EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION
AND COMMITMENT
PREPARED FOR SHP 1313 STUDENTS AT UTM SKUDAI
BY:
SITI ROKIAH SIWOK
SRSIWWOK@GMAIL.COM
JOB RELATED ATTITUDES
 Assessing
employee attitudes about their
jobs is one of the major tasks of IO
psychologist.
 Among
the most commonly studied job
related attitudes are job satisfaction and
organizational commitment.
JOB SATISFACTION
 Job
satisfaction consists of the positive
and negative feelings and attitudes about
one’s job.


The global approach views job satisfaction
as an overall construct.
The facet approach views job satisfaction as
made up of individual elements, or facets.
JOB SATISFACTION AND
COMMITMENT
 Job
satisfaction and commitment are
multifaceted.
 Examples of job satisfaction facets are
pay, supervision, coworkers, promotion,
work facility, worksite, work policy etc
 An employee may be satisfied with one
facet, (such as pay) but not another ( such
as work facility).
JOB RELATED ATTITUDES
 Although
2 different constructs, job
satisfaction and organizational
commitment are highly correlated and
result in similar employee behaviours.
 In
general, satisfied employees show
positive behaviours.
SATISFACTION & ORG.
COMMITMENT
 Meta
analyses show that satisfied
employees tend to be :
 committed to the organization, and thus
less likely to be absent;
 stay with the organization ,
 punctual, engage in helpful behaviours
etc.
.
IS IT TRUE THAT THE “HAPPY
WORKERS ARE PRODUCTIVE
WORKERS?”
JOB SATISFACTION AND
PERFORMANCE
 The
relationship between job satisfaction
and performance is not consistent across
people or jobs.
 E.g: For complex jobs, there is a strong
relationship between job satisfaction and
performance, than jobs of low or medium
complexity .
JOB SATISFACTION
AND JOB PERFORMANCE


Meta-analyses indicate a moderate
correlation between job satisfaction and
performance (Judge et al., 2001).
The Porter-Lawler model (1968) states
that job satisfaction and performance
are not directly linked, but are related
when workers perceive fairness in
receipt of work-related rewards.
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

Organizational commitment consists
of a worker’s feelings and attitudes
about the entire work organization.
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT
 There
are three motivational facets to
organizational commitment ( Meyer and
Allen, 1997):
 Affective commitment
 Continuance commitment
 Normative commitment

( Read Aamodt, 2010 for details )
AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT
 Affective
commitment is the extent to
which an employee wants to remain with
the organization, cares about the
organization and is willing to exert effort
for the organization.
CONTINUANCE COMMITMENT


Continuance commitment is the extent to which
the employee believes s/he must remain with the
organization due the time, expenses and effort
that has been pun into it.
Continuance commitment is also due to the
difficulties in finding another job.
NORMATIVE COMMITMENT
 Normative

commitment:
The extent the employee feel obliged to
the organization, and thus feels that
s/he must remain with the organization.
WHAT CAUSES EMPLOYEES TO BE
SATISFIED WITH AND COMMITTED TO
THEIR JOBS?
PERSPECTIVES TO THE STUDY OF JOB
SATISFACTION AND COMMITMENT
 Personality
perspective
 Environmental perspective
 Interactional perspective
PERSONALITY PERSPECTIVES
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN
EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION
 Important



Consistency across jobs
Consistency across time
Relationship between life
satisfaction and job satisfaction
 Due


Findings
to:
Genetic predispositions
Core self-evaluations
self-esteem
 self-efficacy
 internal locus of control
 optimism/positive affectivity

19
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND JOB
SATISFACTION
Personal predisposition to satisfied or dissatisfied
may be one of the reasons of job satisfaction.
 Individual difference theory posits that job
satisfaction variation is due to the personal
tendencies to enjoy/not to enjoy jobs.
 Utilising Individual difference theory ,
satisfaction across jobs is consistent.

PERSONALITY VARIABLES
 Genetic
predispositions
 Core-self
evaluations
GENETIC PREDISPOSITION
Genetic predisposition (30%), a study by Arvey
et. al.1989, 1994), due to the presence of
inherited personality traits such as “negative
affectivity”.
 Genetic predisposition studies are controversial
and received lots of criticism

CORE SELF EVALUATIONS


A series of personality variables seem to be
related to job satisfaction, meaning that some
type of personalities have tendency to be satisfied
or dissatisfied with their jobs.
Judge, Locke and Durham ( 1997) hypothesized
that four ( 4) personality variables are likely
to be satisfied with their jobs ( and their lives).
CORE SELF-EVALUATIONS
 Personality
variables are likely to be
satisfied with their jobs ( and their lives):
1.
2.
3.
4.
Emotional stability
Self-esteem
Self efficacy
External /internal locus of control
CORE SELF-EVALUATION
JUDGE AND BONO (2001) META-ANALYSIS
Corrected Correlations With
Core-Evaluation Trait
Satisfaction
Performance
Self-esteem
.26
.26
Self-efficacy
.45
.23
Internal locus of control
.32
.22
Emotional stability
.24
.19
Source: Aamodt Slides on Employee
Satisfaction and Commitment
25
YOUR PREDISPOSITION TO BE SATISFIED: MEASURES
Interest Inventory
 Life Satisfaction Measure
 Core Self-Evaluation
 self-esteem
 locus of control
 affectivity
 Job Satisfaction History

26
OTHERS: CULTURE AND INTELLIGENCE
ETC


Culture plays great role
Intelligence…and if you are too “ smart”, you
won’t be hired.
What about gender?,
 Race?
 Age?

What are the other
antecedents of job
satisfaction?
ENVIRONMENT AND INTERACTIONAL
PERSPECTIVES
SATISFACTION WITH OTHER ASPECTS OF
LIFE
A number of researchers theorize that job
satisfaction is consistent across time AND also to
the extent which a person is satisfied with all
other aspects of life.
 People who are satisfied with their jobs tend to
be satisfied with life; thus supports the theory
that job satisfaction is significantly correlated
with life satisfaction. Vice versa. A very
important finding.
 Fancy using “John Travolta method”?

JOB EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION
ETC
When job expectations are not being met, job
satisfaction is low and employees have the
intentions to leave the jobs; consistent with
discrepancy theories.
 Meta-analysis by Wanous, Poland, Premack and
Davis (1992) conclude that when employees’
expectations are not met, the result is lower job
satisfaction, decrease in organizational
commitment and increased intent to leave the
organization.

JOB EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION
ETC

On the contrary, Irving and Meyer (1994) found
most employees’ experiences on the job are most
related to job satisfaction. The difference
between their expectations and their experiences
was only MINIMAL LY related to job
satisfaction.
OTHER ANTECEDENTS OF JOB
SATISFACTION ARE:
 Good
Job-organization fit
 Job facets
 Fairness and equity
 Opportunities for challenge and growth

Job rotation, job enlargement and job enlargement
JOB FACETS
 Are
the tasks
enjoyable?
 Do the employees
enjoy working with
their supervisors and
coworkers?
 Are coworkers
outwardly unhappy
34
ARE REWARDS AND RESOURCES GIVEN
EQUITABLY?
 Equity
Theory
 Components



inputs
outputs
input/output ratio
 Possible



Situations
underpayment
overpayment
equal payment
35
ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE
 Distributive
justice
 Procedural justice
 Interactional justice
36
CORRELATIONS WITH PERCEPTIONS OF
JUSTICE
COLQUITT, CONLON, WESSON, PORTER, AND NG (2001)
Outcome
Procedural
Justice
.62
Distributive
Justice
Organizational commitment
.57
.51
Trust
.61
.51
Withdrawal
- .46
- .50
Performance
.36
.15
- .31
- .30
Job satisfaction
Negative employee reactions
.56
37
IS THERE A CHANCE FOR GROWTH AND
CHALLENGE?
 Enriched





jobs
Variety of skills needed
Employee completes entire task
Tasks have meaning
Employee has input/control
employee receives feedback
 Methods



Job rotation
Job enlargement
Job enrichment
38
HAVE SURPRISES
 Order
lunch for
everyone
 Let everyone leave an
hour early
 __________________
 __________________
 __________________
 __________________
39
ASSIGN THE RIGHT TASKS TO
THE RIGHT PEOPLE
 People
have
different interests
 People have
different skills
40
MEASURING JOB SATISFACTION
AND COMMITMENT
MEASURING JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction can be assessed by asking how
employees feel about their job, either by using
questionnaire or interview.

The most widely used self-report measures are the
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and the
Job Descriptive Index (JDI).

The MSQ measures satisfaction with 20 job
facets, including supervisor competence,
working conditions, task variety, and chances
for advancement.

The JDI measures satisfaction with five job
facets: the job itself, supervision, pay,
promotions, and coworkers.
JOB SATISFACTION: OTHER SCALES
 Faces
Scale
 Job in General Scale
 Nagy Satisfaction Scale
 Custom designed inventories
MEASURING ORGANIZATIONAL
COMMITMENT


Allen and Meyer Scale ( 1990)
Organizational Commitment Questionnaire
(OCQ)

Organizational Commitment Scale (OCS)

Custom-Designed Inventories
HOW DO WE INCREASE JOB
SATISFACTION?
INCREASING JOB SATISFACTION
 Hire
“Satisfied” Employees
 Eliminate Dissatisfiers
 Express appreciation and provide proper
feedback
 Increase opportunities to socialize
 Hold special events and friendly
competitions
 Increase humor
 Have surprises
 Assign the right tasks to the right people
48
HIRE “SATISFIED EMPLOYEES”
 Test
for Satisfaction
Potential



Interest inventory
Core self-evaluation
Satisfaction history
 Provide
a realistic job
preview
 Look for person-organization
fit
49
ELIMINATE DISSATISFIERS
 Interpersonal



conflict
Peers
Supervisors
Customers
 Inequity
 Low
pay
 Job security
 Poor working
conditions
 Work schedule issues
50
HOLD SPECIAL EVENTS AND
FRIENDLY COMPETITIONS
 Casual
or spirit days
 Increase socialization
through parties,
picnics, and socials
 Hold fun contests
 Celebrate birthdays
and special occasions
 Encourage humor
51
EXPRESS APPRECIATION AND PROVIDE
PROPER FEEDBACK
 Liberal
use of praise
and thanks
 Positive feedback
 Service and
performance awards
 _________________
 _________________
 _________________
52
INCREASE OPPORTUNITIES TO SOCIALIZE
 Picnics
 Lunches
 _______________
 _______________
 _______________
 _______________
 _______________
53
HOLD SPECIAL EVENTS AND FRIENDLY
COMPETITIONS
 Casual
days
 Company logo day
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________
54
INCREASE HUMOR
 Bulletin
boards with
humor
 Attach cartoons to
boring memos
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________
55
ASSIGN THE RIGHT TASKS TO
THE RIGHT PEOPLE
 People
have
different interests
 People have
different skills
56
CONSEQUENCES OF
SATISFACTION/DISSATISFACTION AND
NEGATIVE WORK ATTITUDES
Absenteeism
 Turnover
 Counterproductive Behaviours



Aimed at individuals
Aimed at the organizations
ABSENTEEISM
WHY EMPLOYEES ARE ABSENT
 No
consequences for
attending or missing
work
 Illness and personal
problems
 Individual differences
 Unique events
59
INCREASING ATTENDANCE BY HAVING
CONSEQUENCES FOR MISSING WORK
 Rewards

for Attending
Financial incentives
Well pay
 Games
 Financial bonuses

Paid Time-off Programs
 Recognition programs

 Discipline
for Not Attending
 Clear Policy and Record Keeping
60
INCREASING ATTENDANCE BY REDUCING
EMPLOYEE STRESS
 Overload
 Conflict


peers
supervisors
 Boredom
 Safety
Issues
61
INCREASING ATTENDANCE BY REDUCING
ILLNESS
62
TYPES OF WELLNESS PROGRAMS
SHRM 2008 SURVEY
Wellness Program
Some form of wellness program
24-hour nurse line
Health screening programs
Smoking cessation program
Weight loss program
On-site fitness center
Stress reduction programs
On-site medical care
% Offering
58
50
41
40
31
21
14
12
63
EFFECT OF ABSENCE CONTROL
METHODS
META-ANALYSIS RESULTS
Absence Control Method
Well pay
Flextime
Compressed work schedules
# of Studies
4
10
5
Effect Size
.86
.59
.44
Wellness programs
Feedback
Discipline
10
3
9
.37
.37
.36
Recognition
Financial incentives
Games
6
7
6
.30
.17
.0864
CCH ABSENCE CONTROL SURVEYS
Absence Control
Method
Percent Using
2003 2005
Effectiveness Rating
2007
2003
2005
2007
Disciplinary action
Performance appraisal
Verification of illness
96
90
89
3.3
3.4
3.4
84
79
82
2.9
3.0
2.9
75
76
74
2.9
3.2
3.2
Paid leave bank
Personal recognition
No-fault systems
Bonus programs
59
67
60
3.6
3.5
3.6
62
66
57
2.5
2.6
2.6
62
63
59
3.0
3.0
2.9
52
57
51
3.1
3.3
3.3
Buy-back programs
548
58
53
3.3
3.5
3.4
65
TURNOVER
66
WHY DO EMPLOYEES LEAVE?

Unavoidable Reasons

school ends
 job transfer
 illness
 family issues


more responsibility
 better pay


Unmet Needs
people
management
 coworkers
 customers


Advancement

Escape From


working conditions
stress
Unmet Expectations
organization
 job
 career

67
WHY ARE YOUR EMPLOYEES LEAVING?
 Exit
Interviews
 Attitude
 Salary



Surveys
Surveys
pay
benefits
time off
68
THE COST OF TURNOVER
VISIBLE COSTS PER HIRE
Advertising charges
 Agency fees
 Referral bonuses
 Staff time & benefits

processing applications
 interviewing



Travel Costs
staff
 applicants

Relocation Costs
 Miscellaneous Costs

Overhead
69
THE COST OF TURNOVER
HIDDEN COSTS
 Loss




of Productivity
employee leaving
other employees
vacant position
new employee (1
year)
 Inefficiency
 Overtime
 Training
Costs
70
ESTIMATING THE COST OF TURNOVER
 Industry
Norms
rate is 1.4% per month
 cost is 1.5 times salary

 Custom
Statistics
www.advantagehiring.com/calculators/calc_turnover.sht
ml
 www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/publicat/turn.html

71
FINANCIAL SAVINGS FROM
TURNOVER REDUCTION

Last Year
5 employees leave each
month (60 per year)
 Average salary is
$20,000
 Cost of turnover is 60
* $20,000 * 1.5 =
$1,800,000


This Year
4 employees leave each
month (48 per year)
 Average salary is $20,000
 Cost of turnover is
48
* $20,000 * 1.5 =
$1,440,000
 $360,000 saved through
reduced turnover

72
REDUCING TURNOVER
COMPENSATION ISSUES
 Match
the market
 Use
job evaluation to
ensure internal
equity
 Offer
retention/tenure
bonuses (stay for pay)
73
INCREASING SALARY AND BENEFITS
WILL ONLY WORK IF:
 Employees
are leaving due
to low compensation or
benefits
 The turnover rate is high
 The salary increase will be
a meaningful amount
74
REDUCING TURNOVER
SELECTION ISSUES
 Conduct
realistic job previews
 Look for person-organization fit
 Study predictors of people who leave
75
REDUCING TURNOVER
ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES
 Provide
training
 Show appreciation
 Mediate conflicts
 Meet employee
needs
safety
 social
 growth

76
STRATEGIC USE OF BENEFITS TO ATTRACT
AND RETAIN APPLICANTS

By Providing

You Can Attract/Retain
Health care for
domestic partners
 Daycare benefits

Gay employees

Meal benefits
 Paid time-off
 Flexible schedules
 Tuition/books

Dual career families and
parents on public assistance
Students and retirees
Young people
Homemakers/parents
Students





77
SATISFACTION, COMMITMENT,
ABSENTEEISM, TURNOVER AND
PROGRAMMES THAT CAN BE
IMPLEMENTED
: ADDITIONAL NOTES
JOB SATISFACTION,
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT,
AND EMPLOYEE ATTENDANCE



Voluntary absenteeism is when
employees miss work because they
want to do something else (i.e., not
because they are ill or unable to work).
Involuntary absenteeism occurs
when employees have a legitimate
excuse for missing work–typically
illness.
Involuntary absenteeism is inevitable;
organizations can try to eliminate
voluntary absenteeism, but this is
difficult because it is difficult to
distinguish between voluntary and
involuntary absences.
JOB SATISFACTION,
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT,
AND EMPLOYEE ATTENDANCE

Turnover can also be categorized as
voluntary or involuntary.



Involuntary turnover occurs when an
employee is fired or laid off.
Voluntary turnover occurs when
competent and capable employees leave to
work elsewhere.
Meta-analyses (Griffeth et al., 2000) indicate
that low job satisfaction and low
organizational commitment are related to
higher turnover.
JOB SATISFACTION,
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT,
AND EMPLOYEE ATTENDANCE



A strong predictor of employee turnover is
absenteeism, particularly the rate of
absences immediately before the employee
leaves.
Turnover intentions refers to workers’
self-reported intentions to leave their jobs.
Voluntary turnover is costly, and research
indicates that employees who feel they are
not treated fairly are more likely to leave an
organization (Griffeth and Gaertner, 2001).
INCREASING JOB SATISFACTION
AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

Changes in job structure can be used to
increase satisfaction and commitment.

Job rotation is the systematic movement of
workers from one type of task to another to
alleviate boredom and enhance worker
training.

Job enlargement involves the expansion
of a job to include additional and more
varied work tasks.

Job enrichment involves raising the level of
responsibility of a job by allowing workers a
greater voice in planning, execution, and
evaluation of their own work activities.
INCREASING JOB SATISFACTION
AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

Changes in pay structure can be used to
increase satisfaction and commitment.

Skill-based pay is compensation in which
workers are paid based on their
knowledge and skills rather than their
organizational positions.

Merit pay is compensation in which
employees receive a base rate and
additional pay based on performance.

Gainsharing is compensation based on
effective group performance.

Profit-sharing is a plan where all
employees receive a small share of an
organization’s profits.
INCREASING JOB SATISFACTION
AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

Flexible work schedules can be used
to increase satisfaction and
commitment.


Compressed work weeks are schedules
that decrease the number of days in
the workweek while increasing
number of hours worked per day.
Flextime is a schedule that commits
an employee to working a specified
number of hours, but offers flexibility
in regard to beginning and ending
times for each day.
INCREASING JOB SATISFACTION
AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

Benefits programs are perhaps the most
common way for employers to increase
employees’ job satisfaction and
commitment.


Benefit programs can include flexible
working hours, a variety of health care
options, retirement plans, career
development, health promotion programs,
and employee-sponsored childcare.
On-site child care programs increase job
satisfaction, but have little effect on
employee absenteeism (Goff et al., 1990).
POSITIVE EMPLOYEE
ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS

Organizational citizenship behaviors
(OCBs) involve efforts by organizational
members that advance or promote the work
organization and its goals.


OCBs are positively correlated with both job
satisfaction and organizational commitment
(Podsakoff et al., 2000).
Employees who engage in OCBs are less likely
to leave the organization and have lower
voluntary absenteeism (Chen et al., 1998; Lee et
al., 2004).
POSITIVE EMPLOYEE ATTITUDES
AND BEHAVIORS

Recently, there has been an explosion of
research examining the role of positive
affect (positive emotions that affect mood in
the workplace) in affecting job satisfaction
and positive employee behaviors.


Dispositional (traitlike) positive affect is
linked to higher job satisfaction and
performance, and lower absenteeism and
turnover (Pelled and Xin, 1999).
Emotionally positive workers are more likely
to engage in OCBs than emotionally
negative workers (Bachrach and Jex, 2000).
REFERENCES
Aamodt, M.G (2007). Industrial and
organizational psychology. An applied approach
(5th ed) Belmont, CA: Thomson
 Aamodt, M.G (2010). Industrial and
organizational psychology. An applied approach
(6th ed) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
 Riggio, R. E. ( 2009). Introduction to
Industrial/Organizational Psychology (5th ed).
New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
