Job Satisfaction: Key Factors and Why It Matters

Masha -

The press has been lamenting the dismal job satisfaction figures for some time now. Earlier this year, the Conference Board, which regularly publishes interesting data on employment, the economy, and business trends, released a report revealing that job satisfaction is at its lowest level in two decades. This fact seems astonishing in an economy where one in ten people is looking for work—because if you have a job, shouldn't you be satisfied by definition? Or should you?

The report contains a number of warning signs:

  • Only 45 percent of respondents are satisfied with their jobs.
  • Generation Y—those under 25—is the least satisfied with their work.
  • 22 percent of the 5,000 respondents expect to no longer be working in their current job within a year.
  • The decline in satisfaction extends across four "drivers of employee engagement": job design, organizational health, leadership quality, and extrinsic rewards.
  • The survey results point to the risk of knowledge loss.

Job satisfaction and commitment to your employer's goals are closely intertwined. If your employer doesn't give you, or can't give you, meaningful, fulfilling work, your job satisfaction will decline. But with an unemployment rate of 10% and perhaps another 7 to 10% having given up or being underemployed, the prospect of finding another job is daunting.

Yet even in this environment, there are choices you can make. Here are just a few: prepare for a new career, take steps to make your job more rewarding, or remain dissatisfied and blame external factors.

For Generation Y, preparing for a new career might be the easiest. They've invested less, are often fresh out of school, and less burdened by mortgages and families. You might think they have the least to lose, but I would argue they have a lot to lose: their trust in the job market, their trust in their employers, and even their belief that a career is worthwhile. Hey, why not become a waiter or a skier if a job in a company seems so unsatisfying?

Generation X, grappling with mortgages and families, may feel trapped. And Baby Boomers, dismayed by what markets and government have done to their retirement prospects, may feel cheated from all sides and emotionally unable to commit to their jobs. Yet for both Generation X and Baby Boomers, the key to satisfaction is action. But what kind of action?

IceHrm's recipe is "culture." If you're dissatisfied with your job, it's time to look for a workplace culture that aligns with your personality and fosters a work-life balance culture.

My colleague Mike Ramer argues that culture is the superglue that binds people to a mission. A smart employer understands this and creates a workplace culture characterized by purpose, shared goals, engagement, and reward.

A smart employee invests their energy in a company with a culture of success, teamwork, accountability, and excellence.

Job satisfaction is a shared responsibility that requires employers to create a culture of success and engagement, ensure a healthy organization, demand the best from their leaders, and offer extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to dedicated employees. Job seekers: Your task is to understand what motivates you, find the right company culture, and continuously invest in your skills. Create a work-life balance by exploring your personal interests and nurturing your physical and emotional well-being.

The dismal figures on job satisfaction highlight that having a job is not synonymous with contentment; true satisfaction requires meaningful engagement fueled by a supportive organizational culture. Job satisfaction is a shared responsibility where employers must actively cultivate a culture of purpose, engagement, and rewards, and employees must proactively seek an environment that aligns with their personal values and goals. For organizations, managing this essential component of engagement is simplified by utilizing tools like IceHrm. By leveraging IceHrm's features—particularly those related to employee performance, goal alignment, and feedback—employers can systematically create and maintain the healthy organizational structure, accountable leadership, and intrinsic rewards necessary to bind people to the mission, transforming dissatisfaction into lasting commitment.