Discussion Posting 2
oleopard007
wk_2_b_classroom_discussion.docx
Measuring Job Satisfaction
In order to select the most effective instrument for a specific assessment of job satisfaction, you must analyze the instruments and consider the factors they measure. Not all instruments will contain the set of work factors (e.g., pay, opportunities for promotion, environment) needed to adequately measure job satisfaction or facets of job satisfaction across all groups. Only a few of the instruments may meet reliability and construct validity criteria. Investigators measure constructs using reliable and valid instruments. A reliable instrument provides a consistent measurement every time it is used. For example, a standard 12-inch ruler is an example of a reliable instrument—it will always measure 12 inches. Even if the instrument is reliable, you still need to know if it is valid. Validity is the idea that your instrument empirically measures what it is intended to measure. Now consider what you know about measuring job satisfaction and what you have observed about the employees’ problems with job satisfaction at Walden Sports, and begin to think how you might select a suitable instrument.
For this Discussion, use the Learning Resources and the Walden Library to search for an instrument to measure job satisfaction at Walden Sports. You will use this instrument in your Final Project.
“Finding the right instrument this week to measure job satisfaction will be fun as it will help you learn how to differentiate among the choices and what are the priorities to make the right selection. I have spent a lot of my I/O Psychology career using assessments for different reasons. I even put a strategy together for another consulting company to determine what products offered assessments for different purposes (e.g. selection, leadership development, etc). It is important that we, as I/O professionals, ensure we have researched and found credible instruments that meet the requirements of the employer/client and we have confidence in using. This is critical to our profession and brings home why doing research is important to our field.
In addition, I support the local business that provides Top Companies awards for the state of AZ. This is an employee engagement survey. The owner of this business also provides Most Admired Companies awards, but that uses a qualitative report answering questions in five categories rather than a quantitative employee engagement type of survey. I provide analysis to her clients regarding their business results as winners or non-winners of the awards and develop a gap analysis with recommendations so they can make improvements in the areas they didn't fair well or continue doing a good job if they did.
I share these things so you will understand that gaining this skill and recognizing the value of the psychometrics supporting assessments is real and directly applicable to our profession. I am looking forward to seeing what you uncover and recommend.
KEEP IN MIND: Whatever instrument you choose, you will be using it in your final project. Make sure it is credible since that will impact your information in the final project. As the Grail Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade said "Choose wisely" so at the end I don't have to give you feedback that says "He chose poorly".
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 a description of the instrument you selected to measure job satisfaction of the employees at Walden Sports. Then explain why this instrument is appropriate for measuring job satisfaction. Finally, provide an example item, taken from the instrument you selected, that you might use in your diagnostic survey and describe the scale anchors used to score the instrument and the psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the instrument.
Example:
Barrick, et., al., (2009) noted that social influence theory proposes that practically every interpersonal relationship involves social influence of some form or another; people aim to influence and are also being influenced (Cialdini & Trost, 1998; Levy, Collins, & Nail, 1998). This “infinite cycle” of communication and exchange of information often leads individuals in the presence of others to express themselves in a manner that will evoke a certain desired reaction from the target (Goffman, 2006).
The MBTI measures 16 different personality traits. The scores obtained from the test takers can determine such things as preference. The scores can determine if the person is an introvert or extrovert. This is important information to know if a person was hired to be a receptionist at Walden Sports, but their MBTI score shows that they are in introvert.
Administering the MBTI, in conjunction with finding out the motivation for work in the employee (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) could possibly pair the employee with a position at Walden Sports that will not only increase the employee’s morale, but also increase the employees’ productivity, and reduce the turnover of employees for Walden Sports.
REFERENCES
Barrick, M. R., Shaffer, J. A., & DeGrassi, S. W. (2009). What you see may not be what you get:
Relationships among self-presentation tactics and ratings of interview and job
performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(6), 1394-1411. doi:10.1037/a0016532.
Retrieved from the Walden Library on 6 March 2017
Cialdini, R. B., & Trost, M. R. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity and
compliance. In D.Gilbert, S.Fiske, & G.Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social
psychology (4th ed., Vol. 2,pp. 151–192). New York: McGraw-Hill
Goffman, E. (2006). The presentation of self. In DBrissett & C.Edgley (Eds.), Life as theater:
dramaturgical sourcebook (2nd ed., pp. 129–139). New York: de Gruyter.
Myers and Briggs Foundation (n.d). Preferences. Retrieved from
http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/preferences.htm on 6
March 2017.
