intrinsic job characteristics (Saari and Judge, 2004 p.397). Employees are likely to be more satisfied and have good attitudes about their job when they find their jobs interesting. Employees who have an intrinsic love for challenges are likely to find jobs that pose challenges to them on a regular basis to be better jobs hence much more satisfaction and better attitudes. In fact, a past study indicated that most employees go wrong by thinking that remuneration is the most important work situation factor that influences employee satisfaction; actually, to the employees in the study, remuneration ranked as the fifth most important factor with the nature of the job topping the list of the important work situation factors influencing job satisfaction (Saari and Judge, 2004 p.397). This does not reduce the importance of remuneration and other work situation factors to employee satisfaction though. Employees who feel that they are being compensated adequately are likely to have a better attitude towards their workplace hence they are likely to be more satisfied (Saari and Judge, 2004 p.398). The level of supervision is also an important factor in job satisfaction. The employee retention practices of a firm and other indicators of an employee’s job security influence their attitudes towards the firm and their satisfaction – employees who feel secure are likely to be more satisfied. Individuals who naturally resent strict supervision are likely to be unsatisfied at workplaces where heavy supervision is characteristic of the interaction.
The availability of promotion opportunities and one’s interaction with their co-workers are the other factors of the work situation that greatly influence the satisfaction of workers. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs seems to explain explicitly how factors at one’s workstation tend to influence their workstation and ultimately their motivation to continue working at the same station (McLeod, 2007). The hierarchy postulates that the human mind is made in a way that it always try to fulfill the body’s primary or physiological needs before it can fulfill other secondary and tertiary levels. Physiological needs include food, water, and shelter (McLeod, 2007). This explains why remuneration is very important to many employees as they begin or apply for certain positions but becomes of lesser importance to one’s job satisfaction as they achieve financial security. At the time they are hired, many employees are eager to know whether thy will be able to afford the basic needs of food, water, and shelter for themselves and their families. As such, proper compensation is required to give one this ability.
Close to the physiological needs is security. Here, factors like job security and stability and freedom from any form of fear become important to the achievement of job satisfaction (McLeod, 2007). This explains why the employee’s perception of their job security and their firms hiring strategies greatly influence their job satisfaction. On the aspect of fear, supervision strikes fear in some people. Such are the people who ate likely to be unsatisfied and unsettled in a firm where supervision is heavy. Moreover, supervision is in itself a threat to one’s job security.
Next in Maslow’s hierarchy is the sense of belonging (McLeod, 2007). One’s sense of belonging to a firm where they work is mainly a product of the acceptance and affection that they receive from their colleagues. The affiliation and attachment that one has to their co-workers also influences their sense of belonging to their workplace hence their job satisfaction. After a sense of belonging, one naturally goes for their esteem (McLeod, 2007). Approval and appreciation of one’s efforts by their co-workers, leaders or subjects gives one a good feeling and even enhances their self-evaluation. Furthermore, this approval and recognition usually earn one the respect of many people at the firm hence more satisfaction. This could also be an explanation as to why the level of jab satisfaction generally increases with age – older employees are likely to more competent in various things hence are highly appreciated and respected, the appreciation and respect naturally enhance their levels of satisfaction. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ends with self-actualization (McLeod, 2007).
The motivator-hygiene theory, which was developed by Herzberg, has a different way of explaining job satisfaction and how the various factors discussed earlier contribute to it (Herzberg, 1966). The theory suggests that satisfaction and dissatisfaction at a workplace are not two ends of the same spectrum but are rather very different things. The theory postulates that various motivator factors need to be availed for job satisfaction to be achieved. These motivator factors include remuneration, recognition and respect by colleagues, and achievement in one’s line of duty. On the other hand, dissatisfaction is precipitated by the failure of or lack of hygiene factors including working conditions, job security, one’s interaction with co-workers, and the firm’s culture (Herzberg, 1966). In essence, the theory suggests that happiness of a worker at their workplace is determined by an intricate interaction and balance between the motivator factors and the hygiene factors.
The job characteristics model further explains the important of the job characteristics on the worker satisfaction. The theory identifies five key dimensions of the job that can influence worker satisfaction; all these dimensions are covered in the work situation attributes that tend to influence job satisfaction as discussed before (Hackman and Oldham, 1975). Three of the five dimensions involve the job itself – the most important work situation attribute that influences job satisfaction; these are: the skill variety that is required for the job, the identity of the tasks defining the particular job, and the significance of the task to the worker and the job process in general (Hackman and Oldham, 1975 p. 161). The other two factors – autonomy and feedback – encompass the other factors in the workstation including the level of supervision and the interaction between the individual and their colleagues. These core job dimensions are thought to precipitate critical psychological states. Among these psychological states is the meaningfulness of the work to the worker, their feeling of responsibility for the various outcomes, and their knowledge of the results attained by their work (Hackman and Oldham, 1975 p. 161). Job attributes that precipitate positive critical psychological states are associated with better job satisfaction and higher levels of motivation whereas the job attributes that tend to cause negative psychological states are associated with job dissatisfaction.
Job Satisfaction and Performance at Work
As the old adage goes, happier workers are more productive workers. Happier workers in the adage are reminiscent with satisfied workers in this case. This directly implies that higher levels of job satisfaction are associated with higher levels of productivity. There is definitely a strong relationship between job satisfaction of workers and their productivity at the workplace (Roos and Van Eeden, 2008 p.54). Pushpakumari (2008 p.91) identifies three parts of this relationship – job satisfaction enhancing performance, performance at one’s workplace enhancing their satisfaction, and rewards causing both performance and satisfaction. These three parts are examined below.
Satisfied workers are likely to perform better at their workplace that their unsatisfied counterparts. Studies done in the past reveal the fact that satisfied workers are likely to hold their job places for a longer time and are more likely to be found at their workplace whenever they should be there when compared to unsatisfied ones (Pushpakumari, 2008 p.92). This can be explained by the fact that holding their job for a longer time gives the satisfied worker more experience and expertise which aid them in performing better. Moreover, job satisfaction is a direct indicator of the love that the worker has for their job hence better performance. In such a case, a worker who has the love for what they do are less likely to struggle with it hence reducing mental and even physical fatigue that could be associated with the job. It has also been thought that job satisfaction increases the worker’s expectation for their own performance thus enhancing their effort. Increased effort is likely to enhance performance. Actually, job satisfaction as an attitude is an important intrinsic motivator. Motivation results in better effort hence better performance. A paper by Muogbo (2013 p.70) further explains that motivation of individual workers tends to enhance the performance of the organization as a whole.
The second part of the relationship suggests that performance enhances hob satisfaction (Pushpakumari, 2008 p.94). As earlier alluded to, the characteristics of the job itself strongly influence one’s satisfaction. Moreover, a workers performance in a job is likely to have a strong influence of the other work situation factors like their interaction with other workers, their recognition by other workers and even the amount of respect that they earn from the other workers. All these play an important role in determining their level of job satisfaction. Additionally, consistent performance tends to enhance the worker’s own expectations of their job hence increasing their efforts.
Lastly, extrinsic motivation is one fact that can enhance both job satisfaction and performance (Pushpakumari, 2008 p.94). The extrinsic motivation here refers to the deliberate efforts by the employer or by the system to enhance the performance of their workers. These include better remuneration, better working environments, and promotions. As earlier alluded to the theories that explain worker motivation, these extrinsic factors interact with the personality of the individual and the work environment in a complex way to produce the various levels of job satisfaction. Of greatest importance is the fact that these extrinsic motivators tend to relay the signal that the employer appreciates the efforts of the employee and that they want them to continue performing at that level or even higher (Pushpakumari, 2008 p.94). The knowledge that the employer appreciates one’s efforts is not only satisfying in itself but is also tends to increase one’s expectations of their own performance in various things hence increasing their effort. Moreover, frequent rewards tend to induce behavioral changes that make the employees work with an extra effort with an expectation of being rewarded again. Finally, extrinsic motivators directly enhance performance by enhancing job satisfaction as revealed in the first part of the relationship (Pushpakumari, 2008 p.94).
Recommendations and Conclusion
Based on the discussions above, it can be concluded that there are many things that employers can deliberately do to enhance their employees’ motivation and performance in their jobs. First, employers should carefully select the people they employ having in mind that the intrinsic characteristics of the job are far more important to job satisfaction when compared to remuneration. The selection should, therefore, not only consider the intellectual capabilities of the potential employees but also their personalities. As such, it will be prudent for employers to spend more time on the parts of hobbies and likes when examining the curriculum vitae of job applicants.
Second, the characteristics of the job environment emerge as an important determiner of job satisfaction and performance. As such, employers should look to modify this environment so as to suit the needs of employees. Among the things that employers can modify is the level of supervision and the culture of the firm. Supervision can be reduced to a level that can prevent things from going wrong but can give workers self-belief and the autonomy that they desire. Culture can be modified in all four dimensions which were discussed earlier.
Finally, employers can work of providing extrinsic motivation for their employees on a regular basis. As earlier said, extrinsic motivators enhance both job satisfaction and productivity or performance; job satisfaction further promotes productivity. This can be done in the form of rewarding extra efforts of employees, reviewing employees’ remuneration terms on a regular basis, and having a structure for regular promotions of employees. It is, therefore, of great importance for employers to understand the basic mechanisms and the importance of job satisfaction of their employees and try to enhance it.
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