HCM 433 MANGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR.pdf

The relationship between status, occupational prestige and job satisfaction cannot be overemphasized.
Occupation prestige is the importance attached to a profession based on the quality
and length of training required of such occupation. It is specially related to a person’s education
and income. For example in modern industrial society, a person prepares himself for occupational
life by obtaining an education, which in turn, prepares him for a more significant occupational
role. This is further rewarded with more economic status (income) and social status. The point
therefore is that people tend to be assigned to a class status according to their occupations.
Occupational prestige hence becomes one of the most basic systems of stratification in modern
societies. A skilled occupation for instance enjoys high status more than non-skilled occupations.
Even among the skilled occupations, workers in the oil and banking industries enjoy more prestige
than their counterparts in teaching profession.
The importance of occupational prestige can therefore be enumerated as follows:
ii. it helps a counselor to diagnose status problems and conflicts
iii. It influences the kinds of promotion and transfer an employee will take.
iv. It helps to determine who will be the informal leader of a group composed of different
occupations.
v. It enables “status seekers” to qualify themselves for high status jobs so that the can
become better adjusted.
vi. It serves as a motivator to those seeking to advancement in the organization.
In relation to the status concept, job satisfaction refers to the contentment experienced when a
want is satisfied. Technically speaking, job satisfaction is the difference between the amount of
some valued outcome a person receives and the concept that create a feeling of enthusiasm and
happiness during and after working hours. Indeed, the usefulness of job satisfaction to the social
interaction (which in turn gives rise to status) can be summarized as follows:
i. It gives management an indication of the general levels of satisfaction in a company
ii. It reduces turnover, absenteeism and consequently high productivity.
iii. It gives the staff a feeling of belongingness.
iv. Job satisfaction affects the employee’s life outside the job.
79