JOB SATISFACTION

The study of Job satisfaction is one of most important factors in the study of human

behaviour in the organization. Job satisfaction focuses on employee attitude towards his job. It has three important dimensions:

(a) Job satisfaction can be measured by the emotional response to a job situation, hence it cannot be seen, and it can only be inferred.

(b) Job satisfaction is related to what you actually get as reward and what you expect to get. If the difference between the actual reward and expectation is minimum or negligible them a person will display a positive attitude and if there is wide difference between the two, a person will display a negative attitude towards his job and therefore the satisfaction level will be low.

(c) Job satisfaction is related to job dimensions. These can be expressed in terms of job content, remuneration, attitude of co-workers, and opportunity of growth that job is able to provide in terms of promotion and last but not the least the expert loyal and experienced leadership is available in terms of supervision.

SPECIFIC EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE: JOB SATISFACTION

Locke and Henne (1986) defined job satisfaction as the pleasurable emotional state resulting from the achievement of one’s job values in the work situation. According to Mottaz (1987), satisfaction with one’s job reflects a person’s affective response resulting from an evaluation of the total job situation. In sum, the job satisfaction construct can be considered to be a function of work-related rewards and values.

CHANGING ATTITUDES BY OVERCOMING BARRIERS

Providing New Information. Sometimes a dramatic change in attitude is possible only by providing relevant and adequate information to the person concerned. Scanty and incomplete information can be a major reason for brewing negative feeling and attitudes.

Use of Fear. Attitudes can be changed through the use of fear. People might resort to change their work habit for the fear of fear of unpleasant consequences. However, the degree of the arousal of fear will have to be taken into consideration as well.

Resolving Discrepancies. Whenever people face a dilemma or conflicting situation they feel confused in choosing a particular course of action. Like in the case where one is to choose from between two alternative courses of action, it is often become difficult for him to decide which is right for him. Even when he chooses one over the other, he might still feel confused. If someone helps him in pointing out the positive points in favour of the chosen course of action, he person might resolve his dilemma.

Influence of friends and peers. A very effective way of changing one’s attitude is through his friends and colleagues. Their opinion and recommendation for something often proves to be more important. If for example, they are all praise for a particular policy introduced in the work place, chances are high that an individual will slowly accept that even when he had initial reservations for that. Co-opting. If you want to change the attitude of somebody who belongs to a different group, it is often becomes very effective if you can include him in your own group. Like in the case of the union leader who are all the time vehemently against any management decision, can be the person who takes active initiative in implementing a new policy when he had participated in that decision making process himself.

BARRIERS TO CHANGING ATTITUDES

Employees’ attitudes can be changed and sometimes it is in the best interests of managements to try to do so. For example, if employees believe that their employer does not look after their welfare, the management should try to change their attitude and help develop a more positive attitude in them. However, the process of changing the attitude is not always easy. There are some barriers which have to be overcome if one strives to change somebody’s attitude. There are two major categories of barriers that come in the way of changing attitudes:

1. Prior commitment when people feel a commitment towards a particular course of action that has already been agreed upon and thus it becomes difficult for them to change or accept the new ways of functioning.

2. Insufficient information also acts as a major barrier to change attitudes. Sometimes people simply see any reason to change their attitude due to unavailability of adequate information.