Relationship Between Attitudes And Job Satisfaction Of Employees

Question: Discuss about the Analyse The Relationship Between Attitudes And Job Satisfaction Of Employees. Answer: Introduction The attitudes and job satisfaction of employees have a substantial influence on the organisational behaviour and performance of a company. An attitude is defined as a state of mind. It referred as how an individual examines and think about situations which result in determining a persons behaviour (Truitt, 2011). In a company, employees can either have a positive or negative attitude which affects the performance of such enterprise. There are different ways of defining job satisfaction of employees in a firm. Aziri (2011) provided that job satisfaction is a positive feeling towards a persons job which encourages them to perform better at their job. Positive job satisfaction motivates employees to improve their performance, and they work towards achieving common organisational objectives. Motivation at work is defined as employees level of commitment, creativity and energy that bring them while performing their jobs. It is the reason for individuals desires, needs and actions. Manager s focus on implementing effective motivational theories in the firm in order to improve employee job satisfaction and improving overall firms performance (Lazaroiu, 2015). Organisational behaviour is defined as a study of human behaviour in an organisational setting. It focuses on studying both individuals and group performance and their activities within a working environment which assist managers in implementing appropriate strategic policies for achieving organisational goals. The aim of this report is to appraise and evaluate the impact of attitudes and job satisfaction on employees motivation at work. This report will evaluate the importance of motivation in the workplace and how managers can use effective motivational theories to improve the performance of employees. A variety of theories and model will be discussed in the report along with examples of different organisations. Further, the report will examine how organisational behaviour theories assist in understanding employ ees behaviour at work and its limitations. Importance of Attitudes and Job Satisfaction The attitudes of employees in an organisation play a crucial role in enhancing the performance of a firm. Furthermore, job satisfaction is another factor which has a significant impact on the performance of an enterprise. Managers focus on studying these topics since they provide crucial information which assists them in strategic planning. The top-levelmanagement can improve the performance of the company and its employees by positively influencing their behaviour (Avey, et al., 2011). Employees with a positive attitude are more likely to perform better at their job, whereas, negative attitude resulted in employee poor performance, absenteeism, corporate disputes, resistance, and others. The working environment and culture of an enterprise are also affected by the behaviour of its employees. Negative employees also adversely affect the behaviour of other employees and resulted in reducing their performance. It is necessary that senior-level executives understand the job satisfaction and attitude of employees in order to implement appropriate policies for positively affecting their productivity. In todays competitive business world, organisations focus on generating a competitive advantage by improving their working culture to positively influence employees attitudes (Bushra, Ahmad and Naveed, 2011). However, it is becoming difficult for managers to establish a positive working environment as the demand for skilled labour increases. Millennial and Generation Z employees did not prefer to work for a single company which makes it difficult for executives to retain them in the corporation. HR professionals are facing new challenges relating to attitudes and job performance, and they are required to implement strategic policies for addressing such issues. There are three crucial components of employee attitude which are represented in the ABC model of attitudes which provides that A stands for Affective, B for behavioural and C for cognitive. The study of these components is vital since it provides necessary information to top-level executives that assist them in implementing effective strategic policies that resulted in improving business processes. Employees have different types of attitude at the workplace such as job involvement, job satisfaction, engagement of workers, organisational commitment, perceived support for the firm and others (Voon, et al., 2011). These attitudes can be influenced by implementing different theory by senior level executives. The theories of attitude and behaviour of employees include Reinforcement theory, Social Cognitive theory, Single and Double Loop Learning theory and others. The Reinforcement theory focuses on reinforcing the behaviour of employees. It provides that if the behaviour of employees is not reinforced, then he/she will continue to act in a similar manner (Weiner, 2010). However, before implementing these strategies, it is necessary that HR managers assess the culture in the workplace and implement the strategy which is most suitable for the firm. It is difficult to achieve effectiveness in policies which are implemented without proper evaluation of the workplace culture. Key Theories/Models The Single and Double Loop Learning theory focuses on understanding how people learn within organisations. Single loop learning defines the ability to use feedback from employees to make continuous adaptations and adjustments to the performance of an enterprise. Double loop learning is referred as the ability to redefine and challenge the assumptions in order to improve performance and factors underlying performance standards of workers (Clow, 2012). Social Cognitive theory focuses on learning by observing actions of others and replicating their behaviours. These theories assist managers in understanding the attitude and behaviour of employees. In order to improve their job satisfaction, senior levelmanagement implements different motivational theories that motivate employees to improve their performance and achieve common organisational objectives (Bandura, 2011). There are a number of motivational theories that can be implemented by senior levelmanagement for motivating employees i n order to improve their performance. For example, Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene theory is one of the most popular motivational theory which assistsmanagement in assessing needs of employees and fulfilling them in order to improve their performance. Frederick Herzberg gave the theory in 1959, which provided that there are different job factors which resulted in satisfaction and other factors that prevent dissatisfaction. He classified the job factors into two categories: Hygiene factors and Motivational factors. Hygiene factors did not lead to job satisfaction of employees, but absence of these factors resulted in dissatisfaction of employees (Smith and Shields, 2013). Hygiene factors include elements such as company policies, salary package, physical working conditions, job security, fringe benefits, interpersonal relations and others. Motivational factors include elements such as recognition, promotional opportunities, sense of achievement, meaningfulness of the work, responsibility and others (Stello, 2011). Senior-level executives can use these factors to influence the performance of employees. However, this theory is not conclusive, and it is better for employees with white collar jobs such as engineers and lawyer. Whereas, small and medium level employees are more likely to get satisfied by increasing in wage or issue of bonuses. Also, this theory emphasised job enrichment more than job satisfaction, and it did not pay much attention to monetary benefits and how companies can use them to motivate their employees. For example, Google Incorporation uses this theory to encourage its employees to improve their performance. The firm focuses on proving a number of hygiene factors to its employees such as high salary package, free learning classes, free food, long maternity leaves, time to work on personal projects, flexible working hours, and many others (Battelle, 2011). These factors attract talented employees from worldwide to Google, and it also improves its retention rates. Importance of Motivation Motivation is a vital element which encourages employees to improve their performance and achieve common organisational goals. The top-level executives implement different motivational theories to improve the productivity of employees. Effective knowledge regarding the attitude and job satisfaction is necessary since it hinders the motivation of workers (Yusoff, Kain and Idris, 2013). For example, managers are required to assess employees requirements and fulfil them in order to motivate them and improve their performance. However, simply providing monetary benefits to employees does not solve the issue of lack of motivation in the workplace. It is necessary the HR executives give importance to job satisfaction and job enrichment to change the attitudes of workers. For example, Maslow Hierarchy of Needs theory provides that in order to motivate an employee, senior level management is required to fulfil his/her needs. Maslow categorised human needs into five categories which include p hysiological, safety, belonging, esteem and self-actualisation (Figure 1) (Cao, et al., 2013). Managers are required to determine the needs of specific employees and fulfil them in order to motivate and improve their performance. However, Denning (2012) argued that in modern society, it is not correct to categories needs into hierarchical order. With the advancement of technology, social connection between people has grown with the advancement of technology and rather than hierarchical, employees focus on collaboration. Rutledge (2011) stated that needs of people are not hierarchical and they need to be rewired as per social media (Figure 2). Maslow did not give importance to social dependency and collaboration which are viewed as basic requirements for human survival. However, Maslow hierarchy of needs model is substantially popular and used by a large number of organisations. Along with attitudes of employees, job satisfaction also hinders the motivation of workers since employees who are not satisfied with their jobs are more likely to avoid organisational policies, resist change and create a negative working environment. Motivation requires that employees must feel like a part of an organisation and they should be welcomed in the firm (Elias, Smith and Barney, 2012). Effective and positive human interactions and relationship are crucial for motivation. However, people have different needs and the motivational theory implemented by the organisation is necessary to be suitable as per employees requirement. Senior-level executives have to assess the factors which negatively affect employees job satisfaction level and implement strategic policies which address such challenges. Only providing monetary incentives did not improve job satisfaction level of workers. Dissatisfied employees are more likely to promote a negative culture in the organisation which le ads to increasing dissatisfaction with other employees, increase disputes, negative work relationship and others (Tan and Waheed, 2011). Organisational behaviour theories enable managers to evaluate the factors which are affecting the job satisfaction level of employees such as hostile working environment, lack of facilities, rude behaviour of co-workers, and others. However, these factors are directly linked to attitudes and job satisfaction of employees because of these factors resulted in increasing negative attitude and job dissatisfaction of workers which reduce their performance. Impact of Lack of Motivation In recent years, senior level management focuses on understanding employees behaviour at work since it provides them crucial information which assists them in the formulation of strategic business policies. Productive employees with good attitude who behave in a professional manner assist corporations in improving their performance and achieving common organisational objectives (Parvin and Kabir, 2011). Customers often view the behaviour of employees and analyse how top-level management runs the operations of the company. Employees who put extra effort in order to satisfy the demand or requirement of customers are satisfied with their jobs. On the other hand, employees who did not help customers and behave rudely are more likely to be dissatisfied with their job. Therefore, attitude of an employee directly influences the relationship of customers with the company and it also shows how top-level management is managing the firms operations. For example, Tesco PLC implements Hierarchy o f needs theory in order to assess the requirements of each employee and focuses on fulfilling them in order to ensure that workers behave positively with customers and they focus on establishing positive customer relations (Yamuna and Devi, 2016). Attitudes and job satisfaction also affects the performance of employees and overall enterprise. Employees who work with positive attitude at work are more likely to encourage others as well to improve their performance. On the other hand, dissatisfied workers discourage others from performing as well, and they indulge in disputes with others. The bottom line of customer satisfaction is affected whether employees are capable of effectively performing all duties and function of their job (Klassen and Chiu, 2010). In order to assess employees needs and requirements, managers are requiring creating effective communication channels between them which enable them to interact and collect the feedback from employees. The leadership styles of modern CEOs are changing. Instead of focusing on macho and hierarchical styles, leaders focus on authentic and humble for of leaders. The popularity of authentic and humble leadership styles such as servant, charismatic, participatory and Laisse-Faire i s growing rapidly. All these leadership styles focus on analysing employees attitudes and job satisfaction in order to implement strategic policies that improve the firms overall performance (Bushra, Ahmad and Naveed, 2011). However, it is also becoming difficult for leaders to encourage each employee as the size of organisations grows. In multinational companies, leaders face difficulties in managing motivation since they cannot effectively control and interact with employees in different departments. Limitations There are various limitations on this topic as well since management finds a number of difficulties while analysing employees attitude and job satisfaction. Many researchers have provided that implementing effective motivational strategy did not guarantee that it will improve the performance of employees. In case of multinational corporations, it is difficult for managers to assess or interact with each employee in order to determine his/her needs (Aydogdu and Asikgil, 2011). Just fulfilling employees needs did not encourage them to perform better; instead, managers are required to implement a positive working environment which promotes and support team building and open culture. Job satisfaction is a wide term, and it can mean a number of things for a person, therefore, managers cannot just implement an effective strategy to satisfy each employee. However, establishing and nourishing a positive culture which supports employees can establish positive workplace relationships (Truxillo , et al., 2012). It will result in improving the performance of each employee and the entire corporation. Therefore, while formulating motivational strategies, managers should determine the attitudes and job satisfaction of employees since they influence their effectiveness. Conclusion In conclusion, it is crucial for managers to evaluate employees attitudes and job satisfaction since they directly influence the performance of employees and the company. Managers focus on implementing an effective motivational strategy in order to improve the performance of employees such as Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene theory. Attitude and job satisfaction of employees also influence the effectiveness of motivational theory as well. Employees with a negative attitude are more likely to influence the behaviour and job satisfaction level of other workers as well. The resist and avoid organisational policies which hinder the performance of the corporation as a whole. There are a number of factors which hinders employee motivation such as poor communication channels, lack of focus on employees needs, disputes, negative relationships and others. Negative attitude and job dissatisfaction negatively affect customer satisfaction level which reduces a companys profits. Therefore, it is nece ssary that managers carefully assess employees demands (by using a model such as Hierarchy of needs) and fulfil them in order to motivate them to improve their performance. There are various limitations of this theory as well, such as it did not guarantee that employee performance will be improved. Therefore, managers should evaluate attitude and job satisfaction of employees before implementing a motivational strategy which can assist in improving employees performance and sustaining companys future growth. References Avey, J.B., Reichard, R.J., Luthans, F. and Mhatre, K.H. (2011) Meta?analysis of the impact of positive psychological capital on employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance.Human resource development quarterly,22(2), pp.127-152. Aydogdu, S. and Asikgil, B. (2011) An empirical study of the relationship among job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention.International review of management and marketing,1(3), p.43. Aziri, B. (2011) JOB SATISFACTION: A LITERATURE REVIEW.Management Research Practice,3(4). Bandura, A. (2011) Social cognitive theory.Handbook of social psychological theories,2012, pp.349-373. Battelle, J. (2011)The search: How Google and its rivals rewrote the rules of business and transformed our culture. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Bushra, F., Ahmad, U. and Naveed, A. (2011) Effect of transformational leadership on employees' job satisfaction and organizational commitment in banking sector of Lahore (Pakistan).International journal of Business and Social science,2(18). Bushra, F., Ahmad, U. and Naveed, A. (2011) Effect of transformational leadership on employees' job satisfaction and organizational commitment in banking sector of Lahore (Pakistan).International journal of Business and Social science,2(18). Cao, H., Jiang, J., Oh, L.B., Li, H., Liao, X. and Chen, Z. (2013) A Maslow's hierarchy of needs analysis of social networking services continuance.Journal of Service Management,24(2), pp.170-190. Clow, D. (2012) The learning analytics cycle: closing the loop effectively. InProceedings of the 2nd international conference on learning analytics and knowledge(pp. 134-138). ACM. Denning, S. (2012) What Maslow Missed. [Online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2012/03/29/what-maslow-missed/#cd8bc71661b5 [Accessed 17th March 2018]. Elias, S.M., Smith, W.L. and Barney, C.E. (2012) Age as a moderator of attitude towards technology in the workplace: work motivation and overall job satisfaction.Behaviour Information Technology,31(5), pp.453-467. Klassen, R.M. and Chiu, M.M. (2010) Effects on teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction: Teacher gender, years of experience, and job stress.Journal of educational Psychology,102(3), p.741. Lazaroiu, G. (2015) Employee motivation and job performance.Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations,14, p.97. Parvin, M.M. and Kabir, M.N. (2011) Factors affecting employee job satisfaction of pharmaceutical sector.Australian journal of business and management research,1(9), pp.113. Rutledge, P.B. (2011) Social Networks: What Maslow Misses. [Online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-media/201111/social-networks-what-maslow-misses-0 [Accessed 17th March 2018]. Rutledge, P.B. (2015) Revising Maslows Hierarchy for a Socially Networked World. [Online] Psychology21c. Available at: https://psychology21c.org/2015/10/revising-maslows-hierarchy-socially-networked-world/ [Accessed 17th March 2018]. Smith, D.B. and Shields, J. (2013) Factors related to social service workers' job satisfaction: Revisiting Herzberg's motivation to work.Administration in Social Work,37(2), pp.189-198. Stello, C.M. (2011) Herzbergs two-factor theory of job satisfaction: An integrative literature review. InUnpublished paper presented at The 2011 Student Research Conference: Exploring Opportunities in Research, Policy, and Practice, University of Minnesota Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development, Minneapolis, MN. Studios Guy. (2018) Maslows Hierarchy of Needs: Theory, Needs, Pyramid. [Online] Studios Guy. Available at: https://studiousguy.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs/ [Accessed 17th March 2018]. Tan, T.H. and Waheed, A. (2011) Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory and job satisfaction in the Malaysian retail sector: The mediating effect of love of money. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 16(1), pp.73-94. Truitt, D.L. (2011) The effect of training and development on employee attitude as it relates to training and work proficiency.Sage Open,1(3), p.21. Truxillo, D.M., Cadiz, D.M., Rineer, J.R., Zaniboni, S. and Fraccaroli, F. (2012) A lifespan perspective on job design: Fitting the job and the worker to promote job satisfaction, engagement, and performance.Organizational Psychology Review,2(4), pp.340-360. Voon, M.L., Lo, M.C., Ngui, K.S. and Ayob, N.B. (2011) The influence of leadership styles on employees job satisfaction in public sector organizations in Malaysia.International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences,2(1), pp.24-32. Weiner, B. (2010) The development of an attribution-based theory of motivation: A history of ideas.Educational psychologist,45(1), pp.28-36. Yamuna, G. and Devi, R.J. (2016) Motivation Theories Applied for Increasing Employee Performance at Work Place-Case study Review.Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research,2(11). Yusoff, W.F.W., Kian, T.S. and Idris, M.T.M. (2013) Herzbergs Two Factors Theory On Work Motivation: Does Its Work For Todays Environment.Global journal of commerce and Management,2(5), pp.18-22.