www.paulgerhardt.com
Finding a job you love that pays well is the dream of nearly every American. Have you ever wondered why some people manage to find the best jobs—while you are working extremely hard and you never seem to catch a break?
You are not alone! Tons of research has been conducted that exposes the secrets of career management and best-practices that if followed lead to the paths of the quickest advancement. Studies illuminate that there may be specific attitudes which are the key to obtaining that ideal dream job and or promotion. The saying "Attitude is everything!" may be more true than you have considered. A positive career-related attitude that includes job satisfaction is clearly linked to promotions and getting your foot in the door.
Another thing that job seekers should know is that research suggests that practice makes perfect. One must continually demonstrate frequency of using career management best-practices, keep a positive attitude which shows organizational commitment and always looking for reasons to have satisfaction with your job. In other words, keep your horse before your cart!
Job satisfaction and career satisfaction are very much related to intentionally deciding to choose and hold a feeling of happiness with your life at work. This positive attitude must be accompanied with creating an environment of workplace contentment in many ways regularly. Career satisfaction is measured through levels of happiness that is experienced through a person’s place and choice of employment.
Essentially, job satisfaction comes from a person’s current work situation. It is built upon factors like location of the job, working conditions, supervision quality, relationships with coworkers, and other influences. Psychologists will point out that the opposite of job satisfaction is actually not job dissatisfaction, but "no job satisfaction." Take a moment to think about that!
For a leader, it should be one of the highest priorities to help create an environment that lends itself to employees loving their jobs. One of the highest costs in running an organization is associated with employee turnover. It should be remembered that one the most important factors in any successful organization is a culture that facilitates job satisfaction in every department with every employee. Experts will tell organizational leaders that job satisfaction is directly related to a person’s sense of meaning. It is important for each employee to feel effective and valued in the workplace. This suggests that leaders must do all they can to remove barriers that may diminish job satisfaction both internally and externally, as much as possible.
Here are the keys to organizational success then: Make sure that you do your part to build a culture where recognition, achievement, responsibility and the work itself are built into the job and facilitated. These are job satisfaction’s most influential factors. These factors are more influential than status, working condition or interpersonal relations. Studies have regularly concluded that the feelings workers have about what they have achieved and have been recognized for are the most common feelings associated with increased job satisfaction. Every leader has the opportunity to make this happen. It must be intentional, regular, and above all else sincere.
So what causes job dissatisfaction? Some studies have discovered that the factors associated with job dissatisfaction have a different set of relationships. Leaders should take note that the strongest factor associated with dissatisfaction on the job is the perception of unfairness. Employees need to feel they are being treated fairly in every instance. Leaders may have favorites, but need to make their intentions always be seen as fair for all. Other factors of job dissatisfaction are having a feeling that there is a lack of opportunities to professionally develop or grow. On the list too of things that contribute to a feeling of job dissatisfaction is discontentment with salary and wages.
Factors that dissatisfy could then lead to the development of behaviors and attitudes that would clearly indicate that there are challenges in the workplace that are not being addressed. However, it has been studied that things that may lead to job dissatisfaction are not the mirror images of job satisfiers.
Leaders should note that motivation and satisfaction are very different in terms of performance and reward. Motivation is essentially influenced by perceptions about the relationship between rewards and performance that are forward-looking. However, satisfaction is related to how employees feel about the rewards that they have received. In other words, motivation is an outcome of expectations of what will happen in the future. Satisfaction is essentially about past experiences.
Career management is the process which people develop an understanding of their environment and themselves. Those who are in charge of their own career advancement regularly acquire feedback about their progress in their careers. By doing so, it helps build and create strategies about career goals. Leaders should know that the best-practices of career management for employees must aim to help workers develop new skills or to update their old skills consistently. Great managers help employees make better career and job choices and assist them in giving opportunities to prepare for higher levels of responsibility within the workplace.
When leaders are focused on creating places of growth through a focus on employee career management, it lowers turnover. Turnover reduction leads to higher levels of productivity. This builds a pool of experience that helps the organization grow and maintain a competitive stance.
The bottom line in career management is that leaders must create places where employees feel completely or mostly satisfied in their careers. Successful organizations must be consistently doing things to help their individual members grow within the workplace and see opportunities for genuine growth. Managers should do all they can to cultivate a positive environment where people see themselves as being treated fairly and always being given tools to be their very best.
For more information contact Dr. Paul L. Gerhardt, PhD. at his website: www.paulgerhardt.com
