Smith Business Close-Up: Employee Satisfaction: It’s About Time

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2010, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 13, 2010, 7:30 a.m.

Word of warning to employers: Don’t make the mistake of thinking the economy and job market have left people captive in their current jobs. Employee satisfaction is key to whether people stay with an organization, and whether they are fully engaged at work. However, it’s not just how satisfied employees are that matters – it is also whether satisfaction is on the rise or trending down that offers clues to whether employees are planning to stay at or leave a firm.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Professor Gilad Chen shares how organizations can make sure employees are satisfied enough to stay on the job.

Chen is professor of Management & Organization. He teaches courses on a variety of organizational behavior, human resource management, and methodological topics. His research focuses on work motivation, adaptation, teams and leadership, with particular interest in understanding the complex interface between individuals and the socio-technical organizational context. He has won several research awards and his research has appeared in such journals as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Personnel Psychology, Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, and Research in Organizational Behavior.