Job Satisfaction

Do people really like their jobs? Definitely, everyone knows from the news about dissatisfied workers going on strike or even acting violently toward their supervisors, directors, but overall people are quite satisfied with their jobs. A Conference Board study found that 58.6 percent of Americans were satisfied with their jobs in 1995. By the year 2000, that percentage was down to 50.7.

But in Uzbekistan (the country of Central Asia where I was born), people generally aren't satisfied with their job. The reason lays in lack of job choices and payment. People do their job without any satisfaction because they have to earn some money to survive.

I think that the main reasons why the people in Uzbekistan are not satisfied with the work they do are the absence of good knowledge of management in the organizations and corruption. As we got knowledge from the "Organizational behavior" course, we know that job satisfaction influences on employee performance within the organization and organization's productivity in the whole. So let's see what is job satisfaction and what factors can influence it.

Job Satisfaction--is an individual's general attitude toward his or her job, or the feelings, reflecting attitudes toward one's job, are known as job satisfaction.

Settings, related to the personnel job satisfaction and devotion to the company, are presenting special interest for the theory of organizational behavior and practice of human resource management.

A discussion of the job satisfaction problem concentrates attention on the employees' attitude toward their job, and a discussion of organization devotion -on the attitude toward the organization in the whole.

What is job satisfaction once more?

Lock gives a following detail definition of job satisfaction: " pleasant, positive emotional condition coming from your job evaluation or job experience."1 Job satisfaction is a result of the very employees perception of the fact for how much their job provides important, from their viewpoint, things.

There are three most important parameters of job satisfaction. First, job satisfaction represents emotional reaction for the situation lay at the office. It's impossible to see it, it can be only experienced. Second, job satisfaction is defined often by that extent how much results of work correspond to expectations. For instance, if organization employees see they work much more, than other department employees, but receive less for that, more probably, they will have negative attitude toward their job, supervisor and colleagues.

They will experience dissatisfaction feeling. From another hand, if they see, they get favorable attitude and materially rewarded, their attitude toward the job will be positive. They will experience satisfaction feeling from their job. Third, through job satisfaction some another settings are expressed. These parameters are enumerated below:

1. Job itself. The extent, in which job gives people interesting assignments, opportunities to perceive new, experience responsibility feeling for the job laid upon.

2. Payment. The sum of money reward, which is paid for the job, and that in which way the given sum corresponds to reward, receiving by other organization member.

3. Promotion possibilities. Career promotion opportunities.

4. Management. The capacity of a head to provide as technical, as moral support.

5. Colleagues. The extent of technical knowledge of colleagues and the level of social support.2

Factors influencing on Job Satisfaction

Let's mark several factors, influencing on Job Satisfaction. For example, last research show that if after college graduation students are immediately employed according their specialization, then on the basis of both events coincidence it's probable to predict a following job satisfaction.3 There are the main factors influencing on Job Satisfaction below:

Job itself. The main source of satisfaction is, of course, job itself. Thus, for instance, research, dedicated to job characteristics and carried out in correlation with working place projecting, testify that the very content of work and autonomy by its implementation represent two most important motivation factors correlated with labor. As research indicated, other main components of job satisfaction are interesting and difficult job without time for tedium and job giving a man one certain status.4

Payment. The system of money rewards is considered as a significant but multicomplex and multisided job satisfaction factor. Money not only gives people an opportunity to satisfy their primary needs, but also fosters satisfaction of higher levels needs. Employees more often perceive their salary's level as a reflection of that how management estimates their contribution to the company's activity. Additional indulgences are also important, but their role is less meaningful. One of the reasons is that employee more often have no the slightest idea about the amount of received as indulgences. Moreover, many are prone to underestimate these indulgences; insofar they do not see their practical value.5 Nonetheless, recent research indicated that if employees have an opportunity to choose themselves to some extent independently indulgences from the whole package rendered by the company that is named a flexible indulgences system, then they receive greater satisfaction from indulgences receivables and the job in the whole.6

Job promotion. Promotion opportunities make different influence on job satisfaction. That comes because of that promotions can be implemented in various forms and be accompanied with diverse rewards. For instance, people receiving promotion for the length of service, although experience satisfaction from job but not in such an extent as employees, which receive promotion for the results achieved. Aside from, job promotion with salary increase of 10% usually does not give that pleasure as position promotion with a supplement of 20%. These differences can explain, why promotions on the level of high management bring larger contenting than advancements on the lower levels of organization.

Guidance. Guidance also represents moderately important factor by the analysis of job satisfaction. In some other places the importance of leadership skills could be analyzed. Here it's sufficient to restrict yourself with a comment of that there are

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