Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover - Coursework Example

THE INFLUENCE OF JOB SATISFACTION ON EMPLOYEE TURNOVER Student’s name Course code + name Professor’s name University name City, State Date of submission Introduction Employee turnover refers to the number of employees that leave an organisation and get replaced by new staffs. The adverse influence of high rates of employee turnover on the performance of the organisation has compelled firms to invest in their employees through induction, training, maintenance, development, and retention. The absence of a standard reason behind employee turnover indicates that employees leave an organisation for a different company due to a number of reasons. It is important to study employee turnover since the organisation considers it to be expensive. The expensive nature of employee turnover emanates from the fact that it entails the massive loss of human capital investment as well as the manifold costs that the organisation incurs in replacing workers. Personally, I consider employee turnover to refer to the proportion of members of an organisation that vacate the firm to the total number of workers in the firm during the specified period of study in accordance with the findings of Mattsson and Saraste (Mattsson & Saraste 2002). Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction entails a combination of physiological, psychological, and environmental factors that cause a worker to testify that she or he is contented with the work. Having analysed the several factors that influence job satisfaction in the workplace, I also opine that there are a number of factors that influence job satisfaction indicate that the concept is an internal aspect that has an association with the feelings of employees. The three major influencing factors are responsible for the satisfaction feeling exhibited by employees. Raziq and Maulabakhsh (2015) associate job satisfaction with the feeling of employees towards the assigned roles in the workplace. From their argument, job satisfaction entails the affective orientations of employees towards the assigned roles that they perform at the workplace. In essence, it is proper to consider job satisfaction in terms of the negative and positive feelings exhibited by workers towards their roles in the workplace. I also associate job satisfaction with the sense of achievement and success presented by the worker in the organization. This is in accordance with Indermun and Saheedbayat that associate an optimal workforce with attaining competitive advantage on the part of the organization (Indermun & Saheedbayat 2013). Parent Theory There are several theories that influence the satisfaction of individuals. Maslow’s theory of satisfaction or motivation is one of the theories. According to the theory, the motivational requirements of an individual assume a hierarchical order. As a result, the satisfaction of a particular level of needs signals the onset of another need having a higher rank in the hierarchy. The five levels of needs identified by Maslow include physical needs, safety needs, social needs, achievement or esteem needs, and self-actualisation (Saif et al. 2012). Being individuals, employees yearn to achieve the five levels of needs identified by Maslow. As a result, the failure of employees to meet these needs reduces their motivation thereby giving rise to higher rates of employee turnover. The result is the continuous rotation of employees in different organisations in the quest to meet such needs. Herzberg also presented a two-factor theory that identified job-satisfiers (motivators) and job-dissatisfiers that have an influence on the level of job satisfaction among employees in the workplace. Some of the motivators identified by Herzberg encompass achievement, work, recognition, advancement, and responsibility. The hygiene factors (job-dissatisfiers) identified by Herzberg include supervision, administration, company policy, interpersonal relations, working conditions, and salary (Saif et al. 2012). With regards to job satisfaction and the associated reduced employee turnover, it is evident that Herzberg’s motivators provide a clear picture of the factors that influence employee motivation and turnover in the workplace. The achievement theory or theory of needs is the other theory that attempts to explain job satisfaction. According to the theory, there exists a compelling force to succeed among individuals. As a result, such individuals place great weight on personal achievement rather than the rewards of success (Saif et al. 2012). Individuals present the desire to handle more challenging roles in the quest to perform better and meet the personal achievement need. The three affiliation motives behind the theory include power, achievement and affiliation. Under achievement, individuals present the drive to achieve and excel beyond the set success standards. Being individuals, it is evident that employees associate job satisfaction with their ability to achieve and excel beyond the standards of the organisation. The power motive states that individuals desire to impact, influence, or control others (Saif et al. 2012). This is evident among employees since the desire of majority of staffs is to occupy managerial positions that would grant them power, control, and influence over other employees in the workplace. Under the affiliation motive, there is an increased desire for close and friendly interpersonal relationships among individuals. Being individuals, employees also desire to have a collaborative rather than competitive workplace environment since it provides an assurance for the long-term security of their position. In cases where the workplace environment is competitive rather than collaborative, there is a high rate of employee turnover as employees seek alternative workplaces that guarantee the affiliation motive. The theory of planned behaviour associated behaviour with beliefs. According to the theory, the intention that results in the behaviour of an individual emanates from behavioural beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs. Behavioural beliefs yield the attitude of the individual towards the behaviour. Normative beliefs yield the subjective norm whereas control beliefs yield the perceived control of behaviour (Ajzen 1991). The theory postulates that individuals hold multiple behavioural beliefs about a specific behaviour. However, people can access a limited number of such beliefs that influence behaviour. A combination of the subjective values of the anticipated outcomes and the behavioural beliefs determines the attitude held by the individual towards the behaviour. Considering job satisfaction and reduced employee turnover as the outcome, there are several beliefs and subjective values such as a favourable working environment, better incentives and increased remunerations that influence job satisfaction and employee turnover. There is a close link between the theory of planned behaviour and the attribution theory. Just like the theory of planned behaviour, the attribution theory also associates the behaviour of individuals with the beliefs, intentions, and feelings held by individuals. There are three attributional styles: optimistic, pessimistic, and hostile (Harvey & Martinko 2009). Under the optimistic style, individuals associate positive outcomes with internal attributions. Similarly, they associate negative outcomes with external attributions. In such a case, employees would associate improved organisation performance with internal attributions such as job satisfaction and reduced employee turnover. In a similar way, reduced performance of the organisation would emanate from external factors such as increased competition and a hostile business environment. Under the pessimistic style, successful outcomes emanate from good luck. However, negative outcomes arise from the absence of personal ability. Finally, the hostile style postulates that a vengeful and biased manager is responsible for negative outcomes. The attribution theory covers the events of a conventional workplace perfectly. As a result, the theory provides a valid explanation of the forces behind job satisfaction and employee turnover. Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover Reference Study Relationship 1 Saeed, I., Waseem, M., Sikander, S. and Rizwan, M., 2014. The relationship of turnover intention with job satisfaction, job performance, leader member exchange, emotional intelligence and organizational commitment. International Journal of Learning and Development, 4(2), pp.242-256 A study on the relationship of turnover intention with job satisfaction, job performance, leader member exchange, emotional intelligence and organizational commitment Significant 2 Medina, E., 2012. Job satisfaction and employee turnover intention: what does organizational culture have to do with it?. Master's theses, Department of Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences, Columbia University, New York. A study on the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover intention in the context of organizational culture, using data from the Quality of Work Life (QWL) module Significant 3 Khan, A.H. and Aleem, M., 2014. Impact of job satisfaction on employee turnover: An empirical study of Autonomous Medical Institutions of Pakistan. Journal of International Studies, 7(1), pp.122-132. An empirical study of Autonomous Medical Institutions of Pakistan Significant 4 Kessler, L.L., 2014. The effect of job satisfaction on IT employees turnover intention in Israel. The Annals of the University of Oradea, p.1026. A study on the effect of job satisfaction on IT employees turnover intention in Israel Significant Figure 1: Case Study Analyses of the Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover The study conducted by Saeed et al. (2014) revealed that the study variables: job satisfaction, leader member exchange, organizational commitment, emotional intelligence, and job performance had a direct negative influence on employee turnover. According to Medina (2012), study participants revealed an inverse relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. The study conducted by Khan and Aleem (2014) revealed an inverse relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover among healthcare staffs in Pakistan. Similarly, Kessler (2014) conducted a study that revealed that there was an indirect relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover. From all studies, it is evident that the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover is statistically significant. Proposition Relying on the theory of planned behaviour and in accordance with the literature presented in the other theories and sections of the paper, we propose that: Job Satisfaction influences Employee Turnover Conclusion Job satisfaction influences employee turnover. As a result, managers should strive towards addressing job satisfaction variables in the quest to reduce the rate of employee turnover. Such variables include pay, the workplace environment, and the nature of work. This includes increasing salaries, creating a favourable working environment and ensuring the proper orientation of employees to their roles in the workplace. Considering such variables is detrimental towards enhancing the levels of job satisfaction exhibited by employees in the workplace. An additional unit increase in the level of job satisfaction results in a unit decrease in the turnover intention of employees. Reference List Ajzen, I., 1991. The theory of planned behavior. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50(2), pp.179-211. Harvey, P. and Martinko, M.J., 2009. Attribution theory and motivation. Organizational behavior, theory and design in healthcare, pp.143-158. Indermun, V. and Saheedbayat, M., 2013. The Job Satisfaction-Employee Performance Relationship: a Theoretical Perspective. International Journal Of Innovative Research İn Management, 11(2), pp.1-9. Kessler, L.L., 2014. The effect of job satisfaction on IT employees’ turnover intention in Israel. The Annals of The University of Oradea, p.1026. Khan, A.H. and Aleem, M., 2014. Impact of job satisfaction on employee turnover: An empirical study of Autonomous Medical Institutions of Pakistan. Journal of International Studies, 7(1), pp.122-132. Mattsson, A. and Saraste, D., 2002. Employee turnover and knowledge in organizations. Melbourne, Australia. Medina, E., 2012. Job satisfaction and employee turnover intention: what does organizational culture have to do with it?. Master's theses, Department of Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences, Columbia University, New York. Raziq, A. and Maulabakhsh, R., 2015. Impact of working environment on job satisfaction. Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, pp.717-725. Saeed, I., Waseem, M., Sikander, S. and Rizwan, M., 2014. The relationship of turnover intention with job satisfaction, job performance, leader member exchange, emotional intelligence and organizational commitment. International Journal of Learning and Development, 4(2), pp.242-256. Saif, S.K., Nawaz, A., Jan, F.A. and Khan, M.I., 2012. 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