Job satisfaction is determined by the relationship an employee has with his or her immediate supervisor. And yet research suggests that 89 percent of managers think it’s all about the money.

Actually, it’s all about you.

Rod Tidwell may have screamed, “Show me the money!” at the top of his lungs, but ultimately the most important thing to him was his relationship with Jerry Maguire.

Yes, we all expect an income that will sustain the lifestyle to which we have become accustom. However, true job satisfaction is derived from our work relationships, the most important one being with our boss.

Right now you’re probably asking yourself why this is. The answer is simple: because (the boss) you have control over all the factors that push job satisfaction, namely, compensation, opportunity, recognition and environment, something that can be called the CORE factors for establishing job satisfaction.

• Compensation - This means a fair and competitive wage. An occasional bonus or other reward is nice, too. However, money alone will not result in job satisfaction. If all the other factors are out of whack, employees will still walk.
• Opportunity - Give employees the chance to show what they know and do what they can. Yes, much of this has to do with individual skill sets and someone’s motivation to reach out and grasp opportunities when they’re presented; however, it is also up to management to create an environment in which opportunities are available.
• Recognition - Employees are willing to do a good job as long as someone recognizes the effort they put in. A pat on the back or an occasional “Good Job” can go a long way in adding to an employee’s job satisfaction.
• Environment - A large part of employee job satisfaction comes from working with people we like and respect in an environment that, well, for lack of a better word, is pleasant. No yelling bosses or freezing cold offices. No ball and chain keeping employee’s tied to their desk 16-hours a day, six days a week. If you can’t imagine your family working there, why would your employees want to?

So next time you think about your role as a manager, don’t forget about your role in your employees’ job satisfaction. How do you measure up?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 11:23 am and is filed under Employee Retention, Leadership, Job Satisfaction. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.