Job Performance Evaluation - Essay Example

Job Performance Name Class Unit Executive summary This literature review is based on job performance. The literature looks at 15 different articles and identifies the existing gaps in literature. This is through tabulating the information in the studies and coming up with conclusive evidence on the existing gaps. The identified gaps in literature are based on: inadequate empirical evidence, conceptual confusion and failure to look at all independent variables in depth. The industry selected for study is hospitality industry due to its high reliance on human capital performance. The industry success is based on employee job performance and identification of independent variables can help a lot in improving it. The literature review gives a conceptual framework and analyses variables which other studies have failed to adequately focus on. This includes work environment, employee training and wages. To sum up, the research recommends having an in-depth look at all factors affecting job performance. The analysis of the gaps left in previous literature is important in addressing ways to improve the hospitality industry. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Table 4 Introduction 11 Literature review 11 Conceptual definitions 13 Dependent variable 13 Job performance 13 Independent variables 14 Leadership 14 Work environment 15 Training and development 16 Wages 17 Conclusion and recommendation 19 References 20 Table Article Author Dependent variable (DVs) Independent Variable (IVs) Methodology Limitation Analysis result Opinion Fu, W., & Deshpande, S. P. (2014). The impact of caring climate, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment on job performance of employees in a China's insurance company. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(2), 339. Weihui Fu and Satish P. Deshpande Job performance caring climate, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance. The study uses structural equation modelling to examine the relationship. Surveys on a sample of employees working on large insurance company in china. The study was conducted in a firm that had more female workers than male workers hence may not be applicable to companies with a different employee profile. The work environment in insurance company cannot be used to generalise other industries. The study claims that there is a positive correlation between job satisfaction on organization commitment and job performance. It supports improvement of job satisfaction. Employee’s becomes more productive when they are aware that the company cares for them. The study leaves a gap on rapport between personal character and employee performance. The study generalizes the Chinese concept to represent global situation. Cherian, J., & Jacob, J. (2013). Impact of self-efficacy on motivation and performance of employees. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), 80. Jacob Cherian and Jolly Jacob Employee motivation and job performance. Self-efficacy- self-control and resilience in face of failure. Database search using keywords. Literature review. The study fails to take into account post training accountability and organisation climate. Self-efficacy has a positive impact on job performance. The gap between self-efficacy and performance is not well covered. Absence of adequate empirical evidence on self-efficacy impact on job motivation. Elnaga, A., & Imran, A. (2013). The effect of training on employee performance. European Journal of Business and Management, 5(4), 137-147. Dr . Amir Elnaga and Amen Imran Employee performance Training Exploratory research based on literature review. Lack of adequate indication to show relationship between training and employee performance. The literature analysis shows that effective training can lead to improved employees performance. The first gap is lack of empirical evidence on how employee training enhances performance. The provided evidence is not adequate to make conclusive results. Atmojo, M. (2015). The influence of transformational leadership on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee performance. International research journal of business studies, 5(2). Marnis Atmojo Employee’s job satisfaction, organisational commitment and performance. Transformational leadership. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Lack of comprehensive analysis on of transformational leadership. Transformational leadership enhances job satisfaction, organisational commitment and employee performance. High organisation commitment leads to improved employee performance. The main gap identified is the shortage of empirical evidence on transformational leadership and employee performance. The same gap is found on empirical evidence on transformational leadership and job satisfaction. Karatepe, O. M. (2013). High-performance work practices and hotel employee performance: The mediation of work engagement. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 32, 132-140. Osman M. Karatepe Employee performance. High-performance work practice. Empirical study based on sample of frontline hotel employees and managers. Lack of firm conclusions in terms of causality. Other indicators of high performance work practices have been excluded. Use of hotel managers to collect the data may have led to bias. Use of HPWPs enhances employee’s job performance. There is a gap in lack of empirical data on other HPWPs such as promotional opportunities, team work and job security and work-life balance. Trivellas, P., Kakkos, N., Blanas, N., & Santouridis, I. (2015). The impact of career satisfaction on job performance in accounting firms. The mediating effect of general competencies. Procedia Economics and Finance, 33, 468-476. PanagiotisTrivellas, NikolaosKakkos, NikosBlanas, Ilias Santouridis. Job Performance in Accounting Firms. Career Satisfaction. Empirical research from a survey. Lack of adequate empirical data. Career satisfaction leads to enhanced job performance. There is shortage of empirical data on employee performance based on career satisfaction. Khalid, A., Shamshe, A., &Farooqi, A.Y. (2015). Impact of Leadership Styles on Followers’ Job Satisfaction : A Four Frame Model Approach, International Journal of Business and Management Invention ISSN (Online), 4, (1),12319-8028 Ambar Khalid, AroojShamshe, YasirAftabFarooqi. Job Satisfaction. Leadership Styles. Post Positivist approach using quantitative techniques. The study is limited to a specific area hence uses a small sample size. The study is venerable to bias. Structural leadership leads to more job satisfaction compared to other types of leadership. The main data gap is unavailability of the study relating to other parts globally. There is conceptual confusion due to lack of definition on job satisfaction. Mathews, C., & Khann, I. K. (2016). Impact of Work Environment on Performance of Employees in Manufacturing Sector in India: Literature Review. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 5(4). Christopher Mathews , I. K. Khann Employee performance. Work environment. Literature review Lack of empirical evidence. Work environment plays a vital role in employees’ performance. There is a gap in conceptual confusion due to poor definition. The second gap is lack of empirical evidence. Hamid, N., & Hassan, N. (2015). The Relationship Between Workplace Environment and Job Performance in Selected Government Offices in Shah Alam, Selangor. International Review of Management and Business Research, 4(3). Nurzainie Abd Hamid And Narehan Hassan. Job Performance. Workplace Environment. Correlation study using quantitative approach. Lack of adequate supportive evidence. Workplace environment and gender of the respondent have an impact of job performance. There is a gap due to lack of adequate empirical evidence and conceptual confusion. Al-Ababneh, M. (2013). Leadership style of managers in five-star hotels and its relationship with employees job satisfaction. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 3(2), 94. Dr. Mukhles Al-Ababneh Employee’s Job Satisfaction Leadership style. Quantitative method using questionnaires. The study used questionnaires based on western culture in Arab culture. There is positive correlation between type of leadership and level of job satisfaction. The gap that exists in this research is based on lack of adequate supporting evidence. The study is western based but used in an Arab context. Gunawan, H., & Amalia, R. (2015). Wages and Employees Performance: The Quality of Work Life as Moderator. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 5(1S). Hendra Gunawan, Rezki Amalia Employee performance. Quality of work. Wages. Analytic with quantitative research. The study lacks an all-inclusive sample. Quality of work is affected by wages. There is a gap based on conceptual confusion and lack of adequate evidence to support the claims made. Bakoti, D. (2016). Relationship between job satisfaction and organizational performance: Economic Research. Economic Research, 29(1) Chan, K. C. organisational performance job satisfaction Literature review. The research lacks empirical evidence. Job satisfaction is very vital and is directly related to organisational performance. There is a gap in literature concerning organisational performance. This is due to conceptual confusion. Raziq, A., & Maulabakhsh, R. (2015). Impact of working environment on job satisfaction. Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, 717-725. Abdul Raziq Ra heela Maulabakhs Job satisfaction. Working Environment. Quantitative methods using questionnaires. There is lack of adequate information on the topic. The research was also subject to bias. Working environment determines the level of job satisfaction. Working environment has a positive impact on employee. Agarwal, R. N., & Mehta, A. (2014). Impact of performance appraisal and working environment on the job satisfaction and attrition problem in the Indian IT industry. Paradigm, 18(1), 73-85. Richa N. Agarwal Anil Mehta Job Satisfaction and Attrition Performance Appraisal and Working Environment Quantitative methods using questionnaire. The study fails to look at all factors relating to job satisfaction. There is low empirical data. Performance Appraisal and Working Environment has positive impact on job satisfaction and reduces attrition. There is conceptual confusion. The researcher also fails to have adequate empirical data to make conclusion. Cavazotte, F., Moreno, V., & Bernardo, J. (2013). Transformational leaders and work performance: The mediating roles of identification and self-efficacy. BAR-Brazilian Administration Review, 10(4), 490-512. Flávia Cavazotte, Valter Moreno and Jane Bernardo Work Performance Transformational Leaders Quantitative research using questionnaires. The study relies a lot on international research which has unanswered longitudinal research. The research also relies on a single organisation which leads to poor generalisation. Transformational leaders are best to enhance work performance. The gap exists on the research about transformational leadership where not all aspects are researcher on. Introduction From the analysis of previous articles, it is clear that there exist several gaps related to job performance. First, there exists conceptual confusion in most of these studies. This is caused by lack of working definition in job performance and several factors contributing to it. In some cases, it is evident that there lacks adequate theoretical arguments and empirical tests which shows the impacts of factors on job performance in an organisation which has been identified as the second gap. The third gap is based on shallow analysis of the independent variables such as work environment, training, wages and leadership. In some of the studies conducted in China, India and specific industries, there is assumption that they indicate entire industry which is wrong and inconclusive. This analysis will be based on hospitality industry. According to Karatepe (2013), hospitality industry is one of the industries where job performance matters a lot. This is an industry which is very sensitive and has unpredictable demands. To achieve its goals, the hospitality industry relies on high performing employees in all areas. Despite this, the existing gaps in research make it hard to have a reliable study to apply to the hospitality industry. This study can help in addressing the existing gaps. This study will focus on comprehensive research on factors affecting job performance. This is through addressing the existing gaps in the research and basing it on the hospitality industry. Literature review Literature job performance requires focusing on the major factors that affects employee performance. In this study, the dependent variable which will be focused on is job performance. The independent variables based on gap from the previous research are: work environment, leadership styles, training and wages. Some of the independent variables repeated from the previous studies is due to fact that there is poor or no conceptual definition leading to confusion in previous studies. Most of the studies reviewed agree that job satisfaction is a major contributor to job performance. This is where the employees are happy for the work they do. Karatepe (2013) asserts that hospitality industry is an employee based service industry. When there is high employee satisfaction, organisation performance is enhanced in hospitality industry. It is through employee satisfaction that they are able to align with the organisation strategy. Bakoti (2016) claims that for the employees to become satisfied and hence enhance their performance their needs and expectations to be met. While most of the studies look at the factors that can lead to job satisfaction and hence improve performance, there is conceptual confusion and lack of adequate empirical data. The proposed conceptual framework sets the independent variables as those factors that influence employees’ job performance. This includes work environment, leadership, training and development and wages. Fig.1 Conceptual framework to be used. Conceptual definitions To have an in-depth study in hospitality industry, there is need to have conceptual definitions to avoid confusion. First, there is need to have an in-depth knowledge on what job satisfaction is. According to Bakoti (2016), job satisfaction is defined as personal positive emotional responses to a given job. This is based on the comparison between the actual outcomes to the desired results which may be anticipated or deserved. It is an individual subjective judgement which is based on different faces in a job. For study, job satisfaction can be referred to as employees’ value and senses which are based on work achievement and influenced by four main factors: Work environment, training and development, leadership, and wages (Trivellas et al., 2015). It looks at job satisfaction as the main factor which contributes to the organisation goals. Dependent variable Job performance Job performance can be looked as a multidimensional construct whose main aim it to achieve results in hospitality industry. This is a construct which are highly linked with the organisational goals. Karatepe, (2013) asserts that these are activities which are related to the work and how well the activities are carried out by the employees. Not every employee activity is associated with the job performance. There is need for an organisation to have employee behaviour which is related to organisation performance. The success and failure of an organisation is directly related to the employee performance. According to Cherian and Jacob (2013), an organisation can only gain a competitive advantage over others if they have talented employees who have high work performance. There is need for coordinated performance in various jobs in the hospitality industry to ensure maximum performance. An effective employee is the one who can use their skills and knowledge in doing a task in the correct way. Karatepe (2013) asserts that all activities performed by employees in the hospitality industry are interrelated and leads to maximum performance. The hospitality industry management must be able to have an understanding of the employees’ performance to ensure that there is maximum performance (Karatepe, 2013). When there is effective organisation performance, it becomes possible to have satisfied employees. Independent variables Leadership One type of leadership that stands out for maximum job performance is transformational leadership (Al-Ababneh, 2013). This is a leader who is good in judgement and is competent in communication skills and confidence. Atmojo (2015) asserts that a transformational leader is directly positioned in the employee development. These are leaders who are able to give clear goals and motivate employees to attain the set targets. Due to good judgement and decision making skills, it is possible for a transformational leader to help on employee development which is critical in the hospitality industry. Khalid, Shamshe and Farooqi (2015), claims that transformational leaders are fair ensuring that all employees are treated equally. Employees are helped to create personal value, self-confidence and belief which help to support the organisation mission (Khalid, Shamshe &Farooqi, 2015). Research shows that transformational leadership is conceptualised in four dimensions: inspired motivation, intellectual simulation, individualised consideration and idealised influence. Through idealised influence, it becomes possible for transformational leader to formulate vision and challenge goals which helps to motivate workers beyond self-interest. This is a leader who can be trusted and respected by everyone. Through inspirational motivation, they set an example to other employers with an aim of encouraging and communicating organisation goals to the employees (Cavazotte, Moreno & Bernardo, 2013). Intellectual simulation is based on ability to be critical thinkers. This involves stimulating the employees to be creative and innovative to challenge the employees’ beliefs. Individualised consideration is based on paying attention to each and every employee need. This helps to achieve growth in an organisation. According to Atmojo (2015), it is the role of the leadership to fulfil all the employee’s needs. Work environment There is interrelation between the employees and work environment. Mathews and Khann (2016), claim that when employees are in good working environment their productivity is enhanced. This is a safe work environment which is free from injuries and health hazards. In the hospitality industry, a hostile work environment will lead to physical dissonance. Work environment is one of the major factors that have been mentioned by various studies as contributor to employees’ satisfaction. In Fu and Deshpande (2014) study, it is indicated that there exists a strong relationship between employee and the working environment. A clear definition of working environment in the hospitality to avoid conceptual confusion is: self-realisation, conflict, workload and the level of nervousness. Having a conducive working environment encourages the employees to put more efforts in their jobs. Hamid and Hassan, (2015) asserts that this is a work environment which is safe and has all required facilities for the job. When the employees feel that they are in a poor job environment, they are highly likely to spend their time managing the resultant stress. This reduces job satisfaction hence work performance (Trivellas et al., 2015). This is a concept which in most studies is poorly defined leading to confusion. In the hospitality industry, work environment remains a vital factor in determining work success. Raziq and Maulabakhsh (2015) claims that an employee is an asset for the organisation and hence the need for good working environment. This includes providing the employees with appropriate lighting and workplace layout. Training and development Training and development is another concept that is poorly defined. According to Elnaga and Imran (2013), this is a series of planned activities used as part of the organisation to help in increasing employees’ job knowledge. It also helps in modifying the employees’ attitudes and behaviours with an aim of meeting organisation goals and requirements. These are activities set to help provide the learners with job needed skills and knowledge (Elnaga & Imran, 2013). In this research, training and development implies factors that have an influence on employee job satisfaction. These are training activities which are aimed at increasing employees’ knowledge and skills. Training and development are other issues which have been ignored in previous studies and the impact they have on job satisfaction. According to Elnaga and Imran (2013), training is a form of job progression in skills and expertise. It is through training that the employees are able to enhance their performance. In the hospitality industries, training is one of the main factors that drive performance. In fact, most of the research fails to include training as a determinant in job satisfaction and performance. The research intents to show that training can be used as one of the factors to measure the level of employees’ job satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Wages Some of the studies analysed has shown that wages play a major role in employee job satisfaction. In fact, a lot of studies have supported the fact that organisation commitment on the level of pay has a direct impact on employees’ job performance. Gunawan and Amalia, (2015) asserts that wage can be used as a motivator for performance in the hospitality industry. Organisations in the hospitality industry should be able to provide appropriate compensation so that they can maintain the level of employees’ loyalty. This includes use of benefits which are very important as a motivator. When there are appropriate benefits, employees are motivated to perform the given tasks and hence the organisation performs better. Job satisfaction is one of the most important factors that determine the success in the hospitality industry. This is due to the existing correlation between job satisfaction and customer satisfaction (Agarwal & Mehta, 2014). Several studies have found out that job satisfaction is positively related to most of the organisation issues. This includes effectiveness, productivity, morale, loyalty and performance. Gunawan and Amalia (2015) asserts that pay can help a lot in rewarding employees with an aim of attaining organisational resources and reducing wastage of resources. In the hospitality industry study, pay refers to rewards given to the employees with an aim of satisfying them. Pay in this case refers to wages given to the employees while the benefits incudes factors such as health insurance and other benefits. It is important for the studies to look for incentive pay lessons from the hospitality industry. Having a workable system for employees’ incentives is very important. Wages have been used in various occasions as tools to motivate workers. Despite this, several researches has shown that it is not always about money (Cherian & Jacob, 2013). Job satisfaction and performance can be enhanced through other factors that goes beyond money which include working environment, realistic goals and the existing communication channels. Most of the western based hospitality industries have been using compensation practices as means to enhance employees’ motivation. This is based on meeting the employees needs based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Agarwal & Mehta, 2014). All individuals have needs which they strive to fulfil and helping in fulfilling them is critical for success. Despite their limitations, previous studies have shown that it is possible for an organisation to influence employee job performance. According to Gunawan and Amalia (2015), wages becomes vital when it is linked to the employee performance. Awarding the right wages remuneration is one of the most important and complex tasks in an organisation. It is also one of the most significant aspects of workers where wages is used as a measure of the value in the organisation (Agarwal & Mehta, 2014). Therefore, effective wages strategy is important to ensure that the organisation values its human resources and wants to enhance their loyalty and commitment. It is possible to address all the limitations faced by the analysed research through use of appropriate strategies. First, there is need for clear conceptual definition of all major research areas. Secondly, the research must use the appropriate sample and gather adequate data to come up with conclusive evidence. The factors which inhibit accessibility of information must be addressed. Moreover, it is important for all organisations to look at the employees as human capital which requires appropriate care for maximum work performance. Some of the influential factors such as training have not been given adequate research required. There is need for the research to look more into the employee engagement as a major tool for success. Conclusion and recommendation From the literature review, it is clear that the existing articles on job performance have several gaps. Most of the researches have gaps in conceptual definition which leads to confusion. Moreover, there are instances where the empirical research is not adequate to make concrete conclusions. Factors such as job training and other forms of motivation are ignored in some of the studies where in others they are not well analysed. Despite this, it is clear that there is a significant relationship between the independent variables (leadership, wages, work environment and training and development) with the dependent variable which is job performance. The hospitality industry is one of the industries where workers performance determines its success. This is an industry that can benefit a lot from enhancing the independent variables to achieve the best employees output hence improved job performance. It involves ensuring that the employees have the best work environment and they are given the best training available. The employees must be paid competitively and can benefit a lot from transformational leadership. It is recommended that the limitations that have been experienced in previous research be addressed through use of appropriate techniques. First, there is need to have conceptual definitions for all major terms. Secondly, there is need to avoid inappropriate generalisation to ensure that the results gained are representative of the entire population. The results from the research have the ability to be used in enhancing employees’ productivity in the hospitality industry. From the research, it is clear that the proposed study in the hospitality industry will cover areas in employee engagement which were not covered by the previous studies. This has the ability to rejuvenate the industry in areas of employee engagement and make it more responsive to the workers need. The result will be an industry which is driven to high performance by the employees’ motivation. References Agarwal, R. N., & Mehta, A. (2014). Impact of performance appraisal and working environment on the job satisfaction and attrition problem in the Indian IT industry. Paradigm, 18(1), 73-85. Al-Ababneh, M. (2013). Leadership style of managers in five-star hotels and its relationship with employees job satisfaction. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 3(2), 94. Atmojo, M. (2015). The influence of transformational leadership on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee performance. International research journal of business studies, 5(2). Bakoti, D. (2016). Relationship between job satisfaction and organizational performance: Economic Research. Economic Research, 29(1). Cavazotte, F., Moreno, V., & Bernardo, J. (2013). Transformational leaders and work performance: The mediating roles of identification and self-efficacy. BAR-Brazilian Administration Review, 10(4), 490-512. Cherian, J., & Jacob, J. (2013). Impact of self-efficacy on motivation and performance of employees. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), 80. Elnaga, A., & Imran, A. (2013). The effect of training on employee performance. European Journal of Business and Management, 5(4), 137-147. Fu, W., & Deshpande, S. P. (2014). The impact of caring climate, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment on job performance of employees in a China's insurance company. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(2), 339. Gunawan, H., & Amalia, R. (2015). Wages and Employees Performance: The Quality of Work Life as Moderator. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 5(1S). Hamid, N., & Hassan, N. (2015). The Relationship Between Workplace Environment and Job Performance in Selected Government Offices in Shah Alam, Selangor. International Review of Management and Business Research, 4(3). Karatepe, O. M. (2013). High-performance work practices and hotel employee performance: The mediation of work engagement. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 32, 132-140. Khalid, A., Shamshe, A., &Farooqi, A.Y. (2015). Impact of Leadership Styles on Followers’ Job Satisfaction: A Four Frame Model Approach, International Journal of Business and Management Invention ISSN (Online), 4, (1),12319-8028. Mathews, C., & Khann, I. K. (2016). Impact of Work Environment on Performance of Employees in Manufacturing Sector in India: Literature Review. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 5(4). Raziq, A., & Maulabakhsh, R. (2015). Impact of working environment on job satisfaction. Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, 717-725. Trivellas, P., Kakkos, N., Blanas, N., & Santouridis, I. (2015). The impact of career satisfaction on job performance in accounting firms. The mediating effect of general competencies. Procedia Economics and Finance, 33, 468-476. Read More