A satisfied employee is a productive employee! Right?

We have heard time and again people say that a satisfied employee is a productive
employee, but in my opinion, this statement is not necessarily true.

Workforce productivity is the amount of goods and services that

a worker produces in a given amount of time. It is one of several types
of productivity that economists measure. Workforce productivity can be
measured for a firm, a process, an industry, or a country. It is often referred
to as labor productivity.
Workforce productivity depends on the amount of time an individual is
physically present at a job and also the degree to which he or she is
mentally present or efficiently functioning while present at a job.
Companies must address both of these issues in order to maintain high
worker productivity, and this may occur through a variety of strategies that
focus on employee satisfaction, health, and morale.
Employee satisfaction or job satisfaction is, quite simply, how content or
satisfied employees are with their jobs. Employee satisfaction is typically
measured using an employee satisfaction survey. These surveys address
topics such as compensation, workload, perceptions of management,
flexibility, teamwork, resources, etc. These things are all important to
companies who want to keep their employees happy and reduce turnover,
but employee satisfaction is only a part of the overall solution. In fact, for
some organizations, satisfied employees are people the organization might
be better off without.
Coming back to the topic,
The problem with employee satisfaction is that it does not focus on the
things that are important to your most talented staff. A happy or content
employee might be quite satisfied with a job that requires very little effort.
This employee might be perfectly content doing the bare minimum required
to keep his or her job. These employees are likely "very satisfied" with their
jobs. They are unlikely to leave the company, but they are not necessarily
adding value.
Productivity can be measured by the number of hours worked and number of
people employed but satisfaction cannot be measured easily. There are
instruments but they do not necessarily tap the level of satisfaction.
Concluding, a satisfied employee will need the motivation to do the right
things, if he or she is not motivated to make things happen, the productivity
will suffer. Employee satisfaction is not the sole reason for productivity.

Productivity is linked with number of factors. So, it is not necessarily true that
a satisfied employee is a productive employee.
Ghriti Pandey
Roll no. 16