Motivation And Productivity Related To Job Satisfaction

Essay, Research Paper

Abstract

The relationship between job satisfaction, motivation, and efficiency or productivity is very important in the business industry as well as in personal life. Long term research has found that the single greatest predictor of longevity is work satisfaction. Work is one third to one half of a persons’ lifetime, and if frustrated the mental and physical effects are very costly. Job characteristics including skill variety, task identity, and task significance lead to psychological conditions in which in turn leads to increased motivation, performance and job satisfaction. It is important to investigate this area in order to determine how much of an effect does overall job satisfaction, motivation and productivity have on each other. It is also important to research the relationship between job satisfaction because it can assist businesses in designing and manufacturing an environment to maximize productivity and efficiency while keeping their employees satisfied. Finally, it is significant to study because it can help people better understand what job will best suit them to be motivated and satisfied while making a difference in the productivity level.

Job satisfaction is the met expectations or desires of a job. I t is a collective term of specific attitudes about work or job and it varies as a function of other non-work attitudes (age, health, etc.). Genetic research suggests that 30% to 40% of job satisfaction is inherited. Job satisfaction and life satisfaction are interrelated and influence each other. A gallup poll indicates that approximately 10% to 13% of workers are dissatisfied, while about 85% of workers are satisfied. Other surveys asking questions in a different manner suggests that more workers are dissatisfied. Job satisfaction varies with the type of occupation, for example, higher management means more satisfaction. Personal characteristics of workers also has an impact on job satisfaction. Job satisfaction increases age. Whites have greater job satisfaction than non-whites. The level of education is slightly negatively related to job satisfaction. If personal skills and abilities are not required by a job, job satisfaction decreases. When a person is more adjusted personally, they will be more satisfied with work. Most of all having a job with decent and fair wage may be the most important variable to job satisfaction. High job satisfaction is associated with low turnover and low absenteeism and with high commitment. Although the evidence is not conclusive, high job satisfaction is associated with high performance and prosocial behaviors.

Motivation at work stimulates the interest of a person in an activity. Motivation at works is very complex because there are multiple motives operating at the same time. Goals motivate and guide workers’ behaviors. Specific goals are better than general goals and little difficulty is better than easy goals. The degree of expectancy determines how much effort is put forth, people will work hard if they expect the effort will pay off. Increased job enrichment which includes more control at work and a high number of tasks to perform leads to high motivation. Stress on the job reduces motivation and productivity. The specific needs to achieve and accomplish motivate people. Recognition and responsibility also help in motivating people to perform at their maximum ability.

Productivity or efficiency is acting effectively with minimum waste or effort. An integration of leadership, work conditions, and climate factors have an effect on increased productivity. Environment of work space can facilitate performance. Physical conditions, psychological conditions, and temporal conditions at work effect efficiency. Overall job satisfaction and motivation work together to increase performance on the job.

The Fisher (2000) study examined six different hypothesized relationships between work satisfaction and mood and emotions. The six hypotheses include the following: “1) Mood and positive and negative emotions while working will be significantly related to overall job satisfaction. 2) Mood and emotion measures will be more strongly related to the Faces scale of overall job satisfaction than the Job In- General Scale and the Facet-free Job Satisfaction Scale. 3) Satisfaction with the work itself will be the facet which is most strongly correlated with mood and emotions while working. Satisfaction with pay and promotion will be the facets least strongly related to mood and emotions while working. 4) Positive and negative emotion measures will each contribute unique variance to the prediction of overall job satisfaction. 5) Affect measures will contribute to the prediction of overall job satisfaction above and beyond the contribution of facet measures of satisfaction. 6) Frequency of experiencing net positive emotion will be a better predictor of overall job satisfaction than will intensity of positive emotion when it is experienced, (Fisher, 2000).”

In the Fisher (2000) there were 125 employed adults from 65 different organizations to participate in the study. Each participant completed questionnaires to determine affective experiences at work. Experience sampling methodology was used to find around 50 reports of immediate mood and emotions over a two week period.

The results from the Fisher (2000) study indicated that all the hypotheses were supported to