Homework an essay 12 pages

Job Satisfaction-What is it and Why is it Important in Organizational Behavior

University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR)

December 04, 2017

Introduction

Organizational behavior is an important factor in management that is successful can increase the production of the business. Several goals for organizational behavior includes; organization of resources, analyzing of behavior, and motivating of productivity. Company culture involves studying the micro and macro organization. “Good management was based on good discipline, specific and detailed job descriptions” (Wren, 2005 p.84). Some principles of management include; a proper division of responsibilities, authority to carry out responsibilities, promptness in reporting if responsibilities are carried out so if necessary corrections can be made, information gathered daily on reports and checks and a system that will allow the prompt reporting of errors and the areas of delinquency (Wren, 2005). To understand job satisfaction it is important to understand job context. Hygienic factors include positive attitude, motivation, include challenging work and an increase in job responsibilities. The traditional assumption of motivation did not increase productivity and job satisfaction, only the motivators led to positive work environment results” (Wren, 2005, p.439).Expectancy theory is complex and asks the question-what is on the workers mind. Many other theories attempt to explain job satisfaction. They are; goal-setting theory and social learning theory.

World Services for the Blind in Little Rock Arkansas offers a variety of services and programs to help the visually impaired (legally blind) and blind. Their approach is to offer many types of different services with the ultimate goal of strong, healthy independent living. A team of professionals provides an evaluation plan that will meet the specific needs of their clients. Some programs include; training and counseling, independent living skills, counseling individually and family, activates of daily living programs, communication, orientation and mobility with learning was to access transportation, adaptative aids and leisure activities like community group activities (World Services for the Blind, n.d.).

Job Satisfaction refers to the level of how well a job is done. When an employee experiences job satisfaction it refers to the degree in which an employee feels positively or negatively about their job (Chinn, Dane, n.d.). Some theories of job satisfaction include content theories, process theories, and situational theories. Content theories are concerned with human needs, growth and self actualization. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs explains this theory on the five tier model of human needs. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs must be met before moving up to higher needs. Maslow believed that needs exist in a logical order for the individual. Process theories attempt to explain job satisfaction by examining expectations and valves. This theory believes workers select behaviors according to their needs. Situational theories believe job satisfaction is achieved by situational characteristics and situational occurrences. Situational theories include situational characteristics like working conditions and situational occurrences like extra vacation time. Situational charactertic happen before accepting the job and situational occurrences seem to happen after taking a job (Chinn, n.d.).

Job satisfaction is measured by surveys and direct observation. Popular questionnaires included the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and the jobs description index (JDI). The MSQ measures working conditions, chances for advancement, freedom to use one’s own judgment and praises for doing a good job (Chenn, n.d.). A five point scale from very satisfied to very dissatisfied is used. The JDI looks at five areas of measurement. These include the work itself, quality of supervision, relationships with coworkers, promotion opportunities and pay scale (Chenn, n.d.).

Employee morale is critical for success of company. This is an important factor in job satisfaction. There seems to be a connection between job satisfaction and organizational performance and with worker behavior and job satisfaction. The relationships of employees with the company affect productivity, the quality of products and services of employee’s turnover and eventually to the success of the organization (Dunn, n.d.).

Organizational behavior is known as organization citizenship behavior (OCB) or organizational commitment. OCB is the employee behavior that benefits the organization. Parts of OCB include; altruism, courtesy, conscientiousness, civic virtue, sportsmanship, peace keying and cheerleading behaviors (Job Satisfaction Can Affect a Person’s Level of Commitment to the Organization, Absenteeism and Job Turnover, n.d.).There seems to be three forms of employee commitment. They are; affective or emotional, normative or obligation and continuance (Job Satisfaction Can Affect a Person’s Level of Commitment to the Organization, Absenteeism and Job Turnover, n.d.). When people are satisfied with the work they are doing what influences a more positive mood and higher levels of passions, Job satisfaction can be improved by management strategies. The managers are responsible for discovering what motivates employees and creating a positive work environment. Job turnover will be less with job satisfaction. When employees have clear job descriptions they understand their employees roles better which can lead to becoming more productive in their work environment.

Three main factors are important to an employee experiencing job satisfaction. These include the ability to complete required task, the level of communication in an organization and the way management treats employees measuring job performance. One influence on job satisfaction appears to be the communication and relationship between supervisors and their direct subordinates. Job satisfaction seems to be correlated with life satisfaction. With positive job satisfaction there is a decrease in absenteeism and turnover rates (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.). Communication demands on the employee in their work environment affect job satisfaction. The employee needs to have adequate training on their jobs. If an employee receives too many messages at the same time, the employee is more likely to become dissatisfied with the work environment. This can cause the employee to have lower levels of job satisfaction (Defying Job Satisfaction, n.d.).

Literature Review

Does seeing “Eye to Eye” Affect Work Engagement and Organizational Citizenship Behavior? A role Theory Perspective on LMX agreement discusses the effects of leader member exchange (LMX) quality has meaningful effects on employee motivation and behavior. This article discusses how LMX theory leadership develops relationships with subordinates from high-quality socio-emotional relationships with some subordinates to low-quality transaction relationship with others. The quality of these relationships is associated with critical outcomes including work attitudes job performance and retention. This article stresses the importance of developing, to the extent possible, high-quality relationships with multiple subordinates (Matta, Scott, Koopman, Conlon, 2015). There is not really a gap in this research, just need to further research the topic.

Good Citizen Interrupted: Calibrating a Temporal Theory of Citizenship Behavior discusses the effects of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The four main effects are lag, rate of change, magnitude and permanence. One concept of discussion is the meaning of being a good citizen. These are employee who has high levels of OCB. These researchers believe employees perform OCB because of factors like personality traits, including agreeableness, prosaically personality (Methot, Lepak, Shipp, & Bowell, 2017). It is believed employees who are good citizens show pride in their work and commitment to the organization. It seems employees who perform OCB are responsible for goodwill and social capital and this is a form of competitive advantage. There are unexpected cognitive processes that promote OCB. The unexplained changes cause changes to employee’s behavior (Methot, Lepak, Shipp, & Bowell, 2017).

From Good Soldiers to Psychologically Entitled: Examine When and Why Citizenship Behavior Leads to Deviance discusses that some employees: engage in OCB’s not because they want to, but because they feel they have to, and it is not clear whether OCB’s performed for external motives have the same positive effects on individuals and organizational functioning as do traditional OCB’s” (Yam, Kluz, He, & Reynolds, 2017, p.373). This article discusses self-determined theory (SDT) as people engaging in motivational behaviors like OCB’s due to either autonomous or controlled motives. Moral Licensing Theory and entitlement is produced when “individuals engage in good deeds, moral licensing produces a sense of entitlement to some more laxity” (Yan, Klotz, He, & Reynolds, 2017, p.376). It is believed that moral licensing theory can lead to externally motivated OCB’s of interpersonal and organizational deviance. The social exchange theory believes “if employees do not feel fully compensated they may retaliate against their organization” (Yam, Klotz, He, & Reynolds, 2017, p. 377). This article focused on using moral licensing and self-determination theories to explain the attitudinal and behavioral consequences of externally motivated OCB’s.

Linking Passion to Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Employees, Performance: the Mediating Role of Work Engagement discusses how employees that are passionate about their work are “more effective in both task and non-task related performance and in creating a conductive environment for efficient and affective functioning of the organizations” (Ahmad, Hameed, Mahmood, 2016, p.316). The article discusses two kinds of passion. They are obsessive passion and harmonious passion. Harmonious passion is an independent internalization of the activity into the person’s identity. Obsessive passion “is a controlled internalization of the activity into one’s identity” (Ahmad, Hameed, Mahmood, 2016, p.318). Harmonious passion positively relates to work engagement and employee’s OCB. It is believed harmonious passion is of great importance in generating employees, work engagement and OBC behaviors (Ahmad, Hameed, Mahmood, 2016).

The Effect of Employer Branding on Employee’s Organizational Citizenship Behaviors discuses the positive relationship between overall employer brand and organizational citizenships employer brand discusses the unique parts of the company’s employment offerings or environments, There are; psychological, functional, and economic valves. Employee brand can affect what new employees expect from an organization. There are five factors to the citizenship. They are; altruism, sportsmanship, conscientiousness, civic virtue and courtesy, Favorable employer brand can lead to decreased employment expenses due to better recruitment process. Employer brand provides valve to employees who work for certain companies “It is possible that employer attractiveness and employer brand drive employees to engage in organizational citizenship behaviors” (Gozukara, & Hatipglu, 2016, p. 249).

The Role of Work –Family Culture Personality Traits in Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) at First level Managerial Personnel discusses the role of work-family culture and personality traits in OCB among first-level managers. There seems to be a positive relationship between “a supportive work-family culture and engaging in OCB’s” (Singh, Gupta, Karma, Dubey, & Singh, 2017, p.60). This article found “individual differences play an important role in predicting whether an employee would exhibit OCB” (Singh, Gupta, Karma, & Dubey, & Singh, 2017, p 60.).

Serving First For The Benefit of Others; Preliminary Evidence for a Hierarchical Conceptualization of Servant Leadership discusses the important of leaders becoming servants to others first. It is understood that leadership is an important factor in producing desired organizational outcomes like OCB with servant leaderships. A leader whose first priority is to serve others is seen. The leader puts others interest ahead of self interest. “A servant leader’s dominant focus is on others is likely to cultivate various extra-role behaviors” (Grisaffe, Douglas, Van Meter, & Chonke, 2016, p.58).

Shared Values and Organizational Citizenship Behavior of Generational Cohorts: A Review and Future Directions discusses how important for “management to effectively handle different generations who possess various valve systems” (Yogamalar & Samuel, 2016, p.249). It is important to understand generational diversity. “Values influence the work behavior and direct their efforts toward organizational citizenship behavior” (Yogamalar & Samuel, p. 250). This article discusses how culture in India is different from culture in the Western world. It is important to understand the values and attitudes of different generations in employees help managers increase their learning styles and potentials. Differences in generational values can lead to conflict in the workplace. They are at the center of culture in an organization. Values are what is important to us they are very personal and individualistic. Organizational values are the set of common beliefs of the workplace concerning the ways of reaching goals. “OCB is considered positive behavior and it moves toward organizational well-being without external motivations or formal reward system: (Yogamalar, & Samuel, 2016, p262). This article discusses how culture in India is different from work culture in the Western world. Understanding the values and attitudes of different generations in employees helps managers increase their learning styles and potentials. Differences in generational values can lead to conflict in the workplace. They are at the center of culture in an organization. Valves are what is important to us they are very personal and individualistic. Organizational valves are the set of common beliefs of the workforce concerning the ways of reaching goals. “OCB is considered positive behavior and it moves toward organizational well-being without external motivators or formal reward systems” (Yogamalar & Samuel, 2016, p.262).

Discussion

I chose this organization to research, because of the apparent job satisfaction of the employees with a relaxed but professional work culture. Some of my friends are employed here and really enjoy their work. I ask them what the main reason for job satisfaction was. They told me they liked their co-workers, felt their bosses listened to their opinions; they had real chances of affecting policy changes and their jobs a clear path to job advancement. A workers level of job satisfaction impacts their job performance.

Organizational behavior is an important factor in deciding if a business is successful or not. Job satisfaction is an important consideration in organizational behavior. Job satisfaction can be influenced by several components. They are; a person’s ability to complete job required task, level of communication in an organization, and the way management treats employees. Superior subordinate communication is an important element of job satisfaction in the workplace. It seems job satisfaction falls into two levels; affective job satisfaction factor and cognitive job satisfaction. Emotions are involved in affective job satisfaction. Cognitive job satisfaction is concerned with how satisfied employees feel concerning some aspect of their job or benefits (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.). When Human Resources (HR) departments start encouraging positive practices the results usually lead to financial gain for the organization. It seems positive work environments and increased shareholder valve are directly related (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.). There are five factors used to measure and influence job satisfaction. They are; pay or total compensation, work responsibilities, promotion opportunities, relationships with responsibilities, promotion opportunities relationship with supervisor and interaction and working relationships with co-workers (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.).

Communication concerns are demands felt by the employee on the job. Verbal and non-verbal communication is very important to an organizations success. These demands are called communication load. Demands can be defined as “the rate and complexity of communication inputs an individual must process in a particular time frame (Refining Job Satisfaction, p.3). How subordinates perceive supervisors behavior can positively or negatively influence the job satisfaction employee feels. Non-verbal communication like facial expressions, voice tone etc. is more important than actual words said (Defining job Satisfaction, n.d.).

Management may implement new job strategies to increase job satisfaction. They are; create new challenges, mentor a colleague, expand skills, learn from mistakes and stay positive (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.). Management uses questionnaires and surveys. Some are; The Job Satisfaction Description Index (JDI), the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). The JDI, MSQ, and Faces Scale are considered closed questionnaires because they provide various answers. The NSQ is considered an open-ended questionnaire (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.). The negative indicators of organizational commitment include absenteeism, sabotage, and violence (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.).

The development of job satisfaction researches has discovered three common approaches. They are; job charactertic, social information processing (organizational charactertic) and dispositional (worker charactertic). Job characteristics are part of a job that generates ideal conditions for higher levels of motivation, satisfaction and performance. Five core job charactertic include skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. Four personal and work outcomes include “internal work motivation, growth satisfaction, general satisfaction, and work effectiveness” (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.). Job satisfaction differs according to the perception of individual workers (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.).

Factors that lead to dissatisfaction include; poor pay, poor consequences, poor work conditions, lack of promotions poor benefits offered and lack of job security (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.). The factors leading to job satisfaction includes, good leadership practices good manager relationships, recognition, advancement personal growth, feedback, and support and clear direction and objectives (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.).

Factors that lead to dissatisfaction include; poor pay, poor consequences, poor work conditions, lack of promotions, poor benefits offered, and lack of job security (Defining Job Satisfaction, n.d.). The factors leading to job satisfaction includes good leadership practices, good manager relationships, recognition, advancement, personal growth, feedback and support and clear direction and objectives (Defining Job Strategies, n.d.).

Ambition and desire seem to be some of the strongest predictors for advancement. High levels of ambition resulting from high standards can cause employees to be unhappy as a result of their inability to be promoted in the company. General life satisfaction can positively influence job satisfaction and vice versa. Engaged employees seem to do more of the work. Engaged employees are enthusiastic about the company they work for. There are three possible factors that are responsible for employee engagement. They are; vigor, dedication, and absorption. Vigor refers to the amount of energy and effort an individual will put forth to complete a task. Dedication refers to the amount of overall significance a task carries. Finally, absorption is the depth of work emersion employees feel (Defining Job Strategies, n.d.).

Job satisfaction can be associated with performance, absenteeism, and turnover. Happier workers are more productive workers. However in times of high unemployment, unhappy employees will perform choosing unsatisfied work over employment. The more satisfied we are in life the more satisfied we generally are in our jobs and less likely we are to be absent from our jobs (Job Satisfaction Can Affect a Persons Level of Commitment to the Organization, Absenteeism, and Job Turnover, n.d.).

When a person has low job satisfaction they are more likely to be actively searching for another job. People that are satisfied with their job are less likely to be actively job hunting. For employees to perform at their optimum levels they need to be happy with life in general and their job satisfaction needs to be high. When employees are satisfied they seem to handle pressure easier than frustrated ones (Job Satisfaction Can Affect a Persons Level of Commitment to the Organization, Absenteeism, and Job Turnover, n.d.).

Job dissatisfaction can be from intrinsic and extrinsic factors. When an employee is dissatisfied in one area of their life that does not necessarily mean they are completely dissatisfied with their job. There could be work-life conflicts the employee is trying to balance. The work-life balance needs to be addressed for an employee to maintain job satisfaction (Job Satisfaction Can Affect a Persons Level of Commitment to the Organization, Absenteeism, and Job Turnover, n.d.).

There are many factors to ensuring job satisfaction. They include company policies that are transparent, fair, and applied equally to all employees. Salary and benefits should be comparable to other organization salaries. Employees that is more satisfied when they are paid competitive wages instead of being underpaid. Developing teamwork helps workers relationships carry their own weight so they will not let their co-workers down. Employees with adequate personal work space and upgraded equipment are more satisfied. Achievement, recognition, autonomy, advancement, and job security are important. It is important for them to be a balancing act between employee’s personal life and work life (Job Satisfaction Can Affect a Persons Level of Commitment to the Organization, Absenteeism, and Job Turnover, n.d.).

Some aspects of a job that encourages job satisfaction from employees is; work/life balance, opportunities to learn and grow, ability to accomplish goals, positive relationship with co-workers, and committed to their workers, and a good working relationship with their boss. When employees are satisfied they are usually more productive, creative, and committed to their employers. There seems to be motivating and de-motivating factors to consider. The motivating and de-motivating factors to consider are varied work, sense of achievement, and recognition. De-motivators include poor pay, company policy, and continual pressure (Job Satisfaction Can Affect a Persons Level of Commitment to the Organization, Absenteeism, and Job Turnover, n.d.).

A difference exists between correlation and causation. A correlation indicates that there is a relationship between variables. Correlation does not explain which variable is responsible. Consequences of job dissatisfaction usually involve four forms. They include active vs passive and constructive verses destructive. The active response refers to the exit or leaving the organization. Active-constructive is the voice. This refers to employee initiative to improve conditions in the organization. Loyalty refers to the passive constructive form. Finally, there is neglect or passive destructive (Job Satisfaction Can Affect a Persons Level of Commitment to the Organization, Absenteeism, and Job Turnover, n.d.).

Job Satisfaction is an important factor in organizational behavior. It is important for managers to communicate clearly and effectively with employees as possible. Organizational success increases when employees have higher levels of job satisfaction. Strategies can be implemented from management as a result of measuring job satisfaction.

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