by KIM HILSENBECK
What makes us feel satisfied with a job? Will we stay if market conditions are poor, even though we’re not satisfied?
Recent surveys conducted by the Gallup research company show that about 70 percent of American workers are not engaged in their work. Disengagement is generally associated with being emotionally disconnected from work and as a result, less productive.
By some estimates, job dissatisfaction costs companies billions of dollars every year in absenteeism, litigation, lost productivity and stress-related problems.
In a 2010 study, Gallup researcher James K. Harter and his colleagues found lower job satisfaction can lead to poorer bottom-line performance. In other words, unhappy employees are less creative and less likely to out put quality work, which affects the overall productiveness of an organization.
Gallup created a survey that measures 12 core factors of job satisfaction, dealing with everything from understanding expectations, having the right equipment and resources, receiving praise, feeling the organization is committed to quality work, and opportunities to grow.
The less engaged employees are with their work and their organization, says Gallup, the more likely they are to leave an organization. Yet with fewer jobs to go to, some experts think employees will suffer until the job market improves.
Brian Miller, an associate professor in the management department at Texas State University, studies and teaches about these issues.
Miller focuses his work on organizational commitment and says there are three interrelated types:
Continuance – even if things are bad, we stick with a job
Affective – the emotional bonds we have with a job
Normative – staying with a job because it’s the right thing to do (i.e., work ethic).
Miller said economic uncertainty and rising costs can cause people to remain in a job even when they are unsatisfied or downright unhappy.
However, unemployment in Kyle is relatively low, compared to the rest of the country, holding steady at under five percent. Nationally, it’s above 8 percent.
Even so, more people may be holding on to a job in today’s climate.
Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, authors of “The Progress Principle,” say managers and supervisors have the most impact on the satisfaction of employees.
The authors posit that what makes the best managers is their ability to build happy employees who have positive emotions, strong motivation and favorable perceptions of their employer, coworkers and the work they do. Even if you are not entirely happy in a job, a good manager helps.
Satisfaction Survey
Take this survey from fabjob.com to see if you’re ready to quit:
For each statement, note whether it is something you Often, Sometimes, or Never experience. (If a statement doesn’t fit, feel free to adapt it to your situation or skip it.)
1. I find it hard to get out of bed in the morning.
2. I arrive late for work.
3. Once I arrive at work, it takes me a while to actually get started working.
4. I sit at my desk and daydream.
5. I have less patience with customers or co-workers than I used to.
6. I spend time at work doing personal tasks.
7. I look at job websites on the Internet when I’m at work.
8. I get impatient with rules and red tape at work.
9. I take longer breaks than I should.
10. When I have to phone people as part of my job I spend more time chatting than I need to.
11. I feel tired during the workday.
12. I don’t bother mentioning concerns to the boss because it’s usually a waste of time.
13. If I leave the office during the day, I take my time getting back to work.
14. I do the minimum amount of work required.
15. I check the time throughout the day to see how close to quitting time it is.
16. I feel bored at work.
17. I “kill time” during the day by chatting with co-workers or doing other non-essential tasks.
18. I schedule medical and other personal appointments during working hours.
19. I start getting ready to leave work before quitting time.
20. I am out the door as soon as it is quitting time.
21. On the weekends I look at the job classifieds or surf job sites on the Internet.
22. I have called in sick when I could actually have worked.
23. I complain to my friends about my job.
24. I have trouble sleeping on Sunday nights because I’m thinking about having to go back to work.
25. When I’m on holidays I dread going back to work.
Give yourself 0 points for each Never answer, 1 point for each Sometimes answer and 2 points for each Often answer then using the following scores as a starting point to measure your level of job satisfaction.
0 to 10 points - Very satisfied
11-20 points - Somewhat satisfied
21-30 points - Somewhat dissatisfied
31-40 points - Very dissatisfied
41-50 points - Why are you still working there?
