I have been working at downtown bar since my freshman year of college (I am now a senior). Throughout the years I have learned more and more about how important communication is. According to “Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problem”, communication can be defined as involving “social behavior that is two or more people interacting with each other and transmitting information. During work I discovered that communication about the job itself as well as communication to for personal relationships is equally important for my overall job satisfaction.
When I first started working, I was very quiet and kept to myself. My goal was to go to work, make my money, and leave. I was already super busy with all the courses I was taking so I was not interested in forming any relationships with my coworkers. About a year in when my schedule got lighter, I instantly regretted it. I had almost no friends and I was jealous of how close my coworkers were and how they had a relationship in and out of the workplace. As stated in the reading, communication is the most fundamental topic for social psychologist because it represents the foundation of social life (Gruman, 2016). This resulted in me taking less hours and giving up my shift more because I dreaded going to work.
Once I finally developed a relationship with my coworkers, my job satisfaction increased abundantly. According to the reading, job satisfaction is “a person’s attitude toward his or her overall job as well as toward various aspects of the job”(Gruman, 2016). Although I was always satisfied with other aspects of work such as the hours, the pay, etc. The one issue of not having a relationship with my coworkers effected me to the point where I did not want to work at all.
Every aspect of your work life contributes to your overall job satisfaction. With my situation, I definitely needed a balance in my work life in the sense that I wanted a social life at work as well as other aspects of work. When this wasn’t happening, I did not want to work anymore. Now, I have great relationships with my coworkers and I love going to work. Making money as well as having friends there while you do it is something I valued and I am glad I am finally at the point of being content. Job Satisfaction is important for everyone, people just value different things within job satisfaction such has the pay someone may receive, the hours one works, and the people one works with. It is important for you to find what you value to reach your highest job satisfaction.
References:
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1-4833-6973-0