There are no universally agreed definitions for either job satisfaction or employee engagement. Locke (1976, p.1304) describes job satisfaction as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job and job experiences”. From a management perspective, job satisfaction is vital as it can affect the worker’s productivity, organisational commitment, turnover, creativity, innovation, and profitability (Catteeuw et al. 2007; Javdani & Krauth 2020).
However, engagement, according to Schaufeli et al. (2002) is a positive state of mind characterised by drive, devotion, and absorption towards the work that conforms to Job Demands-Resources theory (JD-R). This positive attitude towards the job leads to work engagement and job satisfaction (Saks 2019; Armstrong & Taylor 2020). Similarly, the work engagement results in job satisfaction, commitment to the organization (Saks 2019). Accordingly, satisfied and committed employees maintain a long-term relationship with the organisation and rarely quit the job, which contributes to the growth and sustainability of the organisation (Ramkumar & Neeraja 2016; Fletcher et al. 2018; Radulescu et al. 2020).
Ironically, the most satisfied employee might not be the most engaged employee because job satisfaction and employee engagement are two different concepts; however, they are interrelated (Figure 1), and the former is influenced by various intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors (Harter et al. 2002; Warr & Inceoglu 2012; Armstrong & Taylor 2020). These motivational factors influence job satisfaction, leading to improved performance (Armstrong & Taylor 2020). The job satisfaction is also influenced by level of engagement (Reissova et al. 2019) and in return; job satisfaction positively affect employee engagement (Sarangal & Nargotra 2017; Nargotra & Sharma 2018; Mahmoud et al. 2021).
To understand the overlap and how these two concepts work together Shuck et al. (2013) envisages the following:
- Employee engagement measures; in-the-moment expressions of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural energies directed toward organisation outcomes (dynamic expressions of task-focused energies);
- Satisfaction measures; general, global, and static expressions of an overall work-related attitude.
Several motivational theories describe factors that affect satisfaction, such as Herzberg’s two-factor theory (Armstrong & Taylor 2020). Herzberg describes two factors that influence job satisfaction: motivation (extrinsic factors) and hygiene factors (intrinsic factors) (Alshmemri et al. 2017). Motivation factors are recognition, the work itself, achievement, responsibility and opportunities for growth. Hygiene factors are; pay, working conductions, supervision and organisational policies. According to this theory, motivation increases satisfaction and leads to more engagement (Stello 2011).
Empirical research have reported many factors that influence job satisfaction in specific contexts. Unanue et al. (2021), for example, found that materialism is negatively associated with lower job satisfaction. According to the finding of Weziak-Bialowolska et al. (2019), job control, trust, respect and recognition correlated with outcomes of job satisfaction. Leadership also affects job satisfaction, and for instance, ethical leaders reduce disengagement, leading to an enhanced commitment to the organisation, satisfaction, and lower turnover intentions (Mostafa et al. 2021). However, not all sectors rate all of these factors equally for instance; a comparative study conducted by Maidani (1991) suggests that employees in the public sector value hygiene factors more than the private sector.
In summary, employee engagement and job satisfaction are related and have synergistic effects. Therefore, organisations should measure job satisfaction (Van Saane et al. 2003) and engagement (Macey & Schneider 2008) by applying valid methods regularly to adopt or update current policies and strategies to leverage the synergistic effects of employee satisfaction and engagement.
References:
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Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice.
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Fletcher, L., Alfes, K. and Robinson, D., 2018. The relationship between perceived training and development and employee retention: the mediating role of work attitudes. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(18), pp.2701-2728.
Harter, J.K., Schmidt, F.L. and Hayes, T.L., 2002. Business-unit-level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: a meta-analysis. Journal of applied psychology, 87(2), p.268.
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Nargotra, M. and Sharma, J., 2018. Organizational justice, employee job satisfaction and employee engagement: A case of telecom industry. JIMS8M: The Journal of Indian Management & Strategy, 23(2), pp.27-34.
Radulescu, V, Anghel, L, Cetina, I, Cruceru, A.F., & Onisor, L.F., 2020. 'Job Satisfaction and Services Business Sustainability - Empirical Study Using Role Theory', Economic Computation And Economic Cybernetics Studies and Research, vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 55-70.
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Hi ravi, agree with you, adding to your points, the employee engagement can achieve through the creation of organizational environment with positive emotions such as involvement and pride are encouraged, this resulting in improve organizational performance (Robinson 2006).
ReplyDeleteAgree with you Ravi, an engaged employee has a good emotional connection to their work, which is naturally of high quality and often goes above and beyond their assigned responsibilities (Bakker et al, 2014). Also, increased work performance, higher job satisfaction, lower potential turnover, and a variety of other benefits can be seen when a high level of engagement is achieved (Guan et al, 2020).
ReplyDeleteWell-written article. Employee satisfaction is the extent to which employees are happy or content with their job and work environment. Hence, workers' dissatisfaction can negatively impacts the business and result in low productivity (Schaufeli, 2002). Further, knowing the difference between satisfaction and engagement is critical for an organization to make strategic decisions (Kusstatscher, 2005 ).
ReplyDeleteWell said Ravi. Satisfaction is transactional, while engagement is transformational. If you are close to losing an employee, you think about satisfying them. But if you want to meaningful connection, you go beyond transactions. You make sure your employees enjoy the work and think of themselves as part of your company future (Swati Baruah,2017).
ReplyDeleteAgreed your points Ravi, adding to that, Job satisfaction, like commitment, is regarded by Yalabik et al (2013: 2805) as an originator of work engagement. It has been shown to be related to other attitudes and behaviors. Positively, it is related to organizational commitment, job involvement organizational citizenship behaviors and mental health.
ReplyDeleteAgreed with you Ravi, also One of the most common criteria based on which employee engagement and employee satisfaction is considered similar is their contribution in improving organization performance (Bhuvanaiah T. 2014). Strengthening of relationship is an important feature of both employee engagement and employee satisfaction which helps in bringing loyalty and mutual trust; however, there is one major difference in the scope of both concepts. For employee satisfaction the aspect is limited to internal relationship (Suresh K. and Shikha K. 2012)
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