Introduction
Job satisfaction has a direct linkage to the emotions and general morale of an employee. According to reports by the Salary.com surey, only 15% of employees insist they are extremely satisfied with their places of work and jobs (Azeem, 2010). An employee is most likely dissatisfied or going through a hard personal time if they constantly display an array of negative emotions. It is imperative that such negative emotions are promptly addressed lest they spread to other employees and soon the morale of the entire workforce slips (Zeinabadi, 2010). The following paper studies factors of job satisfaction and employee attitudes with reference to the accounting profession.
Factors of Job Satisfaction
The Society for Human Resource Management conducted a survey that reported the job satisfaction rates bumped from 81% in the year 2013 to 88% in the year 2016 (Heibutzki, 2016). One primary factor attributed to this positive shift is the improving economy because it has seen many employees receive increased salaries, benefits and perks from their employers. Furthermore, more job seekers have been able to land opportunities for positions that best fit their sets of skills because of the stabilized labour market.
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All the above corresponds to the primary factor that leads to job satisfaction and improved employee attitudes. In order to keep the employees engaged and highly satisfied, the employer will need to do more than pay them well and give benefits (Mosadeghrad et al., 2008). Factors such as trust, respect, security, career path, a healthy environment and pay and benefits matter a lot. Respect tops the list of factors that employees consider the most crucial factor in job satisfaction. An employer must respect all employees equally and not appear to edge on one side.
Trust is the second key factor because it assures employees of certain functional attributes of the job place. Trust between the senior management and employees goes a long mile to boost morale at the place of work and more so in times of hurdles such as the recent global recession (Heibutzki, 2016). Security is another key factor because every employee wishes to be certain with their jobs. Nobody wants to wake up every day not knowing whether they are employed or not (Aziri, 2011). A healthy environment at the place of work does well because it offers a conducive ambience free of stress and disruptions or moral issues for employees to function effectively. The employer does well to provide employees with a path to their careers because no one wishes to have a dead-end job.
Employees show the ability and zeal to excel when they foresee an established path in the upward direction with immense opportunities of earning higher wages and assuming greater responsibilities and roles that lead them to the managerial positions. Lastly, pay and benefits (Tsai et al., 2008). It is overwhelmingly resounding how pay and benefits come last in the list of factors that serve to determine levels of employee satisfaction. However, contrary to what most expect, benefits and material rewards do not fully make a person or an employee for that matter, feel comfortable at the place of work. According to Azeem (2010), treatment that is abstract, is what does well to tell an employee to stay and not leave a place. Still, a good pay and wages associated with rewards for well job performances do well to motivate employees and change their Morales at the place of work.
Attitudes
Attitudes refer to the beliefs, opinions and feelings about the various aspects of the environment while job satisfaction entails the feelings people have in relation to their jobs. Job satisfaction is the most crucial attitude of the job in the face of all feelings pertaining to one’s place of work (Zeinabadi, 2010). So what causes or instils rather positive attitudes in people towards their places of work? Well, research argues that people pay close attention to a number of aspects in their work environments and such aspects include treatment, relationships with workmates and senior officials and the actual roles they partake in the place of work (Villanova University, 2017). In summary, factors that charm attitudes leading associated with job satisfaction include personality, an environment that is personally fit, characteristics of the job, psychological contracts, justice, relationships and a balance between work and personal life.
Positive attitudes are a must in the workplace if at all the organization is to thrive and excel. It appears that the happy workers have a tendency of being more engaged at work and always strive to perform better. Such employees are highly motivated and in return spread the same aura to other employees. In fact, Heibutzki (2016), observes that work attitudes have a stronger relationship to the citizenship of an organization than in any other dimension or field. It is observed that the satisfied and highly committed employees are less frequently absent and even when they are, it is usually for a very short time (Mosadeghrad et al., 2008). A close look at most accountants will confirm the above information as true considering accountants always have work to do and seem too busy for anything else yet they rank the most satisfied employees in the US.
Collective Morale
Despite the common stereotypes that accountants are soulless crunchers, they rank the most satisfied professionals in the US. The job of an accountant entails consistent flow of work because of the need of companies to cope with regulatory and tax burdens. One thing that is obviously attributed to the high rakes of satisfaction in this profession is the collective morale that outpaces other professionals as recorded by the Hudson consultancy survey on 10,000 employees (McFarlin, 2017). According to the survey, 78% of the 873 accounting professionals polled high levels of job satisfaction in comparison to the 72% of the total population (Heibutzki, 2016). In June, 2006, the CFO magazine insisted that the availability of raises that 46% of accountants against 41% of other employees reported to have been receiving, could be a possible reason for such high levels of job satisfaction (Heibutzki, 2016).
Potential of Earning
Similar to other careers in finance, accountancy provides employees with the promise of a good salary at all levels of the industry. The United States Bureau of Statistics reports that accountants and auditors earned medium level wages of $616901 as of May in the year 2010 (McFarlin, 2017). The top 10% earned slightly above $106,880 with the bottom 10% earning less than $38,940 (McFarlin, 2017). Accountants are professionals that usually work 40 hours every week and sometimes longer hours depending on the seasons. They work longer during the peak times like when its tax season and companies are busy filing their tax returns and collecting debts making sure their books check out effectively.
Job Outlook
One attribute that is credited with accountancy is stability. Accounting is a stable profession that is an aspect that contributes to the satisfaction of its practitioners. The bureau is expectant of a 16% growth between the years 2010 and 2020 that is anticipated to be faster than other occupations (Judge, 2008). A great part of the demand is due to the more stringent regulations in the industry of finance that depends greatly on the compliance of the accountants. Furthermore, globalization of business today is expected to create more opportunities because of the numerous international mergers and constant acquisitions. All these factors amount to job security that is a pertinent factor to job satisfaction and the creation of positive attitudes towards the work place.
Work life Balance
As earlier mentioned, work life balance is key for the development of positive attitude in employees at the place of work. Well, the counting industry according to research, is one of the most work-life balance promoting professions with numerous accountants detailing of ample time to spend with their families. Employee’s take summers off and focus on both themselves and their families and friends. The New York Times in the year 2011, contended that large companies like PricewaterhouseCoopers offered up to twelve weeks paid maternity leave and six weeks for the men (Villanova University, 2017). Other organizations offer up to six months of sabbaticals just to pursue the interests of their employees (McFarlin, 2017). Such practices do well to reduce and prevent the high rates of turnover that most organizations usually struggle with in their endeavours to operate in business. Moreover, the actions improve the attitudes of employees and allows them to develop a passion for their work and their place of work as well.
Importance of Job Satisfaction
It is no doubt that the human labour or employees rather make the number one resource of an organization. Therefore, any attempts to keep the workforce happy and enthusiastic with work should be encouraged. Job satisfaction comes with many benefits and perhaps the most important of all is the retention of employees (Mahmoud, 2008). It allows for lower turnover, high productivity, increase in profits and loyalty to the firm. Job satisfaction lowers turnover that is one of the highest costs reported in the Human Resource department. Retention of workers helps to create a better environment and further makes it much easier to recruit high quality talent and save on costs (Judge, 2008). The primary argument in this regard is that the satisfied employees are less likely to leave the firm.
Job satisfaction does well to increase productivity with highly paid and motivated employees achieving greater work output. The above holds irrespective of the profession or job that a person is charged with. With the increased productivity comes increased profits. Keeping employees secure, safe and enthusiastic has the potential of leading to higher sales and lower costs incurred together with a very strong bottom line (Aydogdu, 2011). Lastly, employees are loyal to the company that they feel has their best interests at heart. Companies that work around the clock to create an ambient environment for the employees to work effectively and achieve their goals is rewarded by employee loyalty (Tsai et al., 2008). Employees will tell their friends of the goodness of the company and spread the goodwill to other places thus improving and maintaining a good company image in the market for clients to follow and hear.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, it is imperative to acknowledge the various factors that affect the levels of job satisfaction in an organization. Companies must strive to provide these attributes for them to receive the best from their employees. Workers need security, trust, respect, work-life balance, benefits and rewards as well as quality working conditions to be dedicated and commit to work. A good example of satisfied workers are the accountants that work hard and smart to give their all to their respective firms despite the tonnes of workload they usually have to handle.
Positive attitudes are instilled to employees by the way the company or organization rather treats them. In return, these positive attitudes yield better performances and high results in the firm making the organization thrive and excel in its endeavours. The most attributable consequences of job satisfied employees for an organization is lower turnovers, high productivity, increase in profits and loyalty.
References
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