Improvement in Job Satisfaction - Term Paper Example

 «Improvement in Job Satisfaction» Introduction: Employee satisfaction and retention have always been important issues for any employer. It is true that satisfied employees tend to be more productive, creative and committed to their employers. Several studies have been conducted in this field and as a result a no of theories have been evolved around the employee job satisfaction phenomenon. One of the important theories being developed by Frederick Herzberg who has advocated that the employee satisfaction has two dimensions ‘hygiene’ and ‘motivation’. Hygiene issues such as salary and supervision decrease employees’ dissatisfaction with the work environment. Motivators such as recognition and achievement make workers more productive creative and committed. He also advocated that once the hygiene issues have been addressed the motivators create satisfaction among employees. ‘Although the hygiene issues are the source of satisfaction these issues must be dealt with first to create an environment in which employee satisfaction and motivation are even possible”. (J. Michael Syptak, et al.1999) Present Study of Qatar Petroleum: The results of the regression analysis conducted as a part of the research on the job satisfaction among the employees of Qatari Petroleum can be tabulated as below on the basis of Herzberg’s theory: Hygiene Issues ‘t’ value ‘Sigma’ Value Motivators ‘t’ value ‘Sigma’ value Salary 2.926 .004 Right Placement 1.906 .058 Professional Development 3.654 .000 Job rotation -2.364 .019 Career Path 3.707 .000 Moral Values 2.051 .041 Field Specialisation 3.285 .001 Complaints & Grievances 2.483 .014 Skill Sophistication 2.945 .003 Increments 3.146 .002 Fringe Benefits -2.211 .028 Decision Making 2.508 .013 Organisational Backing -2.920 .004 Communication 1.999 .047 Use of Personal Initiative 1.669 .096 Promotion Opportunities -2.622 .009 In any regression analysis, the t’ score is only of any significance when its value is greater than 1.06. In the present study the overall‘t’ score is less than the value of 1.06 and hence be of no significance. The coefficient of determination R-Sq is a measure of ‘goodness of fit’ of a particular regression model. R-Sq or Sigma takes a value between -1 and +1. Negative values arise when the two variables are inversely related and positive values occur when they are correlated positively Based on this hypothesis since the overall sigma value is at .670 which lies between -1 and + 1 and is positive the variables are correlated positively. Analysis of the individual attributes: Hygiene Issues: When the administrative policies of the company about salary, increments, fringe benefits promotions etc. are unclear or unnecessary that will greatly frustrate the employees and ultimately will have an impact on the job satisfaction. The company will be able to do well in this area to reduce the dissatisfaction among the employees by clearly specifying the company administrative policies. In our present study the policies of the company in respect of job rotation, fringe benefits and promotion opportunities show a negative correlation in their ‘t’ values. This means that these factors are significantly affecting the employee satisfaction among the employees. The company has to take immediate steps to remove the dissatisfaction among the employees in these scores. The sigma values for these attributes of .019, .028 and .009 are also not very significant. Motivational issues: An analysis of the motivational factors reveals that the attributes of professional development and career path with their sigma values of .000 imply a perfect correlation of these attributes to the job satisfaction. This means that the company’s policies regarding the professional development and career path of its employees are well thought out and have resulted in more satisfaction among the employees. The‘t’ values of these attributes also signify this. Similarly the other attributes of Field Specialisation, Skill Sophistication and Decision Making also have their positive impact on the employee job satisfaction. This is signified by the respective positive ‘t’ values and sigma values which are positively greater than 1.06. It is widely accepted that the ‘motivational’ factors are intrinsic to the job content an consists of factors like achievements, responsibilities and interest in the job, the presence of which are evidenced by factors like skill sophistication, field specialisation, decision making authority etc . The presence of these factors in an employment situation motivates workers to try for superior performance. However the absence of these factors may not demotivate the employees if the hygiene factors are strong enough but will not spur them to extraordinary effort levels. The ideal situation would be a perfect combination of both hygiene and motivational factors, which is very rarely present in any job situation. There are a number of companies which have grown over long periods of time with the gradual evolution of hygiene factors whereas rigid rules and bureaucratisation have eliminated or substantially curtailed the motivation factors. In these companies employees stick on for interminable periods getting all benefits but without any incentive to work. On the other hand exciting start ups provide high motivation factors but lesser hygiene elements as the company makes its way towards achieving its goals. In such situations employees will stay on with the company and wait for their aspirations to come true with corresponding improvements in hygiene conditions. While the Herzberg’s theory is generally accepted as a model analyse the employee satisfaction it is criticized on the point of its relative importance of money as a motivator, However this theory in spite of the criticism is widely cited in the literature relating to employee job satisfaction. Applying these principles in the job situation of Qatar Petroleum which is under our study now, there exist several hygiene factors which have a very positive correlation to the job satisfaction and hence improve the motivation of the employees to have better job satisfaction. Especially factors like salary and increments have a better impact on the motivation of the employees. Similarly the motivational factors like professional development and career path offer exiting opportunities for the employees to grow with the company. Other Theories: There are other theories like one developed by Abraham Maslow which takes into account the hierarchical needs of the employees as the measure of satisfaction. “Maslow theorized that a person could not recognize or pursue the next higher need in the hierarchy until her or his currently recognized need was substantially or completely satisfied, a concept called prepotency.” Joseph Gawel 1997 Maslow's hierarchy of needs Level Type of Need Examples 1 Physiological Thirst, sex, hunger 2 Safety Security, stability, protection 3 Love and Belongingness To escape loneliness, love and be loved, and gain a sense of belonging 4 Esteem Self-respect, the respect others 5 Self-actualization To fulfill one's potentialities Source: (Joseph Gawel 1997) The attributes exhibited by the present study satisfies the safety and self actualization needs of the employees, while the physiological and Love and belongingness needs do not have much role to play in the employee satisfaction in a work environment like Qatar Petroleum which is purely a business organization. In fact this is a serious criticism of Maslow’s theory that how the need patterns established by Maslow will apply to business situations. Improvement in Job Satisfaction: “That employees are predisposed to greater or lesser job satisfaction has been studied by Staw and his coworkers.Staw argues that individuals with a positive outlook on life, or who are optimistic, will have higher job satisfaction irrespective of the job or workplace they are in.” Article on Job Satisfaction 2005 It is an individual’s personality that causes consistent behaviour in given situations and which lends itself to either a positive or negative outlook. Hence it becomes important for the Qatar Petroleum Company to ensure that they employ the right people with the right attitude and outlook towards their work. It applies to the managers as well. At the same time management should create a work environment that is free from dissatisfiers in order that the employees can go about achieving the aims and mission of organization that are in line with their own carrier goals and objectives. References: 1. Article on Job Satisfaction 2005The Facts About Job Satisfaction Pharma Resourcing Issue 6 August 2005 [Online] Available from: http://www.i3pharmaresourcing.com/en/engage/0805_job_satisfaction.html Accessed on 26th February 2007 2. J. Michael Syptak, David W. Marsland, Deborah Ulmer 1999 Job Satisfaction: Putting Theory Into Practice American Academy of Family Physicians News & Publications Vol. 6 No. 9 [Online] Available from: http://www.aafp.org/fpm/991000fm/26.html Accessed on 26th February 2007 3. Joseph Gawel 1997 Herzberg's theory of motivation and maslow's hierarchy of needs. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation Journal Vol. 5 No. 11 [Online] Available from: http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=11 Accessed on 26th February 2007 Read More