The need for job satisfaction in workplaces - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 13 Words: 3937 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Locke (1989) gives a wide-ranging explanation of job satisfaction as a pleasing or optimistic emotional condition resulting from appraisal of ones job or job experience. According to Smith, Kendall and Hulin (1975), job satisfaction is the perceived characteristics of the job in relation to an individuals frames of reference. Alternatives available in given situations, expectations, and experience play important roles in providing the relevant frame of reference. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The need for job satisfaction in workplaces" essay for you Create order These authors put yourself forward that the evaluation of satisfaction or dissatisfaction is made on the basis of a frame of reference which may be either an internal, absolute standard of value that is unaffected by context or an external, relative standard that is specific to a particular context. In their view, a persons general assessment of how satisfied he/she is on the job is made according to an absolute frame of reference, while a persons assessment of level of satisfaction with individual job facets (e.g., play or management) is based on a relative standard that is specific to the work context and that involves comparison with the situation of other employees. Job satisfaction has been distinct as an enjoyable touching situation resulting from the assessment of ones job; a sentimental response to ones job; and an approach towards ones job. Weiss (2002) has argued that job satisfaction is an attitude but points away that researcher ought to clearly differentiate the bits and pieces of cognitive assessment which are affective (emotional), beliefs as well as behaviors. This description explains that we form attitudes towards our jobs by captivating keen on explaining our feelings, our beliefs, and our behaviors. JOB SATISFACTION VARIOUS FACTORS Job satisfaction is an attitudinal variable that reflects how community feel about there jobs overall as well as various aspects of them. The term job satisfaction refers to the perceived feelings, which an employee has towards his job. It is a psychological feeling and has both rational and emotional elements. Job satisfaction, being global aspect is affected by a large array of variables such as salary, promotion, age, experience, primary and secondary needs, opportunity for advancement congenial working conditions, competent and fair supervision, and degree of participation in goal setting and perception of employees. It is the perceived characteristics of the job in relation to and the individuals frame of reference. Alternatives available in the given situations, expectations, and experience play important roles in providing the relevant frame of reference.(Smith, Kendall Hulin, 1975). Affective satisfaction is that founded on an overall positive emotional assessment of the employees job, this satisfaction focuses on their mood when working; i.e., whether the job evokes a good mood and positive approach while working. Positive feelings or a positive mood displayed by the employee may indicate job satisfaction. Conversely, cognitive satisfaction is satisfaction that is established on a more logical and rational appraisal of the job conditions. Therefore, cognitive satisfaction is an assessment based on comparisons that do not rely on emotional judgments, but are evaluations of conditions, opportunities and/or outcomes (Moorman, 1993). Social scientists have consistently established that job satisfaction differs with age for both women and men in various occupations (Weaver, 1980; Rhodes, 1983; Lee et al., 1985; Lowther, Gill, and Coppard, 1985; Kacmar and Ferris, 1989; Snyder and Dietrich, 1992; Ang, Goh and Koh, 1993). Mood and emotions while functioning are the resources which cumulate to form the moving element of job satisfaction (Weiss a nd Cropanzano, 1996). Moods have a propensity to be longer permanent but often weaker states of uncertain source, while emotions are often more concentrated, short-lived and have an understandable objective or foundation. DIMENSIONS OF JOB SATISFACTION The authority of job satisfaction and its components is one of the more thoroughly investigated topics in organizational commitment literature. Job satisfaction refers to an overall affective orientation on part of individuals towards work rules, which they are presently occupying. This conceptualization implies that job satisfaction is a unitary concept and that individual may be characterized by some sort of vaguely defined attitude towards their job situation. A worker level of job satisfaction is a function of range of specific satisfaction and dissatisfactions that he experiences with respect to various dimensions of work. Attitudinal commitment is related more strongly to overall job satisfaction, whereas calculative commitment is more highly related to satisfaction with promotional opportunities and pay. Mathieu (1991) investigated the relationship between commitment and job satisfaction and concluded that commitment and satisfaction are reciprocally related, however, the in fluence of satisfaction on commitment was found to be stronger than reverse effect. Work attitude have two dimensions: the first dimension is motivation factors, which lead to job satisfaction; the second dimension is maintenance factors. Maintenance factors must be present and sufficient in order to permit motivational factors to exist. If it is not sufficiently present, this may lead to dissatisfaction. Herzberg (1959) maintains that it is not proper thinking that reducing the impact of dissatisfaction will enhance job satisfaction. The sources of dissatisfaction according to Metzler (1994) include: salary, fringe benefits, departmental policies, supervision, interpersonal relations and other extrinsic work aspects. Herzberg (1959) contends that the origins of satisfaction are: achievement, recognition, advancement, growth and the challenge of work itself. While representative satisfaction with the job overall, the literature also documents a pattern of differing degrees of satisfaction with exact facets of the occupation. The lowest ratings nearly always obtain in the areas of extrinsic rewards such as pay and especially advancement opportunities. Other usually voiced dissatisfactions are in the areas of recognition and administrative policies and practices. With admiration to supervision, the findings are mixed, as some studies find high satisfaction with supervision (Lester, 1985; Watland, 1988), others show this to be an area where satisfaction is low (Chen, 1977), and still others demonstrate that the level of satisfaction with supervision is lower for some groups than others (Cole, 1977) According to Robbins (1993) there are four primary factors that determine job satisfaction. The first factor is for employees to have mentally challenging work. Employees generally enjoy jobs that provide them opportunities to make use of their skills and abilities, as well as contributing a diversity of tasks, feedback and freedom. Jobs that have too little c hallenge will often create frustration and feelings of failure. The second determinant of job satisfaction is equitable rewards. Employees want to pay system and promotion policies that they recognize at the same time as being immediate, unmistakable, and in line with their prospect. When employees believe their pay is fair based upon job order, community pay principles and individual skill level, they are likely to feel satisfied; the same is true for promotion standards. The third determinant of job satisfaction is supportive working conditions. Employees prefer working environments that are safe and comfortable, not dangerous. This comfort level may include issues such as lighting, temperature, noise and other environment factors. Many employees in addition, prefer to work close to home with adequate tools to perform their tasks. The last determinant of job satisfaction is supportive colleagues. For many employees, work fulfills the need for social connections. Not shockingly, th erefore, having friendly and supportive coworkers lead to increased job satisfaction. Luthans (1998) describe three dimensions of job satisfaction that can consider more important. First, job satisfaction is an affecting response to a job satisfaction such, it cannot be seen; only is inferred. Second, job satisfaction is over and over again strong-minded by how well outcomes get together or go beyond prospect. E.g if managerial participants experience that they are working much harder than others in the departments but are getting few rewards, they will almost certainly have a negative approach toward the work, the boss, and or co-worker. They will be dissatisfied. On the additional hand over, if they feel they are being treated very well and are being paid justifiably, they are likely to have optimistic attitude towards the work. They will be job satisfied. Third, job satisfaction represents more than a few related attitudes. THE JOB DESCRIPTION INDEX (JDI) The Job Description Index (JDI), formed by Smith, Kendall, Hulin (1969), is an exact survey of job satisfaction that has been comprehensively used. It check ones satisfaction in five facets: pay, promotions and promotion opportunities, coworkers, supervision, and the work itself. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JOB SATISFACTION LENGTH OF EMPLOYMENT Ronen (1978) examined the association between job satisfaction and length of employment in a particular job. He long-established the hypothesis that the change in job satisfaction with length of service resembles a U-shaped curve. It is recommended that intrinsic satisfaction in a job is a major contributor to change in the overall satisfaction of workers over time. Thus, according to Ronen, extent of service is related with job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction. Nicholson and Miljus (1972) accomplished in their own studies that promotion and policies and administrative practices appear to be very core of the turnover problems. The researchers did not directly relate turnover and length of services with satisfaction or dissatisfaction. RESEARCHES MADE ON JOB SATISFACTION TO ENSURE TO WHICH EXTENT IT IS IMPORTANT TO AN ORGANZIATION While much of the traditional job satisfaction research (Seymour and Busherhof, 1991; Carr and Kazanouski, 1994; DenSantis and Durst, 1996) demonstrates that employees generally want stable employment, opportunity for promotion and satisfactory compensation, some recent research of employees (Daley, 1996; Emmert and Taher, 1992) show that such things as flexible working hours, social satisfaction and the characteristics and behaviors superiors also have an affect on employees satisfaction levels. The result of such studies support the idea that job satisfaction is a product of many different variables operating on the employees (DeSantis et al., 1996). A enormous deal of the research on this issue has been dominated by the purported structural or job related explanation of job satisfaction. Such explanation centers on the attributes of good jobs as the principal factors explaining worker satisfaction. This approach contends that two fundamental categories of job characteristics are of crucial importance in attaining satisfaction among workers: the jobs internal rewards such as having diverse and challenging work, and the jobs external rewards such as fair compensation and fringe benefits (Hertzberg, Mausner, Peterson and Capwell, 1957; Hertzberg, Mausner and Snyderman, 1959). Although the Hertzberg model is well documented, more recent investigations into job satisfaction have questioned the utility of the two-dimensional model and sought a more interactional approach. Specifically the works of Kalleberg (1977), Lee and Wilbur (1985), and Martin and Hanson (1985) propose that the characteristics of the employee interact with the internal and external characteristics depicted in the structural model. The realization that personal characteristics ( i.e. age, education, gender and job security) have a distinct affect on job satisfaction implies that job satisfaction may perhaps be more a result of the fit between employees need and work requirements on the on e hand and the actual job and characteristics on the other. Blackburn and Bruce (1989), suggest that quality of work life factors have a comparatively diminutive impact on job satisfaction level as compared to the personal factor of age, length of Service and education. Abraham and Medoff (1984) obtainable survey evidence that shield against job loss grows with employees length of service even after controlling for the apparent net value of people to the firm. While long time examination generally translates into extra protection, we have no evidence that this protection directly increase the job satisfaction level of workers. However, it would be levelheaded to expect that protection against arbitrary dismissal directly increase the job satisfaction level of workers, giving characteristics of the current job market in the UK. Abraham and Medoff (1985) also provide confirmation on the relative importance of length of service and ability in the promotion process. Since promotion i s one of the key satisfaction measures (Imparato, 1972; Smith et al., 1969; Wanous and Lawler, 1972; Scarpello and Campbell, 1983), it is logical to link increasing length of service to greater job satisfaction level. JOB SATISFACTION A VITAL FACET Job satisfaction and organizational obligation are significant because they have, in turn, been associated with other positive organizational outcomes. For instance, employees who are more satisfied with their jobs are also absent and less likely to leave ( Carsten and Spector,1987), and they are more likely to display organizational citizenship behavior (Organ and Konovsky, 1989) and to be satisfied with their lives overall ( Judge and Watanable, 1993). Workers who are more dedicated are less likely to intend to leave their jobs (Mathieu and Zajac, 1990) or to actually leave less likely to experience stress (Begley and Czajka, 1993); and more likely to perform well (Methieu and Zajac, 1990) and behave prosaically (Oreilly and Chatman, 1986). Internationally, commitment has been linked to lower intend to leave in India (Agarwal, 1993), and Japan (Marsh and Mannari, 1997) and to higher organizational citizenship behavior in Israel (Kosolowsky, Capsy and Iazar, 1988) and New Zealand (Inkson, 1977). Captivatingly, a consistent body of literature has identified differences in levels of satisfaction and commitment across cultures (Clugston, Howell and Dorfman, 2000; Kanungo and Wright, 1983; Lincoln and Kalleberg, 1985; Luthans, McCaul, and Dodd, 1985; Near, 1989; Palich, Hom, and Griffeth, 1995; Sommer, Bae, and Luthans, 1996; Verkuyten, de Jong and Masson, 1993). LOYALTY Loyalty (characteristically identical with obligation) to the association has from time to time been viewed as an approach (Meyer Allen, 1991). On the other hand, it is not so much an attitude (or consideration component) that is significant in organizations, but rather it is the end product action constituent. Some of these behaviors are basically prearranged aspects of the employees on paper job description, e.g., operational safely, adhering policy, following instructions, maintaining excellence of output, and taking care of corporation property. But supplementary behaviors are based on unrecorded policies or norms of the managerial culture, e.g., staying late to absolute a project, participating in supplementary activities, contributing to company charities, offering suggestions, and remaining with the organization. During outline, four most important themes seem to capture the real connotation of the varied definition of employee loyalty: 1. A keenness stay with the ass ociation (Solomon,1992). 2. Efficiency that exceeds standard prospects, i.e., goes away from the sense of duty (Mowday, Porter Steers, 1982) 3. Altruistic behavior (Laabs, 1996). 4. Reciprocal, i.e., the employees loyalty to the organization have got to be synchronized by the organizations loyalty to the member of staff (Solomon, 1992). In this look upon, a useful framework in which to envisage loyalty behaviors is to examine them as mechanism of a fair exchange between a corporation and its employees. DEFINITION OF LOYALTY In the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics, Axinn (1997) writes that loyalty refers to a willingness to sacrifice. It carries that notion of sacrifice with it, because a loyal individual designates some one who is willing to act for the benefit of someone or something else. A quick etymological sidestep shows such interpretation is very partial. Loyal is traced back through Old French loial and leial to Latin legalis and legalem, with roots leg- and lex-, which designate law. Loyal hence means what is conforming to the law, or that which is of the conditions required by the law. In this sense it is said of goods that they are loyal, or legal. However, when it is said of persons, the reference to an explicit object or promise is still there. Loyal then means true to obligations, faithful to plighted troth, faithful or steadfast in commitment to the independent or constituted government. In that wisdom it is connected with and sometimes mentioned as a synonym for fidelity, whi ch means unfailing fulfillment of ones duties and obligations, but also a strict adherence to vows or promises. Furthermore stemming from that Old French leial is the English Leal which means loyal, faithful, honest, true and also true, genuine, real, actual, exact, accurate. In the light of the realignment of the concept of loyalty, it is important to keep those historical semantic links in mind. For Solomon (1997), loyalty is not an abstract principle but rather a question of mutual obligations. What a company can expect from its employees depends on what employees expect, and have got, from the company (Solomon, 1997). However, Solomon sees that as a new kind of loyalty. A big kind of loyalty seemed to have been one-sided employee loyalty to the corporation and taken for granted, because jobs were hard to come by and important promotions came from the inside. But that kind of loyalty emaciated as corporate mobility increased and job hopping became a way to improve salary and s tatus. That is the context, which has, according to Solomon, made loyalty to a certain extent a question of fair exchange. But that does not mean that loyalty is a material of financial incentives. These might encourage people to stay, but will not inspire loyalty. What Solomon seems to emphasize in winning employee loyalty, is explicitness and exemplarity in standards being set, in expectations, in feedback and in coaching. Hartman (1996) argues that loyalty contributes to organizational effectiveness because it preserves the commons. Indeed, not taking loyalty seriously can have bad economic consequences, like a costly competition among organizations for employees, a lowered willingness to make joint or long-term investments that are in the interests of both employer and employee, and the cost of free rider occurrence.(Hartman, 1996) Loyalty makes an employee further the interests of on organization: (a) because it feels right to do so, (b) because he/she is convinced it is the right thing to do, or (c) a combination of (a) and (b). Also, Hartman sees a kind of second-order desire as characteristic of a loyal person, more precisely: (a) to be motivated by that which serves the interests of the beneficiary of ones loyalty, and (b) to rationally believe that the beneficiary of loyalty is loyal as well. LOYALTY TO THE ORGANZIATION According to Reichheld (2001), unless leaders of an organization have built relationships on loyalty then nothing will keep staff and other stakeholders from jumping ship the instant a better opportunity comes along. This is likely to be reflected in the level of job satisfaction and staff retention rates, and involves staff being loyal to the organization and the organization being loyal to staff. Reichheld (2001) also states that true employee loyalty includes responsibility and accountability for building successful, mutually valuable relationships. Many of the interviewees considered themselves loyal to the service, were happy, and would stay with the service forever. DIMENSIONS OF LOYALTY The first dilemma in studying loyalty in human organizations is so as to not be in general conventional definition of this idea. Frequently, as it has been confirmed above, loyalty is taken to mean outstanding in an association for an extended time. But some studies have exposed how it can have much dissimilar magnitude. Cole (2000), for instance, interviewed David L. Sturn, President of the Loyalty Institute, an arm of Chicago-based Aon Consulting, about a study undertaken by that organization interviewing the employees of more that 200 of its corporate clients. According to that study, what characterizes a committed employee is that (1) he is a team player; (2) willing to make sacrifices for the good of the company; (3) believes in the companys products; (4) will recommend the company as among the best places to work, and (5) is prepared to continue in the company for the next several years, even if offered a modest pay increase elsewhere (Cole, 2000). Perceptibly, the first four individuality of a committed employee go well ahead of the fifth one, which is the simple one connected with outstanding in the organization; and, still qualifying the reality of enduring in the organization by rejecting a revolution with a modest pay boost elsewhere. INDICATORS OF LOYALTY Powers (2000) offers an attractive set of indicators of loyalty: Enduring with the corporation; not leave-taking, not job hunting Staying not on time to complete a mission Maintenance the companys business secret; no whistle blowing Promoting the company to clientele and community Adhering to policy without close up administration Sacrificing individual goals to attain companys goals No gossiping, deceitful, dishonest or robbery Exchange companys products Involvement to company-sponsored charities Offering development suggestions Participating in companys extracurricular behavior Following orders Delightful concern of company belongings and not being wasteful Working safe and sound Not abusing go away policies; including sick leave Serving coworkers; cooperating. LOYALTIES ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION: THE BARNARD-SIMON VIEW The Barnard-Simon theory of organization has some implicit concept of loyalty imbedded in it from the beginning. The Barnard (1938) criterion of efficiency essentially means that participants in the cooperative system called organization (including, of course, customers) should find their motives satisfied by the organizational actions and results. But Barnard never dealt with the concepts of loyalty and identification explicitly. Herbert Simon, in contrast, devotes an entire chapter (Chapter X) of his first book, Administrative Behavior published first in 1947, to developing and applying those concepts, from a standpoint similar to that of Barnard. He directly looks at organizations and discusses the concepts of loyalty and organizational identification as two variables that are very close to each other. The two concepts are, in fact, crucial to his work, in the context of Bounded Rationality. In 1985 Ronald Duska, however, did not take that wait-and-see strategy, but rather tr ied to affirmatively argue that employees loyalty to businesses is unjustified. The article in which he tried to do that, however, leaves it somewhat unclear what precisely its crucial argument is. The text arguably allows at least four possible ways of reconstructing the argument: (1) Loyalty is appropriate only in those relation ships that demand self-sacrifice without expectation of reward; employee-employer relationships are not of that nature. (2) Loyalty requires reciprocity; employers will not reciprocate employees (attempts at) loyalty. (3) Loyalty is incompatible with the commercial character of the employee-employer relationship, i.e. with the fact that both parties to it are aiming at a monetary payoff. (4) Loyalty is incompatible with the fact that the employee-employer relationship is, for both parties, merely an instrument for accomplishing something outside the relationship (i.e. that the parties do not aim at the flourishing of the relationship itself for its own sake). LOYALTY TO THE ORGANZIATION Finally, job satisfaction loyalty will impact on motivation to work well and this directly influences employees willingness to share corporate knowledge and their willingness to voice new ideas. Out of the etymological roots and literature review, the framework within which loyalty can be rethought is constrained by four criteria: Loyalty is an attitude aimed at an object. Loyalty has an explicit external referent. Loyalty is a learned attitude. Loyalty is bilateral. Rational loyalty allows consistent decentralized decision-making. It merges with Castells concept of the network enterprise we mentioned earlier on as that precise outline of endeavor whose method of way is constituted by the connection of segments of independent systems of goals (Castells, 1996, p. 171) in the sense that rational loyalty allows autonomous systems of goals to willingly intersect as means to the object of that loyalty. Loyalty is a variable that is at the same time important, elusi ve and equivocal. It is important, as witnessed by its frequent presence in the non academic periodicals, where many writers even ask whether it has altogether disappeared (see, for instance, Evans, 2000; Sheppard; 2000; or Watson, 2000b); although it has to be recognized that this is usually done with the intention to claim that it shouldnt, and to stress the need for it. It is elusive and equivocal, because like trust, or identification, it is difficult to define and to grasp. Nobody seems to be too happy when loyalty is defined merely as permanence in an organization for a long period of time, but it is difficult to see what other dimensions are involved. Powers (2000), and the study of the Loyalty Institute (cited in Cole, 2000) have suggested several other possible dimensions, similar to believing in the companys yield, or taking concern of company material goods and not being wasteful, but for the moment in time being the conception and its applications have not been analyzed in deepness.