Job Satisfaction

Job Satisfaction

Job Satisfaction Model Positive Affect (e.g., personality trait) Job environment (objective characteristics) Subjective interpretation of job environment Job Satisfaction

Measurement • Job Descriptive Index (JDI) • Assesses five types of satisfaction, satisfaction with: • The work Itself • Supervision • Co-Workers • Promotion • Pay • As well as the Job In General Scale (JIG) Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (100 items or a 20-item short form) Five point scale from “very dissatisfied” to “very satisfied” Faces Scale

Commitment Affective (emotional connection) Normative (obligation, allegiance) Continuance (cost assessment) Job (e.g., specific position within an organization) Organization Occupation (e.g., career)

Sample Organizational Commitment Items • What this organization stands for is important to me • The reason I prefer this organization to others is because of what it stands for, its values • I am proud to tell others that I am part of this organization • I feel a sense of ownership for this organization rather than being just an employee • How hard I work for the organization is directly linked to how much I am rewarded

Organizational Justice Types • Distributive (outcome or results • fairness) • Equity (based on contributions) • Equality (all have an equal chance) • Need (those with greatest deficits) • Procedural (fairness of systems • or processes) • Interactional • Interpersonal (respect, personal • concern for the impact of an • action) • Informational (knowledge, • rationale as to why an action is • taken)

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (Going beyond the job duties) • Five dimensions: • Altruism (helping/assisting others) • Conscientiousness (follows rules/procedures, careful, responsible, diligent) • Courtesy (respectful of others) • Sporting (avoid complaining, gossip) • Civic virtue (participation in the routine aspects of organizational politics; self-sacrifice) Note: Possible short-term usage and positive impression management technique (e.g., higher performance ratings) Usage related to perceptions of procedural justice

Satisfaction & Turnover Job Satisfaction Thinking of quitting Intention to search Age/tenure Intention to quit/stay Probability of finding an acceptable alternative Quit/stay

Influences on Attendance 3. Personal characteristics Education Tenure Age Sex Family size 7. Ability to Attend: Illness and Accidents Family responsibilities Transportation problems 2. Employee values and job expectations 1. Job Situation: Job scope Job level Role stress Work group size Leader style Co-worker relations Opportunity for advancement 4. Satisfaction with job situation 6. Attendance motivation 8. Employee attendance 5. Pressure to attend: Economic/market conditions Incentive/reward system Work group norms Personal work ethic Organizational commitment R. M. Steers and S.R. Rhodes, “Major Influences on Employee Attendance: A Process Model,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 63 (1978), p. 391-407.

Correlations with Satisfaction Satisfaction Performance .17 - .30 Attendance - .25 Turnover - .40 Job Involvement .45 Commitment .53

Work and Non-Work Satisfaction Job Satisfaction Life Satisfaction Life Satisfaction Job Satisfaction • Are they related? If so, how are they related? Does high (or low) satisfaction in one area (e.g., life satisfaction) lead to high (or low) satisfaction in the other? Work Life Work Life Does the satisfaction level in one area offset (compensate) for the other ? Life Work Work Life

Effects of Content and Context Factors on Job Satisfaction (Hertzberg) Content Factors (e.g., responsibility, achievement, challenge) Job Satisfaction Indifference Job Dissatisfaction Context factors (e.g., pay, benefits) Low degree High degree of reward of reward

Does thinking about a job lead to how we feel about the work, or does how we feel about our job affect the way we think (evaluate) the work? Job Description Job Enrichment Questionnaire Imagine satisfied with job vs. Imagine dissatisfied with job Those who imagined they were satisfied in the job rated the job as more enriched

Satisfaction as a Trait Job satisfaction levels Job satisfaction levels 5 years later Job satisfaction levels were very stable across time (even though jobs and employers were different)

Satisfaction and Genetics Identical twin studies (reared apart) Approximately 30% of job satisfaction levels may be due to genetic factors

Downsizing (Layoffs) • Frequency (on the rise) • Record 2001 Layoffs • Effects on those laid off • Job acquisition (e.g., finding new jobs, under-employment, transfer of skills/knowledge) • Health effects • Psychological (anxiety, depression, self-esteem, stress) • Physical (e.g., gastrointestinal problems, ulcers, headaches, sleep loss) • Effects on those surviving • Less trust, commitment, • Demotions, less hours & salary

Some Euphemisms for Layoffs Consolidation Cost-containment Downsizing Involuntary attrition Involuntary separation “Letting you go" Outplacement Reduction in force (RIF) Reengineering Restructuring Rightsizing Streamline operations Staff/workforce/headcount reduction Termination Voluntary termination (part of a "performance improvement plan" )

Mergers & Acquisitions • Job Losses • Integration Issues • Control (conflict) • Cultural fit • Commitment, identification of • employees Some mergers: AOL – Time Warner Vivendi - Seagrams HP – Cpmpac BP - Amoco Exxon – Mobil Pfizer – Warner-Lambert Some Acquisitions: eBay – PayPal Chevron - Texaco Pfizer - Pharmacia

Workplace Violence Examples • In 1995, 88 workplace homicide victims were killed by a current or former work associate, almost double the number from 1994 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1996) • A former employee fired a month earlier boarded a flight and shot his former supervisor to death, then the pilots, and ultimately killed all 43 on board (Hackett and Lerner, 1987) • A disgruntled federal employee shot and killed his supervisor and a union representative (Merl & Corwin, 1998) • A Xerox employee shot seven co-workers to death (Arnett & Booth, 1999) • A hotel employee shot four of his co-workers to death (The Detroit News, 1999) • An employee, who had been fired that day, returned to the store and shot and killed his supervisor and a co-worker (St. Petersburg Times, 2000) • A survey of Fortune 1,000 companies reported workplace violence as the most important security thereat (Jarman, 1999)

Perceived organizational act(s) of injustice or trust violation (e.g., breach of psychological contract, rules violations, broken promises, abuse of authority, unfair criticism, insults) Situational factors (e.g., stressors, group relations, norms) Personality factors (e.g., aggressive tendencies, anger, hostility) • Specific employee reaction (e.g., revenge, retaliation) • Direct vs. Indirect • Physical vs. Verbal • Active vs. Passive

Some examples after perceived wrongdoing (injustice, violation of psychological contract) by the organization: • Direct vs. Indirect • Physical vs. Verbal • Active vs. Passive • Constructive vs. Destructive • Insult a supervisor during a meeting • Tell trade secrets to competitors • Sabotage work equipment • Produce less quality products • Start coming in late and work the minimum required number of hours • Take some company resources home • Participate in the slowing down of production • Plan to get even with the company • Filed a formal complaint or a lawsuit • Forgive the organization

Todd has been a line worker for a large manufacturing company in the Midwest for the past 25 years. He enjoyed his job and his coworkers, and he was proud to work for the company. Last year the company reported record profits and the stock price doubled during that time. At the end of the year, the average pay for those in upper management positions increased 40%, including bonuses and stock options. Last week the company announced that the plant that Todd works at would be closed within a year, with the bulk of the work being transferred to a new plant in Mexico. The company recently promised that no closures would take place within the next five years, so everyone at Todd’s plant was completely shocked by this announcement. Approximately half of the employees would be terminated at the end of the year with the plant closure, while the others including Todd were given the option of transferring to the Mexico plant for less pay and benefits at the end of the year. To what extent would Todd be justified in doing the following _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 1 4 7 Highly Somewhat Highly Unjustified Justified Justified 1. ___ Filed a complaint with his union 2. Used company resources for his private use before being sent to Mexico 3. Falsely reported that he worked more hours to make up for being sent to Mexico with less pay and benefits 4. Filed a suit against the company 5. Started coming in late 6. Bad-mouthed upper management with his co-workers 7. Verbally threatened his supervisor that the organization won’t get away with closing the plant 8. Talked about the positive aspects of the change with his coworkers 9. Produced less quality products to get back at the organization 10. Participated with his coworkers in stopping needed resources from the suppliers to slow production 11. Found ways to provide more support to the organization 12. Quit his job 13. Participated in sending threats of sabotaging plant equipment to upper management because of the plant closure 14. Took some plant resources home to make up for being sent to Mexico 15. Thanked management for giving him the opportunity to still work even if it is in Mexico 16. Sent anonymous e-mails to upper management threatening them that they will no longer have jobs if they close the plant

ABC Inc., a multinational manufacturing company, was established in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in the mid-1950s. Most of the employees at ABC Inc. have worked for the company for an average of 20 years and have been highly committed to its success. Indeed, having a job at ABC Inc. was considered highly desirable given its good pay and benefits and the family-like atmosphere within the organization (many employees were close friends and socialized together outside of work). Recently, ABC Inc. was bought by Creations Plus. The employees were told that their jobs would not change and no changes would be made to their seniority, pay, or job status. Soon after ABC Inc. was bought, a memo was distributed stating that the retirement benefits guaranteed by ABC Inc. would not be honored. Essentially, the retirement and health benefits for current and former ABC Inc. employees would be reduced by an average of 40%. The employees immediately protested these changes. The management of Creations Plus explained that they were not legally bound by ABC Inc. former policies, and that employees had no choice in the matter and had to accept the new benefits package. To what extent would ABC employees be justified in doing the following: _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 1 4 7 Highly Somewhat Highly Unjustified Justified Justified 1. Participated in not fixing errors in the work produced so that customers would be unsatisfied in order to get back at the company 2. Verbally threatened management to change their benefits 3. Told the press what happened 4. Participated in stealing products from the organization to make up for the loss of benefits 5. Told competitors some trade secrets about Creations Plus production because of the loss of benefits 6. Gave management obscene gestures during plant meetings 7. Participated in slowing production so that the company would lose money to get back at the company for the loss of benefits 8. Called in sick on the same day 9. Forgave the organization 10. Implemented a plan to cut costs so that they might get their benefits back 11. Talked about spreading lies about the company so that the company would lose money 12. Worked only the minimum until retirement 13. Planned to get even with the company for drastically reducing their benefits

Job Satisfaction