Journal of the American Dietetic Association,
             A research model for relating job characteristics and job satisfaction of university foodservice employees
             The reason for this research is to find out why there is a high rate of job dissatisfaction in the foodservice business. Absenteeism and frequent job turnover is characterized by job dissatisfaction. The purpose is to learn ways of enhancing employee satisfaction to increase production, improve organizational functioning, and develop the employee's personal potential. Job satisfaction defined is "the pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job as achieving or facilitating the achievement of one's job values".(1) Job satisfaction can be achieved by many factors- the job itself, the work environment, employee demographic variables, which include(age, gender, job classification, education, hourly wage, annual salary, tenure, and full-time vs. part-time). Depending on how the employee perceives characteristics to be present in his or her work environment will further influence the degree of satisfaction. Along with satisfaction comes the level of motivation, performance, promptness, and long-term employment. The study analyzed the association between job characteristics, job satisfaction and the demographic aspects of the work force. It focused on the managerial and non-managerial employees in the food service department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The study consisted of questionnaires given to 32 managerial and 147 non-managerial employees at the University. The questions were 30 items of job characteristics (autonomy, task identity, feedback, variety of duties, friendship opportunities, and dealing with others), 6 items of job satisfaction, and 7 items of demographics. The Job Characteristics Inventory (JCI), developed by Sims et al. measures employees' perceptions of the six job characteristics. It ha...