MGT726 Employee Dissatisfaction For Detrimental Impact
Questions:
1. Examine a specialist area of professional management practice.
2. Develop skills to analyse, evaluate and reflect critically on complex information, problems, concepts and theories in order to devise recommended solutions to a management issue.
3. Effectively communicate implications and conclusions to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Answer:
Purpose:
The purpose of the assignment is to explore the importance of ensuring job satisfaction among employees, which is serious managerial problem. The paper would point out the grave impact of employee dissatisfaction on the business outcomes of a business organisation by taking Udaya Supermarket, an Indian chain of supermarket based in Australia.
Background and significance:
The background of the paper is set against the backdrop of Australian retail sector. Employee dissatisfaction can have detrimental impact on the customer services in the service sector since the employees are directly involved in serving customers. Internal events like induction of new managers and the initial communication gap can result is such situations as well. The paper would point out how significant is employee dissatisfaction as far as customer services and revenue generation are concerned. The researcher would establish this relationship between employee job satisfaction and customer service in the subsequent sections.
Management problem, research questions and objectives:
The management problem which would be explored in the paper would be the issue of communication gaps and employee dissatisfaction in business organisations.
The research questions are:
Main question: What is the relationship between employee employee job satisfaction, customer services and revenue generation in business organisations?
The following are the subordinate questions which the research would also answer:
- How important is communication in ensuring employee satisfaction?
- What are the steps which managers can take in tackling the managerial issue recognised?
The following are the research objectives:
- To outline the interdependence between employee job satisfaction and business performance.
- To outline the managerial roles to ensure employee job satisfaction.
Research boundaries:
The boundaries of the research would a wide area of managerial issues which organisations face which stem from employee dissatisfaction. The scope of the research would not however include aspects like work-life-balance among employees.
Report outline:
The report would include detailed reviews of the concepts recognised. This would be followed by outline the methodology which the researcher may follow to conduct the research. This would be followed by a proposed analysis of the results or findings from the study.
Literature review:
Introduction:
Cunningham (2016) defines employee dissatisfaction can be defined as the managerial problem where employees feel lack of satisfaction either with their job or workplace situations. Employee dissatisfaction stem from variety of causes like lack of motivation, professional stress, lack of communication and understanding with co-workers or job pressure. Patil and Sharma (2014) further point out that lack of communication among employees can result in lack of understanding and lack of motivation. Lack of motivation is a serious problem because it lead to poor performances among employees which in turn effect customer service negatively. This lack of communication and resultant employee dissatisfaction can also happen due to initial lack communication with new workers. This inducted workers can be of same rank, subordinate or even superior.
Employee job satisfaction theory:
Huang et al.(2016) defines the term employee job satisfaction as the rate of contentedness which employees experience from their jobs. Job satisfaction can be expressed can be measured using cognitive, emotional and behavioural aspects of an employee. The employees experiencing high levels of job satisfaction exhibit higher levels of involvement in their job and aim to deliver high level of performances. Fernandez and Moldogaziev (2015) in this respect points out that employee job satisfaction has great implications on the entire organisation and depends on several factors.
Roy (2017) points out that employee dissatisfaction in the long run leads to lack of satisfaction. This leads to high employee turnover and the firm ultimately faces loss of productivity. This loss of productivity in an organisation impairs its market performance which in turn lowers its market performance. Lowered market performances results in loss of competitive advantage which is a long term and the company needs to high prices to recover the lost market position. Holtom and Burch (2016) takes a thread from the explanation of Roy (2017) and mention that high employee turnover impairs the capability of an organisation to serve customers. This ensuring customer service is of great significance since it leads to customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction plays crucial roles in securing not only present revenue generation but also future revenue generations. Thus, reduction of employee dissatisfaction is not only significant for the achieving employee productivity but also long term growth of the business (Hoboubi et al. . This justifies the seriousness of the employee dissatisfaction in an organisation and the managers should ensure that the employees achieve job satisfaction. Thus, it can also be justified that the research question and research objective of delving into the issue of employee dissatisfaction is legitimate.
Affect theory of job satisfaction:
The effect theory of job satisfaction proposed by Edwin A. Locke mentions that job satisfaction is determined by the disparity between the expectations of the employees and that the actual job situation (Atmojo 2015). The model also mentions that job satisfaction is not only dependent on job place situation but also on the perception of the employees. For example, if an employee expects higher level of power than the post he holds deserves, he automatically experiences lower level of job satisfaction. Again, another employee holding similar position may consider the power legitimate and may experience high level of job satisfaction (Zablah et al. 2016). Thus, it can be reiterated in the light of the discussion that job satisfaction is not dependent on the workplace situations alone. It also depends on the perceptions of the employees regarding their perception of entitlements regarding their positions and tenure.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
The theory of hierarchy of needs by Maslow recognises five needs of employees. Among these needs, job satisfaction corresponds to the esteem and self-actualisation needs which are situated on top of the need hierarchy pyramid. The job satisfaction boosts self-esteem of employees which motivate them to proactively participate in the job performance. Thus, self-esteem creates job satisfaction in employees (Güss, Burger and Dörner 2017).
Importance of employee job satisfaction:
Employee job satisfaction has great significance to business organisations due to the profound impacts it has on the organisation both in the long term and short term. The following significances of employee job satisfaction would bring to light the earnestness of curbing employee dissatisfaction:
Job satisfaction enhances enhances motivation:
Van Scheers and Botha (2014) points out that it is very important for business organisations to ensure job satisfaction to enhance employee motivation. The job satisfaction is closely related to the two factor motivation theory by Herzberg. Alshmemri, Shahwan-Akl and Maude (2017) points out that as per the motivation theory proposed by Herzberg, motivation among employees depends on two factors namely, motivators and hygiene factors. The job satisfaction is a component of the second factor. High level of job satisfaction motives employees to perform highly which ultimately paves ways for high organisational performance. Mafini and Dlodlo (2014) in this respect points out that job satisfaction encourages employees to participate more in the operations of the organisations which enable managers to gain their cooperation more easily in achieving the targets. Masvaure, Ruggunan and Maharaj (2014) in renders an important attribute the discussion and mentions that communication between managers and subordinates have important implications on the motivation and hence job satisfaction of the employees. Initial communication gap between new managers and employees creates temporary job dissatisfaction. However, prolonged lack of communication between managers and subordinates leads to loss of productivity. This have more serious implications in the sectors like retail sectors where interaction between sales staff and customers play significant role in ensuring sale. The employees who experience lower level of job satisfaction do not provide high level of services to customers which leaves the latter feeling dissatisfied as well. This has been exemplified by the case study of Udaya Supermarket and Udaya Spices (udayaonline.com.au 2018). The Indian supermarket chain in the Australia provides a wide range of products ranging from Indian spices, pickles to religious products. The supermarket chain also sells beauty products and household items. This shows that its customer base consist of people from across diverse cultures like Australian, Asian, American and European. It would not be wrong to comment that the sales staff at the supermarket needed to exhibit a high degree of cultural intelligence to ensure satisfaction of this diverse group of customers (Zablah et al. 2016). However, the sales staffs were experiencing lower degree of job satisfaction and motivation due to the communication gap between them and their new manager. This in turn led to lower level of customer services and customer satisfaction.
Lower revenue generation:
The consequence of lower level of job satisfaction among employees is lower revenue generation in the long run. The case study of Udaya retail chain bears testimony to this fact. Marquardt (2015) in this respect mentions that employee motivation is directly linked to customer satisfaction and hence revenue generation. Ivanauskiene and Volungenaite (2014) while stressing on this importance of customer services in retail chains point out that in the contact between sales staffs and customers plays important role in revenue generation. High level of job motivates employees to participate more proactively in the purchase decision making process of the customers. The customers view these initiatives as positive signs of customer concerns and thus are encouraged to purchase repeatedly from the retail chain. It can also be pointed out that lower of customer satisfaction would result in retail chains like Udaya losing their customers to their competitors like Woolworths which are far more powerful as far as market position is concerned (Belias, et al. 2015). Thus, it can be inferred from the discussion that high level of employee job satisfaction leads to high level of customer satisfaction which ultimately leads to revenue generation.
Business growth and enhancement of goodwill:
Kowal and Roztocki (2015) in this respect point out that employee job satisfaction does not only lead to short term revenue generation but also long term growth in the business. The employees experiencing higher levels of job satsiafction would serve customers better. This would lead to higher levels customers satisfaction which would in turn encourage customers to buy regular from the business organisation concerned. The Udaya retail chain in Australia can also explain this fact. The employees of Udaya can serve the customers more proactively which would result in higher levels of customer satisfaction. These customers as a result would purchase from Udaya on regular, thus attributing it with a stable base of loyal customers. This would loyal customer base by repeat purchase would contribute to the business growth. They would promote the customer services quality of Udaya retail chain in the Australian market which would enhance the goodwill of the retail chain. This enhanced goodwill would motivate the employees to perform better which in turn corresponds to the esteem needs of employees according to the motivation theory by Maslow (Pal 2016). Thus, it can be inferred from the discussion that job satisfaction among employees would pave ways for business growth in case of Udaya retail chain in Australia.
Research methodology:
Introduction:
The researcher would use both primary and secondary analysis methods to gain substantial information to lend a profound base to his research.
Rationale and method of justification:
The concept of job satisfaction has been studied at large in the professional world and has a rich body of literature. Moreover, it is connected to several other theories like strategic human resource management and motivation theories. Thus, secondary analysis would enable the author gain sufficient material to carry out the research. This justifies that the researcher should use both primary and secondary analysis methods to conduct the study.
Detailed specific data collection techniques:
However, since the level of job satisfaction varies between employees, both primary analysis and secondary analysis would be used. The primary analysis would involve surveying 100 employees of Udaya Supermarket and Udaya Spices. This would enable gaining of considerable mass of data to carry out research in the area of staff dissatisfaction. The secondary analysis would involve study of various secondary sources of data like articles, books, journals and magazines.
Proposed Analysis of Results:
The outline of the data analysis plan should incorporate both secondary analysis and primary data analysis. The secondary sources should consist of articles, newspapers, journals and official websites. The researcher in order to gain deeper insight into employee job satisfaction in the retail sector should follow the official websites of leading chains like Woolworths besides consulting the official website of Udaya. Similarly, while conducting primary data collection, the researcher should survey both managers and lower level employees. The following is the outline of the plan which the researcher can follow:
Activity 1: Approaching a retail chain management body and gaining approval of surveying employees (1 month)
Activity 2: Survey employees including managers and lower level employees (1 months)
Activity 3: Statistical analysis of the primary data (1 month)
Activity 4: Consulting of articles, books, journals and websites (2 months)
Activity 5: Collating secondary data (1 month)
Activity 6: Presentation of research (1 month)
References:
Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L. and Maude, P., 2017. Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Life Science Journal, 14(5), pp.12-16.
Atmojo, M., 2015. The influence of transformational leadership on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee performance. International research journal of business studies, 5(2).
Belias, D., Koustelios, A., Sdrolias, L. and Aspridis, G., 2015. Job satisfaction, role conflict and autonomy of employees in the Greek banking organization. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 175, pp.324-333.
Cunningham, A., 2016. What are the Key Drivers Used to Promote Employee Motivation and Engagement in a Manufacturing Environment?.
Fernandez, S. and Moldogaziev, T., 2015. Employee empowerment and job satisfaction in the US Federal Bureaucracy: A self-determination theory perspective. The American review of public administration, 45(4), pp.375-401.
Güss, C.D., Burger, M.L. and Dörner, D., 2017. The role of motivation in complex problem solving. Frontiers in psychology, 8, p.851.
Hoboubi, N., Choobineh, A., Ghanavati, F.K., Keshavarzi, S. and Hosseini, A.A., 2017. The impact of job stress and job satisfaction on workforce productivity in an Iranian petrochemical industry. Safety and health at work, 8(1), pp.67-71.
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Mafini, C. and Dlodlo, N., 2014. The relationship between extrinsic motivation, job satisfaction and life satisfaction amongst employees in a public organisation. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 40(1), pp.01-12.
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Masvaure, P., Ruggunan, S. and Maharaj, A., 2014. Work engagement, intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction among employees of a diamond mining company in Zimbabwe. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 6(6), p.488.
Pal, R., 2016. Sustainable value generation through post-retail initiatives: an exploratory study of slow and fast fashion businesses. In Green fashion (pp. 127-158). Springer, Singapore.
Patil, Y.V. and Sharma, D.S., 2014. An analytical study of role of compensation and exit interview on employee retention in plastic manufacturing industry in Jalgaon district. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1(1), pp.6-10.
Roy, D.F., 2017. “Banana time” job satisfaction and informal interaction. In The Anthropology of Organisations (pp. 31-41). Routledge.
Udayaonline.com.au. 2018. General Groceries. [online] Available at: https://www.udayaonline.com.au/general-groceries.html [Accessed 30 Aug. 2018].
Van Scheers, L. and Botha, J., 2014. Analysing relationship between employee job satisfaction and motivation. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 9(1).
Zablah, A.R., Carlson, B.D., Donavan, D.T., Maxham III, J.G. and Brown, T.J., 2016. A cross-lagged test of the association between customer satisfaction and employee job satisfaction in a relational context. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(5), p.743.
