Satisfaction Guaranteed?

By the time my dad had retired from his job, he had clocked close to 40 years in service. As if the number of years weren't intimidating enough, he managed to pass these 40 odd years in a single organization. Now that is awe-inspiring. In the 7-8 years of my professional experience, I have managed to change 4 organizations. If I look at my friends, I see almost the same trend and statistics. 

I can understand that things were different 30 years earlier when people held on to their jobs till retirement (for lack of options or other reasons), but what has changed now?  Do we jump jobs because we have more options now or are there other reasons for this behavior? At this point, I can only attribute this phenomenon to job satisfaction or the lack of it. Just because we have job satisfaction issues AND there are other options, we change jobs frequently. I know that I might be generalizing but then there are exceptions to anything, right?

That brings me to the issue of employees’ job satisfaction in organizations.  According to Wikipedia, "Job satisfaction has been defined as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job;[1] an affective reaction to one’s job;[2] and an attitude towards one’s job. Weiss (2002) has argued that job satisfaction is an attitude but points out that researchers should clearly distinguish the objects of cognitive evaluation which are affect (emotion), beliefs and behaviors. This definition suggests that we form attitudes towards our jobs by taking into account our feelings, our beliefs, and our behaviors."

I talked to a few friends and colleagues and jotted down their parameters for gauging their job satisfaction. Here are the factors that determine their job satisfaction. These factors have been generalized and some of the sub-factors have been force-fitted into the main categories. They might not be true for everyone but they hold good for the general public. So here I go!

Money

Ok! So, this one figured very highly on everyone’s list. I just cannot buy in your theory if you say that money doesn’t matter. I could be wrong when it comes to all the remaining factors but certainly not this one. In this world of instant gratification, almost everyone dreams of retiring early with lots of money in their kitty. If the remuneration is good, then it affects an employee's performance and the way the job is executed. Apart from being satisfied with what the employee is getting, it should also be important for him/her to compare their compensation within and across industry/industries. Then there also sub-factors like hikes and bonuses which keep the employees happy and content. They should always feel that their efforts are being compensated monetarily with increments at regular intervals.  

Work- Life Balance

30 years ago, there was nothing called work-life balance or so I think. It’s a fairly new term and concept which now is an important factor in determining job satisfaction. The hours of work and the commute time determines the time spent by an employee in office, on the road and at home, with his/her family. Spending quality time with family helps an employee get over the fatigue induced by long hours at work.

It has been proved that employees of an organization which provides "work from home" option are more satisfied than the ones who don’t allow. This works out very well with working couples and this freedom is something that compels them to continue with that organization. I don’t know about everyone but many feel that office ergonomics play an important factor in keeping an employee satisfied. If the chairs and cubicle have good ergonomics, then it means one less thing to complain about, right?

Growth

Does your job helps in fostering growth or does it stifle you? The answer to this question is important to decode the job satisfaction puzzle. No one wants their life or career to stagnate. This stagnation is the root cause of dissatisfaction. If an employee feels that he/she is not gaining in terms of learning or skill enhancement, then it would invariably lead to dissatisfaction and mental unrest.  Other factors that are related to growth are responsibility and accountability as they boost an employee’s level of interest in the job and make them feel wanted.

Office Culture

Office culture determines whether you wake up and look forward to a day in office or drag yourself to work every day. The people you meet and the way they behave is what office culture is. Office culture of course has to do with HR policies and the inherent genetic build of an organization but it’s the people who make up the culture. Since an employee spends around eight or more hours a day in office, it is very important that office politics, co-workers and superiors are satisfactory. 

Job Security

Who doesn’t like stability and security! It is vital to every employee in any organization. The same is true for jobs. If the level of job security goes below a certain threshold, then it affects performance and confidence. 

The factors that influence job security are attrition rate, HR policies, economy and industry performance among other things. For example, if the economy is looking up then it means, there are more jobs in the market. This would obviously lead to a feeling of job security even if you are not quitting your organization.

Benefits

I would term any privileges which are non-salary as benefits. These could have financial implications or psychological effect. Benefits like health insurance, perks, reimbursement and vacations play an important factor in terms of job satisfaction.  You might have worked for quite a few years in an organization and feel that given your talent and knowledge, you should be eligible for some special privileges. 

After jotting down all the above factors, it makes sense to draw up the big picture by putting together the smaller pieces. So here is what I feel influences job satisfaction.

(click on the image above to enlarge)

I just tried to list down the factors that I thought might influence job satisfaction. I might be close or I might not be so close. The Job Satisfaction Index (JSI) changes with industry verticals. The JSI in IT industry is quite different than say in the financial sector. I’ll leave that discussion for some other time.

The author, Pijush Gupta is an XIMB ( PGP, 2003-2005) alumni. He blogs at www.pigtale.co.in

Let the mismatch grow!

Over the past few days I have been conducting job interviews at Jaipur for the vocational training institute that we have newly started here. The institute trains school drop-outs to become electricians, TV repair mechanics, mobile repairers, AC & Fridge mechanics, 2 wheeler & 4 wheeler mechanics etc. We are currently recruiting faculty who can teach these subjects - both theoretically as well as practically with a lot more emphasis on hands-on training. However, my experience in these interviews has left with me with a lot of startling thoughts.

We had given an advertisement in a leading daily in Jaipur (shelling out a fortune from a vocational training institute standards) asking interested, eligible candidates to walk-in for the interview. There were 4 people who turned up for the interview. Out of these one was working currently in the industry, one has been a faculty for many years and the other two were people looking for a stop-gap arrangement until their endless wait for a government job comes to a happy ending. I was shocked, to say the least! I have had similar experiences in interviews conducted across MP & UP as well.

I have always thought that Jaipur is one of the larger metros in the country, more developed than at least its other BIMARU counterparts - Bhopal, Lucknow or Patna. I assumed that getting qualified faculty would not be a problem in such a large city. Add to it, the number of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the state of Rajasthan - a staggering 729 (Source: NCVT Website); the third highest number of ITIs in India. On an average, each ITI has 2 trades with around 21 students in each trade summing up to 30,618 students graduating each year. Jaipur district alone has nearly 110 ITCs (Private ITIs) which has an approximate throughput of nearly 3000 students each year. These numbers would make anyone vouch for the availability of skilled manpower but sadly the reality states otherwise.

Almost all the 110 ITCs in Jaipur offers the Electrician trade. However, out of the four candidates who came for the interview, just one was from the Electrician trade. Happy to have got at least one, I questioned him on the basics of electricity and was keen to know if he can install a fan or a tube light. He drew a blank mentioning that it was not part of the "practical" syllabus. I cornered him saying that if even an untrained person could install it, why not him. He admitted that he has learnt it theoretically but never did it practically and hence lacked the confidence to do the same. That's appalling! I never imagined in my wildest of dreams that such would be the state of trained technical manpower in Jaipur. I shudder when I think of these candidates joining electricity boards and managing our power lines. The only consolation - this could be a one-off case - one candidate is not a sizeable sample to arrive at conclusions!

I have seen that most people who pursue an ITI course do so purely for a government job. In Rajasthan, the major employer is the Rajasthan State Electricity Board. In MP & UP, it is the Indian Railways. A job in the government gives them the job security for lifetime and the possibility of earning much more through other unethical means. The competition to join these departments is tough but some of the 'financially abled' make it through, thanks to corruption spread across all levels. The recent question paper leakage of railway examinations is just one case. Having spent a lot of money, time and effort in getting a government job, these people have tremendous pressure to recover their 'investment' as soon as they get the job. Bribe, otherwise called "Bhent", "Pet Pooja" or "Kharcha Paani", is such an addiction that can never stop until you quit or get caught! Even after you get caught, you can bribe your way out!

On the one hand, we have a huge population which only wants a government job and on the other hand we have a large number of students who go to the ITIs but never learn the skill-sets. The first question most students pose to our counsellors is if the course is government certified and if they can get a government job post course completion. When we reply in the negative, they are just not interested in learning anything. When we counsel them that we prepare them for self-employment, so they do not need to depend on the government, they are not very keen. Entrepreneurship is not something they wish to take up mainly because of the risks involved in it. But more importantly, for them, a government job means no risk, less work and more money!

Unfortunately, industries too suffer because of the non-availability of trained manpower. A lot of industries spend time and money in retraining these candidates to make them productive. Training institutions such as ours struggle hard to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of training technical manpower. However, while being a supplier of talent we also have a demand for skilled manpower which remains un-fulfilled many a times.

Most importantly, it is the common man who suffers because of non-availability of such trained manpower. There are not enough electricians in the market; not enough plumbers in the market; not enough AC repair mechanics; not enough Refrigerator mechanics; just not enough! The well-to-do families do not want their children to become an electrician - they would rather do an MBA and be a "Manager" or a "Businessman". The middle class families aspire their children to become "Engineers" & "Doctors". The lower-middle income families aspire their children to get into a government jobs. The lower income families are happy even if they could afford some schooling for their children. If this situation continues, 10 to 15 years from now, there will be a huge dearth of electricians, plumbers, mechanics etc.

Simple economics states that when demand increases and supply remains constant, the price is likely to go up - a situation where an electrician will make more money than the MBA. I truly hope that one such day dawns. May be then, people & government will start thinking about some serious vocational education to be included in our school syllabus. May be then, kids will also start aspiring to be electricians and plumbers. May be then, vocational education would not be only for the underprivileged or the poor.

Until that day dawns, my good lord - let the mismatch grow!

Hi

Hi Guys,
I am PGP 2003-2005 batch student from XIMB.
It is great to see so many activities going on in the campus.
Wishing you all the best.
My personal email: abhijitmisra@gmail.com
It would be great, if I could be of some help.
Regards
Abhijit Misra