Individuals who report highest levels of job satisfaction on the Full Engagement Inventory also report self-confidence, an appetite for thoughtful risk-taking, consistency between their values and their work, emotional resilience, the ability to “take a break” through fun, friends and rest, and good relations with bosses and coworkers. This research was recently annouced by the Human Performance Institute, Orlando, FL.
“These all represent sources of positive energy for individuals, and employers can encourage each of them through workplace practices,” says performance psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr, CEO of the Institute. His firm recently announced new research findings on the responses of 75,000 working adults. The Inventory is based on the bestselling book, The Power of Full Engagement. Dr. Loehr offers the following tips for encouraging job satisfaction, based on findings from inventory data:
1. Build employees’ competence and self-confidence through training, feedback and recognition. “There is a very close relationship between high job satisfaction and feelings of effectiveness on the job,” says Dr. Loehr. “Encouragement of genuine self-confidence is probably the number one way to achieve higher job satisfaction.”
2. Communicate the value of the organization’s products and services, and the role the organization plays in the marketplaces where it operates. “People with high job satisfaction also report an extraordinarily high sense of mission, vision and passion for their work,” says Loehr. “They feel their work is consistent with their values. They couldn’t achieve that feeling if their employers didn’t enable them to get meaningful insight about the value they provide to customers,” says Loehr.
3. Encourage and reward thoughtful risk-taking. “People with high job satisfaction also score high on the desire to try novel approaches, face challenges and perform problem-solving both individually and in groups,” says Loehr. “They appear to have an appetite for mission-driven change. They also rate themselves very high on perseverance.”
4. Encourage positive workplace relations. “People who are highly satisfied in their jobs report good feelings about their bosses, peers and coworkers,” says Loehr. “Their feelings of opportunity are elevated, and they perceive a low hassle-factor.”
5. Encourage meaningful rest breaks and light diversion. “High job satisfaction correlates strongly with the feeling of having fun at work,” says Dr. Loehr. “Highly satisfied individuals also report that they find it easy to wake in the morning, and that their sleep is deep and restful.” He adds, “This is consistent with our thirty years of research on world-class athletes. Top performers in every field know how to enhance performance through rest and recovery.”
Learn more about the work of the Human Performance Institute and Dr. Jim Loehr.
