This document summarizes a study on job satisfaction in libraries. It discusses theories of job satisfaction, factors that influence satisfaction, consequences of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and strategies to improve satisfaction. Specifically, it covers Herzberg's two-factor theory, factors that determine satisfaction like achievement and relationships, consequences like performance and turnover, and strategies libraries can use like improving communication, training, and offering flexibility.

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Dr. M. Muthu, Mr. N. Seeni Mohamed and Dr. K. Senthilnayagam, “Job Satisfaction, Theories,
Consequences, Strategies, and their Attributes in Libraries: An Overview” – (ICAM 2016)
A STUDY
JOB SATISFACTION, THEORIES, CONSEQUENCES, STRATEGIES, AND
THEIR ATTRIBUTES IN LIBRARIES: AN OVERVIEW
Dr. M. Muthu
SLIA, Central Library, IIT Madras, Chennai-36,
Tamilnadu, India.
Mr. N. Seeni Mohamed
Librarian, Jamal Institute Of Management, Jamal Mohamed College (Autonomous)
Tiruchirappalli-620020
Dr. K. Senthilnayagam
Librarian, AVC College (Autonomous), Mannampandal,
Mailadurai-609305, Tamilnadu, india.
ABSTRACT
Job satisfaction is a complex phenomenon that can be variably interpreted. It is the
absence of pain, oppressiveness and intolerance and also indeed enjoyment of work. It is one
of the most enduring elusive constructs used in the study of industrial relations. Job
satisfaction studies are based on emotional response of employees which is related with some
socio cultural, organizational and personal factors variables like pay promotion, supervision,
benefits, contingent rewards, operating procedures, co-workers, nature of work, working
condition, social status etc., This paper is mainly highlights for Personal Characteristics,
Theories, Two Levels, Five Step Method, Three Dimensions, Components, Consequences,
Causes, Employee Satisfaction Determinants, tips, Facets, Intrinsic Vs. Extrinsic Work
Values, Application, Strategies, Attributes and so on.
Key words/Descriptors: Jobs Satisfaction, Library, Theories, Dimensions, Consequences,
Causes, Employee Satisfaction Determinants, Application, Strategies, Attributes.
Cite this Article: Dr. M. Muthu, Mr. N. Seeni Mohamed and Dr. K. Senthilnayagam. Job
Satisfaction, Theories, Consequences, Strategies, and their Attributes in Libraries: An
Overview. International Journal of Management, 7(2), 2016, pp.237-246.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp
1. INTRODUCTION
The ratio of digital library in the developing countries, particularly in India is quite low in almost every
profession. Lack of job opportunity for library professionals is a big hindrance for the economical and
social development of India. In the digital era, the job satisfaction is one of the vital issues which are
responsible for the poor employability of library professionals. Statistically, discrimination within the
job and different job related factors like; pay promotion, working condition, social status security,
recognition etc are major determinant, which decides satisfaction as a whole. In case of their job
satisfaction, it is important because the result of the relationship between psychological factors and
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT (IJM)
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Consequences, Strategies, and their Attributes in Libraries: An Overview” – (ICAM 2016)
work Outcome of individuals are the most significant aspects of the human life. The way librarians in
research and academic institutions perceive motivation influences their level of satisfaction and
commitment. While job satisfaction and commitment have been the topic of many studies, but the
present studies are presents new information and a new perspective, describing job satisfaction,
motivation and commitment of librarian particularly in the context of modern libraries.
2. DEFINITION
 Job satisfaction or employee satisfaction has been defined in many different ways. Some
believe it is simply how content an individual is with his or her job, in other words, whether or
not they like the job or individual aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature of work or
supervision.
 Business dictionary: Contentment (or lack of it) arising out of interplay of employee's
positive and negative feelings toward his or her work.
 The degree of pleasure an employee derives from his or her job
 Hulin & Judge (2003): Job satisfaction is an employee’s affective reaction to a job is based
on a comparison of the actual outcomes derived from the job with those outcomes that are
deserved or expected
 Davis (2004): feeling of job satisfaction can change with time and circumstances
3. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND JOB SATISFACTION
 Age: in general, increases with age
 Malcontents have stopped working
 Older workers have greater chance of fulfillment
 Gender: inconclusive results
 Race: whites are happier
 Cognitive Ability: slight negative relationship between level of education and satisfaction
 Use of Skills
 Job Congruence
 Personality: less alienation and internal locus of control lead to higher satisfaction
 Occupational Level: the higher the status level the greater the satisfaction
4. THEORIES OF JOB SATISFACTION
1.3.1. Fulfillment theory: receiving more of something on the job is better
1.3.2. Discrepancy theory: the perceived gap between what one wants from the job and what one
perceives it is offering
1.3.3. Equity theory: perceived equity in the employee’s outcome/input ratio compared to others
5. EFFECT OF JOB SATISFACTION ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
 Satisfaction and Productivity
 Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive workers are more satisfied
 Worker productivity is higher in organizations with more satisfied workers
 Satisfaction and Absenteeism
 Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable absences
 Satisfaction and Turnover
 Satisfied employees are less likely to quit
 Organizations take actions to retain high performers and to weed out lower performers

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Dr. M. Muthu, Mr. N. Seeni Mohamed and Dr. K. Senthilnayagam, “Job Satisfaction, Theories,
Consequences, Strategies, and their Attributes in Libraries: An Overview” – (ICAM 2016)
 Potential Effects of Job Satisfaction
 Job Performance
 Health and Well Being
 Life Satisfaction
6. TWO LEVELS OF JOB SATISFACTION
 Global Job Satisfaction - Overall Good Feelings
 Job Facet Satisfaction - Selected Dimensions
7. FIVE STEP METHOD FOR DEFINING JOB SATISFACTION- (ROB TAUB 2014):
 Determine What Job Satisfaction Means to You
 Define Factors for Your Job Satisfaction
 Consider Other Successes outside the Workplace
 Identify Success Attributes
 Divide Motivated and Unmotivated Successes
8. THREE DIMENSIONS TO JOB SATISFACTION- (RIEGEL, 1995)
 A strong desire to remain a member of a particular organization
 A willingness to exert high levels of efforts on behalf of the organization
 A define belief in and acceptability of the values and goals of the organization
9. THREE COMPONENTS
 Affective Commitment: Psychological attachment to organization
 Continuance Commitment: Costs associated with leaving the organization
 Normative Commitment: Perceived obligation to remain with the organization
10. CONSEQUENCES OF JOB DISSATISFACTION-(HENNE & LOCKE, 1985)
10.1. Action Alternatives
 Performance
 Protest
 Withdrawal
10.2. Psychological Alternatives
 Change perception
 Change values
 Change reaction
 Toleration
11. CONSEQUENCES OF CHOICES
 Life satisfaction
 Mental Health
 Physical Health

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Dr. M. Muthu, Mr. N. Seeni Mohamed and Dr. K. Senthilnayagam, “Job Satisfaction, Theories,
Consequences, Strategies, and their Attributes in Libraries: An Overview” – (ICAM 2016)
12. CAUSES OF JOB SATISFACTION
 Need Fulfillment: Satisfaction is based on the extent to which a job satisfies a person’s needs
 Discrepancies: Satisfaction is determined by the extent to which an individual receives what
he or she expects from a job
 Value Attainment: Satisfaction results from the extent to which a job allows fulfillment of
one’s work values
 Equity: Satisfaction is a function of how “fairly” an individual is treated at work
 Trait/Genetic Components: Satisfaction is partly a function of personal traits and genetic
factors
13. ENVIRONMENT/JOB FEATURES
 Skill variety
 Task identity
 Task significance
 Autonomy
 Feedback
14. ROLE VARIABLES
 Ambiguity
 Conflict
 Work-family conflict
15. PERSON VARIABLES
 Negative affectivity
 Locus of Control
 Gender
 Age
 Culture
 Genetics
 Life satisfaction
16. TEN PSYCHOLOGICAL JOB SATISFACTION FACTORS- (ALINA VRABIE, 2014)
 Achievement
 Feedback
 Control
 Small daily hassles
 Organizational support
 Recognition
 Physical work environment
 Flexibility
 Relationship to immediate supervisor
 Work-life balance

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Dr. M. Muthu, Mr. N. Seeni Mohamed and Dr. K. Senthilnayagam, “Job Satisfaction, Theories,
Consequences, Strategies, and their Attributes in Libraries: An Overview” – (ICAM 2016)
17. EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION DETERMINANTS
 Opportunities to Use Skills and Abilities
 Job Security
 Compensation/Pay
 Communication between Employees and Senior Management
 Relationship with Immediate Supervisor
18. FACTORS CREATING JOB SATISFACTION: WHAT MOTIVATES NOW? (DAVID
SPICER, 2010)
 Interesting work
 Job security
 Full appreciation of work done
 Good wages
 Promotion and growth in the organization
 Personal or company loyalty to employees
 Feelings of being in on things
 Tactful discipline
 Good working conditions
 Sympathetic help with personal problems
19. FIVE TOP TIPS FOR MANAGERS
 Show your appreciation in meaningful ways
 Acknowledge the efforts of others – this is even more important given the pressures that the
current economic environment places on employees
 Spend time with employees explaining the organization’s current position thereby helping to
keep them informed about the safety of their job
 Be bold. Promise no redundancies, even if revenues or profits are hit – sending a clear signal
on the job security front
 Move people round the organization to meet short-term needs – this will help meet challenges
now and put your business in an even stronger position when the up-turn does come
20. CORE ELEMENTS OF JOB SATISFACTION
 Skill Variety
 Task Identity
 Task Significance
 Autonomy
 Feedback
21. NINE FACETS OF JOB SATISFACTION-(PAUL SPECTOR)
 Pay- amount and fairness or equity of salary
 Promotion- opportunities and fairness of promotions
 Supervision- fairness and competence at managerial tasks by one’s supervisor
 Benefits - insurance, vacation, and other fringe benefits
 Contingent rewards- sense of respect, recognition, and appreciation

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 Operating procedures- policies, procedures, rules, perceived red tape
 Coworkers- perceived competence and pleasantness of one’s colleagues
 Nature of work- enjoyment of the actual tasks themselves
 Communication- sharing of information within the organization (verbally or in writing)
22. MEASURES OF JOB SATISFACTION-(FIELDS, 2002)
 Career Satisfaction
 Global Job Satisfaction
 Job Descriptive Index (JDI)
 Job Diagnostic Survey
 Job in General Scale
 Job Satisfaction Index
 Job Satisfaction Relative to Expectations
 Job Satisfaction Survey
 Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire
 Overall Job Satisfaction
23. INTRINSIC VS. EXTRINSIC WORK VALUES
23.1. Intrinsic Values
 Being creative
 Challenging work
 Interesting work
 Learning new things
 Making important contributions
 Responsibility and autonomy
23.2. Extrinsic Values
 High pay
 Job benefits
 Job security
 Social contacts
 Status in wider community
 Time for hobbies
 Time with family
24. APPLICATION OF JOB SATISFACTION IN THE LIBRARIES
 Achievement
 Advancement
 Autonomy
 Library Policies
 Interpersonal/Social Relations
 Job Security

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 Recognition
 Salary/Benefits
 Working Conditions
 Work-life Balance Practices
25. SEVEN STRATEGIES FOR INCREASE JOB SATISFACTION IN LIBRARIES
 Know Thyself
 Keep Challenging Yourself
 Cross Learn
 Improve Other Areas of Your Lives
 Stay Positive
 Know the Role of Work in Your Life
 Work Allows for the Search of Purpose
26. STRATEGIES OF MOTIVATING WORKERS
 Salary, Wages and Conditions of Service
 Money
 Staff Training
 Information Availability and Communication
27. COMMITMENT
 Turnover
 Absenteeism
 Customer Satisfaction
 Competitive Advantage
 Work Motivation
 Organizational Citizenship
28. BUILDING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT
 Maintain fairness, values, and integrity
 Provide some job security
 Support organizational comprehension - communicate
 Involve employees in decisions
 Build trust
29. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES IN LIBRARIES THE CURRENT THINKING IS
 Flexible and adaptable to change
 Few levels of formal hierarchy
 Loose boundaries among functions and units
 Work unit is teams
 Focus on end user services

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Consequences, Strategies, and their Attributes in Libraries: An Overview” – (ICAM 2016)
30. ATTRIBUTES OF JOB SATISFACTION-(LEIGH, 2011)
 Autonomy, Independence
 Benefits
 Career Advancement
 Career Development
 Communication up/down
 Compensation Pay
 Culture
 Feeling Safe
 Flexibility
 Job Security
 Management Recognition
 Meaningfulness
 Networking
 Relationships
 Variety of Work
 Work Itself
31. CONCLUSION
Job Satisfaction is one important aspect a library should look after for because it has a significant
correlation with job performance. Librarians are interested in the job satisfaction of library employees
on the general assumption that a high level of satisfaction will lead to a high level of job performance.
Perceiving the close connection between job satisfaction and high quality library service, librarians
seek to identify those factors that may be related to the satisfaction of staff members. The present study
was designed to replicate our earlier investigation into job satisfaction within the context of the work
environments in which librarians find them.
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