01. How important are motivation and job satisfaction at work?

By Gayan Priyadarshana

Managers have an increasing requirement to comprehend difficulties related to organizational job satisfaction. Even if it is quite alluring to think of job satisfaction as nothing more complicated than being 'happy' at work, the reality is a little more nuanced. Let's define job happiness first, then explore what it entails. Edwin Locke, an American psychologist, published one of the most widely used definitions of job satisfaction in 1976. It's just "a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experiences," as he put it. In other words, employees consider their perceptions and feelings while deciding whether they like or dislike their occupations.

A study carried out in 2015 by Professor Andrew J. Oswald from the University of Warwick revealed that happiness at work can increase productivity by at least 12%.

These internal emotional states then influence an individual's evaluations of their jobs and workplace, either positively or negatively. In this sense, job satisfaction can be viewed as the "pains" and "pleasures" related to people's experiences working. In essence, both job satisfaction and discontent are involved.

Job satisfaction can increase productivity

Many employers are beginning to realize that "happier" workers are more motivated and frequently perform better at work. According to a 2015 study by Professor Andrew J. Oswald of the University of Warwick, workplace pleasure can boost output by at least 12%. Three groups of people participated in this study; two groups saw comedic or neutral movie clips, and one group received fruit, chocolates, and bottled drinks before completing a task. A 10-minute task that required participants to add five 2-digit values numerically was used to gauge productivity. The payment for correct responses was 0.25 pounds sterling. The findings showed that performance and happiness were related, especially for the group.

In light of these findings, Professor Oswald argued that there is a causal relationship between human wellbeing and performance, particularly performance at work. There are, of course, variables that could mitigate this link (such as pay, work environment, and perks). But it appears that one of the most important factors in boosting employee productivity overall and workplace performance is job satisfaction.

Several factors underlie job satisfaction/dissatisfaction and allow us to derive key benefits of satisfaction

Organizations can gain much from employee contentment. For instance, it can decrease workplace friction, minimize task errors, and boost revenue and profitability. However, why is that so? Let's begin by examining the elements that contribute to job happiness at work. A number of different elements may contribute to an employee's job happiness or discontent. These could include pay and perks, chances for job advancement, interactions with coworkers, etc. Similar to this, meeting a variety of employee demands contributes to job happiness. For instance, if we apply Maslow's hierarchy of requirements to the workplace, workers would typically seek fulfillment of exterior demands such food, water, safety, security, housing, job security, pension, and medical care.

Employers must apply these crucial incentives if they want to offer employees a satisfying benefits package. Additionally, a worker's increasing sense of belonging to the organization where they work can also lead to job satisfaction. The workplace's sense of belonging and acceptance enables employees to feel connected to both their jobs and the organization. But in the end, a successful company is made up of contented workers.

What are the negative factors affecting job satisfaction?

We must acknowledge that not all regulations are spelled out in a contract and that employees may have expectations regarding matters that weren't necessarily covered during employment talks. Two indicators stand out above the rest when it comes to recognizing unfavorable concerns linked to employee unhappiness. First, poor communication is one of the most prevalent unfavorable causes. The success of the company is jeopardized and working relationships are strained when communication between managers, supervisors, and coworkers deteriorates. In this approach, it is critical to foster work settings that both create a sense of enjoyment outside of regular organizational activities and encourage treating people with respect and trust in order to promote successful communication between managers, supervisors, and employees. This would entail managers interacting with their staff on a practical level.

A lack of empowerment has a negative impact on job satisfaction.

Second, when it comes to causing job unhappiness, a "usual suspect" is the perception of a lack of empowerment at work. According to a 2013 study by Dr. Sergio Fernandez of Indiana University, providing employees with information about their performance and goals has a beneficial impact on their sense of job satisfaction. Dr. Fernandez added that providing prizes to employees does not increase their sense of empowerment, especially when performance is measured in terms of outputs and outcomes. Managers, supervisors, and important stakeholders in organizational settings should promote empowerment and excellent and effective communication at all levels.

Satisfaction and motivation are inter-dependent and inter-linked.

People spend a significant portion of their lives at work, so it's important to understand what makes them content there. As was already established, elements that affect job happiness also have an impact on customer satisfaction, which in turn has an impact on business profitability. However, it is just as crucial to comprehend what drives employee satisfaction and what influences their behaviors and behavior inside organizational contexts. We also need to gain a grasp of how motivated people are at work in addition to our understanding of job happiness. One could argue that employee motivation and satisfaction are two key elements in every organization's success.

These two ideas, though, are open to misunderstanding and confusion. Managers are frequently made to assume that actions and behavior at work are motivated by employee pleasure. They may also have the tendency to regard motivation as the product of the employee being happy within the working environment. Although job satisfaction often boosts motivation, the relationship between the two is actually a little more nuanced. Both satisfactions and dissatisfactions about one’s job can also strengthen employee motivation.

Two different types of motivation can be distinguished

Simply put, when examining employee motivation, we may distinguish at least two major categories of people: (1) the self-motivated employee, and (2) the employee whose motivation is reliant on outside factors related to the workplace and employment. According to a 2015 study in the Journal of Management and Organizational Studies, motivated employees are more likely to be content in their positions. These findings show that motivation can actually generate job satisfaction as opposed to just being a byproduct of it. Therefore, obtaining a deeper understanding of the dynamics of motivation can also assist managers in figuring out how to encourage employee motivation and thereby improve employee performance.

Why are job satisfaction and motivation important?

So far, we've discussed how a positive work environment is essential to an organization's success. We have also looked at how businesses might benefit from higher levels of job satisfaction and reduce the unfavorable elements that contribute to lower levels of employee satisfaction. The seemingly illogical relationship between motivation and job satisfaction was also investigated. How then do we bring all of this together to produce highly motivated and content employees? It should be obvious that people's moods, behaviors, and thoughts are significantly influenced by the environment in which they work and spend the majority of their waking hours. As a natural result of this, managers now have a greater need to comprehend employees' levels of motivation and satisfaction with their work. recent scientific evidence.

It's crucial to have a deeper understanding of the elements that support and influence job motivation and satisfaction when designing occupations and working environments that please employees. Similar to this, managers must employ the appropriate motivating techniques, such motivational interviewing, in order to find their ideal employees. Practically speaking, this entails developing new, more flexible organizational rules and learning more about the internal and external motivations of employees. Managers must also have a firm understanding of the unique performance requirements of their organization in order to use motivating techniques that are appropriate for the type of employees who work there. Additionally, leaders and decision-makers in organizations should design roles in a way that allows self-driven employees to demonstrate their need for autonomy and competitiveness. A ‘one-policy-for-all’ approach can prove to be challenging, and in most cases can result in employee burn out, or voluntarily quitting the organization.

REFERENCES

Fernandez, S., & Moldogaziev, T. (2015). Employee empowerment and job satisfaction in the US Federal Bureaucracy: A self-determination theory perspective. The American review of public administration, 45(4), 375-401.

Locke, E.A. (1976) The Nature and Causes of Job Satisfaction. In Dunnette, M.D., Ed., Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 1, 1297-1343
Oswald, A. J., Proto, E., & Sgroi, D. (2015). Happiness and productivity. Journal of Labor Economics, 33(4), 789-822.

Raza, M. Y., Akhtar, M. W., Husnain, M., & Akhtar, M. S. (2015). The impact of intrinsic motivation on employee’s job satisfaction. Management and Organizational Studies, 2(3), 80.