Happy Workers

Job satisfaction is typically measured using a variety of methods, including surveys, interviews, and observational studies.

In 2006, a study by Kelly Services found that most American employees are happy in their work. Additionally, they gave high marks to their bosses. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. employees reported that they were either happy or very happy with their current position, while only sixteen percent felt the opposite. The Kelly Global Workforce Index sought the views of approximately seventy thousand people in twenty-eight countries including almost four thousand in the United States. The U.S. scores were only slightly behind those of the nations with the happiest workers (Denmark, Mexico, and Sweden) and well ahead of the nations with the least-happy workers (Hungary, Russia, and Turkey). Rating their bosses on a ten-point scale, the American workers gave an average of 7.3. Managers were rated on communication, leadership, team spirit, and delegation skills. The American workers felt their bosses were best at delegating and weakest at communicating.

Measuring Job Satisfaction

The exact measures can vary depending on the specific research or organizational context, but they generally include the following aspects:

1. Surveys or Questionnaires: These are the most common method for measuring job satisfaction. These may include a series of statements about various aspects of the job, to which employees respond on a scale (for example, from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree"). An example of a widely used job satisfaction survey is the Job Descriptive Index (JDI). The JDI measures satisfaction with work itself, pay, promotion opportunities, supervision, and coworkers.
2. Interviews: Personal or group interviews can provide more detailed information about job satisfaction. These may involve open-ended questions that allow employees to discuss their feelings about their jobs in their own words.
3. Observation: In some cases, researchers may observe employees at work to infer their level of job satisfaction. This might involve looking at factors such as employee behavior, interactions, or body language.
4. Self-Reports: In some situations, employees might be asked to rate their overall job satisfaction on a scale (for example, from 1 to 10).

When measuring job satisfaction, it's important to consider multiple aspects of the job. This might include:

• Work Itself: This includes the nature of the tasks the employee performs, their level of interest in these tasks, and how meaningful they find their work.
• Pay: Compensation is an important aspect of job satisfaction, including both the level of pay and how fair it is compared to others.
• Promotion Opportunities: This includes both the availability of promotions and how fair the promotion process is.
• Supervision: This includes how well the employee gets along with their supervisor, as well as the level of support and feedback they receive.
• Coworkers: Relationships with coworkers can significantly affect job satisfaction.
• Work Environment: This includes the physical work environment as well as aspects such as the organizational culture, work-life balance, and level of job security.

Job satisfaction is a complex construct and measuring it accurately requires a comprehensive approach that takes into account these and potentially other factors. It's also a very individual aspect, and what might satisfy one person in a job might not satisfy another.