5 Components of Job Satisfaction that Bring Joy Back to Work

There’s a lot of talk these days about the importance of job satisfaction. It’s a focal point for many workers following the recent pandemic where working from home and furloughs have led many to assess their work/life balance.  There are 5 components of job satisfaction that bring joy to work.

You may view job satisfaction as personal to the employee. It’s up to them to find fulfillment in their chosen career. 

Many jobs can be tough to find fulfillment and conditions can be less than ideal but hey, they knew what they were signing up for right?

It’s difficult to find ways to make some jobs more appealing when they still have to be done diligently, efficiently, and on schedule.

You know that job satisfaction is key to employee retention and a happy workplace but how can you pull off this magic trick for any job and make your employees look forward to their shift?

Increase Ambition In The Workplace with these 5 Components of Job Satisfaction

In the real world, many people settle for any job that will pay the bills. Job satisfaction is a ‘nice to have’ but is not essential to getting the job done.  

For an employer, there’s an opportunity here to create a culture around everyone’s job that makes it a joy to work on a daily basis. 

If you can help your employees find satisfaction in some of the less exciting jobs; those that employees find difficult to be satisfied with, you’ll benefit from an enthusiastic workforce and high levels of employee retention.

Job satisfaction can be broken down into five components.

1. Engagement

The people who work for you need to know exactly what is expected of them. Uncertainty is stressful and very damaging to morale. 

Engagement should start from the first day someone starts work. Every job should have a clearly written description with instructions that are applicable to everyone doing that job. All need to be treated equally. There should be no gray areas. It’s important that management leads the way with tidiness, timeliness, and well-maintained equipment.

You should have a culture of responding to queries immediately and a complaints procedure that allows for grievances to be handled in a timely and transparent manner. There should be no need for expensive escalation.

It’s a great move to encourage suggestions from anyone. You can highlight those that have improved the working environment and offer rewards and recognition.

All this shows your workers that their views are taken seriously. They’ll be reassured that they’re part of a team working towards a common goal.

This is one of the greatest forms of engagement there is. 

2. Respect, Praise, And Appreciation

There’s a lot of satisfaction to be gained from a job well done. This is greatly enhanced if those in authority recognize this and give positive feedback on a regular basis. There will be times when corrections have to be made or guidance given for improvement but this should always be framed in a way that respects the effort and situation of the worker concerned.

Everyone’s job is important. From the owners, officers, and managers to the most menial operative. Foster a culture of genuine friendliness and respect for everyone’s contribution. Encourage greetings between workers at all levels and good social interactions throughout. 

Bullying, oppression, or favoritism in any form needs to be completely outlawed and sanctions for transgression visibly enforced. 

3. Fair Compensation

At a legal level, this hardly needs mentioning. The 1963 Equal Pay Act and subsequent legislation prohibit compensation discrimination. However, in the context of job satisfaction, it’s more a matter of making sure that the employee feels they’re being treated fairly. Sharing pay information amongst the workforce is a contentious issue but ideally, everyone should feel that they are being paid the correct rate for the value of the work they do and their level of training and responsibility.  

Regular bonuses, promotions, and corporate treats to recognize those who have “gone the extra mile” or made a significant contribution to the company’s well-being will go a long way to enhance morale and give a sense of satisfaction for the recipients.

Promoting innovation by positive reinforcement and fair dealing will encourage ideas-oriented employees to bring their best work to the table.

4. Motivation

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is still alive and well in your organization. Everyone’s primary focus needs to be on the job. If your employees are struggling to satisfy the physiological needs on tier 1 they’re not going to be of much use to you. A safe and comfortable working environment is the absolute minimum.

True motivation can be derived from the needs higher up the pyramid. Everyone has social needs. The feeling of inclusion and team spirit is a prime motivator for a successful business. 

The “Higher Esteem” need is crucial for many workers with monotonous or skills requiring strength and agility. At this level, people need to have the self-esteem derived from challenging themselves to work faster, more accurately, or stronger. Winning this challenge is a great source of job satisfaction. If you want your people to be motivated to produce their best work, it is vital to ensure they have the support to achieve this.  

5. Life Satisfaction

The businesses that habitually top the leaderboard for “best company to work for” seem to feature health and wellness very high on their list of priorities. There’s no doubt that if you want to get the best performance from your workforce you need to ensure that they take good care of their well-being.

Ideally, you want people to see their jobs as a long-term investment in their life satisfaction. You want them to be proud to tell their friends and family where they work and what they do. 

Many employees may be encouraged to enhance their role within your organization. Offering training pathways, education and extracurricular activities will help them to look beyond the day-to-day and plan for a better future.

Take Stock and Roll Out Some Job Satisfaction

Look at the range of jobs within your business. You can probably identify those that you’re constantly having to refill. The ones that you have difficulty filling vacancies for. These are the ones to start with. Put together welcome packs and perhaps publish some articles in the company newsletter to encourage some of the social changes you want to see in your business. 

For each job, make sure everyone knows what is expected and encourage everyone to feel valued and to share that feeling with their co-workers.

Most people have the ambition of finding a satisfying job for life.

Let’s make sure that they find it with your company.