Impact of Human Resource Practices on Job Satisfaction at Banking Sector in Saudi Arabia - Coursework Example

?Introduction This chapter contains a discussion of the findings and their relationship with the previous studies and research. It starts with a discussion and summary of the findings and proceed to limitations, recommendations and scope for future research. The chapter concludes with a summary of the research. Summary of the Hypothesis and the Hypothesis Results The research was based on the survey of 160 respondents, 67% of the respondents being male and 33% being female. In terms of age, 40% of the respondents were between 20 and 30 years, 31% in 31-40 years, 14% in 41-50 age group and only 8% were over 50 years. Majority of the respondents (49%) were working in the sector between 5 and 15 years, and 31% were from less than 5 years. Only 19% of the respondents had worked for 16 or more years. The research was concluded successfully and all the research findings were validated. It was found that in the context of Saudi Arabian banking sector, the recruitment and selection practice is associated with employees` job satisfaction. A correlation of r = .705 proves that the relationship between recruitment and job satisfaction is strong. Previous studies by Taylor and Collins (Redman and Wilkinson, 2009) have postulated that recruitment and selection plays a major role in the overall performance of the employees as well as affects their satisfaction level.  The process of recruitment and selection involves information dissemination and provision of knowledge about the job and the organization to the candidate, which in turn is found to lead to job commitment and satisfaction (Konovsky and Cropanzano, 1991; Gilliland, 1993). This is because, candidates who receive correct information are able to adjust their own expectations from the organization and streamline their own efforts so that they meet the expectations of the organization (Armstrong 2006). The current research therefore was able to establish that in the case of the banking sector employees in Saudi Arabia, the distinct recruitment and selection practice impacted on the satisfaction of the employees. The next research hypothesis, “Training and development practice is associated with employees` job satisfaction”, was also found to be true with a correlation coeffient of .703. Several previous studies have postulated that training and development acts as a tool for motivation and job satisfaction, as it is through training and development programs that employees are able to acquire skills necessary to excel in their jobs (Landy 1985, cited in Schmidt 2007). Moreover , organizations can develop a competitive advantage through developing their unique training programs (Vlachos , 2009). According to Wesley and Skip 1999; Garcia 2005; and Schimdt 2007, employees who do not get effective training, are often dissatisfied with their jobs as they are unable to work at the desired level and may also miss out on potential promotions (Bartlett, 2001). Next, the hypothesis, “A Reward system is associated with employees` job satisfaction”, and the hypothesis, “Performance management and appraisal are associated with employees` job satisfaction” were combined together and also proved correct with a correlation coefficient of .800.  It has been observed by previous researchers that an organization’s reward system impacts on the job satisfaction of the employees as rewards act as motivational tools (Torrington, Hall and Taylor, 2008).  Moreover, fairness of distribution of rewards by the organization is an important aspect of job satisfaction. If the employees perceive that they are not getting the desired rewards, or that their colleagues have received disproportionate rewards, then the employees’ satisfaction level will be low (Huseman et al 1987, cited in Byrne, Miller, and Pitts 2010). The current research also found that This has been corroborated by previous research which has found that  reward programs (Ting 1997; Moyes, Cortes, and Lin 2007), and type of rewards – intrinsic or extrinsic (Westover and Taylor 2010; and Kaya, Koc, and Topcu 2010; Nihat, Erdogan and Demet, 2010), impact on the job satisfaction of the employees.  Theories on goal setting (Locke and Latham 1990 cited in Torrington, Hall and Taylor 2008) have indicated that employees who are clear about their targets and who receive guidance and feedback regularly, are able to perform better and hence  have a higher level of job satisfaction.  However,  feedback, which is an essential aspect of performance appraisal, needs to be provided in a constructive manner so that employee morale and self-esteem is not affected negatively (Bratton and Gold, 2007)   Limitations of Research The research suffered from the limitation that only three banks were involved in the study, and even the choice of these banks was restricted by convenience of the researcher. The banks were chosen as the researcher was able to get desired permissions from them to conduct the study, and this was not possible for other banks.  A more expansive study , using a larger number of banks and also banks from diverse localities, is expected to provide  findings that have a greater scope. This is because, a larger sample size ensures that the findings are representative of the larger population that is being studied (Bryant and Charmaz, 2007). Another limitation of the study is that the response rate of the returned questionnaires was less, only 45% or 168 respondents could be included. While random sampling of selecting the candidates within each bank was undertaken, and this reduced the scope of bias (Fisher, 2004), the method adopted to conduct the research – survey method- led to the majority of the selected respondents ignore the survey. The survey method, while useful for gathering information from a large number of respondents with short periods of time, suffers from the limitation of low response rate, and often, from lack of interest and incorrect replies from the respondents (Creswell, 2007). The research could have benefited if a more direct survey was used where the researcher, or a representative of the researcher could have been present while the respondents filled the questionnaires (Barker, 2005). Another limitation of the study is the use of correlation analysis as tool for analyzing the findings. Correlation analysis is a measure that can indicate that the two variables coexist, but it does not imply that one is the cause and the other is the effect (Fisher, 2004). As such, the selected independent variables (recruitment and selection, training and development, reward and performance appraisal) and the dependent variable (job satisfaction) can be said to occur together among the sample employees. The research cannot conclusively say, for example, that rewards results in job satisfaction. It can be equally true that employees who are satisfied are able to get more rewards.  As such, it can be said that a research that uses open ended questions and encourages the respondents to provide detailed and in depth information may be more suitable in establishing the cause-effect relationships. Practical/Theoretical Implications The current research found useful insights about HRM practices and their impact on the job satisfaction levels of the employees. The research established that there was a direct and potent link between recruitment and selection, training and development, rewards and performance appraisals, and the employees’ job satisfaction. Thus the research recommends that the banks should focus on these HRM polices and develop best practices in these areas that could encourage employee satisfaction. It was also seen that some of employee related factors, like job tenure, positively impacted on the satisfaction with the recruitment, training and development, rewards and performance appraisal. It was found that employees who had spent larger number of years at the organization also had better satisfaction with the above factors. These findings indicate that the organizations may benefit by segregating their employees in terms of job tenure, and then targeting them with suitable reward or training and development policies. Age of the employees was also discovered to impact satisfaction, especially satisfaction with the recruitment and selection policies. It was found that the younger employees were less satisfied while those above 50 had better satisfaction level. This indicates that banks can benefit from developing recruitment and selection process that encourages the younger employees.  Towards this, it is essential to understand the mental and psychological make up of younger recruits and what motivates them specifically. Gender was also found to make a difference on the linkage between the independent variables and the job satisfaction level of the employees. It was seen that female employees were more satisfied with the policies and practices of the organizations than were the male employees. This finding is useful as it indicates the scope for developing the female employees who appear to be motivated easily, satisfied more and hence eager to perform at their optimum in the organization. The research therefore postulates that the banks need to observe and study their own employees and target them with customized recruitment and selection, reward, training, performance appraisal practices. This is a revolutionary recommendation, as traditional the policies and practices are standardized and all employees are targeted with the same packages. However, the research revealed that there is scope to improve satisfaction through reward, performance appraisal etc. based on the age, gender or tenure of the employees, and this needs to be explored and enacted in the selected banks.      Directions/Recommendations for Further Research The research limitations highlighted in the section above indicate towards a scope of future research which can be more expansive and use a larger sample size and cover larger number of cities and regions in the Saudi Arabia. There is also scope to undertake a similar study in the context of other industrial and service sectors in Saudi Arabia, as the literature review had reveled that there is paucity of similar research for the nation. Moreover, a future research can also be undertaken to study the differences and similarities across the gulf region, in terms of the impact of HRM polices on job satisfaction of the employees. Such a study could provide insights about best practices or highlights problems and issues that are needed to be addressed. Another recommendation for a future study is that interview based, qualitative study may be conducted that uses the employees’ perception to exhaustively study the HRM related problems or issues encountered in the Saudi Arabia banking sector. A qualitative study can be used to gauge the thoughts and feelings of the employees and the managers and hence to obtain deeper and more targeted insights into the ground level issues and problems that they may be facing. The Conclusion The research achieved its stated objective of establishing that there is a direct and positive relationship between HRM policies (more specifically, policies related to recruitment and selection, training and development, rewards and appraisals) and job satisfaction of the employees. The findings from the current research add to the available literature on HRM, where several theories and research hava already enriched the field. Several researchers have linked HRM practices as a means of organizational effectiveness by strategically aligning the HR with the business objectives (Lee, Lee and Wu, 2010; Edgar and Geare; 2005). Also, previous scholars have established that job satisfaction is contingent on the work environment and the organizational HRM policies (Hoppock 1935 cited in Mihajlovic et al. 2008). The current research was successful in establishing specific and individual impacts of the different HRM polices – recruitment and selection, training and development, reward and performance appraisal,  on the job satisfaction of the selected employees. The research also fills the gap in literature that is lacking in research in the context of Saudi Arabia and its banking sector. While several researches have been undertaken in the UK (Brown et al., 2008; Petrescu and Simmons 2008), in the Netherlands (Steijn 2004), and in Turkey (Kaya, Koc and Topcu2010) and in the United States (Chow, Haddad and Singh, 2007), none such research has targeted Saudi Arabia. The current research therefore expects to make a significant revealation about the HRM policies and their impact on employee satisfaction, in the context of the country.  It is expected that the research recommendations would enable the banks to further streamline their policies to meet the expectations of the employees. Also, it is expected that the current research  will enable the banks to attract and train and develop local talent, females and older workers to develop a holistic workforce. The current perception about Saudi Arabia’s workforce  is that there is almost no female participation  and that the majority of jobs are held by the younger employees (World Bank 2007, xvii). The current research expects that the findings and the recommendations made will enable the banking sector to encourage participation from all sections of the society.  This is because, the recommendations are also based on the findings of the supplementary analysis -that the relationship between job satisfaction and these HRM factors was affected by the tenure, age and gender of the employees. Additional References Barker, C. (2005). Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. London: Sage Bryant, A and Charmaz, K. (2007). The SAGE Handbook of Grounded Theory. London: Sage.   Creswell J.W., (2007). Qualitative & Research Design. Choosing Among five approaches. California: Sage Publications, Inc Fisher, C. (2004). Researching and writing a dissertation for business students. Essex: Pearson Education Limited Nihat, K., Erdogan, K. and Demet, T. (2010). An exploratory analysis of the influence of human resource management activities and organizational climate on job satisfaction in Turkish banks. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21: 11, 2031 — 2051 Read More