Work is one of the factors that define the job at hand. Along with work, some of the other factors that define a job are the remuneration, the environment, comfort at workplace and empowerment to perform the work. While work satisfaction deals with the feel-good factor achieved from doing the task assigned, job satisfaction encompasses all factors that enable the individual to do the work. Thus, even though they might seem to be a bit different, work and job satisfaction needs to be looked in its entirety.

Rarely does one come across an individual who has not had to do a work that one didn’t like or particularly enjoy. Take for instance the following case; while the job of a CEO might be very interesting and much coveted, the work of performing employee lay-offs might not be the least enjoyable. Thus, while every job might have interesting and dreary (and often de-motivating and stressful) part to it, it should have a generous dose of interesting work too. While defining the job for an individual, the exciting parts should be well balanced so that the executive is able to derive the right work satisfaction and thereby job satisfaction.

Extending work satisfaction via job satisfaction is one of the key ways to keep a motivated staff. Highly successful companies are known to have policies that keep staff motivated and eager to work. For instance, Cisco Systems rewards handsomely any employee whose idea reaches a patent filing stage. The recognition for the work done and access to senior management are other key factors that go a long way in ensuring that an employee is satisfied with her job.

The common reply when you ask employees who have been in one organization for long, the reason for staying back is empowerment at work and ability to create an impact in the organization. Unless an employee is empowered at her job, the work output suffers and most importantly the passion that an employee would have otherwise put goes completely missing. An empowered employee feels the bonding with the organization and is able to perform the work assigned effectively.

It is a common practice amongst employers to reward employees who remain loyal to the organization. Tata Steel and other Tata group of companies have significantly low attrition as compared to their peers. This is created by employee recognition and employee branding. It is common that advertisements of Tata Steel tend to be employee focussed, or in other words, they use their employees as their brand ambassadors. Thus from the chief engineer to the foreman, everyone stays motivated and possesses the drive, even though the work being done itself might be similar to what she/he would have done in another company.

Work satisfaction is achieved through job satisfaction, both need to be considered together while defining and implementing policies. Both these factors act as rocket boosters to propel the employees to perform at the next level. With a highly motivated and charged workforce, miracles are not uncommon even in a business organization.