Job Design and Job Satisfaction - Literature review Example

CASE STUDY 201 CASE STUDY 201 Introduction It is actually based on the output of work of employees that success for the overall organisation may be determined (Chang, 2007). With this said, the need to having result oriented structures in place to motivate employees to work well admonished. Tourish and Pinnington (2002) noted that employees who are well motivated to deliver off their best are those that achieve job satisfaction. This means that job satisfaction does not happen by accident but as the result of carefully planned approach to work delivery. In this paper, the story of four satisfied executives are analysed to appreciate how employees can achieve job satisfaction even when they are working under the most difficult and challenging environments, such as the need to work over 80 hours a week. Job design and Job satisfaction The two concepts of job design and job satisfaction are very qualitative in nature. What this implies is that it is very difficult to measure these two concepts in material terms (Anderson and Gerbing, 2008). This notwithstanding, the need to measure the levels of job satisfaction has remained a very important feature of human resource management (Amyx, 2004). Interestingly, there are works of literature that support the notion that job design can be used as a measure of job satisfaction, a reason of which it is possible to detect the characteristics of a given job that contributes to high levels of job satisfaction. In the following paragraphs, three major instances are picked from the examples of the successful business executives to depict the characteristics of job that might contribute to high levels of job satisfaction. The first characteristic of the job, and for that matter job design that can contribute to high level of job satisfaction is the nature of job one is engaged in. Ryan and Deci (2000) noted that an important part of job design is the tasks that are done as part of the job. This means that for job satisfaction to be achieved, it is important for a person to be involved in a nature of job that brings personal satisfaction and pleasure. In effect, job satisfaction cannot be achieved when one is not able to gain personal satisfaction from what is done. It is for this reason that Tse shows clear satisfaction at her work, making her wake in the middle of the night to wonder what wonders are happening to the stocks. The second characteristic of the job that can contribute to job satisfaction is employee engagement. March and Simon (1958) explained that there is employee engagement when managers trust the competence of their employees well enough to give them enough control over the work they do. Meanwhile, writing on job design, Hewlett (2006) indicated the need for job design to answer the question of ‘when and how tasks are done’. Through employee engagement, Clark is made to be the face of MTV not just within a limited location but to promote global brand of the company. In a situation like this, it can be expected that one will be satisfied due to the freedom given to put to work, what one knows how to do best. The last characteristic of the job that is directly associated with job satisfaction is business success. In this context, reference is being made to the impact of the success of the whole organization on the job that the employee is doing. By implication, job satisfaction cannot come when the organization as a body is not satisfied with its success (Babin and Boles, 2006). Clearly, where the organization is not satisfied with its success, it would be filled with much pressure on employees to deliver. In a situation like this, employees are going to feel taken advantage of and their satisfaction will be limited. Organizational culture and Job satisfaction The organizations culture of a company defines a set of values, principles and philosophies that influence the way things are done within the company (Samson and Daft, 2005). Indeed, because various companies are there to represent the interest of the public, the organizational culture they exhibit goes a long way to affect their interaction with customers and other stakeholders also. In the context of the example given, it could be seen that there was a very clear influence of organisational culture on job satisfaction as seen from the perspective of Bishop and the Citigroup. As a global corporation, Citigroup has been associated with practicing what is known as a liberal organisational culture when it comes to what employees can do and what employees cannot do at the workplace. As part of this liberal organisational culture, employees are allowed to have innovative times within the week, where they can come up with their innovations and try to implement these at the workplace. In the example given, the company’s liberal organisational culture is showed in Bishop’s approach to work. This is because Bishop was given the liberty to work outside the normal working hours and via the use of conference call. This is certainly something that most companies will not tolerate as they may want their employees to be constantly present at the work place and on their desks working. Meanwhile, there is a direct influence of the organisational structure seen in the output of work of Bishop. This is because regardless of the fact that he needed to work 90 to 100 hours a week, he still found a lot of satisfaction in his work. The cultural dimension that can be associated with the organisational culture of Citigroup is employee engagement. Meanwhile, it has already been stressed above that employee engagement is one of the most important characteristics of the job that bring about job satisfaction (Ryan and Deci, 2000). For Bishop, the level of freedom and engagement given him made it possible for him to feel less stressed at working for 90 to 100 hours a week. This is because he had the freedom to schedule his time so well that he was at liberty to do what he felt needed to be done at the right time. Often, when the organisational culture of companies is rigid and restrictive, employees feel highly unsatisfied, no matter how little a time they work. This is because for any little time that they work, they feel under so much pressure. It was for this reason that Shuck and Wollard (2011) noted that in a modern day organisation, the number of hours of engagement is not as relevant in determining job satisfaction as the nature of engagement available. Tourish and Pinnington (2002) also argued that where there is limited employee engagement because of the practice of a rigid and bureaucratic organisational culture, employees feel less utilised, resulting in the search for newer jobs where they can feel better utilised. Personality and Job satisfaction There is a new development in the global work climate known as the dictates of the job. Bakker (2010) explained the dictates of the job as a situation whereby the way a person is expected to react to his or her job is predetermined by the flow of job and a business model that the employee has no control over. Most of the time, employers of multinational companies have history of how they went through very tough times in establishing their businesses. For this reason, they would want workers to operate within a predetermined business model that is generally stressful, demanding and challenging. From all four examples given above, this situation can be seen. This is because all four people are working for world class companies who have tougher competition to face and so have created the portfolios in which the employees occupy to be demanding. In a situation like this, Bagozzi and Yi (2008) noted that the only way a person can fit well into the portfolio is to have a sought of personality that is equally resilient and tough. For example Harter, Schmidt and Corey (2003) posited that in the work environment, personality to determine what a person can withstand and what a person cannot withstand. For those who have a tough personality therefore, they would find themselves fitting into positions that are seen by all others as challenging. When those same positions are given to other people, they will not be able to cope because their personalities do not match such demands. From the above, it can be said that a person needs his or her personality to match up the demand of job in order to attain satisfaction. In this, a very clear case can be made for Kurtz, the 33 year old managing director of Capital Alliance Partners. From the brief background given about Kurtz, one gets the understanding that he has developed a very resilient personality, so much resistive that not only is he able to cope with the demands of his job but also that of his relationship, in which he has an equally busy girlfriend. From the Big 5 personality traits, one gets the understanding that to have job satisfaction, it is important to possess some specific traits that serve as a driving force to work. One of these is openness to experience. In the example, all four people can be seen and said to have adopted a very positive trait of openness to experience. What this means is that they have refused to be overtaken by the experience of their work (Lustick, 2011). Rather, the four have opened up so well to their jobs that they are the ones now controlling the job instead of being controlled by their demanding jobs. This is because it is possible for a person with a spirited personality to take up a less demanding job and feel less satisfied because the job may not meet the working expectations of the employee (Amyx, 2004). Outcomes of Job satisfaction Reading from the examples, it is very easy to agree with Lustick (2011) that the outcome of a company is directly reflective of the outcome of job satisfaction within the organisation. This is because all four people have showed that they have been instrumental in transforming their organisations through their levels of satisfaction. For example, the job satisfaction of Bishop is clearly translated into his job performance. Indeed but for the fact that he was satisfied, Bishop would not be claiming that working 90 to 100 hours is not unusual. But more importantly, his satisfaction makes it possible for him to address several areas of work at different times and at different locations, giving manifestation of excellent performance. The outcome of job satisfaction as exhibited by these people is also showed on their perceived organisational support. For example MTV has had the luxury of giving Clark so much support to be innovative with the global marketing of the company. This is a form of organisational support that is hard to find in several companies. This is because most of these companies have doubted if giving such forms of support to employees to be innovative can yield expected results. But this point cannot be made without regard for the fact that Clark has also been instrumental in gaining the organisational support due to the fact that he has showed sufficient job satisfaction. When Tse claims that “every day I wake up I can’t wait to come here”, one can clearly appreciate the fact that her claim signifies her readiness to maintain her job for as long as it is within her power to do so. This is a clear manifestation of the impact of job satisfaction on employee turnover. Dolen, Lemmink, Ruyter and Jong, 2002) lamented that several organisation have failed because they have not had a continuous workforce to continue promoting their business models. The need to ensuring job satisfaction can therefore be seen as a solution to this situation because with her level of satisfaction, Tse has showed readiness to remain at post till as long as she can. Speaking of the outcome of job satisfaction in terms of general attitudes and general behaviour, one can find that the satisfaction that Kurtz gets from his job has clearly been transformed into a behaviour and attitude that not many people can handle. This behaviour and attitude is the acceptance of a relationship that several people would otherwise have run away from. This is because by concentrating on his job and receiving all the forms of satisfaction he can have from it, Kurtz has been motivated to handle his girlfriend who hardly has time for him because she had also been travelling 400,000 miles a year, working as the senior vice president of marketing for Tommy Hilfiger. It is not surprising that Ganesan and Weitz (1996) argued that the outlook of a person’s job and the nature of reaction given to the job can have clear impact on the person’s social life. Lessons learned The lessons learned from the examples given are transcending. This is because there are lessons that can be applied by the modern day manager in transforming the output of work at the workplace. For example the value of job design has been noted to be relevant in matching up what is presented to employees as task to what employees actually expect to do (Gremler and Gwinner, 2000). For modern day managers, it is expected that they will create the sought of working environment that makes it suitable for their employees to work in challenging circumstances and yet not feel that they have been taken advantage of. When it comes to personality, managers can learn the lesson that recruitment and placement must not be a practice that is barely based on what is presented on an applicant’s CV or resume. Rather, it is important to undertake further background checks that aim to understand from a very vivid perspective, the personalities of people seeking jobs and how these personalities affect what the roles assigned for them to do. By doing this, it will be possible to avoid putting round pegs in square holes by ensuring that the right people are placed at positions of job that they can be guaranteed of delivering most (Crim and Gerard, 2006). Again, managers will learn lesson on the need to make their organisational culture flexible and open ended enough to embrace all forms of differences that exist among workers. It is only when this is done that the organisation can make the most of diversity that exists at the workplace (Dubinsky and Levy, 2009). With all the above points made, it is important to stress that the ultimate goal of the organisation in getting the results it most desire does not rest with those at the senior levels alone but that those at the lower ranks also. It is based on this that Groth (2005) recommended the use of training and development at the workplace as a means by which the organisation ensures that it is able close up all forms of potential gaps. Some managers have been criticised for putting all their eggs in one basket because they leave so much responsibility with few people without giving others the room to also learn and take up demanding tasks when the need arises. Once such a situation takes place, not only will those at the lower level of the workplace be at a disadvantage in having their competences utilised. Rather, the larger organisation may also have serious vacuums created when there is the sudden absence of a person much responsibility and hopes have been put into. Another lesson that may be learned by managers on how to manage those at the lower ranks is the need to promote mentorship. Through mentorship, avenues will be created at the workplace through both formal and informal means so that those at the lower levels will be learning directly from those at the top. Conclusion The discussions so far have been very important in establishing the place of job satisfaction at the workplace and how job satisfaction can be achieved. The intrinsic component of job satisfaction comes from that point where the employee will be expected to be initiative enough to bring on board elements that help them to adjust to the dictates of the job. 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