Satisfied Employees Are More Productive

In this essay, I will explore the relationship between the level of employee satisfaction and employee production. Firstly defining and explaining satisfaction and job performance as these variables are difficult to define, and a clear definition is critical for assessing the relationship between them. Secondly I will discuss some of the most significant studies in this area of research. I will then analyse various factors which determine the correlation between these two variables, focusing on the attitude-behaviour relationship as this gives an insight into how a higher level of satisfaction may link to greater production. Finally I will look into a set of different models which propose variations to the job satisfaction-performance before coming to a final conclusion.

The Oxford Dictionary defines satisfaction as the ‘fulfilment of one’s wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure derived from this’ (Oxford University Press, 2013). Satisfaction is commonly thought of as a person’s level of comfort and happiness. It is an evaluative statement, which reflects how we feel about a person, event or object. Job satisfaction is one of the three major job attitudes (Moynihan and Pandey, 2007). It is expected that when an employee’s level of job satisfaction is high, they are likely to have a positive attitude towards their job and vice versa Judge and Watanabe (1993).

Put simply, job performance is how well an individual carries out his/her given tasks, it is how productive an employee is. Job performance can be divided into two different categories: In-role performance (how well an employee performs their prescribed job requirements) and extra-role performance (employee behaviour which is not in their formal job requirem...

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