What are the main causes of job dissatisfaction ? To understand this well, we asked an expert in work organization and human resources.
DISSATISFACTION IN WORK AND DEMOTIVATION: RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH
“ 7 out of 10 Italians are dissatisfied with their work ”. This is what emerges from a research conducted by Espresso Communication for Sodexo.
What are the real reasons for job dissatisfaction and demotivation of Italian workers?
At the top of the ranking we find the low salary (56%). Followed by inflexible working hours (48%), contractual uncertainty (41%). In addition to the absence of benefits and incentives (37%).
But it is not only the workers of the beautiful country who are professionally dissatisfied.
The overseas giants try to “stem” the causes of malaise and job dissatisfaction. And they add benefits to the already doubled staff salary.
This would be the recent decision made by grocery giant Walmart.
THE 7 MAIN REASONS FOR DISSATISFACTION AT WORK
” Job dissatisfaction has a huge impact on the efficiency, professional ethics, productivity and future prospects of the workforce .” The human resources expert we turned to underlines this.
There are many causes of job dissatisfaction, but the most common can be avoided and corrected.
Knowing which one can act in advance helps every company to be “ the best and most satisfying workplace for each employee ”.
This is why it is important to analyze the main causes that generate job dissatisfaction and professional demotivation.
What is worse are the consequences of dissatisfaction that affect employees and the organization.
Among them: loss of motivation, lack of interest, frustration, low productivity, absenteeism and even high turnover rates.
Here are the 7 main causes of job dissatisfaction.
- LOW REMUNERATION
As we have seen from the research results, low pay is one of the main causes of demotivation in the workplace.
“ The overall economic situation today imposes low entry wages on young people who are lucky enough to enter the job market.
Workers and employees and low-end managers and executives see their wages compressed and blocked over time and […] the wages of all professionals are no longer what they used to be ” .
According to Frederick Herzberg , a famous American psychologist, ” if motivation and job satisfaction are based on the quality of work itself, the demotivation is attributable to environmental elements and remuneration: the first elements are motivational factors , while the second are he defined hygienic factors “.
Acting on the latter, according to Herzberg, can increase job satisfaction.
- LIMITED CAREER GROWTH
Not having the opportunity to “climb the ladder” and not being able to progress from a career point of view is another demotivating factor. And it can contribute to the growth of job dissatisfaction.
” Not all employees and collaborators are able to progress, not all have the skills to do so or, at least, not in that specific organizational context – underlines the HR Expert – this could stimulate and induce an employee to seek other more professional opportunities. incentives in another organization “.
Therefore, this demotivating factor could be “solved”.
The point remains that to improve the environment and the working climate, motivational factors cannot be ignored .
- LACK OF INTEREST
This is a “subjective” factor of job dissatisfaction.
According to a recent research it has emerged that most of the employees want to perform demanding and not too trivial work tasks. “[…] The fact that workers are delegated the most operational tasks with little added value, demotivating and causing dissatisfaction ”, points out the expert.
The “monotonous” and repetitive work causes depreciation of company productivity.
- NOT TRUSTING THE MANAGEMENT CAUSES DISSATISFACTION IN THE WORK
The management plays an important role in any business organization. He is responsible for employee motivation, planning, management and control within the corporate structure.
Managers with poor leadership skills do not stimulate the staff to work in a team , they are not able to improve internal communication flows. Nor to manage stress or delegate tasks to the most capable human resources.
” People want to interface with a guide, a leader and they want to work with people who have a clear and well-defined vision over the time horizon “.
Lack of trust in management can cause job dissatisfaction.
The real solution is to train managers to improve their skills to run an organization efficiently, effectively, economically and fairly.
- LACK OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Leaders can lose sight of the importance of human resources. Why? With the downsizing of the company, the reorganization of the structural structure and the containment of resources to a minimum.
And, unfortunately, they may only focus on corporate profits or “cutting” costs .
Managerial myopia and lack of leadership are among the main causes of job dissatisfaction.
- LACK OF WORK AND STRUCTURAL CRISIS
In times of economic crisis it is easy for companies to lose customers, orders and there is a drop in demand in the sector in which the organization operates.
The economic situation and the crisis that the various company sectors are experiencing are exogenous factors. And they negatively affect employer satisfaction .
- BALANCE BETWEEN WORKING AND FAMILY LIFE
One of the causes that can lead to dissatisfaction in the workplace is the imbalance between work and family life .
This is one of the factors that especially characterizes the female staff.
Many working women are mothers and wives and need to look after the home shopping, take care of the children, tidy up the house etc.
For family needs, women need greater organizational flexibility and “personalized” working hours according to their needs.
The legislation has evolved in this sense. But, unfortunately, in most cases, women believe that there is too much “machismo” in the workplace.
This leads to job dissatisfaction and leads many female workers to leave their jobs to devote themselves to their children and home.
Even if a company has the willingness to offer wage increases there is another way to improve job satisfaction. That is to offer female human resources a valid balance between family life and work.
Possible solutions include: introducing paid vacation days, providing more flexible hours or working shifts. Or offer award tickets to the cinema, theater or sporting events.
