Effect of Employee Attitude, Job Satisfaction and Motivation on Organisation - Literature review Example

Management and Organisational Behaviour: Effect of employee attitude, job satisfaction and motivation on Organisation

Executive Summary

Employee attitude, job satisfaction and the motivation have a significant influence on productivity of the organisation as a whole. This affects the image of the organisation not just in front of the employees but also outsiders. Job satisfaction of employees is to a great extent, related to the attitude that people have towards their job. The vision of the organisation can be better achieved through motivated employees as they understand the goals better. They have the driving force within them and external factors do not affect them in a significant way. The paper analyses impact of employee attitude, job satisfaction and motivation on performance of the organisation. The managers play important role in creating a motivating the employees, which will improve productivity of the organisation as a whole. Incorporating a positive attitude amongst the employees, creating job satisfaction and motivating the employees is a challenging task. These limitations need to be carefully tackled in order to improve the productivity of the organisation.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction4

2. Employee attitude, job satisfaction and motivation: Effects on the organisation5

3. Conclusion14

The attitudes that people have for their jobs are influenced by various characteristics such as environment in which they function, typical characteristics of the jobs, relationships that the employees have with their colleagues and managers, etc. Having a satisfactory job that will help them grow in their personal as well as professional lives is one of the most desired workplace characteristics that people expect to have. This makes it very important for the employers to study the various ways in which they can influence employees and also create better a better workplace. Motivation plays a key role in improving the productivity and level of job satisfaction that people receive from their workplace. Having a motivated workforce drives the organisation to collectively realise its goals. Different people have different expectations from their jobs; hence, have different factors of motivation. Thus, understanding these different factors is very important for the managers and the organisation, in order to utilise the maximum potential of the workforce.14

Reference List14

• 1. Introduction

Employee attitude reflects the feelings of employees about their job, their co-workers, company and work environment. This attitude defines and shapes the way an employee behaves at a workplace (Judge and Kammeyer-Mueller, 2012; Harrell, 2009). This attitude affects performance of the employee, which in turn, reflects on the performance of the organisation. The attitude of the employees represents the organisational culture. Some examples of good attitude of employees at workplace is meeting deadlines, taking responsibilities, being appreciative and thankful, friendly behaviour etc (Rosner and Campbell, 2016.).

Job satisfaction is something that every employee looks forward to. Working without it is similar to working for no cause (Raziq and Maulabakhsh, 2014).

Satisfied employees deliver the best of their performance and add to the productivity of the organisation. Every organisation looks for employees who will fit into its profile and stay with it in the longer run. They invest in a lot of resources for training and retaining the employees. Job satisfaction in employees makes sure that the employees stay with the organisation for a longer period of time.

Motivation acts as the primary criteria for people to perform well at their work place. Proper motivation is required to get maximum productivity out of them. It provides people with the drive that is required to make them work harder for achieving the goals (Reyes, 2011; Dobre, 2013). It not only energizes people to perform well at their workplace, but also controls them and keeps them, under check. It is the responsibility of managers to motivate the employees (Adair, 2006). Studying these topics is important for the managers, in order to understand how to motivate the employees in particular situations.

This report will provide an analysis on the effects of attitude, job satisfaction and motivation on the employees. It will also reflect on how it affects the productivity of the overall organisation.

• 2. Employee attitude, job satisfaction and motivation: Effects on the organisation

The attitude that employees have at workplace has a significant impact on productivity of the organisation. Security that the employees and level of motivation they have reflect their performance (Harrell, K., 2009). Attitude that people have towards their workplace is created by various factors such as work environment, job characteristics, relationship with colleagues and managers and the level of stress they encounter at work (Hettiararchchi and Jayarathna, 2014). Attitude can be either good or bad.

An attitude can either be positive or negative. Positive attitude of employees helps in building a constructive environment at the workplace. On the other hand, negative attitude creates uncertainty. Negative attitude of one employee demotivates the others as well. It also creates distrust amongst the employees, which affects the sense of unity and teamwork attitude of employees. This in turn, affects the productivity of the whole organisation (Ray, 2016).

Positive attitude helps them in creating unity amongst the team members. This helps in building a strong team. The productivity of the team depends on all members of the organisation. The attitude of every person contributes to creating a productive team. Hence, positivity is a must in creating a productive team (Boehlke, 2015).

There are different types of attitude. At workplace, two types of attitude in particular, have the greatest influence. They are job satisfaction and organisational commitment.

Organisational commitment refers to the attachment that people have with their organisation. It refers to the sense of attachment that people have with their organisation (Eslami and Gharakhani, 2012). People have a sense of commitment with their jobs when they are able to relate their goals to the organisational goals. Fear is another factor that works in this case. The fear of losing out if they leave their jobs is something that keeps them in the job. The Three Component Model of Commitment by John Meyer and Natalie Allen explains the reasons for the sense of commitment that people have for an organisation (Jaros, 2007).

Affection: Affective commitment occurs when people have a strong feeling of attachment towards their jobs. They identify with the goals of an organisation and want to serve it with the best of their abilities. This sense of commitment for the organisation reflects the satisfaction that a person receives from the job.

Fear of loss: It is also known as continuance commitment. This type of commitment occurs when people measure the losses and the gains they are likely to make if they leave the job or stick to it. This gives rise to a certain fear that makes them stick to the organisation. These losses can be classified into monetary, social or professional.

Obligation to stay: Normative commitment refers to the sense of commitment that makes a person stay in an organisation due to some kind of obligation. The employee stays in the organisation, as they feel that it is the right thing to do.

These senses of commitment decide the attitude that people have for the organisation. Another factor that decides the kind of attitude that people have for their organisation is the level of job satisfaction. It refers to the contentment that people have with their jobs. One thing that people look for when they are committing to their jobs is the level of satisfaction, which is defined by the level of job security, the work environment, and their relationship with the colleagues and managers etc. Additionally, the professional and personal learning that they gain from the job defines the level of their job satisfaction. This in turns decides their attitude towards their jobs (Chitale et al., 2012).

Various components of job satisfaction are, evaluative, cognitive and behavioural (Chitale et al., 2012).

Evaluative: The evaluative or emotional component refers to the job related feeling of employees such as anxiety, excitement, boredom etc.

Cognitive: The cognitive component reflects the belief that an employee has about his job, if it is challenging, rewarding, respectable, demanding etc.

Behavioural: Behavioural component include people’s action related to their work such as working late, faking illness in order to avoid work etc.

There are various factors on which job satisfaction depends, for example, development of the organisation, compensation and benefits that the employees are promised, level job security, working conditions etc. (Sageer et al., 2012)

These components reflect the amount of job satisfaction that people have, which in turn affects the attitude that they have toward their job.

Motivation is a factor that controls the behaviour of a person. The same applies to motivation at workplace. The way a person behaves at work and peruses the goals of the organisation is a reflection of how motivated that person is. Motivation is a set of internal and external factors that raise the willingness of employees to be involved in their jobs. Internal motivation shows that the employees are happy with the job and do not care much about the external rewards (Reyes, M., 2011).

Having a motivated workforce is important in order to gain their full support in achieving the goals of the organisation (Ganta, 2014). The employees have to be mentally and emotionally involved with their jobs in order to understand and realise the goals of the organisation.

The second reason motivation is important is because it brings stability to the workforce. Employees committed to the organisation and willing to stay with organisation for a long period of time boosts the reputation and goodwill of the organisation (Ganta, 2014).

The third reason is that motivated people are not resistant to change. The fourth reason is that motivation helps in bringing people employees closer to the organisation. Rewarding the employees from time to time basis is important in order to help them stay connected to organisational goals. They begin to feel that goals of the organisation and their personal objectives are aligned, which help them stay connected to the organisation. This connection helps in building a stronger bond between the employees and the organisation (Ganta, 2014).

There are several theories on motivation. One of the most noted ones is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. According to this model, there are five stages of human motivation, (McLeod, 2007; King-Hill, 2015).

Figure 1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

(Source: McLeod, 2007)

The lowest level of needs, Psychological needs refers to the basic needs of people, such as needs for food, clothes, education etc. Without these needs being fulfilled, people cannot will not be able to focus on the other aspects of life.

The next level is the Safety needs where people strive for security of environment, resources, health, employment etc. This level is of primary importance to people, after their basic needs are fulfilled.

The third level is the needs of belonging. After all the basic needs of facility and security have been fulfilled, people look forward to an environment which they can connect to. This feeling of belongingness is fulfilled by different relationships such as friendship, family, intimacy etc.

The fourth level is the needs of Esteem. This level refers to the expectation of being respected by the society. It is reflected by factors such as confidence, self-esteem, achievement etc.

The fifth level is of Self Actualization. At this level, people look for self-fulfilment through morality, problem solving, creativity etc.

Each level has a different degree of motivation to the employees. At the initial stage, people look for satisfying their basic needs through their jobs. Then it comes to safety and security related to the job. This may include various perks that are provided through their work such as job security, health insurance, etc.

At the next stage, employees try to relate to the organisation. They look for a sense of belongingness and which will help them relate to the goals of the organisation. At the next level, people want to achieve respect and recognition at their work place. They want their efforts to be noted by the people at work. Providing the employees with various awards and recognising their efforts may help to keep them motivated. The final stage is the self-actualisation stage. At this stage, people look forward to a challenging job that will keep them moving forward and boost their morale. Motivation always creates a positive attitude in people. Few examples of positive characteristics generated due to motivation are hope, optimism, resilience, confidence etc (Woods, 2014).

It is the responsibility of managers to keep the employees motivated, which in turn affects level of job satisfaction they have. Managers should also motivate the employees as that not only helps the employees in relating to the organisation, but also helps in improving work culture. A proper study of these factors will help the managers in being successful at understanding various aspects of employee motivation and creating a good attitude in them. Hence, it is very important for managers to gain the knowledge of various aspects of job satisfaction, attitude and motivation, to create a better workplace for the employees (Harrell, 2009; Ray, 2016).

An organisation needs employees who are motivated and inspired enough to understand its goals and work towards achieving them. A lot of resource is spent on training the employees. Thus, employee retention is one of the most important factors that an organisation is concerned about (Vijayalakshmi and Balanagagurunaathan, 2012). Employees must be motivated enough to stay in the organisation. Good or bad attitude of the employees determine the productivity of the organisation. Organisational productivity also depends on how committed and dedicated the employees are towards achieving the organisational goals. Understanding how the organisation would achieve the loyalty of the employees and help them in growing in their professional as well as personal life, can help the organisation in retaining the employees (Mehta et al., 2014). Hence studying all these factors is of primary importance to the organisations.

Limitations:

There are a few limitations of employee attitude, their level of job satisfaction and influence of motivation on employees.

• There are cultural influences on job satisfaction, which are not clearly understood.
• The nature of a person and their characteristics determine the level of job satisfaction
• Nature of the job has a significant influence on the level of job satisfaction that employees have.
• It is not possible for managers to motivate every person in the same way. They have different issues with diverse jobs. The preferences of people are different and so are their expectations (Purcell, 2012).

The attitude of people towards the organisation may be a dependent on false rumours. In such cases, it gets difficult for employers to make the matter clear to employees.

Various reward systems may fail to motivate the employees, in case they are facing a deeper problem related to workplace, for example, trouble with the upper management. Paying a fair compensation may not always work as a motivation factor. Initially the employees may find it exciting and there may be a good optimum performance, but soon this excitement wears off and employees may start taking their pay for granted (Williams and Scott, 2012).

• 3. Conclusion
• The attitudes that people have for their jobs are influenced by various characteristics such as environment in which they function, typical characteristics of the jobs, relationships that the employees have with their colleagues and managers, etc. Having a satisfactory job that will help them grow in their personal as well as professional lives is one of the most desired workplace characteristics that people expect to have. This makes it very important for the employers to study the various ways in which they can influence employees and also create better a better workplace. Motivation plays a key role in improving the productivity and level of job satisfaction that people receive from their workplace. Having a motivated workforce drives the organisation to collectively realise its goals. Different people have different expectations from their jobs; hence, have different factors of motivation. Thus, understanding these different factors is very important for the managers and the organisation, in order to utilise the maximum potential of the workforce.

• Reference List

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Sageer, A., Rafat, S. and Agarwal, P., 2012. Identification of Variables Affecting Employee Satisfaction and Their Impact on the Organization. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 5(1), pp. 32-39

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