Satisfaction at work: theories of job satisfaction

Psychology A2 · Organisational Psychology. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

Herzberg's two factor theory says satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not opposites. Hygiene factors, such as pay and conditions, surround the job. If they are poor, workers are dissatisfied; if they are good, workers are simply not dissatisfied. Motivators, such as achievement, come from the work itself and are the only things that create real satisfaction.

Hackman and Oldham's job characteristics theory says five core features of a job produce three psychological states, which lead to motivation, satisfaction and good performance. The effect is strongest in workers with a strong need for personal growth.

Job design uses these ideas through enrichment, enlargement and rotation.

Rules to remember

Hygiene factors: pay, company policy, supervision, working conditions, job security, relations with others.
Motivators: achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, growth.
Skill variety, task identity and task significance → experienced meaningfulness of the work.
Autonomy → experienced responsibility for outcomes. Feedback → knowledge of results.
Job enrichment: more responsibility and control (e.g. planning, checking quality).
Job enlargement: more tasks at the same level. Job rotation: moving between different jobs.
Belias and Sklikas (2013): a review of these job design techniques and their link with satisfaction.

Common mistake

Students call pay a motivator. For Herzberg pay is a hygiene factor: raising it removes dissatisfaction but does not create lasting motivation. Also, enlargement adds tasks; enrichment adds responsibility.

Worked example

A gardener plants and looks after a whole park alone and can see it finished, but his manager decides every detail of what he plants and when. Which core job characteristic is low, and which psychological state suffers?

He completes a whole, visible piece of work, so task identity is high.
He has no freedom over how or when the work is done, so autonomy is low.
In the theory, autonomy leads to experienced responsibility for outcomes.

Answer: Autonomy is low, so he feels little responsibility for the outcomes of the work.

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