Journal of Managerial Psychology

The Influence of Job Factors on Employee Satisfaction

Lawson K. Savery
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Lawson K. Savery, (1989),"The Influence of Job Factors on Employee Satisfaction", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 4
Iss 1 pp. 27 - 31
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 THE INFLUENCE OF JOB FACTORS ON EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION 27
M any factors can influence job sat-
isfaction; some findingsarepresented.
The Influence
of Job Factors
on Employee
Downloaded by University of Phoenix At 19:53 16 February 2015 (PT)
by Lawson K. Savery
Introduction
Much research has been conducted into ways of improving
the job satisfaction of the members of an organisation.
This effort has generally been focused on the leadership
styles of the superiors, with the argument that a
democratic style would lead to an increase in a
subordinate's job satisfaction (Likert, 1961; Herzberg et
al., 1957). The increase in job satisfaction, it is argued,
would lead to an increase in productivity because of the
positive relationship between job satisfaction and
productivity. This relationship has been questioned by
several authors (Bayfield and Crockett, 1955; Kahn, 1960;
O'Brien, 1978; French, 1974; Wanous, 1974; Prybil, 1973;
Robbins et al., 1986) because of the results of several
studies which did not discover any appreciable relationship
between job satisfaction and productivity. In fact one
author, French (1974) argues that we may be able to
increase job satisfaction or productivity, but not both at
the same time.
Another author (Savery, 1982) suggested that job
satisfaction may be positively related to productivity;
however, productivity may not necessarily be solely
positively related to a democratic style of leadership. This
author suggested that job satisfaction appeared to be
positively related to congruency between the individual's
desired and perceived leadership style received, and that
the outcome of high congruency was long tenure within
the firm, low absenteeism and high productivity. Hence,
there appears to be some need to increase the job
satisfaction of the members of the enterprise if there is
a desire by top management to improve the employees'
length of job tenure. Therefore, the size of labour turnover
appears to be inversely related to the level of job
satisfaction, and this relationship also seems to hold true
for rate of absenteeism (Vroom, 1964). In fact, Porter and
Steers (1973) argue that absenteeism will be less congruent
with high job satisfaction, particularly for unexcused
reasons. It is these costs, particularly the cost of employee
turnover, which may be large for the organisation due to
the increase in the recruitment and selection costs,
increased training and development costs, and dem-
oralisation of the remaining members of the enterprise.
These are the real costs to the organisation in the form
of time, money and effort (Rowland and Ferris, 1982).
Accepting that zero percentage labour turnover is not a
tenable alternative (because it may be detrimental to the
firm due to the possibility of the lack of innovation and
adaptation brought about by the new employee's
introduction of fresh ideas — Rowland and Ferris, 1982),
a large labour turnover, particularly when compared with
the organisation's competitors, can cause a loss in
profitability. Therefore, it may be necessary to improve
the level of job satisfaction of the members of the
organisation so that the firm is not wasting money because
of the factors highlighted above. Since research suggests
that job satisfaction is not necessarily positively related
with a democratic leadership style or productivity, it may
well be positively related to profit levels by reducing the
costs associated with an unacceptably large labour
turnover.
Another factor affecting job satisfaction is the perceived
status within the organisation by an individual, which
depends on such matters as the abilities required by the
individual as well as the duties needing to be performed,
plus pay and working conditions. The feeling of high status
contributes significantly to the individual's feeling of self-
esteem (McCarthy and Stone, 1986) and, therefore, high
status will be a source of high job satisfaction. Thus, there
is research support of the positive influence of a person's
perception of his/her status on the individual's overall job
satisfaction.
However, job satisfaction is also related to other factors
not directly related with the job. These other variables
are such factors as demographic data and work values.
Older workers, for example, usually report greater job
satisfaction than their younger colleagues, even when both
age groups are performing similar work (Cherrington,
1983). Employees who have a stronger work ethic tend
to report a higher job satisfaction than those who have
 28 JOURNAL OF MANAGERIAL PSYCHOLOGY 4,1
a lower level of work ethic (Cherrington et al., 1979).
Further, Baran (1986) suggests that satisfied workers are
more likely to engage in appropriate and desirable
"citizenship behavior" in helping co-workers, accepting
orders willingly and tolerating temporary inconveniences.
This study looks at different demographic data and factors
in the job that are within the control of management and
which are perceived by members of an organisation to
affect their level of job satisfaction.
Study
Since the variables to be measured were subjective, it
was considered that the simplest way to collect the data
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was to ask the respondents directly. The questionnaire
was self-administered and included a self-addressed and
sealing envelope so that the respondents could return the
questionnaire either directly to the researcher or to a
central pick-up point within the establishment. The random
sample was drawn from all sections and hierarchy of the
headquarter staff of a major local government employer
in Western Australia. Two hundred and fifty five people
were contacted and 158 usable questionnaires were
returned after a number of follow-up letters to increase
the response rate, giving a final response rate of 82 per
cent. Analysis of the responses showed that the
demographic data of the usable returns were very similar
to the total headquarter staff, as was the percentage from
each of the levels of the hierarchy.
Questionnaire
Most of the subjective questions which were related to
the individual's perceived view of a situational item and
the overall level of job satisfaction were measured on a
five-point Likert scale varying from "Not at all" to "All
the time" for the situational variables and "Low" to
"High" for the job satisfaction variable. The factors of
the job which were under the control of the immediate
manager and the possible psychological or physical
reactions of the people to frustrations in the job were
measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from
"Never" to "Always" with the mid-point (3) identified
as "Sometimes'.
The amount of alcohol consumed in a week was measured
by number of glasses drunk per day by the individual. The
information collected also included the type of alcohol
consumed. The amount of tobacco smoked was measured
by the number of cigarettes smoked each day on average,
Monday to Friday during working hours, during non-
working hours Monday to Friday and during each weekend
day.
Table I. Level of job satisfaction
Level Percentage
Low 1 8.3
2 17.2
3 33.8
4 29.9
High 5 10.8
100.0
n = 158
Data Analysis
Just over half the sample were male (56.3 per cent) with
39.2 per cent under the age of 30. Less than 40 per cent
had been in their present job for five years or more, with
16 per cent for over ten years. Nearly four-fifths (81.2 per
cent) had no qualifications in administration (a major role
of the headquarters staff) while half of the sample (51.3
per cent) had no qualifications at all.
Results
The level of job satisfaction of an individual with his/her
job was measured and is shown in Table I.
It is interesting to note that a quarter of the sample were
dissatisfied with their job while 40 per cent were at least
fairly well satisfied. This figure is very similar to studies
conducted in the US which found perhaps 15 to 20 per
cent of the respondents reporting overall dissatisfaction
(Seashore, 1975) while a 1965 Gallup poll indicated 80 per
cent of manual workers and 92 per cent of professional
and business men were satisfied with their jobs (Strauss
and Sayles, 1972). However, if consideration is given to
those who would change their job if the pay was the same
(41.2 per cent), the figures suggest that some of the
members of the organisation were instrumentally oriented
(because the pay and conditions in this organisation were
above those offered for similar jobs in firms drawing from
the same labour market) and many of the respondents
preferred to work in more intrinsically satisfying oc-
cupations, such as artists, authors and farming. Many of
the respondents wanted jobs which gave them the
opportunity to self-actualise and be self-sufficient — which
agrees with the Maslow (1943) theory of motivation when
pay and security of job tenure are well taken care of. It
could also be argued that people adjust to their present
jobs, though they would prefer other kinds of work were
they available. Strauss and Sayles (1972) suggest this
reason when discussing similar findings, from their US
 THE INFLUENCE OF JOB FACTORS ON EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION 29

study, to the present study. In fact, only 42 per cent of
the respondents in the present study would choose the
same type of work is they had their life over again. This
dissatisfaction with career choice appears to have a
negative effect on the level of job satisfaction felt by the
individual (0.2946, p< 0.001).
According to Seashore (1975), the effect of being
dissatisfied with one's job will be for that person to seek
ways to change the job or rationalise a change in the
individual's evaluation of the job:
Accommodate processes to assure job satisfaction include
changing the job environment, goal reduction, cognitive
distortion, resignation, aggression, and withdrawal. Some
of these strategies reduce dissatisfaction at heavy personal,
organizational, and societal cost (p. 106).
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performance, to see if it is possible to reduce the feeling
of job dissatisfaction which may be caused by such factors.
It appears from Table II that those elements which lead
to either internal (to the person) or external (between
other people and the individual) conflict for the individual
will lead to reduced job satisfaction. Secondly, a lack of
recognition, either by praise or only getting feedback when
the person does something wrong, also leads to low job
satisfaction.
This may sound familiar to managers raised on the human
relations ideas where praise and encouragement were
highlighted as a major source of motivation and job
satisfaction. However, two things need to be stated here:
one is that its effect on motivation and consequently on

the level of productivity has not been fully supported by

To overcome these problems, it is important to investigate research, and, therefore, many managers have lost faith
many factors that are inherent in most organisations, such in the process. Second, because of this lack of promised
as the clarity of the amount of authority and responsibility, improvement in productivity, many managers who over
the amount of time available to do everything in the job the last few years have been worried about the survival
and the amount of feedback on the individual's job of their companies have not had the time to bother about
praising individuals or giving formal feedback on a regular
basis. Rather, they have made the assumption that a
TableII.Pearson Correlation between Factors of the Job subordinate would know that he/she is "doing a good job''
and the Level of Job Satisfaction without being told and needed only to be told when he/she
failed to achieve what was expected by the superior.
Factor r
This failure to reward does appear to lower job satisfaction,
I don't know what higher which may well lead to an increase in labour turnover and
management or others expect of me –0.2645 ** absenteeism. These problems may not show up in a
I am unclear about how much productivity decrease but rather in the profitability of the
authority I have –0.3000 ** enterprise — because of the cost incurred, particularly
I am uncertain about how much because of labour turnover, of recruitment and selection
responsibility I have –0.3182 ** which can be very large. In the present study, the
I have more work than I can enterprise surveyed had a major problem concerning
adequately cope with –0.1244 * labour turnover, with three of the five top managers either
My job requires me to do things taking early retirement or leaving within 18 months of the
that are apt to be accepted by one study and approximately 20 per cent of the next level of
person and not by others –0.2168 ** management also resigning in the same period.
I find myself caught between two
groups with conflicting interests –0.2929 ** It has been argued that high job dissatisfaction will lead
Persons equal to me in rank and to frustration, and if the person does not or cannot leave,
authority ask me to do things which this frustration will lead to ill-health. The present study
conflict –0.1797 ** supports this contention, with those people who
The work I do is seldom recognised experienced low job satisfaction suffering significantly
and appreciated –0.3772 ** poorer health than their more satisfied colleagues
I get feedback only when I do (–0.2098, p = 0.005). The poorer health of the low
something wrong –0.3573 ** satisfied individuals could be exacerbated by the higher
My job requires me to change the possibility that these people smoke (during working hours,
way things are done in my after working hours and during the weekends -0.2128,
organisation -0.1339 ** p = 0.004; –0.2139, p = 0.004 and –0.2236, p = 0.003;
I am asked to work overtime when I respectively) and consume alcohol (see Table III) more
don't want to –0.1363 ** often than their more satisfied colleagues.
* significant at p > 0.1.
** significant at p < 0.05. It is interesting to note that the effect of the level of job
dissatisfaction is both long lasting and appears to have
 30 JOURNAL OF MANAGERIAL PSYCHOLOGY 4,1

Table III. Alcohol Consumption Compared with Level Table IV. Reaction of People to their Perceived Level of
of Reported Overall Job Satisfaction on a Daily Job Satisfaction
Basis
Reaction type r
Day r
Feel restless and unable to
Monday –0.0362 concentrate –0.4304 **
Tuesday –0.1319 ** Feel irritable –0.4693 **
Wednesday –0.1058 * Loss of appetite –0.0741
Thursday –0.1515 ** Have headache –0.2250 *
Friday –0.1403 ** Feel depressed or remorseful –0.4047 **
Saturday –0.0663 Have shortness of breath and sighing –0.1015
Sunday –0.1031 Feel tired, low energy, excessive
** significant at p <0.05. fatigue –0.2621 **
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* significant at p < 0.1. Feel tense, uptight, fidgety, nervous –0.2879 **

Have difficulty going to sleep or
staying asleep –0.0652
greater effect when not at work where there may not be Have upset stomach or intestinal
the same pressures not to smoke as exist at work. problems –0.2864 **
Drinking appears to be used to anaesthetise the effects Have misdirected anger –0.3002 **
of low job satisfaction over the week by the dissatisfied
people, with the consumption (measured in number of Have sweaty and/or trembling hands –0.2193 *
glasses) being significantly different (at the 0.05 level) on Smoke too much –0.2487 **
Thursday and Friday. However, Tuesday and Wednesday Have difficulty getting up in the
are both significant (p<0.1 level). Thus, it appears that morning –0.3426 **
the weekend may reduce the frustration of the low job Feel dizzy or lightheaded –0.0661
satisfaction, but after the first day or so of the working
Are you bothered by your heart
week, people need drink again to help cope with the
beating hard? –0.0608
problem.
Do you feel somewhat apart even
among friends? –0.2526 **
As seen earlier, it has been argued that a person's low
perceived status within an enterprise will reduce his/her Do you feel in good spirits? –0.3762 **
feeling of job satisfaction. This present study tends to Do you feel healthy enough to carry
support this hypothesis, with those individuals who out the things you would like to do? –0.3078 **
perceive that they have high status in their enterprise ** significant at p< 0.001.
having a statistically higher probability of having greater * significant at p< 0.005.
job satisfaction (0.2905, p< 0.001).

What does low job satisfaction within the job do to an
individual? From Table IV it can be seen that it makes
the person restless and unable to concentrate, gives a
feeling of irritability, and makes him/her feel depressed
and remorseful. It can be seen from these results that
the company must suffer from problems with its services
and/or production if it employs many people who are
dissatisfied and cannot move to another employer.
Thus low job satisfaction for an individual may well affect
the profitability of the firm as well as its productivity, since
the effect of low job satisfaction on an individual makes
the person feel unhealthy and hence more likely to need
time off. This possibility is further enforced by feelings
of depression and remorsefulness about their work which
will not encourage him/her to go into work when they feel
even slightly ill. Further, difficulty of getting up in the
morning is another sign that the job fails to encourage the
individual to get to work and, therefore, there is a
possibility that the worker, if not an absentee, will be a
late starter.
Conclusion
From the results, it is possible to observe that
management must remove any problem concerning the
person's lack of knowledge of what management requires
from the individual doing that particular job. This can be
achieved by designing and implementing a job analysis
programme that will include a job description. This should
cover all aspects of the job in detail and should include
some objective measures of achievement, with the
emphasis on what specific action or result is required.
 THE INFLUENCE OF JOB FACTORS ON EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION 31
There would have to be meetings between the immediate
manager and subordinate at regular intervals to assess
progress towards achieving the objectives set. It can be
seen that such a programme is really a "management by
objectives"–type (MBO) scheme.
Secondly, there is a need, by management, to define the
authority and responsibility of an individual far more. This
will overcome the problem of who does what, when, and
how does the person achieve what has to be done. This
problem again is overcome in large measure by the use
of an MBO scheme. Such a scheme would also lead to
feedback on a regular basis because management by
objectives would allow comparison of results obtained
versus objectives set and constitutes an evaluation process
which is both simple and objective (McConkey, 1972). This
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is a necessary process because many subordinates only
get feedback when they have done something wrong and
get no positive motivation from praise given by a superior
for a job well done. Hence, MBO is one way in which
managements can improve the job satisfaction of their work
force, which is important because the effect on an
individual of low job satisfaction can be quite devastating.
From the present study it can be seen that those people
with low job satisfaction tend to suffer more from ill-health,
have a greater feeling of fatigue, are restless and unable
to concentrate and also feel irritable. Many of these
complaints could well create problems for the company,
because for a company to be successful, there is a need,
which is growing because of new technology, for individuals
to co-operate and work willingly together as a team. It
is very difficult for individuals to work as a team if one
or more is irritable and feels somewhat apart even among
friends. These complaints are significantly related to low
job satisfaction and hence there is a need to improve job
satisfaction to help the company to use its workers most
effectively.
There are other reasons why the firm should attempt to
improve an individual's job satisfaction and this is to
improve the life-style of the individual. The argument for
this is the fact that an unsatisfied individual tends to smoke
and consume alcohol more than his/her more satisfied
colleagues. Therefore, it could be argued that the person
who has low satisfaction with the job suffers a two-fold
effect on his/her health, one from the job and the second
from the excess smoking and drinking which is related
to the low satisfaction obtained from the job.
Therefore, it is imperative that management should
improve the level of job satisfaction of its employees, and
one way of doing this is to implement a "management
by objectives" programme.
Lawson K. Savery is an Associate Professor at the School of Management,
Western Australia.
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