Question

The Curious Case of Post-9/11 Job Satisfaction Can a public event change how satisfied government workers are with their jobs? Job satisfaction in the public sector may not only depend on facets such as pay, coworkers, and supervisor satisfaction but may also depend on larger national events or crises. Van Ryzin proposed that the image of public service in times of crisis may become more positive since citizens look to government institutions for security, leadership, and a sense of national purpose. Government workers may see themselves as heroes following a crisis and view their work as more meaningful. This increase in the positive image of the public sector boosts the everyday morale of government workers. Also, government workers may find renewed meaning and purpose in their work since the government responds to a crisis, and this has a positive effect on their job satisfaction. The researcher compared job satisfaction data from the General Social Survey (GSS) for a sample of government workers compared to private sector workers from the years 2000 to 2010. The findings indicate that the national crisis of 9/11 may have boosted government workers’ job satisfaction 5 to 10 percentage points, representing 1 to 2 million additional satisfied government workers in the United States. These results suggest that people found more meaning in their work since national crises remind them of the important role that they play in the lives of other people. These feelings appeared to influence government workers’ job satisfaction. It’s important to remember that job satisfaction is complex, and may be affected by the employee’s personality but also external events may influence the thoughts and feelings people have regarding their work. Answer the following questions thoroughly. Provide language and evidence taken directly from the course and course concepts. Define all organizational behavior terms and explain all theories.

Question:

1)This study was conducted for government employees. Do you think that the results would be different for employees in the business sector? Why or why not?

2)Police officers are an example of government employees who would likely be affected by a national crisis. Provide some other examples and explain them.

3)List and discuss two other factors outside of the job that may affect job satisfaction.

Answer 1

1) The result will be different for the employees in the business sector as there is job security in the government jobs and the people need not worry about any crisis situations which provide them job satisfaction. But this type of job security is not there with the employees in the business sector. In the time of crisis, there always remains a situation to be fired from the job which makes employees bit continuous and therefore they do not have that amount of job satisfaction which a government employee has. So, yes results of the employees in the business sector will definitely differ from those of the government workers.

2)The police officers are the ones who have to remain active during any crisis situations. They have to take care of the people of society and put their safety first and after that, they have to think about their safety. For example, if a bomb blast takes place in the country then the police officers reach there to help the people without thinking of their life. They are affected by any crisis situation as they have to work at the front line for the safety of others.

3) The factors which affect job satisfaction of the employee outside the job is personal interest. If a person is in a job which he or she likes then it is obvious that he will be satisfied. But if the personal interest is in some other job then the person will not achieve job satisfaction at all. Another factor is personality of a person which affected the job satisfaction of the employees. A creative person cannot achieve job satisfaction in a technical frield.