Freedom is Just Another Word for Job Satisfaction

Workers who feel they're free to make their own decisions are happier and more productive according to recent academic findings. Researchers found that autonomy, or the ability to make choices in the workplace and be held accountable for them, is a huge determiner of job satisfaction.

"The perception of autonomy has very positive effects on workers," says Marylène Gagné, of Concordia University's John Molson School of Business and co-author of Human Autonomy in Cross-Cultural Context: Perspectives on the Psychology of Agency, Freedom, and Well-Being (Springer).

"However, managers can't simply export North American methods of granting autonomy anywhere and expect them to work." What people from one culture perceive as workplace freedom, those from another may view as simple disorganization.