Thank you for reading Feedwork. Who is responsible for your job satisfaction in the workplace and what does the research show? These questions will be answered in this post by Alexander Kjerulf, one of the world's leading experts on job satisfaction. He has lectured in over 50 countries since 2003 and is the author of 5 books. In addition, he has been featured in all major foreign media such as BBC, The Times, CNN, Financial Post, New York Times, etc.
It's important to point out from the start that job satisfaction is not the same as the annual wellbeing survey at your workplace. Job satisfaction is fundamentally about emotions. Some people might think that emotions are pretty undefinable and soft - and how does that fit into a work context? Nevertheless, it turns out that showing emotion can have a huge impact on your job satisfaction and productivity. In addition, words like: pride, interest, curiosity and a sense of belonging also play a significant role in our job satisfaction.
Who is responsiblefor creating job satisfaction?
Isit the employee or is it the boss? According to Alexander Kjerulf, it goes both ways. The manager has a responsibility to create a good culture, but it's up to the individual employee to navigate the culture in a positive way, because you can't foster something that an employee doesn't want to be a part of. Job satisfaction doesn't always come from the top, but it can also be created by employees in their own teams, which can then spread to the rest of the organization.
But what about words like productivity and motivation? How do they fit into this context? Alexander Kjerulf explains that job satisfaction will always come before productivity and motivation, because if your employees are happy, good results and motivation will come automatically. The same is true when we talk about motivation and job satisfaction. Here again, job satisfaction comes before motivation, because it's job satisfaction that keeps you motivated and makes you want to do your work - even the bad ones!
What does theresearch show?
Ina research context, the results show that if you want to be happy yourself, you need to go out and do something for others. Perhaps that's why we're seeing an increasing number of companies getting involved in charity. It means a lot to employees to be able to make a difference, and at the same time, employees will feel more connected to their workplace. In this way, it's a win-win for everyone, because if employees feel more connected to the workplace, they work better and the company makes more money.What have we learned from Alexander Kjerulf? That job satisfaction creates better relationships among your employees, which in turn creates better results for your business. You need to remember to praise your employees for their good results or on their personal qualities, because that's where job satisfaction comes from. In the end, it's all about bringing your emotions to work and not leaving them at home!
If you want to hear more about this topic, listen to our podcast about it here.
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