Job Satisfaction – Employee involvement and commitment in the workplace

Table of Contents:-

• Job satisfaction Meaning
• Job Satisfaction Definition
• Determinants of Job Satisfaction
• Job Involvement
• Organisational Commitment

Job satisfaction Meaning

Job Satisfaction Meaning: Job satisfaction relates to the overall attitude or feelings of a person towards his job. An individual, who is highly satisfied with his job has a positive attitude towards the job. Whereas, a person who is dissatisfied with his job will have a negative view of it. 

It is a positive emotional response that an employee experiences when doing his job or when he is present at work. In modern times, leading organizations are trying to measure employee satisfaction. Job satisfaction surveys have become a customary practice at most workplaces.

An employee who is happy with his job will always be positive and will be punctual, his absenteeism will be minimal, his performance will be high, and his attitude towards his co-workers and manager will also be very true. 

In the case of a dissatisfied employee, he will generally be late for office, on small pretexts, he will be absent himself from the job, turnover will be high, his performance level will be limited and his behaviour in the organization will be poor. 

When people speak of employees’ attitudes, they always relate these to job fulfilment. These two are used conversely, though some differences do exist between these two.

Job Satisfaction Definition

According to Smith, “Job satisfaction is an employee’s decision of how fully his job has completed his complex needs”.

Determinants of Job Satisfaction

Various factors affecting job satisfaction are as follows:

i) Individual Factors

People have several expectations from their jobs. If their expectations are matched by their work, they feel satisfied. These expectations are based on an individual’s level of education, age, gender, religion, culture and other factors:

a) Level of Education: The level of education of an individual is a factor that determines the degree of career fulfilment. For example, several studies have found a negative correlation between the level of education, particularly a higher level of education, and job fulfilment. The possible reason for this phenomenon may be that highly educated persons have very high expectations from their jobs which remain unsatisfied.

b) Age: Individuals experience different degrees of job satisfaction at different stages of their life. Job satisfaction is high at the initial stage, gets gradually reduced, starts rising to a certain stage, and finally dips to a low degree.

c) Other Factors: Besides the above two factors, other individual factors affect job pridefulness. If an individual does not have a favourable social and family life, he may not feel happy at the workplace. Similarly, other personal problems associated with him may affect his level of job satisfaction.

ii) Nature of Job

The nature of the job determines job fulfilment, which is in the form of occupation level and job content:

a) Occupation Level: Higher-level jobs provide more satisfaction as compared to lower levels. This happens because high-level jobs carry prestige and status in society which itself becomes a source of satisfaction for the job holders. For example, professionals derive more satisfaction as compared to salaried people; factory workers are less satisfied.

b) Job Content: Job Content means the essence of all the specific functions and responsibilities of a post. Job content relates to the fundamental values of the job which depends on the required skills for performing it and the level of responsibility and growth it offers. More importantly content of these factors provides higher satisfaction. For example, a routine and repetitive job provides lesser satisfaction, and the level of satisfaction increases in job enlargement, job rotation, and job enrichment.

iii) Situational Variables

Situational variables linked to job satisfaction lie in organisational contexts formal and informal. A formal organization is created by the executives and an informal organisation emerges out of the interaction of people in the organisation. 

Some of the major factors which influence job satisfaction are given here:

a) Working Conditions

Working conditions, particularly the physical work environment, like conditions of the workplace and associated facilities for performing the job, determine job satisfaction. If these factors are favourable, individuals experience a higher level of job satisfaction.

b) Supervision

The type of supervision affects job satisfaction as in each type of supervision; the degree of importance attached to individuals varies. In employee-oriented supervision, there is more concern for people which is recognised positively by them and gives them more satisfaction. In job-oriented supervision. here is more emphasis on the performance of the job and people become secondary. This situation decreases job satisfaction.

c) Equitable Rewards

The type of linkage that is provided between job performance and rewards defines the level of professional satisfaction. If the reward is perceived to be based on job performance and equitable, it offers immense satisfaction. If the reward is based on considerations other than job performance, it negatively affects employee engagement.

d) Opportunity for Promotion

People indeed seek satisfaction in their jobs in the context of job nature and work environment but they also attach importance to the opportunities for promotion that these jobs offer. If the present job offers an opportunity for promotion in future, it provides more satisfaction. If the opportunity for such promotion is lacking, it lessens satisfaction.

e) Work Group

Individuals work in groups either created formally or developed on their own to seek emotional satisfaction at the workplace. To the extent, such groups are cohesive, the level of satisfaction is great. If the organization is not cohesive, job satisfaction is low. In a cohesive group, people acquire satisfaction from their Interpersonal Relationships, and communication and therefore workplace becomes satisfying leading to job satisfaction.

Job Involvement

Job Involvement refers to the psychological and sentimental extent to which a person engages in his profession, work, and organization. This working attitude manifests itself through the extent to which people are immersed in their job tasks. Managers need to understand the causes and consequences of job involvement because of its association with motivation and satisfaction. 

Employees who have a high level of job involvement are very strongly recognised for their jobs and care about the kind of work they do. A high degree of job contentment will lead to less absenteeism and lower resignation rates. However, the research has shown that it seems to more consistently predict turnover than absenteeism. In the case of turnover, the research has shown as much as a 16% variation in turnover depending upon the level of job involvement.

Organisational Commitment

The third job attitude that affects organisational behaviour is organisational commitment. Organisational commitment is a concept that has to do with the degree of commitment and loyalty that employees display towards employers. An employee identifies with a particular organisation and its goals and wishes to keep membership in the organisation. In such a setup the employee feels proud of being a part of a particular organization. 

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Whereas job involvement refers to identification with one’s particular job, organisational commitment means identifying with one’s employing organisation and its purposes. Sometimes an employee may be engaged or connected to his job but may not be committed to the organisation and its objectives. 

Absenteeism and turnover are low when an employee has organisational commitment. Studies have shown that organisational commitment is a better indicator of turnover than the far more frequently used
predictor for happiness at work. 

Seldom, an employee may be disappointed with the job, but he may not be disappointed with the organisation as a whole. In such a case, he may hold with the organisation because he may think it is a passing situation. However, once the dissatisfaction increases with the organization, he is most likely to think about resigning from the job. 

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