Job Satisfaction – a Literature Review On Employee Motivation, Attitudes And Turnover

Armstrong (2006) defines job satisfaction as the attitude and feelings that individuals towards their work. He said that a positive and favorable action towards the job shows a level job satisfaction, negative and unfavorable attitudes towards the job indicate job dissatisfaction.

Job satisfaction is defined by Robbins, Judge, Millett, & Boyle (2013) as “a positive feeling about one’s job resulting from and evaluation of its characteristics. Job satisfaction is one of variables of paramount importance in the field of organizational behavior and psychology; it simply means one’s general attitude to the job.

Job satisfaction represents one of the most daunting areas being faced by today’s managers when it comes to managing their employees.

Also, Tansel & Gazioglu (2014) stated that job satisfaction is a primary policy priority in any organization. Previous studies have demonstrated an unusually large impact on the job satisfaction on the motivation of workers, while the level of motivation has an impact on productivity, and hence also on performance of business organizations.

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And also job satisfaction implies doing a job one enjoys, doing it well and being rewarded for one’s efforts. He said that job satisfaction is a worker’s sense of success and achievement on the job. It is generally perceived to be directly linked to productivity as well as to personal well-being. Job satisfaction is the key ingredient that leads to recognition, income, promotion, and the achievement of other goals that lead to a feeling of fulfillment.

According to Statt (2004) job satisfaction can be defined as the extent to which a worker is content with the rewards he or she gets out of his or her job, particularly in terms of intrinsic motivation.

Job satisfaction is defined as “a general attitude toward one’s job; the difference between the amount of rewards workers receive and the amount they believe they should receive”.

Parvin & Kabir (2011) discussed the respondents’ overall perception of employee job satisfaction and dimensions such as pay and promotion, job security, work conditions, fairness and relationship with coworkers and management. And also Funmilola, Sola, & Olusola (2013) examined five dimensions of job satisfaction. Those are payment, promotion, supervision, work it-self and work condition.

Luthans (2011) identified five job satisfaction dimensions. These are work itself, pay, promotion opportunities, supervision and coworkers.For the purpose of this study, the following dimensions were selected.

Pay refers to the amount of financial compensation that an individual receives as well as the extent to which such compensation is perceived to be equitable. Pay is one of the most significant variables in explaining job performance and satisfaction. There is positive relationship between pay and performance. It was further concluded that pay plays vital role in human capital intensive firms to attract and retain expert workforce. Pay has significant impact on job satisfaction and performance.Robbins (2003) maintains that promotions provide opportunities for personal growth, increased responsibility, and increased social status. Tessema & Soeters (2006) also discovered that there is positive relationship between promotion practices and perceived performance of employee. This may translate into opportunities for advancement and growth in their current workplace, or enhance the chance of finding alternative employment. They maintain that, if people feel they have limited opportunities for career advancement, their job satisfaction may decrease. If organizations want to accelerate performance of employees in the organization, fair promotional opportunities should be given to employees.

Recognition of the achievements by the supervisors leads toward job satisfaction and performance. Similar result was reported by Okpara (2004) that supervision plays significant roles in job satisfaction and performance.

Job satisfaction commonly is manifested in ways such as checking to see how well the employee is doing, providing advice and assistance to the individual and communicating with the associate on a personal as well as official level. All researchers agreed that supervision has a significant impact on job satisfaction and performance except who have contrary view.

Robbins (2003) refer to the work itself as “the extent to which the job provides the individual with stimulating tasks, opportunities for learning and personal growth, and the chance to be responsible and accountable for results”. Luthans (2011) reported that employees derive satisfaction from work that is interesting and challenging, and a job that provides them with status. He concluded that work itself is a major source of job satisfaction. Accordingly, Robbins (2003) argues that “under conditions of moderate challenge, most employees will experience pleasure and satisfaction”. Rose (2001) indicated that employees should be given opportunities to advance in their field of work therefore that they could accept responsibilities entrusted to them. Study leave can be provided for those employees with the desired skills and willingness to perform the job, who want to improve their skills and knowledge.