Five Keys to Job Satisfaction
Copyright 2006 Mary Foley
Do you spring up in the morning looking forward to another
day at work, or do you hit the snooze button at least three
times and secretly look forward to scanning the want-ads
for a new job? If your snooze button is getting a work
out, you’re not alone. A recent Gallup poll found that
fifty percent of working Americans are dissatisfied with
their jobs. Hmmm, that’s starting to sound like a familiar
divorce statistic.
When I started working right out of college for eight bucks
an hour as a customer service rep at America Online I had
only one thing in mind: Get a job to pay the bills. I
never thought I’d stay for ten years, moving up and around
the company with five positions of increasing
responsibility and pay. This was in the 1990s when AOL
went from a speck on the internet map to a huge online
giant. It was an exciting ride to be sure, but it came
with a price. The price was frequent layoffs (I survived
six!), constant change (who is my boss now?), and pressure
to perform (are these deadlines normal?).
Yet, year after year, I chose to work there! Why? Because
with experience I realized there were five keys to my job
satisfaction. Like a marriage, some of these were things
were dependent upon my behavior and some were directly
affected by someone else. Whenever I started to wonder if
this relationship was working for me, I reviewed my Job
Satisfaction Checklist. You can use it, too, to determine
if your current job is worth keeping or if it’s time for a
change.
Job Satisfaction Checklist
1.) I believe in the company’s mission and vision. A
friend who was recently looking for a new job said she
wanted to work for a company whose mission included giving
back to the local community. Ask yourself: Do you like
what the company is about and stands for? Are you proud to
be associated with it, or do you avoid mentioning their
name?
2.) I enjoy my role and feel I’m making a valuable
contribution. I always found that enjoying my current role
was important, but I also wanted to understand how my role
fit into a bigger picture. Both together added so much
more meaning. Ask yourself: Do I like my day to day tasks
and activities? Do I know how what I do fits into the
bigger picture of the department or company?
3.) I have the opportunity to do more. If others recognize
that you’re making a valuable contribution in your current
role, it’s amazing how much easier it is to get more
opportunities. Ask yourself: Is the company growing? Are
new jobs opening up or being created in areas that interest
me? Is the company supportive of promoting people within?
4.) I enjoy the people I work with, including my boss!
There’s a reason why they do workshops on “Dealing with
Difficult People.” It’s a big drain to constantly interact
with people who are critical, negative, or disrespectful.
Ask yourself: Are the people I interact with on a daily
basis friendly and easy to work with? Do I feel
comfortable with my boss?
5.) I feel I’m being fairly paid. If you’re working hard
and find out that someone doing in a similar role is being
paid more than you, well, there’s the rub! Ask yourself:
Do I know what is considered fair pay for my skills? (If
you’re not sure, check out www.salary.com) Have I
considered the value of my entire compensation package,
including salary, bonuses, and benefits?
By using this quick checklist and asking yourself these
questions, you can start to understand just how satisfied –
or dissatisfied – you are with your current job. If found
yourself coming up short, like I did in my last position at
AOL, only you can determine if it’s worth trying to work
things out. No matter what you decided, the important
thing is to understand why you are dissatisfied with your
current job so that you can take that into account when you
are looking for a new one. Or, you can do what I did and
use this reflection to start a whole new career!
Mary Foley, author of “Bodacious! Career: Outrageous
Success for Working Women”, inspires people to take charge
of their lives and grow their careers and business. Tired
of seeing so many people weary from jobs they hate, Mary
created “6 Steps to Win the Job You Really Want” , which
draws from her ten years at AOL forging her personal
career, hiring hundreds of people, training managers how to
interview, and being co-owner of a human resources research
and consulting firm. To find out more, check out
http://www.new-job-search.com
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