Key drivers of job satisfaction

Few people are exactly alike when determining what makes them happy at work,
but there are some key drivers of job satisfaction.
Before making a leap into a new job, Lakis suggests you consider each of these areas and ask these tough questions of yourself and your potential employer:

A. Relationships

·      With manager: How employees and their managers get along is one of the strongest employee retention drivers. Ask your prospective manager during the interview process how he makes decisions and how he evaluates talent or superior performance.                                                                                                       

·      With peers: Ask who you will be working with and how the people within the department interact. How have the relationships been in the past? Is there much interdependence?                                                       

·      With subordinates: Ask about the strengths and weaknesses of employees who might be working for you. Then decide if you have the skills to effectively manage them or if they have the skills to help the team achieve success.

B. Work/life balance

·         Location/commute: Be honest with yourself in deciding how far and how much time you are willing to devote to your daily commute.

·         Travel: Will having a job that requires frequent overnight travel be an issue? Where will you draw the line?

·         Amount of work: Try to determine if the culture is one where there is frequent overtime.

C. The kind of work

·            Autonomy: Do you like to work with little supervision or do you prefer detailed assignments?

·            Type of work: Ask questions that will help you gauge what portion of your new job involves project work, building client relationships, developing strategy, implementing tactics or doing creative work?    

·            Contribution: Will the work you do make a notable difference in your department? The company? Society? Does it matter to you?

·            Growth opportunities: What is the internal environment like relative to promotional opportunities? Ask if internal candidates have been considered for this job.

D. The company

·         Values: People who feel disconnected with the values of the company often want to leave. Ask what the values are and how they are manifested in the day-to-day environment..

·         Leadership: Are the leaders of the company people who you and others respect, admire and want to work for?

·         Industry: Does the company/industry provide products or services with which you would want to be associated?

E. Financial considerations

·      Base pay: Are you being offered a salary commensurate with your worth in the marketplace? Make sure it is enough to warrant leaving your current job/company.

·      Incentive pay: If you perform at a superior level, is there an upside opportunity or incentive pay? Consider how the total compensation compares to your past earnings and current expectations.

Lakis suggests that once you have the answers to these questions, make a list of pros and cons and assign them relative weights of importance before making the final decision to accept a new job. You will be better off and better-prepared for what lies ahead.