What is Job Satisfaction and Why is it Important?

Communication can be extremely important to retaining levels of satisfaction, on both a personal and professional level.

It is exhibited in allowing employees to be open, collaborative, trustworthy, and even confrontational when needed.

Defining a company culture links to job satisfaction as it provides values and guidance about topics ranging from organizational goals to appropriate levels of interaction between employees.

It’s no surprise that once a culture is established in a workplace, satisfaction can then be enhanced by added feelings of security. Security may arise from knowing you work for a viable company with long-term goals, insinuating feelings of belonging to that company (Berg, Grant, & Johnson, 2010).

This can be enhanced by having honest communication and transparency within a company.

Tied into increased motivation for employees, leadership, or influencing a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals can lead to job satisfaction by making sure communication and instruction of tasks is adequate and easily understood.

Employees can gain more satisfaction with their job when more challenging opportunities arise.

This can lead to participation in interesting and diverse projects and get employees away from the monotony of a role.

Employees can become more satisfied with their job when they know there is an individualized plan for them.

Beyond the formal nature of appraisals, if there is a path in place for growth, this can encourage employees to stay happier for longer.

Job satisfaction can be increased if a resilient workplace is a cooperative environment.

This means a place with respect for diverse ideas and opinions, honest and constructive feedback, mentoring opportunities, and freedom from harassment.

Does the employee proactively seek out a manager for feedback? Does the employee go the extra mile to achieve tasks within a company? Does the employee try to stick to company goals, lead meetings, and ask questions when unsure about how to complete a task?

If yes, these employees are ones who can show more satisfaction in the workplace. Proactiveness in the workplace can lead to positive job appraisals, which when fed back to the employee, can lead to satisfaction.

While pay and benefits are not the only reason employees find satisfaction in their workplaces, research going back more than 30 years (e.g., Gerhart, 1987) shows that pay and benefits, at least according to how employees view themselves in their roles, has ranked high on lists of job satisfaction factors.

Beyond monetary gain and being paid fairly for the work they do, job satisfaction for employees means that promotional policies are unambiguous and in line with their expectations.

Satisfaction at a job is not exclusively linked to pay, but to the perceived fairness of how one is recognized at work for achievements.

• Increased profits
• Higher productivity
• Lower turnover
• Loyalty.