What is Job Satisfaction and Why Does it Matter?
29th September 2020
Job satisfaction can be defined in a number of ways, but in essence it consists of how people feel about their job and the organisation they work for.
- Do they feel engaged with their tasks?
- Are they happy at work?
- Do they get on with their coworkers?
- Do they like the company?
These are just some of the elements that when they come together will result in job satisfaction. Job satisfaction can be a good indicator as to whether, as an organisation, you are getting your employee engagement strategy right or not.
How your people feel has a direct impact on your company performance, your staff retention and your reputation as an employer within the business community.
As Aristotle put it “pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work,” your people cannot perform at their best if they have no job satisfaction.
People with low levels of job satisfaction are probably not very happy at their work or enthusiastic about their job, and if they think poorly of their employer then they are unlikely to speak well of them to others
Dissatisfied people won’t stay
Research suggests that UK businesses are at risk of losing over two-thirds (71%) of their employees to other firms due to low job satisfaction and poor employee experience.[1]
Engagement and job satisfaction are strongly linked, without being engaged at work it is much harder for people to feel satisfied in their job.
Achieving employee engagement is growing problem that needs to be addressed, a global engagement study found that 85% of workers are ‘just coming to work’ rather than being fully engaged with their job.[2]
A survey by Cygnet jobs found that 57% respondents have moved organisations seeking greater job satisfaction.[3]
If you do not actively focus on improving on job satisfaction, you will likely lose your top talent and struggle to attract the best people to your organisation.
On top of that, you will have to foot the bill incurred when replacing them, which can be quite costly.
What drives job satisfaction?
What constitutes job satisfaction is very individual and varies from industry to industry.
Age, gender, and level of seniority have all been found to play a big role in determining what job satisfaction means to a person.
Often, employers assume that financial incentives are enough to guarantee job satisfaction, but research has found the motivators are much more complex and personal.
Although bonuses and higher pay do have a positive influence on satisfaction, 3 of the top key predictors of employee job satisfaction are:
- Good work relationships
- Good leadership
- A safe and positive work environment
How to improve job satisfaction
Organisations should focus on encouraging strong work bonds among their teams.
Positive workplace interactions and a strong sense of belonging at work have been linked to higher levels of productivity, loyalty to the organisation, and better overall team resilience.[4]
Workers who say they are part of a team are 2.3 times more likely to be fully engaged.[5] Strong work bonds help to build a sense of camaraderie, belonging and trust.
Instances of bullying, harassment and exclusion were found to be a huge drain on people’s morale, job satisfaction and loyalty.[6]
More than one in four workers who report having experienced a conflict in the last 12 months said they are likely or very likely to leave in the next year, compared to the one in seven who experienced no conflict.[7]
People are happier and more engaged when they are around people they respect, trust and can get along with at work.
Organisations should provide their people with the space to build these crucial bonds.
Collaborative interactive tools like Trickle can help to bring your people together to connect in a safe, meaningful and open way.
Trickle Confide also gives your people a way to confidentially ask for support or guidance if such incidents should occur, meaning they do not have to face the issue along.
Build trust in leadership
“Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first.” – Angela Ahrendts, Former Senior Vice President, Apple
Like the bonds between coworkers, the relationship between a workforce and its leadership is crucial in building job satisfaction.
It is hard to be happy at work if you feel you are not valued, recognised or listened to by your manager. Job satisfaction dwindles even further when staff have no trust or faith in leadership.
A study found that workers who trust their managers are 12 times more likely to be fully engaged at work.[8]
How managers communicate and interact with their staff can really make or break this relationship. Greater trust is given to managers who are able to communicate with clarity about expectations, future growth opportunities and are able to offer meaningful employee recognition.[9]
Often companies adopt a top-down approach when it comes to engaging with their people. This lop-sided approach can often leave staff feeling left out of the narrative, unimportant and disengaged.
A direct and two-way transparent communication tool like Trickle ensures that everyone has a voice and people feel comfortable to raise issues, ask questions and contribute to the decisions being made.
Trickle allows managers to be more responsive, give continuous feedback, and to demonstrate employee recognition and value.
Build a workplace where people love to be
Company culture plays a huge role in how people feel about their job. People will not stay somewhere they feel anxious, intimidated, stressed and powerless day in, day out. A high level of psychological safety at work has been linked to higher performing teams and a more engaged workforce.
Nurturing trust and safety in the workplace will create the sort of environment where talking about wellbeing is normalised and your people can feel that their opinions are valued, and are comfortable to admit when they require extra support.
If you can foster this type of open atmosphere, your people will be able to communicate to you what they need to feel satisfied, and be able to flag-up if they are unhappy before they simply give up and leave you for a better experience elsewhere.
Guessing what your people need to feel satisfied is unlikely to work, you need to give them a voice and then actively listen to them.
Trickle’s MoodSense feature is a fast and easy way for managers to take a temperature gauge of how their teams are feeling and respond accordingly.
Their direct feedback will help you to better understand how you can improve together to build a better work environment for everyone.
Boost job satisfaction in your organisation
Trickle is an online platform enabling organisations to build a better workplace and achieve better business performance by engaging, collaborating and supporting the health and wellbeing of their people.
Find out how Trickle can boost job satisfaction in your organisation.
Book a 20 minute demo today!
Sources:
[1]
https://www.businessleader.co.uk/is-job-satisfaction-in-the-uk-in-decline/76128/
[2]
https://www.adp.com/-/media/adp/resourcehub/pdf/adpri/adpri0102_2018_engagement_study_technical_report_release-ready.pdf
[3]
https://www.securitywatchdog.org.uk/latest-news/2018/uk-workers-leaving-their-positions-for-greater-job-satisfaction
[4]
https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/uk-working-lives-2019-v1_tcm18-58585.pdf
[5]
https://www.adp.com/-/media/adp/resourcehub/pdf/adpri/adpri0102_2018_engagement_study_technical_report_release-ready.pdf
[6]
https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/uk-working-lives-2019-v1_tcm18-58585.pdf
[7]
https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/uk-working-lives-2019-v1_tcm18-58585.pdf
[8]
https://www.adp.com/-/media/adp/resourcehub/pdf/adpri/adpri0102_2018_engagement_study_technical_report_release-ready.pdf
[9]
https://trickle.wearepeakfifteen.com/blog/3-top-tips-to-make-employee-appreciation-more-meaningful/
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