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Some employees can’t
get no satisfaction,
but they try

Some people do not particularly like their work. They show up at their workplaces and carry out their assigned tasks only to earn enough money to pay their bills. Or, they try to earn enough money to find life satisfaction in other activities such as hobbies and voluntary community service. Other people enjoy their work and look forward to successful careers. When asked questions about what they would do if they won $10 million in a lottery, many people say they would continue to work. For these people, jobs and careers are a major part of their social identities. They are satisfied with their work, and they are motivated to be good workers.

Various aspects of the workplace, and intrinsic aspects of people's jobs, lead to satisfaction and motivation. Some aspects do not lead to satisfaction, but they help avoid dissatisfaction. Imagine a horizontal line. At one end there is the phrase "I am dissatisfied with my work." In the middle, there is the phrase, "neutral, or I am neither satisfied nor dissatisfied." At the other end of the scale, the phrase "I am satisfied with my work" appears. People make a check mark along this line corresponding to their feelings about their work.

Some workplace issues prevent dissatisfaction. That is, they lead people toward the neutral point on the scale that corresponds to the feeling that "my work is merely OK but I don't get a whole lot of satisfaction from it." These aspects include the quality of supervision, or in everyday language, how good the bosses are. Other aspects keeping people at the neutral point are attractive company policies, physical working conditions, relations with other people in the workplace and job security. Since they prevent dissatisfaction, they are called hygienes. The distinction between "preventing dissatisfaction" and "contributing to satisfaction" can be puzzling. One way I think about it is to recall a television advertisement from years ago. A man was talking about a deodorant. He said something like, "using this deodorant does not guarantee me an active social life, but it keeps me feeling and looking fresh. And when you think about it, that's quite a lot." The deodorant is like a workplace hygiene. It does not guarantee positive outcomes, but it prevents a person from becoming a total social outcast.

With attention to a second set of workplace issues, people can change from neutral feelings about work to feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment. Since these aspects move people to become more satisfied and to look forward to their workdays, they are called motivators.

These workplace aspects include opportunities for promotion, opportunities for personal growth as unique individuals, recognition, increased responsibility and achievement.

These aspects are more associated with career development over a number of years and deal with more than just a job during any ordinary day at the office. They also deal with features of people's identities as hard-working individuals who have a lot to offer.

If good workers do not find these motivators in the workplace, they will often seek employment in other organizations.

Managers are wise to examine the list of motivators and to make sure their companies allow workers to move from the neutral point to job satisfaction.

One very important aspect of the workplace was not discussed in this coverage of hygienes and motivators. That aspect is money. This is such an important issue in the workplace, with implications for both preventing satisfaction and contributing to satisfaction, that I will devote all of next week's column to a treatment of its complexities.

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