Staff Satisfaction Surveys

Staff satisfaction has become a very important determinant of a company’s productivity. Staff
are demanding more and more from their organization in exchange for their services. Staff
turnover is very high in most industries, and retaining good talented employees has become
an arduous task for even the best companies across the world today.

http://www.staffsurvey.com.au/staff-satisfaction-surveys.htm

Every company is faced with the challenge of understanding what drives employees
most. Satisfied employees not only remain with the company but are more
productive. They are also loyal and are most likely to recommend their company’s
products and services whenever and wherever possible. They would also help the
company to attract the best talent for future recruitment.

Almost every company conducts employee satisfaction surveys now and then to feel the pulse
of the employees. The most relevant and important aspects that need to be covered in an
employee satisfaction survey questionnaire are:

• the employee’s understanding of the company’s mission and long-term strategy;

• the employee’s confidence in the company’s leadership;
• the employee’s understanding of his/her role in the company;
• the importance the employee gives to authority and responsibility in his/her job and
the extent to which these needs are satisfied;
• the employee’s trust in the company’s culture;
• the employee’s idea about the system of communication within the company;
• the morale, team spirit and professionalism in the company;
• the employee’s relations with the supervisor/peers/management;
• the extent to which the company satisfies the employee’s explicit as well as implicit
needs such compensation, training and development, vacation and other benefits,
personal accomplishments, recognition, empowerment, job security, appreciation and
encouragement, and so on.

Open-ended questions such as “what is the best thing about working for this company” or
“what do you dislike most in the company?” are very useful in understanding the exact cause
of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

The questionnaires also generally contain other questions such as the employee’s annual
income, age, sex, personal details about the family, marital status, the department working
in, previous employment record and others. These are useful in analyzing the data more
accurately.

However, most companies do not pressure employees to provide these details if the
employee is not comfortable with it. It is also very important that the answers are kept highly
confidential so that they are not used against the employee.

The questionnaire should be ideally small enough to take around 20-30 minutes of the
employee’s time, easy to understand and open enough to encourage additional comments or
suggestions. The surveys can be conducted on paper or online. Online surveys are faster,
1
cheaper, and are found to have a high response rate. They are also easy to interpret, as
comments written by hand on paper are sometimes difficult to decipher.

Generally, employee satisfaction surveys are conducted by the HR department, but these
days, companies are outsourcing them to third-party survey agencies which are able to
provide unbiased as well as expert advice on the survey results. There are many companies
today that are offering comprehensive employee satisfaction survey services professionally.

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Satisfaction de vie au travail

Congruence et incongruence vocationnelles ą l'āge adulte

Take a second…

o Think of a time when you felt especially good about your job. Why did you feel that way?

o Think of a time when you felt especially bad about your job. Why did you feel that way?

o Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job.

o What are some factors that can influence a person's level of job satisfaction?

o Level of pay and benefits, the perceived fairness of the promotion system within a company,
the quality of the working conditions, leadership and social relationships, and the job itself
(the variety of tasks involved, the interest and challenge the job generates, and the clarity of
the job description/requirements).

Weiss, H. M. (2002). Deconstructing job satisfaction: separating evaluations, beliefs and

affective experiences. Human Resource Management Review, 12, 173-194.

Job Satisfaction Video

o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsSjN3nxibs

o What is the difference between Job satisfaction and Motivation?

Models of Job Satisfaction Affect Theory

o Satisfaction is determined by a discrepancy between what one wants in a job and what
one has in a job.
o The degree to which one values a given facet of work moderates how satisfied/dissatisfied
one becomes when expectations are/aren’t met.

Rice, R., & McFarlin, D. (1991). Determinants of satisfaction with specific job facets: A test of
Locke's model. Journal of Business and Psychology, 6, 1, 25-38.

Models of Job Satisfaction

o Dispositional Theory

2
 o The theory suggests that people have innate dispositions that cause them to have
tendencies toward a certain level of satisfaction, regardless of one’s job.
o Those who have reported a high job satisfaction tends to be stable over time and across
careers and jobs.

Erez, A. & Judge, T. (1994). Dispositional Source of Job Satisfaction: The Role of Self-
Deception. CAHRS, Working Paper #94-14.

Models of Job Satisfaction

o Two-Factor Theory (Motivator-Hygiene Theory)

o Frederick Herzberg theorized that employee satisfaction depends on two sets of issues:
"hygiene" issues and motivators. Once the hygiene issues have been addressed, he said,
the motivators create satisfaction among employees.

http://www.aafp.org/fpm/991000fm/26.html

Two-Factor Theory (Motivator-Hygiene Theory) Cont.

Hygiene issues (dissatisfiers)
Company and administrative policies
Supervision
Salary
Interpersonal relations
Working conditions

Motivators (satisfiers)
Work itself
Achievement
Recognition
Responsibility
Advancement

http://www.aafp.org/fpm/991000fm/26.html
Models of Job Satisfaction

o Job Characteristics Model

o Used to study how particular job characteristics impact job outcomes, including job
satisfaction.
o The model states that there are five core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task
significance, autonomy, and feedback) which impact three critical psychological states
(experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility for outcomes, and knowledge of
the actual results), in turn influencing work outcomes (job satisfaction, absenteeism, work
motivation, etc.)

Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory.
Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250-279.

Job Characteristics Model Cont.

o The five core job characteristics can be combined to form a motivating potential score
(MPS) for a job, which can be used as an index of how likely a job is to affect an employee's
attitudes and behaviors.

Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory.
Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250-279.
Job Characteristics Model
Core Job
3
 Dimensions
Critical
Psychological
States
Personal and
Work Outcomes
Skill Variety
Task Identity
Task Significance
Autonomy
Feedback
Experienced
meaningfulness of work
Experienced
responsibility for
outcomes of work
Knowledge of actual results of work activities
High internal
work motivation
High quality work
performance
High satisfaction
with work
Low absenteeism
and turnover

Employee Growth Need Strength

Job Characteristics Model

o Formula to determine Motivating Potential of Job:

Motivating Potential Score (MPS) = Skill Variety +Task Identity +Task Significance

3 X Autonomy X Feedback

Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory.
Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250-279.

Personality Traits and Job Satisfaction

o Personality traits are related to career success and overall job satisfaction.
o Strong correlation between the Big Five Personality Traits, and Job Satisfaction:
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN)

Lounsbury, J., Loveland, J., & Sundstrom, E. (2003). An investigation of Personality Traits in
Relation to Career Satisfaction. Journal of Career Assessment, 11, 3, 287-307

Effects of Job Satisfaction on Work

o Negative correlation between Job satisfaction and absenteeism, turn-over, and burn out.
o Positive correlation between Job Satisfaction and work environment, productivity, and
commitment.

Rain, J.S., Lane, I.M. & Steiner, D.D. (1991) A current look at the job satisfaction/life satisfaction
relationship: Review and future considerations. Human Relations, 44, 287–307.

4
 Effects of Job Satisfaction Outside Work

o Positive correlation with Job satisfaction and positive physical and mental health.
o What are some physical symptoms of Job dissatisfaction? Have you ever experienced such
symptoms?

Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Bono, J. E., & Patton, G. K. (2001). The job satisfaction-job
performance relationship: A qualitative and quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 127(3), 376-
407.

How do Canadian Workers rate their jobs overall?

http://www.jobquality.ca/indicator_e/rew002.stm

Test your Job Satisfaction

o http://www.testcafe.com/car/

References

o Erez, A. & Judge, T. (1994). Dispositional Source of Job Satisfaction: The Role of Self-
Deception. CAHRS, Working Paper #94-14.
o Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a
theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250-279.
o Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Bono, J. E., & Patton, G. K. (2001). The job satisfaction-job
performance relationship: A qualitative and quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin,
127(3), 376-407.
o Lounsbury, J., Loveland, J., & Sundstrom, E. (2003). An investigation of Personality Traits in
Relation to Career Satisfaction. Journal of Career Assessment, 11, 3, 287-307.

References
Rain, J.S., Lane, I.M. & Steiner, D.D. (1991) A current look at the job satisfaction/life
satisfaction relationship: Review and future considerations. Human Relations, 44, 287–307.

o Rice, R., & McFarlin, D. (1991). Determinants of satisfaction with specific job facets: A test
of Locke's model. Journal of Business and Psychology, 6, 1, 25-38.
o Weiss, H. M. (2002). Deconstructing job satisfaction: separating evaluations, beliefs and
affective experiences. Human Resource Management Review, 12, 173-194.
o The Motivation to Work. F. Herzberg, B. Mausner, B.B. Snyderman. Somerset, NJ:
Transaction Publishers; 1993.
o Create own job satisfaction. (2007, September 15). Winnipeg Free Press,G.1. Retrieved
October 21, 2007, from Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies database. (Document
ID: 1336921681).
o http://www.aafp.org/fpm/991000fm/26.html
o http://www.jobquality.ca/indicator_e/rew002.stm
o http://www.testcafe.com/car/

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