Unlocking professional happiness: The Seven Keys to job satisfaction
What exactly leads us to enjoy our work?
When we’re looking for a job, we usually focus on clearly definable factors: salary and job title, for example. But, on a day to day basis, it’s actually more subtle aspects that lead us to love our work.
Academic literature points to seven factors that lead to job satisfaction. Let's have a look:
Task Variety: Variety in your job is a cornerstone of job satisfaction. Key is your perceived variety; what might seem repetitive to one person could be diverse for another. For one shopkeeper, their daily routine may seem monotonous. For another, each customer is different; you never know who will walk through the door.
Colleagues: The people around you matter. Like-minded colleagues, can significantly boost your happiness, especially if you have a 'best friend' at work. Equally important is an engaged and supportive manager.
Working Conditions: There are two aspects here. Firstly, the physical environment (e.g. a pleasant office with ample natural light, for example). Secondly, the company ethos (for example, a workplace which fosters creativity). It’s important that the working conditions are right for you.
Workload: Striking the right balance in your workload is crucial. Too much can lead to overwhelm, while too little can result in boredom.
Autonomy: Feeling in control of your work is empowering. Whether deciding how you approach tasks, the projects you take on, or the flexibility to work from home – autonomy is a key driver of satisfaction.
Education and Development Opportunities: We have a fundamental need to learn and grow. A satisfying job will offer opportunities for development. This could be through formal qualifications or organic day-to-day experiences.
Congruence: The fit between you and your work. This comprises:
Strengths: Being able to use the skills that you’re good at
Values: Working in an organisation which holds similar values to yours
Identity: Feeling like you can be yourself at work.
So, what about pay and job title? Well, the literature says they aren't actually all that important when it comes to day to day happiness. Their significance boils down to one crucial factor: whether you feel valued. For example, if you’re paid less than a colleague for doing the same job, that’s a clear indication that you’re not valued and your happiness is likely to take a hit.
Congruence is also something that arguably receives a disproportionate amount of focus. We’re often encouraged to audit our strengths and values as a first step in selecting or changing career. But actually a good fit accounts for only around 5% of job satisfaction. (The two caveats to this are that is you’re a more sociable person, you’ll be happier in a job where you interact with people. And moving away from a job which is a very poor fit to one which is a decent fit makes a big difference. But moving from one which is a decent fit to one which is a great fit only has a limited impact on your job satisfaction).
If you're not enjoying your work or contemplating a career change, auditing the above list could reveal areas that need attention. You might not need the big change you think. Sometimes, accessing learning opportunities or finding colleagues who are more on your wavelength could be the key to unlocking your professional fulfilment.
Reference: The Career Coaching Toolkit, Julia Yates, Routledge, 2019