Judith Timson wrote a witty and thought-provoking article for her column in the Globe and Mail back in January in which she tries to define the word satisfaction. Although she observes that it is one emotion that is purely up to the individual to define and identify for herself, she does resort to a sort of science when she cites Dr. Gregory Berns and his new book, Satisfaction: The Science of Finding True Fulfilment, who argues that satisfaction is, essentially, the feeling we get when our brains get two things they crave—challenge and novelty.
For workplace leaders, this knowledge can be very useful in maintaining high levels of employee satisfaction within your company. Giving employees challenging (but not unrealistically so) and new opportunities and projects can help keep them interested in doing their job, which can in turn keep productivity levels high. This is also good to keep in mind when there is a job opening in your company; hiring from within will not only save on training costs, it will also provide employees in new positions with new challenges to keep them stimulated.
Timson also notes that another source of satisfaction is in knowing that you have done something well, so leaders should also take care to offer genuine positive feedback. Compliments are excellent motivators, if they are heartfelt, and they are free to give, so make sure your employees know when they are doing a good job.
High levels of employee satisfaction are correlated to high levels of productivity and low levels of absenteeism, so companies can save money by contracting a consulting firm to measure for employee satisfaction and to identify areas that can be improved to increase employee satisfaction.
