Job Satisfaction

Meaning  Job satisfaction is the extent of positive feelings or attitudes that individuals have towards their jobs.  According to Andrew Brin: Job satisfaction is the amount of pleasure or contentment associated with a job. If you like your job intensely, you will experience high job satisfaction. If you dislike your job intensely, you will experience job dissatisfaction.  According to Field Man & Arnold: Job satisfaction will be defined as the amount of overall positive affect or feelings that individuals have towards their jobs  It is generally said that Happy employee is a productive employee. Important dimensions to job satisfaction

 Job satisfaction cannot be seen ,it can only be inferred or incidental. It relates to one s feelings towards one s job.  Job satisfaction is often determined by how will outcome meet the expectations or exceed the expectations.  Job satisfaction & job attitudes are typically used inter changeably. Positive attitudes towards the jobs are equivalent to job satisfaction and negative attitudes towards the job indicate job dissatisfaction. FACTORS INFLUENCING JOB SATISFACTION Continue .

A. Organizational Factors:  Salaries & wages:   Money is an important instrument in fulfilling one s needs. It is considered a symbol of achievement since higher pay reflects higher degree of contribution towards organizational operations. Non monetary benefits are also important , but they are not as influential because the employees do not know how much they receiving in benefits. Important dimensions to job satisfaction

 Job satisfaction cannot be seen ,it can only be inferred or incidental. It relates to one s feelings towards one s job.  Job satisfaction is often determined by how will outcome meet the expectations or exceed the expectations.

 Job satisfaction & job attitudes are typically used inter changeably. Positive attitudes towards the jobs are equivalent to job satisfaction and negative attitudes towards the job indicate job dissatisfaction. Continue .

 Promotion chances:  Promotion indicates an employee s worth to the organization which is highly morale boosting. Employee takes promotion as the ultimate achievement in his career and when it is realized, he feels extremely satisfied. Promotion involves positive changes like higher salary, less supervision, more freedom, more challenging work assignments, increased responsibilities , status etc.

 Company policies:   Liberal and fair policies usually result in more job satisfaction. Strict policies will create dissatisfaction among employees because they feel that they are not being treated fairly. Continue .

B.Work Environmental Factors:  Supervision:   Whenever the supervisor is friendly and supportive of the workers there is job satisfaction. The superiors who allow their subordinates to participate in decisions that affect their own jobs, help in creating environment which is highly conducive or favorable to job satisfaction.

 Working conditions:   People desire that there should be a clean & healthy working environment. Temperature, ventilation, hours of working etc affect job satisfaction. Continue .

 Work group:  A friendly & cooperative group provides opportunities to the group members to interact with each other. It serves as a source of support, comfort, advice and assistance to the individual group members.

The work group will be even a stronger source of satisfaction when members have similar attitudes and values. Smaller groups provide greater opportunity for building mutual trust and understanding as compared to larger groups. Continue .

C. Work itself:  Job scope:   It provides the amount of responsibility, work pace and feed back. Higher level of these factors , higher the job scope and higher the level of satisfaction.

 Variety:  Excessive variety produces confusion and stress and a too little variety causes monotony or boredom and fatigue which dissatisfies the employees.

 Lack of autonomy and freedom:  Lack of autonomy or independence and freedom leads to job dissatisfaction. Continue .

 Role ambiguity and role conflict:  It leads to confusion and job dissatisfaction because employees do not know exactly what their task is and what is expected of them.

 Interesting work:  A work which is Interesting , challenging and provides status will provide satisfaction to the employees as compared to work which is boring.

 Personality:  Some of the personality traits which are directly related to job satisfaction are self assurance, self esteem or self respect , maturity, sense of autonomy, challenge and responsibility. Continue .

D. Personal Factors:  Age & seniority:   With the passage of time , people move into more challenging and responsible positions. People who do not move up at all with time are more likely to be dissatisfied with their jobs.

 Tenure:   Employees with longer tenure are expected to be highly satisfied with their jobs. Tenure assures job security, which is highly satisfactory to employees. Consequences of job satisfaction

 Job satisfaction & Productivity:  If people receive rewards which have both intrinsic and extrinsic value and they feel that these rewards are equitable, they will be satisfied and this will lead to greater job performance. Research indicates that job satisfaction may not necessarily lead to improvement of individual performance but it does lead to departmental and organizational level improvement. Job satisfaction & employee turnover: Research has concluded a moderate relationship between job satisfaction and turnover. Employee turnover is affected by certain other factors like job commitment, better opportunities of employment. Continue .

  

 Job satisfaction & Absenteeism:  There is an inverse relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism.

 Job satisfaction & Union activities:  Satisfied employees are generally not interested in unions and they do not perceive them as necessary.

 Job satisfaction & Safety:  A satisfied worker will always be careful and attentive towards his job and the chances of accidents will be less. Job satisfaction and Productivity ( by Lawler and Porter) Job dissatisfaction

 Negative feelings towards the job is job dissatisfaction.  If the employees are dissatisfied , it can result in more absenteeism, turnover and unionism.  A manager should have clear understanding of the factors which can cause job dissatisfaction .

 These factors are:  Low pay or promotion chances  Monotonous and boring work  Feeling of inequity  Unfavorable working environment  Personal attributes of the employees Continue .

Expression of job dissatisfaction: Stephen P.Robbins has expressed four responses with the help of the following chart. Active Continue .

 Exit:  An employee may simply leave or resign from the organization and look for a new position in some other organization.

 Voice:  An employee can complain and discuss the problems with his superiors. This is an active and constructive attempt to improve the conditions.

 Neglect:  An employee can become indifferent. He may passively allow conditions to worsen. He will express his dissatisfaction through absenteeism , late arrival or reduced efforts.

 Loyalty:  The employee can passively but optimistically wait for the conditions to improve. Such employees trust the management to do the right things. Sample Items from satisfaction Questionnaire

1= very dissatisfied 2= dissatisfied 3= neutral 4= satisfied 5= very satisfied

 Definition of Group
 Group means it is the aggregation of small number of persons who work for common goals, develop shared attitude and are aware that they are part of a group.  According to Marvin Shaw: A Group is two or more persons who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other person. Meaning of Group Dynamics

 Dynamics means force from organizational point of view.  Group dynamics refers to the study of forces operating within a group.  The social process by which people interact face to face in small groups is called group dynamics.  Group dynamics is viewed from the perspective of the material nature of groups, how they form , their structure and processes and how they function and affect individual members, other groups and the organization. Features of Group Dynamics

 Perception:   Each member perceives the group differently, based on their own learning and background. Depending upon the circumstances under which the group is formed, the members perceive the group as problem solving or as developmental.

 Motivation:  People join groups because they believe that unity is strength and that the group will help them in solving their problems. The perception of unity and interactive forces is present in a group which motivates the employees for better performance.

 Group goals:   Group goal is a very essential component of forming the group. All the members of the group accept their respective responsibilities, group activities are evolved and all the members perform successfully. Continue ..

 Group organization:

A group is just like an organization, which is composed of different members to achieve its goals. Set standard of relationship among members. Set of norms for regulating the functions of the group. Well defined communicating processes.

  

 Interdependency:   Interdependency of the members is the main feature of the group. If people have common goal but they are not interdependent , they are not part of a group.

 Interactions:  If members are interdependent, but they do not interact a group is not formed. Types of Groups Formal Groups

 Those groups which is defined by the organization s structure, with designated work assignments and establishing tasks.  These groups may be either permanent in the form of top management team such as board of directors.  It may be temporary basis for fulfilling certain specified objectives. Formal groups are further classified as follows: 1. Command Groups/ Standing Task Group:  It is relatively permanent and is specified by the organization chart.  It comprises of managers or supervisors and subordinates, who meet regularly to discuss general and specific ideas to improve product or service. Continue ..

2. Task forces:  It is a temporary group representing the employees who are working together to complete a job task or particular project. Employees stay together till task is completed and once the work is completed, the task group usually return their own original work.

3. Committees:

These can be permanent such as planning committee or a budget committee and may become an integral part of the organizational structure. Committee can also be temporary such as a specific task force which is set for particular purpose. Example: committee is formed to elect the president and dispersed after election. Informal Groups Informal groups are alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined. These groups are natural formations in the work environment that appear in response to the common interests of the organization members such as self defense, work assistance and social interaction. Informal groups have their own structure, with their own leaders, the followers, group goals, social roles and working patterns.

 

Informal groups are further classified as follows: 1. Interest and friendship groups:  An interest group is made up of individuals who affiliate to achieve an objective of mutual interest. The employees who group together to pressurizes the management for promote transport constitute an interest group. A friendship group includes close friends or relations. Continue ..

2. Cliques :  These groups consist of colleagues or those who commonly associate with each other and observe certain social norms and standards, but the number of members tends to be smaller and only rarely exceeds five or six. In or Out Groups The groups which we belong are in groups and groups to which do not belong are out groups. In or Out groups concept is applicable to friendly rivalries between schools, clubs and association. Open or Closed Group In open group, members keep changing i.e. new members join and existing ones leave.

 

Closed group maintains stable membership. An open group has a relatively short time perspective but closed group has long time perspective. Factors affecting Group Performance Continue ..

I. External conditions:     A group is a part of large organization. A group has to work within the framework provided by the organization. Every group is influenced by a number of external conditions imposed from outside it. These external conditions are: organization s strategy, its rules, regulations, its culture, physical work setting etc.

II. Group structure :  Groups have structures that shapes the behavior of its members and makes it possible to predict and explain the individual behavior within the group as well as the performance of the group as a whole. Continue ..

 Group size:  An ideal group size is said to comprise of 5-7 members over a smaller group in terms of idea generation. Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks than the larger ones.

 Group composition:   Group may be homogeneous or heterogeneous. Homogeneous groups are those which are composed of similar individuals, similar in terms of personality, age , gender, experience, knowledge etc. Heterogeneous groups comprise of dissimilar individuals i.e. the individual who differ from one another in one way or the other. Continue ..

 Group norms:  Group norms are a set of beliefs, feelings and attitudes commonly shared by group members.

These are also referred to as rules or standards of the behavior that apply to group members.

Types of Norms:  Performance norms ( related to productivity)  Appearance norms (related to dress codes, loyalty )  Allocation of resources norms (related to allocations of new tools)  Behavior norms (related to day to day behavior of person) Continue ..

 Group roles:  Role means a set of expected behaviour patterns attributed to some one occupying a given position in a social unit.

Different types of Roles:  Role identity:   It is created by certain attitudes and actual behaviors which are consistent with a role. Example: Worker was promoted to supervisory job, their attitudes changed.

 Role perception:  It consist of those activities or behaviors the individual believes are supposed to be fulfilled in the given situation. Example: Every female police officer will certainly be influenced by Mrs. Kiran Bedi. Continue ..

 Role expectations:   How others believe or expect, you should act in a given situation. Example: Advertising manager of a company is expected to review the proposals and plans of the subordinates, rejecting those that will not promote company products and approving those that will contribute to increased profits.

 Role enaction:  The way the person actually behaves.

 Role conflict:  When an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations, the result is role conflict.

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 Conformity:    Means adjusting one s behavior to align with the norms of the group. Sometimes, people belong to many groups at the same time and their norms vary. The people, in such situations, conform to the norms of the important group to which they belong or hope to belong.

III. Group resources:    It means the resources that an individual member brings to the group. Knowledge, skills, efficiency, capabilities Personality characteristics ( openness, honesty , extrovertness etc.) Continue ..

 Group status :  Status is defined in terms of rights, duties and obligations the individual holds in an organization.

IV. Group process:   A process can be simply defined as a systematic method of handling activities. The group process may at times lead to synergy whereby the groups can create output much greater that the sum of their inputs. The negative aspect is best depicted by social loafing , which represent negative synergy i.e. the output is much less than the sum of input. Why do people join groups

 Proximity  Security  Esteem  Affiliation  Power  Identity  Information  Generation of new ideas

 Self evaluation Meaning of Group Cohesiveness

 Cohesiveness defines the degree of closeness that the members feel with the groups.  Cohesiveness refers to the extent of unity in the group and is reflected in members conformity to the norms of the group, feeling of attraction for each other and wanting to be co- members of the group.  It is the degree to which the group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group. Factors affecting Group Cohesiveness Continue .

 Similarities of attitudes and values:  More similarities of values and attitude, more cohesiveness.

 Size of the group:  Small size of the group, more cohesiveness.

 Time:  More time people spend with one another, more cohesiveness.

 Location:  Members of a group are located together separated from other groups, more cohesiveness

Motivational practices

 Job design  Management by Objectives (MBO)  Employee involvement programmes  Economic considerations  Performance appraisal I. Job Design

 Job design is a process which integrates work content ( tasks, functions , relationships), the reward ( intrinsic and extrinsic reward) and the qualification required (skill, knowledge and abilities) for each job in a way that meet the needs of the employees and the organization.  For an employee, motivation and job satisfaction are affected by the match between job factor and personal needs.  Poorly designed job may lead to lower productivity, higher employee turnover, more absenteeism and other problems.  Methods of job design: a) job enrichment b) job enlargement c) job rotation Job enrichment

 Job enrichment implies improvement of job.  A job is enriched when the nature of the job is made more exciting, challenging and creative.  It is a motivational technique which emphasis the need for challenging and interesting work.  It suggests that jobs be redesigned so that intrinsic satisfaction is derived from doing the job.  It is helpful in reducing the rates of labour turnover and absenteeism  It is beneficial to both the employees as well as organizations as it leads to improvement in output as well as higher satisfaction of the workers. Continue ..

Advantages :

 Frustration of employees by doing routine type of jobs are removed by making job interesting with the job enrichment.  Reducing labour turnover and absenteeism.  It motivates employees.  Improvement in skills  Improvement in output and profit Disadvantages:  Resistance to change  Limited to semiskilled and unskilled workers  Costly  Lack of capabilities and qualifications Job enlargement

 It refers to adding a few more task elements horizontally.  Job enlargement focuses on enlarging jobs by increasing tasks and responsibilities. It involves expansion of the scope and width of the job by means of horizontal loading of certain closely related jobs.  Example: If a clerk in an office who is doing the typing work is asked to type 20 letters a day instead of 10 letters, his job is enlarged. Job rotation

 Job rotation involves in shifting of employees from one job to another job in order to provide some variety.  It reduces monotony or boredom.  It makes the employees more versatile by performing different types of jobs. Advantages:  Reduces boredom & monotony.  Improvement in skills.  Broadens range of experience. II. Management by objectives

 Peter F. Drucker has introduced this concept in 1954.

 MBO is the process whereby both managers and subordinates work together in identifying goals and setting up objectives and make plans together in order to achieve these objectives. Their objectives and goals should be consistent with organizational goals.  MBO start with setting the goals and continues till the review of performance.  Steps followed in MBO:  Setting of primary objectives  Setting departmental objective  Matching goals and resource allocation  Evaluation  Recycling III. Employee involvement programme

 It relates to the participation of the employees in management functions.  Some of the employee involvement programme are: a) Participative Management b) Representative Participation c) Quality Circle d) Employees Ownership Participative Management

 It refers to the sharing of decision making power by employees with immediate superior.  Relationship of the immediate superior with his subordinates is strengthened at the decision making platform. Representative Participation

 A small group of employees who represent all the employees is given power of participating in management.  This practice is followed when all the employees cannot participate in the decision making process. elected or nominated members of the work council are fully aware of their problems. Quality Circle

 Quality Circle is a small group of people who voluntarily perform quality improvement activities at the work place.

 This technique was started by Kaoru Ishikawa in Japan in the early 1960s.  QC is a small group of employees in the same work area or doing a similar type of work who voluntarily meet regularly for about an hour every week to identify,analyse and resolve work related problems, leading to improvement in their quality performance and enrichment of their work life. Employee Ownership

 Employees are allotted shares in lieu of a cash bonus.  Employees get ownership and sense of belonging is developed.  Employees feel proud of being associated with the company.  Organization s goodwill, employees satisfaction and performance will increase on account of employee ownership programme. IV. Economic Consideration

 Money contributes greatly to social status.  Position, power and prestige are associated with money.  Persons having money and wealth enjoy a good social status and recognition.  Various economic incentives are introduced by company in order to motivate the employees given below: a) wage incentive ( more pay for more production and vice versa) b) profit sharing ( either in cash or bonus shares) c) skill based plan V. Performance Appraisal

 According to Dale S. Beach : Performance appraisal is the systematic evaluation of the individual with respect to his or her performance on the job and his or her potential for development.  Results of appraisal are informed to the employees for their improvements, rewards and motivation.  Advantages: 1. Can be used for promotions and transfers 2. Used for analyse the training and development 3. Human Resource planning 4. Decision relating to salary

Theories of Motivation Maslow s need hierarchy theory of motivation

 Abraham Maslow has developed such theory of motivation.  He suggested that every individual has a complex set of exceptionally strong needs and behaviour of an individual at particular moment is usually determined by his strongest need.  Maslow stated that people have five basic levels of needs which they tend to satisfy in a hierarchical fashion. Continue . Continue .

 Physiological needs:  Basic needs i.e. shelter, clothing and other necessities of life.  Try to acquire these basic needs.  Safety needs:  concerned with physical and financial security.

 Provision of old age, insurance against risk, medical insurance and other protective measures to safeguard the satisfaction of physiological needs in future which may be unpredictable.  Social needs:  Man being social animal is always interested to live in a society.  Company of friends, relatives and other groups such as work groups.

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 Esteem needs:  Concerned with self respect, self confidence, recognition, prestige, power and control.  Ego satisfaction and sense of self worth.  Self actualization needs:  what a person considers to be the mission in his life.

 It is need to become everything that one is capable of becoming.

Continue .

This theory has been appreciated:  Helps in understanding how to motivate the employees.  Simple and easy to understand. Criticism :  Lack of hierarchical structure of needs.  Lack of direct cause and effect relationship between need and behavior.  Sometimes, the person may not be aware about his own needs. How can the managers come to know about these needs? Herzberg s Motivation Hygiene theory

 Fredrick Herzberg has developed Motivation Hygiene Theory.  This theory is also known as two factor theory.  Herzberg concluded that there are certain factors that tend to be consistently related to job satisfaction and there are some factors which are consistently related to job dissatisfaction.  Two factors are considered under such theory: a) Hygiene/ Maintenance factors b) Motivational factors Continue .

1. Hygiene factors:  These factors do not motivate people, but simply prevent dissatisfaction.  Such factors do not produce positive results but prevent negative results.  There are ten hygiene factors .

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2. Motivational factors:

 These factors have positive effect on job satisfaction and result in increased output.  These factors have positive influence on morale, satisfaction, efficiency and productivity. Today s motivational factors are tomorrow s hygiene factors. Continue .

Conclusion :  Managers have been very much concerned with hygiene factors. As a result, they have not been able to obtain the desired behaviour from the employees.  In order to increase motivation, it is necessary to take into consideration motivational factors. Criticism :  Not conclusive (white collar workers may like responsibility and challenging jobs but general workers are motivated by pay and other benefits)  Methodology is defective  It ignored job satisfaction of the workers. MCGREGOR S Theory X and Theory Y

 Douglas McGregor introduced these two theories i.e. Theory X and Theory Y.  These theories are based on distinct views of human beings. Theory X: Assumptions:  Dislike work  Employees are lazy so they must be controlled, threatened with punishment to achieve goal.  Avoid responsibility  Most workers Place security above all other factors Continue .

Theory Y: Assumptions:  Does not dislike work.  Self direction and self control  Like responsibilities  Commitment to objectives  Innovative and creative decisions. Conclusion :  Theory X is more applicable to unskilled workers  Theory Y is more applicable to educated, skilled and professional employees  Management should use a combination of both the theories to motivate different employees Porter and Lawler Theory of Motivation

 Porter and Lawler model is a multi variate model which explains the relationship that exists between job attitudes and job performance.  Assumptions: a) it is multi variate model. (individual behaviour is determined by combination of factors.) b) individuals are assumed to be rational human beings. c) different needs, desires and goals. d) on the basis of expectation, individuals decide between alternate behaviour and decided behaviour will lead to the desired outcome. Continue ... Continue . .

1. Value of reward:  Rewards that are likely to be received from doing the job will be attractive to people.

 If the reward is attractive then individual will put some efforts. 2. Perceived effort reward probability:

 Before people put any effort, they will also try to assess the probability of a certain level of effort leading to desired level of performance.  Desired level of performance lead to certain kinds of rewards. Based on the reward and effort reward probability, people can decide to put in certain level of work effort. Continue .

3. Effort:  4. Performance :  Efforts leads to performance.  Performance will depend upon the amount of effort, abilities, traits and role perception. 5. Rewards:  Performance leads to certain outcomes in the shapes of two types of rewards like extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.  Extrinsic rewards are the external rewards given by others in an organization.  Intrinsic rewards are internal feelings of job, self esteem and sense of competence. Continue . It refers to the amount of energy which a person exerts on a job.

6. Satisfaction :  An individual will compare his actual reward with perceived reward.  If actual reward meet or exceed perceived rewards then individual will satisfied otherwise not. Continue .

Significance of Porter and Lawler model:  Guide the mangers that match the abilities and traits of individuals to the requirements of the job.  Managers should carefully explain to the subordinates their roles or what they must do to be rewarded.  Managers should explain the actual performance expected from the subordinates.  In order to motivate, appropriate reward must be given to the subordinates.

 Make sure that rewards dispensed are valued by the employees. MCCLELLARD S theory of Motivation

According to McClelland, there are three major motives or needs in work place which motivate the people. 1. Need for Achievement:  Some people want to excel to achieve standards and strive to succeed.  Tasks should be given to such people in order to enable them to utilize their potential effectively.  Opportunities would help them to strive for higher achievement. 2. Need for Power:  Need of power is concerned with influencing others.  Such people are satisfied by being in position of influence and control.  To motivate such people, positions of power and authority should be given to them. Continue ..

3. Need for Affiliation:  Some people need friendly relationships.  Such people are more interested in those jobs which provide opportunities for social interaction. Limitations:  Lack of direct cause and effect relationship between need and behavior.  Sometimes, the person may not be aware about his own needs. How can the managers come to know about these needs?  Physiological and safety needs are more important as compared to McClelland s needs.