Employee engagement and job satisfaction

Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction influences levels of employee engagement, and is a predictor of work behaviours such as organisational citizenship,⁸ absenteeism and turnover. Some commentators have also suggested that higher job satisfaction levels can lead to greater productivity in their own right. Other research suggests, however, that the relationship is more complex with performance itself driving satisfaction. Under this model, agencies could increase job satisfaction by creating high performance environments.⁹

This section looks at both overall levels of job satisfaction and satisfaction with the workplace attributes that employees identify as most important to their satisfaction with their job. It also looks at job satisfaction for specific groups of employees.

Overall job satisfaction

The employee survey asked respondents to indicate their level of satisfaction with the five most important workplace attributes that influence how satisfied they are with their job. To obtain an indication of overall job satisfaction levels for the APS, a summary index was created from these results. This index ranges from zero (the employee was very dissatisfied with all of the workplace attributes nominated) to 10 (the employee was very satisfied with all of the workplace attributes nominated). An index of five equates to an employee being on average neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. Respondents with a score of six or more on the index are regarded as being on average satisfied.

This year saw a substantial increase in overall job satisfaction, with 81% of employees reporting being on average satisfied with the workplace attributes they nominated. This reflects an increase in satisfaction across all the workplace attributes. This year’s overall result was significantly higher than last year’s result of 73%, and surpasses the previous highest result of 78% in 2002–03. Overall job satisfaction for employees in the 45 agencies with individual agency-specific results ranged from 69% to 89%.

Job satisfaction levels in the APS are broadly consistent with those in the broader Australian workforce. Work, Life and Time: The Australian Work and Life Index, a national report on work-life outcomes amongst working Australians, found that 86% of people were satisfied with their present job.¹⁰ The Household Income and Labour Dynamics Australia (HILDA) Survey also found that members of the Australian community were quite satisfied with their jobs, equating to an average score of 7.6 in 2005.¹¹

8 Organisational citizenship can be defined as individual behaviours that are discretionary and beneficial to the organisation. These behaviours are a matter of personal choice, for example, helping colleagues, taking on extra duties when a colleague is sick or providing spontaneous on-the-job training and sharing of skills and knowledge. These behaviours are thought to have an important impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of work teams and organisations, and contribute to overall productivity. See Office of Public Service Merit and Equity (State of Queensland), Quality Public Service Workplaces: The Psychological Contract (Information Paper No. 12, June 2006), <http://www.opsme.qld.gov.au>

9 T. Davenport 1999, Human Capital: What It Is and Why People Invest It, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

10 B. Pocock, N. Skinner & P. Williams 2007, Work, Life and Time: The Australian Work and Life Index (AWALI), Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies, University of South Australia, Magill, SA, <http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/default.asp>

11 Information from the HILDA survey provided by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, <http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda>