This Discussion Board entry re-examines the relationship between job satisfaction and tenure.
The selection of tenure and overall job satisfaction from the job satisfaction survey would seem to make intuitive sense. After all, who can argue with the rationale that employees stay because they continue to be satisfied with their employer and working conditions?
At r = -0.08, the computed correlation between tenure and overall satisfaction is nonexistent. This can be explained by a weakness in the data and data instrument itself or by theoretical justification that overall job satisfaction has little to do with tenure.
An n of just 25 does not meet the requirements of parametric statistics since the sample size is not large enough to meet assumptions of normality of distribution. Hence, even the finding that there is a correlation of 0.22 between tenure and extrinsic satisfaction and a similarly substantive correlation of 0.22 between tenure and benefits does not necessarily lead to conclusive findings and recommendations.
Table 1. Overall job satisfaction
Where normal distribution cannot be assumed, nonparametric statistics such as the Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test are the tools of choice. Note, for example, that the sub-sample of the most tenured employees number just 4.
The cross-tabulation for the two variables (Table 1 above) reinforces the observation previously derived from box plots that there is greater dispersion in the sub-sample of employees who have been with the company for from two to five years. The more telling finding, perhaps, is that average job satisfaction is highest for this “cohort” of employees. Those who have been around longer, 5 years or more, rate their job satisfaction closer to 4 or “slightly/somewhat satisfied”.
Taken at face value, both the cross-tabulation and nonexistent correlation force one to concede that the relationship is non-linear. That is, job satisfaction rises in the short and medium term as newly-hired staff become more skilled on the job, surpass the screening standards for permanent employment and gain greater pay as they start their rise up the corporate ladder of promotions. At some point, if the tiny sub-sample of longest-tenured employees is a credible basis, job satisfaction is weakened by the operation of other factors.
There is more to job satisfaction and tenure than a one-to-one relationship. In a study of Australian academics, for example, Joiner and Bakalis (2006) found that “all job-related factors were associated with higher affective commitment” (page 448) as was the fact of taking postgraduate studies where one was employed. On the other hand, loyalty (and hence, the likelihood of staying) was degraded by longer tenure, in the course of which the academics gained advanced degrees, got married, had successful spouses, and found second jobs.
The many antecedents of job satisfaction are consistent with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943), which suggests that humans advance from being happy with survival-level wages to earning recognition, belonging and, as in the case of the modern-day philanthropists Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, self-actualization.
References
- Joiner, T. A. & Bakalis, S. (2006). The antecedents of organizational commitment: the case of Australian casual academics. The International Journal of Educational Management, 20(6); 439-452.
- Maslow, A.H. (1943) A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4) 370-96.