Nurses' Satisfaction With Their Work Environment - Case Study Example

Organizational Behavior There are a lot of available jobs that still need to be filled, not only in America, but in every country in the world. Oneexample is the job of a nurse which is varied in the sense that the nurse can be a secretary, a physician's assistant, a teacher, a counselor, and a manager who is concerned on promoting and maintaining the health of a patient. Nurses' varied duties are mostly technical in nature like taking blood pressure and managing complex life-support system in intensive care units. Basing nursing jobs to the job characteristics theory's 3 critical psychological states, the design of nursing jobs appears to be done successfully. In a Norwegian study on nurses, the study concluded that the availability of clinical nursing supervision give positive results on the nurses' physical symptoms, stress and anxiety, as well as establishing "a sense of being control of a situation" [1]. The psychosocial work that nurses extend influences their experiences with regards to having or not having control (of a situation) along with their engagement and motivation [1]. Moreover, stress and anxiety in nursing jobs arise from ethical conflicts in the organization. Another is the job of an ambulance driver. Although a driver's salary is lesser than that of nurses, the work still appears to be meaningful to them because it gives them a sense of being able to serve and do good by being one important factor in saving a person's life. Ambulance drivers (or simply drivers) are responsible for bring the patient to the hospital in time and driving carefully (fast). The sense of knowing that one has successfully delivered the patient to a hospital gives a sense of relief and hope which can be equated to satisfaction for having done his part in the organization. In creating and designing jobs, as well as in the process of hiring people, most organizations assess the applicant's potential in contributing to the organization's success; that is why after the submission of one's resume, one is invited for a (face-to-face) interview because it is during the interview that the HR officer (or whoever conducts the interview) will be able to read the signs, as manifested in the interviewee's behavior, which could tell whether or not the applicant can be an asset to the organization. Since most organizations don't want to be charged of discrimination (against culture, ethnicity and the like), culture is not given that much importance although it is noted; although culture aides in designing a job because it identifies job characteristics. Culture is still noted because some traits and values of a person are already embedded in culture which makes it difficult to change if not removed. Personality traits, attitudes and behavior are however importance in filling jobs as these enables the organization to choose who best fits the job criteria. Choosing between what I can get out of the company and how my leaders treat me (same goes with peers and colleagues) can be a difficult task. Most people would endure sarcasm, ridicule of hardship for as long as they are paid on time and paid well. While others would choose how well they fit in with the management and their colleagues even if salary is not that good, not to mention payroll delays. Having given great thought on the matter, good relationships are much more preferred than tangible characteristics simply because the former is not something that comes your way on a regular basis. It is priceless because it can never be bought. Anything that is tangible can be found in any organization because it is solid; and anything that is solid can be made, asked for, worked for, or simply found, all of which mostly answers the need of physiological and safety in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. In addition, motivation coming from good relationships is genuine; therefore, it lasts longer because it is not superficial. Such a perspective addresses the 4th level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs with is Esteem in the form of respect of oneself, the respect of other people and the likes. Finding a person "fit" and maintaining that person's motivation, who is a job-seeker showing perfect advance knowledge of the job characteristics and organizational environment, is a burden which lies on the management and the job designer. It could be that this person is overqualified for the job. If so, when hired, the immediate problem that would arise if the 'not fit" perception on the job being hired for which may result to job dissatisfaction in terms of salary and benefits etc. If the person is hired (but not seen as overqualified for the job), the advance knowledge that this person has may pose as a challenge to the management and job designer in keeping this soon-to-be employee satisfied and motivated in the job hired for. Possessing advance knowledge (about whatever field of study or expertise) is not a burden on the part of the job-seeker, rather it is an advantage. Knowledge is a valuable intangible asset which many companies and organizations pay a lot of money for. Besides, having applicants with advanced knowledge is hard to come by nowadays. In a business organization engaged in retail of a clothing line, specialization of jobs have been clearly defined creating divisions within the organization each indicating a certain level of job specialization - delivery, purchasing, accounting and the likes. Such division and specialization of jobs allow a clear flow of operations which may result to a higher efficiency index. Centralization is also one move that the organization adopted. Each division has its own Head who supervises the daily operations and implements the decisions of higher management. This approach is helpful in the sense that all the division heads gather for a meeting with the top management for reporting or evaluation (what have you) which allows for 'brainstorming' and looking at the information, data or problem on all perspectives. Formalization is also adopted. As this approach puts all that is agreed upon from the start of the hiring process into black and white, employees will have a clear understanding of the role that their jobs require as well as the scope of their work. This eliminates the overlapping of work roles in an organization. Formalization is also applicable to supervisors and management in the sense that having formalized the hiring process, the organization is bound to give what is due to the hired job-seeker. In turn, the job-seeker has a responsibility in doing what the job (and his/her role) requires. This approach is governed by rules, regulations and guidelines which allows for the smooth flow in all of the organization's undertakings. In the retail business, the deficiency in structure that is more imminent is the delay in the decision making. Oftentimes, decisions like which line to purchase, the cost and other updates which need immediate answer are not being addressed to in a timely manner. Such a delay causes 'chaos' in the organization as it is possible that some division heads might clash. For instance, the sales department would say, why was clothing line A not purchased yet when the research department submitted a study showing that the demand on clothing line A has increased 35%. The marketing department also encounters a similar problem especially in terms of how to advertise the product and which advertisement or idea to implement. Bibliography 1. Ingrid Begat MNSc, RNT, Bodil Ellefsen RNT, Dr Polit, Elisabeth Severinsson MNSc, RPN, DrPH (2005) Nurses' satisfaction with their work environment and the outcomes of clinical nursing supervision on nurses' experiences of well-being - a Norwegian study Journal of Nursing Management 13 (3) , 221-230 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2004.00527.x Read More