Employee satisfaction is the product of many factors, some directly related to the work situation and some related to the individual's personal qualities or characteristics. This week, you examine social cognitive theory and social identity theory as applied to the work environment and employee satisfaction.

For this Discussion, review the media titled Week 12: The Virtual Office,and evaluate the job satisfaction rates of the people in the media. Then consider the social cognitive factors that might affect their job satisfaction.

Post by Day 4 a brief description of the employees with high job satisfaction and employees with low job satisfaction. Explain the reasons for their satisfaction beyond the score. Then explain how non-work-related social cognitive factors might have influenced employee satisfaction for two of the employees. Finally, explain two areas in which a consultant might use social psychology to maintain or improve work satisfaction. Be specific and support your responses with the Learning Resources and the current literature.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.

Read a selection of your colleagues' postings.

PSYC 6245 PSYC 8247 CPSY 6245 Social Psychology Week 11: The Virtual Office

"The time has come once again for the annual job satisfaction assessment at the United Cardboard Company. The human resources department has brought in an external consultant to interview the employees and learn what is making the office a satisfying or not satisfying place to work and why. Click on the avatar of each employee to view the consultant's notes on that employee's job satisfaction level. After reviewing the notes for each employee, consider what changes could be made to create a more satisfying job environment."

Kathy Overall Job Satisfaction Score: 9 out of 10

Work Related Notes: Kathy expresses an overall very high job satisfaction level. Kathy feels very capable of doing her job and made a strong point to mention that she feels particularly well trained for the job by saying, "The training process that we go through here is extremely helpful. The instructors have always been fantastic and attentive whenever we've had training courses. Our managers have also been really good about following up to make sure the training sticks and that we have the resources we need. All in all, I feel strongly that I have what I need to do the job that is expected of me and more importantly - to do it well!"

Personal Notes: Kathy commented in the course of our meeting that not only is her work life going well, but things are also going well at home. She expressed happiness that she and her husband just bought a new home, which will be closer to their children's school and give them a lot more room to play.

Teresa Overall Job Satisfaction Score: 4 out of 10

Work Related Notes: Teresa displays a relatively low job satisfaction level that stems mostly dissatisfaction with the nature of teams here at United Cardboard. While feeling reasonably happy with other aspects of the office, her scores significantly declined whenever teams were mentioned. In her own words: "There is absolutely no stability here when it comes to teams! We are constantly being put on them for new projects - which is great - but there is no consistency! Members of different teams are always being shuffled around and replaced so there is no cohesion for anyone. This is especially hard when group leaders change and leave everyone hanging. There is most definitely a group leadership void."

Personal Notes: Teresa notes a fairly steady life outside of work with little to no complaints. In fact, she revealed that she and her partner have begun discussing adopting another child.

Jeannette Overall Job Satisfaction Score: 2 out of 10

Work Related Notes: Jeannette has what is easily the lowest level of job satisfaction in the company. Her complaints about work conditions essentially spanned the entire spectrum of categories in some very concerning ways. With dissatisfaction on everything from having too many projects at once to the physical temperature climate of her cubicle, Jeannette is a highly unhappy employee. When I asked what her biggest concern was though, this was her response: "It's so hard to pick just one thing that isn't working around here but if I have to I'd say the technology. It seems like we are always being asked to download new software systems but our computers are so old that the software rarely works properly. My computer is constantly freezing, crashing, and in need of IT help. I can't tell you how many projects I've had to start over from scratch because of lost data. It's extremely frustrating to say the least."

Personal Notes: As with her work life, things aren't very happy at home either for Jeannette. Her divorce was recently finalized and she was forced to move into a studio apartment not being able to pay her old house payment on her own. On top of that, she also ended her relationship with the man she was seeing following the separation from her husband.

Ken Overall Job Satisfaction Score: 8 out of 10

Work Related Notes: Ken expressed a very high level of job satisfaction and had some really great things to say about his manager's management style as well. In his own words: "One thing that really blew me away this year was working on a team where my manager encouraged divergent thinking and dissent. There was absolutely no pressure or need to be nervous if you ever had doubts about something and wanted to express that. We got into a lot of really productive discussions about strategy this way and ultimately it led to a much better product with much happier clients. I honestly wish every work situation in my life was like this!"

Personal Notes: Ken has had a rough year with the death of both of his parents but has been seeing a counselor and focusing his energy into his surviving family and work, which has had a very positive effect on his mood and overall outlook on life.

Brian Overall Job Satisfaction Score: 5 out of 10

Work Related Notes: My interview with Brian did not yield a satisfaction survey result on either extreme of the spectrum but I would ultimately classify his satisfaction level as low due to his overwhelming focus on how changes are affecting his productivity. He says, "There have been so many changes in the past year that it's getting really hard to keep up. Team members, leaders, processes, and rules are almost always being revamped or changed. And sometimes it feels like it's just being done for the sake of changing something! At first I was able to roll with it but I've noticed that lately it's been affecting our productivity. We spend so much time double-checking who is doing what and with whom on which process, that we never get a chance to do the actual work properly. I know if this isn't corrected soon we're going to be in major trouble."

Personal Notes: Brian was very closed off regarding his personal life and didn't share many details beyond the fact that he is single and still lives in his parents' house. In general he seems to have a positive attitude about life and strives to improve upon his current situation.