You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
As most people spend a major part of their adult life at work, job satisfaction is an important element of individual well-being. What factors contribute to job satisfaction? How realistic is the expectation of job satisfaction for all workers?
Give reasons for your answer and give any relevant example or experience you have to support your answer.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer 1:
Since most adults dedicate a significant amount of time at their workplace, job satisfaction is crucially important to the happiness of an individual. I believe that salaries, working environment and career enhancement opportunity are the key determinants to job satisfaction. However, with different occupations, expectations may still vary, and I think that satisfaction with jobs remains a distant dream for the majority of employees.
To begin with, job satisfaction depends on several fitting reasons, like salaries, working environment and development prospects, for example. Firstly, wages play a predominant role in affecting job content. In simple words, money helps employees attain their basic needs. Besides, it is deemed a symbol of accomplishment as higher salaries reflect a higher degree of contribution to the organization. Secondly, the working environment also plays a crucial role in influencing job contentment. That is to say that employees need an atmosphere which is safe and healthy, and which caters to both personal comforts and is conducive to doing a good job. Last but not least, the potential for career advancement is another factor in a delightful career. This is because employees regard promotion as the ultimate achievement and when they get a promotion, they feel absolutely satisfied.
However, it is quite impossible for all employees to be completely satisfied with their job and workplace. In fact, a high-paid job exerts an enormous amount of stress. An employee who comes under pressure to work longer hours will not be satisfied with the profession, whereas a flexible job that entertains executives’ passion likely has low salaries. It appears that human nature is the formidable challenge for employees to find satisfaction in their occupations.
In conclusion, salaries, stimulating working environment and promotional chance are the major sources of job satisfaction but human traits are actually a great hindrance to working delight and job satisfaction for all is not possible.
Sample Answer 2:
Since the majority of adults spend a considerable amount of their time at work, job satisfaction has become instrumental in the well-being of an individual. This essay will first discuss what elements contribute to job satisfaction, and it will then address the question of how likely it is that everyone will be happy with their jobs.
The two most important things that lead to someone being satisfied at work are being treated with respect by managers and being compensated fairly. If those who are senior to individual respect them as a person and value their contribution at work then this will elate the person and make them feel valued. Fair compensation is also an important consideration because feeling underpaid can cause people to resent their bosses or look for another job. According to a recent survey by online job search website Monster.com, these two factors came on top where almost 80% agree that they would stick to their respective job roles if valued by managers and offered fair remuneration.
With regards to the second question, it is unlikely that all workers can experience content with their career. The majority of people fail to reach their goal and as a result, end up taking a post they really do not care about in return for a salary. The money earned is just enough to pay their living expenses which often means they go through periods of discontentment. For example, a poll conducted by the Guardian.com states that 70% of the people would leave their current job if it were not for the money.
To conclude, being content with one’s career can have a profound impact on a person’s well-being, and being paid fairly can maximise their sense of self-worth; however, job satisfaction for all workers is an unrealistic hope.
[Written by – Saad Yaseen]
Sample Answer 3:
Job satisfaction is believed to be an important aspect of one’s self-satisfaction and a happy life. To be satisfied with a job, many expectations need to be fulfilled and it is a matter of debate whether a job satisfaction exists or not.
So how do we define job satisfaction and which elements are essential for an agreeable job? Firstly, an individual should choose a job that matches his skill set and where he could find mental satisfaction. A job that provides a sense of fulfilment, secure working environment and pays well is a desired job for many. Traditionally, a job that has a social status, better pay scale and gives freedom to an employee is said to be a dream job. Unfortunately, not all of us have such dream jobs. Some other important factors like adequate holidays, compensations, learning opportunity, career growth, a decent boss, nice colleagues, job security and fair working environment are often considered the most important aspects of a job. I believe a nice job should guarantee progress – both skills and remuneration. For example, training courses that help employee gain new skills would help improve his career and therefore benefit his workplace and his community as well.
Since job satisfaction and expectation of employee change with time, it is almost unrealistic to define a job which is perfect and completely satisfactory for all. While some people are unsatisfied with their jobs because of poor payment, others complain about the future prospect. Even if these criteria are met in a job, some people would start complaining about other aspects. That is why it is quite unrealistic that each and every employee would be happy in their workplace.
In conclusion, some common factors like salary, respect, learning opportunity, work environment and job security could be influential aspects for job satisfaction but it is quite impossible for all employees to be happy in their job environment.
[ Written by – Nehal Touski ]
Sample Answer 4:
It is believed most of the adults’ lives are spent in their workplace, therefore many people think that job satisfaction is an essential matter for them. There are various factors that affect job satisfaction and the following essay will discuss in details about some of the factors, and whether the factors are realistic or not.
There are some points that influence job satisfaction. Firstly, many employees believe that they are satisfied with their careers since the tasks are in accordance with their passions. They think that the work that they are currently doing is aligned with their talents and they are performing well. Secondly, some employees believe that they would be satisfied with their jobs if they are paid with the expected compensation and benefits. They are being realistic that salary is also a trigger to their work performance. And lastly but not least, a lot of people believe that a conducive working environment would also affect job satisfaction.
Some people are idealistic persons and they are willing to work hard in the task that is in accordance with their talent. This kind of thought is realistic since working is not just being paid, but it should also be meaningful and satisfying. As for the compensation and benefit, it is a fact that human kinds are never satisfied with their salary and total earnings. The idea that employees would be satisfied with their jobs if they are paid high is just not realistic. Salary would only satisfy them for a certain amount of time and after that, they will ask for more. And as for the conducive working environment, it would be difficult to find the ideal environment. Every workplace has its owned unique culture and style; therefore the workers should adapt and adjust themselves to the working environment.
In conclusion, it is true that adults are spending a lot of their time at work, therefore jobs satisfaction is an important thing. There are several factors that contribute to job satisfaction, but some are realistic while others are just not.
[Essay by – Darwin Lesmana]
Sample Answer 5:
People are expecting to contribute a large proportion of their adult life into their career, especially when the retirement age has been postponed in many countries. Job satisfaction is the most determinant element of individual well-being because of its significant role in people’s lives.
There are some widely recognised factors that are considered having positive effects on job satisfaction. First of all, whether the job is desirable can largely affect how satisfied people will be when they are doing the job every day. For example, as a horticulturist, having the opportunity to work in the best garden nursery in town would give me very high job satisfaction. Secondly, and also equally important, the salary can influence people’s job satisfaction significantly. Although, in theory, job satisfaction is not supposed to be measured by the salary; in reality, a decent income enables people to meet their needs, which otherwise would be unmet. The dissatisfaction from the unmet needs could easily balance out the satisfaction gained from work. Moreover, the work environment and relationship with colleagues are both notable factors that would contribute to job satisfaction.
Job satisfaction is so important to everyone; however, it is not realistic to believe that everyone has it. The workforce is getting more and more competitive that it is hard to land a job that is both desirable and well-paid. It is inevitable that some workers have to compromise their desires and needs to secure a position in this fierce job market.
To draw the conclusion, the nature of the job and the income generated from the work affect job satisfaction significantly. It would be a dream if everyone feels highly satisfied with work, but it is not the case in reality due to the hardship of securing a position in nowaday’s labour market.
[Essay by – Huan]
Sample Answer 6:
Most people do jobs to earn money for their livings. There are various reasons for many people to do jobs. For example, some people do jobs to spend their time in something they like to do, some for the salary, some to utilise their skills and to gather more experience and some to gain social status. Some people even prefer to do a job rather than looking after their family business because they do not like the business. This is why job satisfaction became more versatile to many people who are engaged in different jobs.
There are various reasons along with the above-stated factors which are related to job satisfaction. For example, some people are engaged in such a job, that they don’t want to do but they couldn’t find any other suitable work. This creates dissatisfaction in their mind. Besides, in many cases, dissatisfaction creates due to the surroundings, workplace and ego. As an example, the first job of mine was in City Bank head office which was very much neat and clean. Whenever I entered the office, it gave me peace and a positive inspiration to work. Moreover, the colleagues around me were also very much friendly and helpful. That is why I barely could make a difference with my home. But, when I joined Prime Bank, I found that the employees are not talking to me in a friendly manner as I expected. Their expressions were some sort of rude to me. To overcome the issue I tried to make them easy through various efforts like appreciating their work, offering them a treat after office hour, engage them in sports activity etc.
Finally, I would like to say that it is not possible for every person to get satisfaction in their jobs. The main reason is there are various types of people who work in the same place and all do not have the same mindset. Some people will be helpful, some will not be. So, it is very much unrealistic for every worker to experience satisfaction in their jobs. Some people may have a good experience, some people may have a bad experience.
[Essay by – Safayet Ullah]
Sample Answer 7:
Human life is divided into three phases. Out of which an adult phase is the most energetic and enthusiastic one. In this phase, the majority of the time is spent at work so the job satisfaction is very important. Although the factors related to it varies from person to person.
Learning is a constant process in a person’s life. Though the job looks monotonous after some time, learning never stops. This could be one of the reasons that a person can never say that he knows everything related to his work field. For example, Mr Bill gates cannot say that he knows everything about computers. A challenging and responsible work would increase the desire for learning. This is certainly the most important factor in job satisfaction. For instance, Pranav Mistry mentioned in one of his interviews regarding the successful presentation of 3G, that he started the project because he felt it was an extremely challenging and socially responsible assignment.
Another important factor could be setting up the goals. A goal is the first step towards the destination. Thru focused attitude, even the toughest goals could be achieved. For example, I did not know excel macro while I was in college. However, now I am working on that in my job. This could happen just because I had a goal to learn it after college. One more important factor could be appreciation. Most of the employee expects a confirmation that their hard work is being noticed. For instance, an award or a certificate could boost the confidence and it could motivate the employee to work on the next goal.
I believe job satisfaction should be very important for everyone because a job is not a short-term mission. It is very difficult to continue uninteresting work for a longer period.
[Essay by – Naaz]
Sample Answer 8:
No matter whether we work for a living or we live for working, this is a stark reality that working covers the majority time of our lives and job satisfaction factors have been always considered important by workers. In the other hand, managers have always tried to increase job satisfaction elements in their companies as they believe that there is a direct relationship between job satisfaction and the company’s profit. Therefore there have been lots of debates about recognising some elements which are most effective on this matter and the ways which company can respond to this kind of worker’s need.
According to science management which has been embedded in Taylor studies, Money is the best element to encourage workers and make them happy from their jobs, but it has been proved that money is not the only factor or enough and some other elements should be implemented to make employees satisfied. For example, making an atmosphere in the workplace which a worker can work without any stress or concern can make a worker’s life easier. These days the culture of a company plays a critical role to contribute to job satisfaction. Put another way, the office culture helps workers to be interested in their jobs or vice versa. For instance, in some cultures, managers just specify some duties for workers and ask them to do. By contrast, some other encourage workers to come to problems, think and improve them which has a deep effect on workers as they don’t find themselves just as a cog in a machine.
However, it is not possible to make all of the workers satisfied in a company as anyone has a different character and individual aspects, at present various ways to get job satisfaction have been recognized and developed and a successful manager is someone who can find the best approach to increase the average of job satisfaction in the company.
I think, therefore, job satisfaction should be considered as the most important topic in management studies and managers should develop some meeting to transfer their experiences about job satisfaction elements to each other. Perhaps in this way, they can find some similar strategies which can be affected by all workers’ job satisfaction in different industries.
[Essay by – Milad Rahimi]
Sample Answer 9:
In current society, people’s dignity is shown by their education and job. Most of the people turn to work in the office environment because nowadays farms and agricultural products have less value. People spend most of the time in the office so job satisfaction is an essential part of someone’s wellbeing However, I believe that satisfaction at work is everyone’s dream.
Firstly, there are many factors that influence job enjoyment. A good working environment that includes job security and better salary is the main and most important thing which helps each employee to be happy. Then comfortable seating and adequate lighting are other factors. For instance, if a person works in an information technology department, his work needs comfortable seating and lighting arrangement. Next is about timing as people like to work for fixed hours like seven to eight hours.
But according to women they wish to work less than that because they have household works and need to take care of their children. “Leaves” and “days off” are other contributing factors to provide job happiness. For example, employees who work as shift duties they have to work on public holidays, so it leads to unhappiness for them. Some workers wish to have the food and accommodation facilities near to the office because it’s really difficult to reach the office due to traffic in the peak time.
When we think about the reality of job satisfaction, it should come from ourselves. Most of the people have to make their job environment-friendly and balanced. First of all, when we get a job offer letter, we have to think about the satisfaction that we might get from that job. Most of the people are looking for a better salary only. In such cases, they may need to sacrifice some factors, like working at night time and doing on-call duties. If an employee has any difficulties in working environment, he can raise the concern to the human resource department, because in all companies they have employee satisfaction department for their employees.
To conclude, I believe that job pleasure and satisfaction is important in workplaces because if there is a good working environment and employees are happy, their productivity and enthusiasm to work will be better. Even though there are many things which make workers happy, it should be contributed by ourselves.
[Essay by – Lettisha James ]
Sample Answer 10:
Majority while away at work, spend a great deal of time of their lives that it is important how they feel about their jobs and how much satisfied they really are.
Job satisfaction from their employment is the most valuable factor for their personal gain and to spend time at offices. Job satisfaction depends on personal favour for the job and background of the working place. However, all employees can’t expect satisfied jobs always.
Firstly, every person prefers to do an occupation for his own anticipation. However, they hope that job will satisfy and aid them to gain their lives successfully. For example, if someone loves dancing, singing, art or sports, they should find their career according to their favour. If they fix upon other professions, they could not be satisfied with their jobs and the will become bored to continue it. Employment plays an influential role in adult life because personal and family expenditure runs through the occupation.
In addition, the environment of the office is another important factor for job satisfaction and it rests on the employer and other office staff. For instance, if an employer is unable to co-operate with employees and more rigid rules and regulations adapt to the company, then workers will dislike working there. Furthermore, office staff should be warm-hearted persons and give the helping hands to each of other. Thus, an employer should take care of his workers and these types of factors create better satisfaction on job surrounding.
To conclude, expecting a job for content is much difficult nowadays and because of that everyone has to prepare themselves for any job for job satisfaction.
[Essay by – Roshani Udahage ]
Sample Answer 11:
In today’s modern world, most people spend the majority of their life working. Therefore, some people assert that job satisfaction plays an important role in moulding a wellbeing individual. In this essay, we will examine what are the factors that lead to job satisfaction and how realistic is the demand for job satisfaction for all the employees.
There are several main points that contribute to job satisfaction. To begin, a high salary is, undoubtedly, the key factor towards job satisfaction. People nowadays are becoming more status-conscious and materialistic which lead them to the desires of buying things including the most up-to-date electronic gadgets for men and trendy handbags, shoes and dresses for women. It is due to the reason that they may want to get self-satisfaction after spending their precious time working for a company. However, a high paid job is not always available and it is nearly impossible to offer it to all the workers owing to the reason that the profit of a company made may not be able to cover all the expenditure of a company.
In addition, a good welfare system of an organisation is, admittedly, the major concern of the employees. If every company is able to guarantee to pay the retirees a huge amount of pension, it will unquestionably allow every employee to get satisfied with their jobs. With the well-organised welfare system, every retired will not be a burden to their family, in return, they still can help to support their family financially. Nevertheless, it is not provided by every company to pay pensions to every retired of their company as they may not have extra money as they have to make preparations for the unanticipated financial problems of their company.
In conclusion, although there are numerous factors that contribute to one’s job satisfaction, not all companies are able to fulfil their employees’ demands. I believe that every individual can get satisfied with their jobs one day in the near future as long as our nation continues to prosper and flourish.
[Essay by – Lee Wing Qeen ]