Job satisfaction and motivation

Research Proposal

‘’Why job satisfaction & motivation is

Coventry University
Submitted to: Dr. Khaled abdullah

Submitted by: Mr. Zeeshan saeed

Id: M.B.A (innovative) 38621

Dated: 3 rd Dec 2010

Table of contents

Page no:

Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------1

Review of literature ------------------------------------------------------------------4

Statement of problem ----------------------------------------------------------------7

Objective of study ---------------------------------------------------------------------8

Research methodology ---------------------------------------------------------------9

Sampling method ----------------------------------------------------------------------9

Limitations -----------------------------------------------------------------------------10

References-------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
Job satisfaction and motivation
Job satisfaction and motivation

INTRODUCTION

Management, observed Mary parker Follett “is to get things done through people”. Any business

activity basically requires four resources. Men, Material, Money and Machinery. Of all these

resources people is the most important resource of production. Today, the corporate world has

started acknowledging the fact that it is people and money, machinery or materials that run

organizations. The burden of performance is no longer on mechanically advanced systems, but on

the resourcefulness, initiative and responsibility of the people who are intrinsically the process

owners.

There has always been a gap between the corporate visions and the ambitions of individuals. In the

past, the human resource function did not try to bring about compatibility between corporate needs

and that of individuals. But, today’s the managements have to ensure congruence between

organizational objectives and employee’s aspirations.

The task of coordinating all the other factors of production, except man is felt easier, because man

cannot be controlled fully at all times. He can act according to his own desired. And most of the

time human being will be manipulated by the work environment and by the group. Human

behaviour is unpredictable. One will act according to one’s own. Hence, only by providing more

facilities to human factor, we can motivate them to work. Then only it is possible to direct the

combination of all factors towards the goal.

There are numerous factors, which will influence the human factors. Among them the levels of

human relations in the organization play a significant role. In ancient day’s it was felt that by using

power and authority human relations in the organization could he improved. Through this concept

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we cannot get worker’s co-operation and involvement at their level best. But, they will work

because of fear not without involvement.

The second concept is, only by providing monetary increments and incentives, human relations can

be improved in the organization. This concept also failed to achieve its goal but at certain level it

increased human relations.

Now, the recent human relation’s theory prescribes participatory management according to which all

are allowed to play their roles and the management will play a participatory role.

By enhancing human relations we can improves the efficiency of the workers. If they are fully

satisfied, then they will give their full efforts. As a result, the achievement of organizational goal

becomes an easy one.

Therefore employee’s job satisfaction alone is responsible for the attainment organizational goals.

Hence, it is important to provide more facilities in the form of work environment, improved human

relations, and fair wages and welfare measures. The management can improve them and satisfy the

workers. By satisfying workers they will reach their goal. Thus are the individual and the

organizational goals will reached simultaneously? People see organization as a means to help them

to reach their goals while organization needs people to reach organizational objectives.

DEFINITION OF THE TERM “JOB SATISFACTION”

Locke gives a comprehensive definition of job satisfaction. According him job satisfaction is “a

pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal o one’s job or job experience”.

Job satisfaction is a result of employees’ perception of how well their job provides those things,

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which are viewed as important. It is generally recognized in the organizational behaviour field that

job satisfaction is the most important and frequently studied attitude.

DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION

According to Abraham A. Korman, there are two types of variables, which determine the job

satisfaction of an individual. They are:

I. Organizational variables, and

II. Personal variables

ORGANISATIONAL VARIABLES

1. Occupational Level: The higher the level of the job, the greater the satisfaction at the

individual will be. This is because higher level jobs carry greater prestige and self control.

2. Job Content: Greater the variation in job content and the less the repetitiveness with which the

tasks must be performed, the greater the satisfaction of the individuals involved will be. Since job

content in terms of variety and nature of tasks called for is a function of occupational level, the

theoretical arguments givers above apply here also.

3. Considerate Leadership: People like to be treated with consideration. Hence considerate

leadership results in higher job satisfaction than inconsiderate leadership.

4. Pay and Promotional Opportunities: All other things beings equal these two variables are

positively to job satisfaction. An explanation for this finding lies in both the theories discussed

above.

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5. Interaction in the Work Group: Here the question is; when is interaction in the work group a

source of job satisfaction and when is it not? Interaction is most satisfying when

i. When one’s attitude is similar to the others in that particular work group.

ii. It results in being accepted by others and

iii. It facilitates the achievement of goals.

PERSONAL VARIABLES

For some people, it appears that most jobs will be dissatisfying perspective of the organizational

conditions involved, whereas for others, most jobs will be satisfying. Personal variables like age,

educational level, sex, etc., are responsible for this difference. Because personal variables like age,

educational level, sex etc., directly affects the one’s attitude or behaviour.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A Literature review is the summary and critical evaluation of pervious published or unpublished

researches made by various scholars and researchers. The source of literature review may be

newspapers, articles, journals, magazines, books, thesis, reports etc. It may also include discussions,

methodological issues and suggestions for future research.

“It is possible to design a reward system that motivates people to work and satisfies them at the same
time contributing to organizational effectiveness” (Armstrong and Murlis, 2004: 5).

Traditional reward system has been classified by fix or variable pay. Non-traditional payment

schemes contain those based on the attributes of the individuals and teams—skills, seniority and so

on. “This links threefold categorization of job rates, person and performance to work and

organization characteristics” (Towers: 1996).

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What job is a part of one's life and such work not only physical needs are fulfilled through monetary

gain but also giving psychological satisfaction. It is the work and through it the individual finals

opportunities for the satisfaction of many of his social personal needs. Name of study is’’ Job

Satisfaction Of Employees In Spinning Mills’’ (Guru Pandi )

1) Knowledge management. 2) Leadership Traits 3) Emotional Intelligence and Personality traits

(name of study Impact of Personality Traits on Job Satisfaction of Public Sector

Employees), (Fauzia Jabeen Ph.d in Management from U.P.Technical University, Lucknow,

Uttar Pradesh, India. &Member of National HRD Network (NHRDN),

1) Job satisfaction is found to relate to affective commitment in both the Indian and American

samples 2)Different patterns of relationships emerge in the US and India.( Culture, job satisfaction

and organizational commitment in India and the United States)

.( Catherine T. Kwantes: 2009).

This study examines the relationship between job satisfaction and personal characteristics on samples

of 778 Indians and 620 Nigerians. The results This study examines the relationship between job

satisfaction and personal characteristics on samples of 778 Indians and 620 Nigerians. The results

indicate no relationship between sex, marital status, and annual income and job satisfaction for both

the samples. Age showed quadratic and linear relationship with satisfaction for Indian and Nigerian

samples respectively. Satisfaction increased with increasing number of dependents and work

experience and decreased with increasing years of education for both the samples. The regression

analysis showed that all seven personal characteristics accounted for 34.9 per cent and 71.7 per cent

variation in job satisfaction for Indian and Nigerian employees, respectively. Culture and level of

industrialization have been examined to explain the differences in the results. (Personal

Characteristics and Job Satisfaction: India-Nigeria Comparison) (Mirza S. Saiyadain Indian

Institute of Management Ahmadabad, India).

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Improvements in perceptions of job security, the climate of employment relations and managerial

responsiveness are the most important factors in explaining the rise in satisfaction with sense of

achievement organizational climate scale than the engineers indicating that the managers are more

satisfied due to the empowerment given to them. (Job Satisfaction as Related to Organisational

Climate and Occupational Stress: A Case Study of Indian Oil"). (Jain, Jabeen, et. Al: 2007).

Stress & satisfaction is to be taken up in the industries to make them aware of the benefits of

knowledge of stress and its relationship with satisfaction and achievement of goal of industries. Job

Satisfaction is in regard to one's feeling or state-of-mind regarding the nature of their work. Job

Satisfaction can be influenced by a variety of factors,eg, the quality of one's relationship with their

supervisions, the quality of the physical environment in which they work, degree of their fulfilment

in their work etc. (Effect of Job satisfaction on Performance: An Empirical Study) (Shahu & Gole:

2008).

Happiness or self-contentment but the satisfaction of the job. According to him, there are 4 types of

theories: 1. Need Fulfilments Theory 2. Equity Theory 3. Two Factor Theory 4. Discrepancy Theory

(feelings of satisfaction on the job, which acts as a motivation to work) (Rao: 2005).

Different organisation adapts different type of wage payment system. Along with wages and salaries

they are paying incentives, perquisites and nonmonetary benefits. According to him, he explained 3

theories of remuneration: A. Reinforcement and Expectancy Theory

B. Equity Theory C. Agency Theory (Job Satisfaction of employees can be judged through the

system of wage payment) (Aswathappa: 2003)

Job satisfaction does have impact on future performance through the job involvement, but higher

performance also makes People feel more satisfied and committed. It is a cycle of event that is

clearly in keeping with The development perspective. Attitudes such as satisfaction and involvement

are important to the employees to have high levels of performance. The results of the study revealed

that Attitudes namely satisfaction and involvement, and performance are significantly correlated.

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(Job Attitude and Employees Performance of Public Sector Organizations in Jaffna District,

Sri Lanka) (Velnampy: 2008).

“It is simply no longer possible to create a set of rewards that is universally appealing to all

employees or to address a series of complex business issues through a single set of solutions”

(O’Neal, 1998).

“Pay and formal reward policies are one of the most tangible symbols of a company’s culture and

employment offering and are inextricably interwoven with them. Therefore they are critical to

demonstrating that the employer is delivering on its side of the employment bargain” (Brown, 2001).

“Reward management is concerned with the formulation and implementation of strategies and

policies that aim to reward people fairly, equitably and consistently in accordance with their value to

the organization. It deals with the design, implementation and maintenance of reward processes and

practices that are geared to the improvement of organizational, team and individual performance”

(Armstrong and Murlis, 2004, pp 613)

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Human behaviour is unpredictable. One can act according to one’s own decision. No one

can expect the same type of behaviour from anyone at all circumstances. Human behaviour

is highly influenced by the environment. Because of this factor, we cannot expect that one

can act in the same way on a particular problem in all situations.

Most times human behaviour is influenced by the nature of work group. Friendly

cooperative co-workers will definitely have a positive approach towards their work. The

work group serve as a source of support, comfort, advice and assistance to the individual

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workers. A good work group makes the job more enjoyable, and the performance of the

group will be very high. This will automatically lead to the attainment of the individual as

well as die organizational goals. As a result every one of the organization will have a high

job satisfaction and will have a peaceful life .

If there is dissatisfaction with the job it will make the workers become restless which may be

reflected in the form of low production, high wastage of materials, accidents, conflicts among

workers, absenteeism, high employee turnover, strike and lockouts etc. Therefore, it is more

important to study the job satisfaction of workers as it one of deciding factors which will

determine the whole operation of an organization.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

To study the level of job satisfaction of employees in Royal Mail Branch Post Offices.

To identify the factors which are closely associated with job satisfaction?

To find out the factors which dissatisfies the employees.

To know about the relationship with the superiors.

To identify the Revenue Loss which are closely associated with dissatisfaction

To identify the better solutions to retain the man power consistently.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

“A Research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a

manner that aims to combine relevant to the research purpose with economy in procedure”.

This study is based on explanatory design, which will explore and analyse the factors that

lead towards satisfaction. The questionnaire method will be used for data collection. This

questionnaire consists of questions in a structured way. During the course of interviews,

Respondents will be made to fed free all were motivated, by giving clear information about

this study, to express their feeling. Hence, questionnaire will be used as a tool for this study.

RANDOM SAMPLING METHOD

The sampling technique adopted for this research is random sampling, which is chosen for

the convenience of the researcher.

Source of Data : Primary Data

Sampling Size : 15 members of three post offices

Tools Used : Percentage Analysis

Bar Diagram

Pie Diagram

Interview Method : Face to Face

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LIMITATIONS

This study is mainly focused on staff members of Royal mail Post office. Hence the findings

and suggestions may not be applicable to all other organizations.

Initially, the researcher planned to conduct the current study in a large scope. But due to time
constraints, the questionnaire pattern was restricted to 15 questions and the scope of the study
was narrowed down

References
Aswathappa k., Human Recourse & Management, 2003, Pg (244 to 245)

Khan N.V., Personal management, 2006, Pg (132 to 134)

Gupta K. Shashi & Joshi Rosy, Human Recourse Management, 2008, Pg (20.9 to 20.17)

30

Rao Subba P., Essential of HRM & Industrial Relationships, 2005, Pg (480 to 482)

Velnampy T., "Job Attitude and Employees Performance of Public Sector Organizations in

Jaffna District, Sri Lanka", GITAM Journal of Management, Vol. 6, Issue-2, April-June 2008,

Pg (66-73)

Brown, Forde, "Changes in HRM and job satisfaction, 1998–2004: evidence from the

Workplace Employment Relations Survey", Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 18,

Issue-2, 2008, Pg (97–195)

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120086933/abstract

K.K.Jain, Fauzia Jabeen, Vinita Mishra & Naveen Gupta, " Job Satisfaction as Related to

Organisational Climate and Occupational Stress: A Case Study of Indian Oil", International

Review of Business Research Papers, Vol. 3, Issue-5, November 2007, Pg (193-208)

Hardik Shah & Hiral Shah, "Job Satisfaction and Fatigue Study", SCMS-COCHIN Journal

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“Personal Management” by C.B. Mamoria, Twelth Edition – 1997. Published by Himalayam Publishing
House – Mumbai.

“Organisational Behaviour” by L.M. Prasad. Published by Sultan Chand & Sons 1997.

“Organisational Behaviour” by Fed Luthans, Seventh Edition – 1995. Published MC. Graw Hill.

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