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We all talk about job satisfaction, what it means to us, to society and to the organization. But how many of us really know what job satisfaction is? The sad truth is not many of us know what Job satisfaction is all about. Researchers and psychologists have spent years in trying to find out what job satisfaction is, what affects it and whatnot. Job satisfaction means different things to different people; this is because job satisfaction has a lot of do with motivation. People are motivated by different things to do different things. While this is true, do not confuse and mistake job satisfaction as being the same as motivation. A simple definition of Job satisfaction " Job satisfaction is more an attitude, an internal state. It could, for example, be associated with a personal feeling of achievement, either quantitative or qualitative."

There are different aspects to job satisfaction, some will agree whole-heartedly to this and some will disagree. So what are the different dimensions or aspects of job satisfaction?

• Individual elements – this means personality, education, intellect, age and marital status. These individual elements play an important role in job satisfaction.
• Social elements – social elements are all things in the social environment of the work place, such as working relationship with colleagues, interaction and informal association with colleagues.
• Cultural elements – these are a person’s beliefs, attitude, values, religious elements.
• Organizational elements – these are elements directly related to the organization like the size of the organization, structure of the organization, employee-employer relationships, management abilities, leaderships, delegation and all such things are factors affecting job satisfaction.
• Environmental elements – these are elements of influences on the environment around working, like economic, social, technical and even governmental or political influences.

All these factors, elements or dimensions are very different for each individual and his or her perspective of job satisfaction. One of the best ways people have realized to get a grip on job satisfaction is to establish the right kind of culture in their organizations, this is often called corporate culture.

Check Job satisfaction with a checklist
Did you know that the rate at which people are changing jobs is at the same alarming rate at which people are getting divorced? Shocking isn’t it! Well the basic truth is most people are dissatisfied with their jobs.
There is a checklist that you can use to judge your job satisfaction or dissatisfaction for that matter.

• Do you believe in the company’s vision and mission statement? – Some people don’t even read the company’s vision and mission statement, so they are not in sync with the company’s vision and mission statement. And if you are working in tandem with the company’s mission statement, quite naturally you are on another page and hence not satisfied.
• Do you enjoy your job and at the same time do you feel that you are contributing to the organization? – Most people do not enjoy their jobs and only do them because they need the money. This is not job satisfaction. Regarding making valuable contributions to the company, doing your job is not a contribution; you are being paid for it. Doing something above and beyond your duty is a contribution.
• Do you have scope for growth? – Is your company and job giving you the chance to grow in your current position? Do you have opportunities to show case your talent and expertise?
• Do you enjoy working with the people around you and your boss? – Most people will answer this question with a very firm no! it is normal to dislike your boss, his attitude and some colleagues, but it is not normal to dislike every single person you work with.
• Do you think you are being paid what you deserve? – There is a fine line between being paid according your expectations and being paid according to your worth. If you feel you are being exploited for the amount of work you are doing, then you are not satisfied with your job.