Job satisfaction goes a long way to a happy life

There’s no doubt that being happy in a job is very important to us. But how important is our employment to our overall well-being?

The answer is not a straight forward one. However what we do know is that we do spend a considerable amount of time (around 15%) in paid work. A recent survey found that 71% of us felt their time in employment to be more than just a means of survival and in fact a valuable part of our lives for many different reasons. Furthermore, the Office of National Statistics discovered within a recent survey measuring general well-being, that the happiest people were those most satisfied with their current job role.

But what are the key ingredients to happy job and therefore life in general? There is again not a simple answer as everyone holds different values, while necessities vary from person to person. Key factors may well include a high salary, opportunity to progress, social reasons, the attraction of a challenge or simply job satisfaction.

In fact, the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development found that having your opinions recognised or having a voice within your organisation was one of the key reasons for job satisfaction, showing the importance of feeling valued by your employer. Working relationships too are vitally important to us with the key reasons for job dissatisfaction being a breakdown within the relationship between either fellow staff members or management.

Whatever is most important to your job satisfaction, remember your happiness should be a hugely deciding factor in your choice of work.