The Effect of Employee Attitude and Perception - Essay Example

The Effect of Employee Attitude and Perception on Job Satisfaction and Performance Contents Introduction Methodology Review of Related Literature Conclusion Abstract To be more efficient and more productive at work, employees have to be happy. This is a common belief in the workplace. Employees who are happy are said to exude a certain aura that also influences others and therefore produces an environment conducive for accomplishing work efficiently. This happiness may be related to job satisfaction and could affect job performance. For this paper, employees attitudes and perception, specifically organizational commitment would be examined and related to job satisfaction. Since job satisfaction is an abstract concept, the author found it beneficial to measure it through absenteeism and turnover ratio of companies. These two have been found effective indicators of job satisfaction in past studies. By using a survey questionnaire, the author would like to measure and understand how perception and employee attitude affect job satisfaction and ultimately job performance. Introduction In the past, a massive amount of attention has been given to studies involving job satisfaction and employee-related topics. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, employees and employers alike have both explored opportunities to improve working conditions and productivity that could lead to higher profitability. The changing times and needs of employers have been subjected to criticism and attention. What employers found motivating years ago may be different from what motivates them today? Their attitudes and perception could also be different from recent years. Such is why companies find it crucial to update knowledge and information on subject matter that could improve employee productivity. Happy employees are said to more efficient and productive at work (Durkalski, 2001). They exude a certain aura that also influences others and therefore produces an environment conducive for accomplishing work efficiently. This happiness may be related to job satisfaction and could affect job performance. For this paper, employees attitudes and perception, specifically organizational commitment would be examined and related to job satisfaction. Since job satisfaction is an abstract concept, the author found it beneficial to measure it through absenteeism and turnover ratio of companies. These two have been found effective indicators of job satisfaction in past studies. Review of Related Literature According to Saari and Judge (2004) different employees have different attitudes. Different people have varying perspectives on their jobs or careers. Even how one may view his or her organization may be different from another person (Saari and Judge 2004). This attitude has been studied time and again by numerous researchers and experts. One specific aspect which is often connected to employees’ attitudes is job satisfaction. Studies, experiments, surveys and other forms of research design have tried to figure out and define how individual’s attitudes may affect performance. To be more specific, focus on job satisfaction and job performance have been perpetually studied for its relationship. For a better understanding of this topic, one should take into consideration the definition of job satisfaction in this context. Locke (1976) defines this as a generally positive emotion that came about due to one’s on the job experiences. Presence of emotion of affect is crucial in this concept. Employees who are satisfied with their jobs or are simply happy because of their jobs are said to be more productive. Their performance is better and could also influence others. As a guiding theory reflecting the same principles, the author decided to use the Performance – Happiness Matrix. According to Fisher (2003) performance and happiness are two concepts that are closely related when one is talking about the success of firms, companies or organizations. When a company has a very efficient management system and a well studied method of increasing happiness in their employees, it is likely or more probable that they would be able to maintain a certain level of productivity or impressive level of performance that they see necessary for the company’s success (Fisher, 2003). To better understand the idea of this matrix, the author would first give definitions for the terms used. Performance, in this concept, refers to the actions that are taken to arrive at certain positive outcomes (Kerns, 2008). On the other hand, “happiness” may be defined as the absence of unpleasant or stressful feelings and emotions, and an overall feeling of satisfaction with one’s life. Frequent pleasant emotions are also associated with this definition of happiness (Chew, 2008). To illustrate, a person who is considered a happy employer is one who has many positive experiences within the workplace. These experiences may be related to their work in general, or specific tasks (Kerns, 2008). The Performance – Happiness Matrix is divided into 4 quadrants. These are (in order of the quadrants): Happy Low Performers, Unhappy Low Performers, Unhappy High Performers and Happy, and Happy High Performers (Kerns, 2008). The first quadrant, Happy Low Performers, is characterized by employees who are performing poorly but who remain optimistic about their jobs. They usually view the situation as something that would soon improve because of experience or even skills training that he would get from his or her employer. Hopefully, he or she would be able to progress to quadrant 4 or Happy High Performers later on (Kerns, 2008). The second quadrant represents the Unhappy Low Performers. Kerns (2008) reported that such a condition may be attributed to several factors. It could be that employees belonging to this quadrant are not matched appropriately with the job they are assigned to do. They could also be performing poorly in their fields due to a lack of management trainings to enhance skills and knowledge. Lack of enthusiasm or interest in their chosen careers may also be the root cause of the unhappiness these employees are experiencing (Kerns, 2008). The worst part about this quadrant is that such employees bring down the rest of the company. These negative low performing employees become barriers for the company, hindering them from reaching full potential. To top this off, they could also influence other employees to be negative. They could become sources of negativity and possible nonproductivity that would easily be transmitted to other employees (Kerns, 2008). The third quadrant is comprised of Unhappy High Performers. This could be attributed to a lack of challenging activities assigned for these performers. Kerns (2008) suggested that these could be employees who are highly skilled and knowledgeable but since they are given tasks which they find not challenging enough, they become unhappy. In time, they would become low performers because they would find little enjoyment at what they do. Ultimately, this situation could lead to highly skilled professionals to leave the organization or firm they are working with (Kerns, 2008). Lastly, the final quadrant is what most companies hope their employees are, the Happy High Performers. These individuals are the key players for a long-term successful organization. According to Kerns (2008) employees who manifest enthusiasm about the tasks they are assigned to do, perceive challenge and are skilled and appropriately matched for the job are the employees that companies should aspire to have. In addition to this, these individuals also possess the following traits: have a clear direction and know what they want to achieve, good motivators, and have a solid focus and prioritizes what they find important. They also talk and act in a way that could promote happiness and efficiency around them. These individuals also usually have positive experiences at work, are grateful that they belong to such a company and are generally happy about their workplace (Kerns, 2008). These individuals could turn in and deliver key results that could lead to long term progress and growth for the company (Kerns, 2008). Kerns (2008) in discussion of the Performance – Happiness Matrix mentioned that both happiness and job performance should be addressed. He also emphasized on the role of management in continually evaluating their employees and leading them to the direction of quadrant 4. Interventions to increase performance and productivity may be derived in several strategies such as reward systems and providing benefits that answer to the needs of the employees. Such is the reason why the management should always try to understand what their employees need and what could make them happy. Kerns (2008) even suggested that management should focus on increasing happiness and performance of the employees. The former may be done by setting goals, focus and direction for or with the employees. The management should also encourage employees to influence each other in a positive way. As for increasing happiness in the workplace, employers should understand where their employees are coming from, what their needs are, among other things. To increase productivity in the workplace, managerial leaders should continually evolve in the interventions they give like benefits and rewards for the employees. Finally, Kerns (2008) ended by concluding that such benefits should not only answer to employees’ needs but also the needs of the times. Relating this concept of the matrix with the current study, the author believes that happiness of employees could directly lead to an increase in productivity. This can be evidently seen in the fourth quadrant where employees are “happy” and “high performing.” It simply implies that when workers are happy with the environment and the condition they are working in, they would be high performing or highly productive. This feeling of happiness towards one’s job is said to be attributed to different things such as personal attitudes and traits or one’s perception. This perception could be in the form of the level of commitment one gives to the company. According to a study by Foote and Tang (2008), organizational commitment may be reflected in acts like altruism—the willingness of an individual to help colleagues or their compliance with rules of the company. Even more, this organizational commitment brings a certain feeling of enthusiasm to workers and make them perform better at work (Foote and Tang, 2008). Individual perception on the work environment is also crucial. When one views that his or her job promotes learning and growth, he or she becomes more satisfied and. This is reflected on the study by Brewer, Lim and Cross (2008). Their studies showed that when employees perceived their work place as one wherein learning is encouraged, they feel that their superiors are concerned with their growth. They become satisfied with their jobs and perform better. On the down side, when employees are not happy or satisfied with their jobs, their performance suffers. Absenteeism and a great turn over ratio of employees can be seen in companies who fail to keep their employees happy. According to Bockerman and Illmakunnas (2009), the quit intentions of unhappy employees remain high when they feel that they are in a work condition that cannot meet their needs. They lack motivation and try to seek better opportunities elsewhere. The same is true with the study by Chew (2008). In her study, she found out that the intention to stay of employees is directly affected by their job satisfaction (Chew, 2008). Based on literature provided, one can arrive at the research question which depicts the relationship of how employee attitude and perception could affect overall job satisfaction. There are many already existing literatures regarding job satisfaction but little is known about the role organizational commitment directly plays on it HYPOTHESIS: Hypothesis No 1: It will be determined whether the leadership is responsible for satisfaction of employees from their job or service. Null and alternative: Ho: Leadership is responsible for high satisfaction of employees with their job or service. p=0.5 H1: Leadership is not responsible for high satisfaction of employees with their job or service. P0.5 Level of significance: 5% Hypothesis No 2: A random sample of people is taken. We want to test if communication affects the employees performance and job satisfaction or not. Null and alternative: Ho: Employees performance and Job satisfaction do not depend upon the communication strategies being practiced in the organization. H1: Employees performance and Job satisfaction depend upon the communication strategies being practiced in the organization. Level of significance: 5% Hypothesis No 3: We will test that either teamwork can lead to higher level of job satisfaction and employee performance or not. Null and alternative: Ho: Teamwork cannot lead to higher level of job satisfaction and employee performance. H1: Teamwork can lead to higher level of job satisfaction and employee performance. Level of significance: 5% Hypothesis No 4: We want to test that either financial benefits for the employees can lead to higher performance level and job satisfaction or not. Null and alternative: Ho: Financial benefits for the employees cannot lead to higher performance level and job satisfaction H1: Financial benefits for the employees can lead to higher performance level and job satisfaction. Level of significance: 5% Part III. SUBJECTS: The subjects will be constituted on the people of age above 200 of both the genders. The sample subjects will be selected randomly in order to provide equal chances of representation to all groups. Common people from all social groups will be selected. The sample population will be above 20 years of age. 200 people will be required to fill the questionnaire as large sample size provides more authentic perception prevailing in the society regarding a phenomenon. 100 subjects will be male and 100 will be female in order to get equal participation from both the genders. A copy of the study’s questionnaire is provided in Appendix 1. Part IV. DESIGN of Experiment: The study will find out the correlation between different variables. In this study job satisfaction is the dependent variable. On the other hand the independent variables include: Leadership, communication, teamwork, supervision and financial benefits. The data will be analyzed using Spearmans Rank Co-relation co-efficient which is used to study the link between two qualitative variables. The Co-relation co-efficeint will help us in understanding and analyzing the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Part V: PROCEDURE of experiment: Collection of data: In this particular study, filling the questionnaires through the direct interviews from respondents collects the data. Organizing data: the data is organized in a chronological order so that it can be easier for the reader to analyze and understand the findings. Developing a narrative: A readable story from respondent’s perspective will be developed such that the narration includes key information on their experiences. Organization of Sample Surveys: Whenever the problem of obtaining information, concerning a large aggregate of people, farms, firms, records etc., occurs then a first hand information may be obtained by conducting census or survey. The methods of conducting a census or an every unit of the population while, in a survey the information are collected from only the randomly selected units of the population. The advantage of a sample survey over that of the census is that it is likely to provide results of the desired precision at relatively low cost and greater speed. The sample survey method allows the use of trained enumerators who can collect much more detailed information from a representative group under controlled conditions. Sample survey is considered by some as an inferior substitute of census which is totally wrong; in fact, it is the only method for testing the reliability of census data. The stages involved in the planning and execution of sample survey may be outlined as follows. Generally speaking, the objective of conducting a sample survey is to learn something about the population but what is meant by objective here is that what specific hypotheses are to be tested. In this case study the method of direct personal interviews will be used. The questionnaire will be filled by the researcher according to the responses of the subject. Primarily, a background review of job satisfaction and how employee attitude and perception are related to this concept would be conducted. The actual study, however, will focus on utilizing a survey questionnaire to understand such topic. The questionnaire would be divided into 13 parts with a 5-point scoring system (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree). The 13 parts would address and tackle the sub-topics that are under employee attitude and perception that could lead to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. To begin with, Pride, Commitment and Dedication fall under the first set of questions. Here, the author hopes to establish the desire of the employee to stay in the company. By presenting such question, the employee could show his or her interest in working in the company for a longer period of time or if he or she would rather find work elsewhere. The second question deals with Leadership. The author would like to understand the perception of the employee towards the managerial or administrative leadership of the company. The next question allows understanding for employee to employee relationships. Here, one may be able to express his or her perception of the work social environment. The fourth category gives way for the employee’s attitude and perception towards the amount of importance that is given to them. Importance, in the sense that they are being given the chance to participate in the decision making of the organization. The next category measures the employee’s perception of the administration’s intent on making him or her stay. This may also be related to how much importance the employee perceives that he or she is receiving from the company. The next two categories are somewhat related. Job fulfilment measures the happiness the employee derives from work because of his or her own action. This reflects his or her personal evaluation of how well he or she performs at work. On the other hand, the category reward and recognition deals with how the company responds to the performance the employee may be showing. Communication is also a very crucial part in any organization. As such, there is a need to include this as a category in the survey. How employees get the information they need about the company could make them feel much more satisfied with their work. This could be attributed to the fact that information could help them improve skills or overall performance. Consequently, Training and Growth should also be measured. Employees who are given opportunities to go through seminars, trainings and the like build better confidence in performing tasks. Due to this, a category in the survey is allotted for this. Teamwork and Supervision are also included in the survey separately. Teamwork may be different from the employee to employee relationship category because here, the actual work dynamics of employees would be measured. This is aside from their social interactions and actually deals with work. Supervision could also be essential in making employees satisfied with their work. This may be defined differently from leadership because supervision is how superiors relate to employees in a manner that they exude a certain image that they are the boss and that their employees are being well supervised or followed. To end the questionnaire, two significant aspects of job satisfaction would be measured. These are Compensation and Family Life. From the related literature, the author found that it is very important for employees to see that they are well compensated, financially and in terms of benefits. The extent to which their companies are showing for the importance of their family had also been seen to be very important to achieve job satisfaction. The author sees it fit to make use of a survey questionnaire because it is the most cost effective method of inquiry. By sending it out to employees via electronic mail (e-mail), a higher number of respondents would be reached at a shorter period of time. A total sample size of 200 employees would be used. To meet this, the author would send out about 250 questionnaires via email and allow a 2 week period for the accomplished questionnaires to be returned. This number would allow the author to remove or disqualify questionnaires that are not fully accomplished. Part VI. EXPECTED RESULTS: High level of co-relation is expected to be found between the job satisfaction and performance level with leadership and communication between the employees and management. A confident, polite and friendly posture from the managers can lead to higher level of job satisfaction and higher performance level from employees. Part VII. LIMITATIONS: The possible limitations include: Lack of literature written regarding the topic. The biased behaviour of the subject population as they already know about the experiment being taken place on them. High number of other factors affecting the employees behaviour other than the researched phenomenon. Improper representation of all the social groups due to random sample selection. Appendix a – questionnaire PRIDE, COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION If possible, I intend to stay in Company X for good. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree I am proud to be working in Company X. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree LEADERSHIP Management, in general, is understanding and supportive of peoples problems and concerns. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree Managers of the company, in general, are taking the results of this survey seriously. The Executives members of Company X are running the business properly. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree WORK RELATIONSHIPS Employees in general have cordial working relationships with each other. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT Employees, in general, are able to influence decisions in managing the business. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree SENSE OF JOB SECURITY Company X is concerned with my intention to stay or leave. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree Company X is doing a good job of ensuring my continuous employment in this Company. WORK / JOB FULFILLMENT I am able to make full use of my skills and abilities in my work. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree I find fulfilment in the work that I do. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree REWARD AND RECOGNITION My immediate superior gives me due/ timely recognition for a job well done. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree Company X recognizes employees contributions to productivity improvement. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree I receive sufficient recognition to motivate me to do my job well/better. COMMUNICATION I get the information that I need to know where Company X is heading. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree I can openly express my disagreements and still be regarded as interested in improving situations at work. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree I am given proper information for forthcoming events and changes that affect me. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree TRAINING AND GROWTH There are fair opportunities for advancement in this organization. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree I am given sufficient opportunities to learn and grow professionally in the company. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree TEAMWORK When it is a common concern, everyone in my department helps regardless of position. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree We see evidence of assistance and cooperation within and among departments. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree Employees in general help each other find solutions rather than find faults. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree SUPERVISION I get appropriate supervision from my superior to ensure good performance on the job. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree I can openly discuss my performance rating with my superior without fear of reprisals. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree My immediate superior provides me with the necessary resources needed to do my tasks and achieve my targets. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree COMPENSATION I am getting compensation commensurate to the job that I do. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree I understand how salary increases and performance incentives are determined in the company. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree FAMILY LIFE Company X promotes a balance of work, family life and religion. 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3- Neutral 4 -- Agree 5 -- Strongly Agree Rate your overall satisfaction of the company and your employment here: 1 – Strongly Dissatisfied 2 – Satisfied 3- Neutral 2 – Satisfied 5 – Strongly Satisfied References Anson, C. 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