By D.C. Morrow

It would be nice if everyday you woke up eagerly anticipating your next day at work. Once there, you knew you would become passionately involved with your job. What you did was vitally important and you were making a positive change for those around you and society in general. In fact, you have the type of job that you would do even if you didn’t get paid. Yes, that would be nice.

Does anyone have a job like this? Have any of your past jobs been fast-paced, nonstop, laugh-a-minute adventures? I’ve been fortunate enough to land some really good positions during and after graduation. I must honestly say that even some of my most pleasant positions had their moments, sometimes days, of tedium. There has been a little bit of the “daily grind” in just about every position I’ve held. It is work. If it was fun, it would be named accordingly.

We all find ourselves doing things day in and day out, seemingly without purpose, or worse still, simply a real pain to sustain. There is never a day when the alarm goes off that I really want to go to work. Minimally, I would prefer a couple of hours more rest before taking on the world. I’ve sat numbly through plenty of meetings and training seminars. I’ve counted tiles and even holes in tiles in the ceilings of any number of conference rooms. I’ve had to carry out meaningless “exercises in futility” to please overly anal and/or paranoid supervisors.

Perhaps if I were to imagine a life as a rock star, as an actor, or as a professional athlete, I might lay claim to job excitement. However, if I insert a little realism into such fantasies I’m certain that they put up with a tremendous amount of frustration and boredom as well. There are reasons why so many of them lead tragic personal lives. One answer is that as humans we are predestined to live lives that are far from boring. After all, our ancestors took exciting risks every time they crawled out of their caves. Without such adrenaline rushes, life for us is bound to be boring by comparison.Most jobs command a salary because most people wouldn’t willingly choose to do them for free. Often the more you get paid and the more promotions you have received brings a commensurate load of annoying responsibilities. The “grass may seem greener” in a lot of other jobs, but this usually turns out to be a faulty perception.

You should not dwell on the frustrating aspects of jobs that are especially boring. You may feel as though these are a waste of your talent and resources and, at times, you’ll be right. Sometimes you just have to wade your way through them. If you fairly analyze your job, you will probably find that it does have some redeeming meaning. You need to remain alert to what you enjoy about your current position and not be completely brought down by the garbage that gets in the way.

DC Morrow is the author of Survival After College available directly from Selfhelpbooks.com
(c) Copyright 2003 DC Morrow/Selfhelpbooks.com

By J. Bailey Molineux

People differ in their needs and interests, but in many cases employers do not understand or consider these differences. With the major breakthroughs in the understanding of human behavior made in the last several years, however, managers are now in a better position to understand the psychological needs of their employees and to increase productivity and employee satisfaction.

A management tool that helps to achieve these goals is PERSONALYSIS. A system of management analysis designed by a psychologist, Dr. James Noland, and marketed in Montana by Management Technologies, Inc., in Billings, PERSONALYSIS considers individual differences in studying relationships within an organization and how they impact productivity and job satisfaction.

There are four basic personality types, according to PERSONALYSIS, on five different personality levels: the adult, positive parent, positive child, negative parent and negative child.

The adult is the person's comfort zone, the range of his or her behaviors and feelings that are effective in meeting the demands of adult life and in providing satisfaction. As stress increases, however, the individual retreats to his or her other personality levels, the positive parent first, then the positive child, next the negative parent and finally, when stress is overwhelming, the negative child.

For the sake of easy identification, PERSONALYSIS uses colors to identify the four personality types: red, yellow, blue and green. We are all mixtures of these colors but specific colors predominate in particular people. Red persons are doers whose greatest needs are for power. Competitive individuals who are usually found in leadership positions, they like to see concrete results and tend to give orders in a direct manner. They dislike to lose and are threatened when their authority is threatened.

By J. Bailey Molineux

Job satisfaction is important because its absence can affect mental health.

By itself, job dissatisfaction will not automatically lead to emotional problems, but it can contribute to stress. Combined with other problems at home, however, it will surely lead to physical or emotional illness. The person who is unhappy in his work and having family or marital problems is ripe for emotional or physical breakdown.

Last week I discussed several factors not directly a part of a job - pay, security, relationships with others, supervision and organizational climate - which can contribute to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. This week I will discuss factors in the job itself which can contribute to satisfaction or dis­satisfaction. My findings are taken from the book, Understanding Job Satisfaction (John Wiley & Sons, 1979) by Michael Gruneberg.

Application of skill. Most people like to feel they are good at doing some­thing and to show off their skills. They like to take pride in their work. Dissatisfaction occurs in a job if it is either too easy or too hard, so that a worker doesn't have the opportunity to exercise or display his skills. A job that is easy can be boring and unchallenging; a job that is impossibly difficult can raise anxiety and be ego deflating.

Recognition. People also like jobs that will bring them recognition. Some researchers believe that recognition, or its lack, is the single most important factor in job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. People want to be rewarded or recognized for the good work they do.

Recognition can come in three forms: pay increases, promotions or praise. Since few companies can afford steady pay increases, and not everyone can be promoted, praise can be an effective tool managers can use to encourage good work. And it doesn't cost a cent.

Job variety. Many people - especially those who like a challenge and the opportunity to grow - prefer jobs that involve a number of different tasks. To do the same thing over and over again, year after year, is bound to become boring. The more variety there is in a job, however, the less the chance of boredom setting in.

Job autonomy. Many people also prefer jobs that allow them some autonomy and flexibility. Few people like to be told what to do or to have someone checking their work all the time. People prefer instead to be given a job to do, then allowed the freedom, within limits, to decide how, when and with what procedures they will accomplish the task.

Research shows, for example, that flex time - a forty hour week that is set by the employee at his convenience, rather than being locked into an eight to five schedule - increases both job satisfaction and productivity.

Participation. People also like to have a say about the policies, plans or working conditions that directly effect them. The more they are consulted by their supervisors, or involved in decision-making processes, the more they tend to be satisfied with their jobs.

Job involvement. Workers who are involved with their jobs, who are committed to what they are doing and feel it is worthwhile, also tend to be more satisfied with their work.

Opportunity for growth and advancement. Many people - but especially men - have been taught to be competitive and successful. In the working world, promotions are an indication of a person's worth or success. Those who feel they are stuck in their jobs will tend to be more dissatisfied with their work.

By J. Bailey Molineux

If you are employed, you spend approximately eight hours per day - one half of your waking life excluding holidays, weekends and vacations - at your job. For your sense of well being, its important that you like what you do.

What makes for job satisfaction? There's been considerable research aimed at this question but no clear answers found yet. Job satisfaction is too complex a phenomenon to be reduced to simple causal factors.

In his book, Understanding Job Satisfaction (John Wiley & Sons, 1979), Michael M. Gruneberg, a British psychologist, presents the results of the research on job satisfaction. People are unique and have different needs, he states, and so differ in what satisfies them in their work. ome like security and structure; others like flexibility and the opportunity to be creative. Some like boring jobs that don't involve or tax them; others want to be challenged and committed. Nevertheless, there are some common factors that contribute to job satisfaction for many people.

Pay. People obviously need an adequate income if they are to be satisfied with their jobs. Money not only enables them to support their families sign of recognition and worth.

It's usually not actual levels of pay that account for job satisfaction, however, but relative levels. People judge how well or poorly they're paid by comparison with their peers. If they feel they're underpaid compared to their colleagues, they'll probably be dissatisfied with their income no matter what it is.

One study of high school- and college-educated managers found that the high school graduates were satisfied with their pay because they were doing well compared to other high school graduates. By contrast, the college graduates were dissatisfied because they weren't doing as well as other college graduates. In this study, the pay was the same but the levels of satisfaction were quite different for the two groups.

Security is one of those factors that doesn't necessarily contribute to job satisfaction when it's present, but contributes strongly to job dissatisfaction when it's absent. A secure job is not automatically a satisfying job but an insecure job can contribute to many restless nights.

Relationships with others. One of the non-economic benefits of work is the opportunity to meet and work with other people with similar interests and back­grounds. Some of the strongest, longest lasting friendships are formed at work. In general, the better people relate with others at work, the more satisfied they will be with their jobs. The most dissatisfied people are those who feel isolated at work.

Supervision. Most people prefer supervisors who are friendly, pleasant and supportive, although a few authoritarian individuals like authoritarian bosses. What is also important in satisfaction with supervision is supervisor competence. No one likes to work for a boss who is incompetent. The best supervisors are those who know what they're doing and are committed to getting a job done, yet are friendly and pleasant to work for.

Organizational climate. Gruneberg distinguishes between authoritarian and democratic organizations and concludes that some people like to work for one type of organization, while others prefer to work for the other type. Those who are more creative and have a greater need for autonomy and flexibility prefer democratic organizations.

There are many other factors that contribute to job satisfaction which I will discuss in next week's article.

By D.C. Morrow

One approach is to alter your perception of your boss or manager. Try thinking of your boss as a drill sergeant. You, unfortunately, are the new recruit in the boot camp that constitutes the work domain under this person’s control. Like a drill sergeant, this sort of boss will use any tactic available to reshape you into an employee that fits a model determined by company policy or maybe one that serves his/her own ego.

As a new military recruit you would have come to expect that your personal traits and individual work habits could be treated as weaknesses. Encouragement and praise would no longer exist as such but would become your interpretation of criticism that happens to be at an uncharacteristically low level. Unless you have evidence that you are being singled out, you need to think like a private would and not take it personally.

This sort of boss is someone who has the authority, based on position in the company hierarchy, to order you around and push your buttons. None of the interpersonal skills you possess that help you develop relationships with others are of any value when dealing with higher-ranking soldiers who view their role as one of giving orders. These people are obstacles to overcome and, in the long run, to survive.

The respect you give to your boss must follow that same sort of no-questions-asked, military mindset. Sarcasm and cynicism toward such bosses only fuel their nasty dispositions and they’ll spew the smoke and heat back at you. React to their orders, comments, and cruelty, as much as you can, without emotion and such people often lose their edge. Behave on such a highly professional level toward them that they’ll confuse your passivity with loyal obedience. Enjoy your time off like a soldier on leave would. In other words, don’t waste your time venting over the sergeant’s words and behaviors.

I had a terrible supervisor in a retail job shortly after graduation. Appropriately, his hygiene was equally repulsive. This was only one way he showed indifference to the needs and comfort of others. He was negative, thoughtless, and sometimes even cruel to his employees. I used him as a motivating force to get a different position. The more he pushed, the more places I applied. The more he ranted the more I polished my resume and the better I studied the needs of prospective employers. Eventually I did get a much better job and was it ever sweet giving him my two weeks notice. Like most with his drill sergeant approach, he still hasn’t risen in rank.

DC Morrow is the author of Survival After College available directly from Selfhelpbooks.com
(c) Copyright 2003 DC Morrow/Selfhelpbooks.com