Role Of Employee Attitudes And Perceptions Business Essay

Employee attitude and perceptions play a very vital role in the productivity of the organisation. Overall the employee s behaviour and attitude can vary based on a number of factors such as job satisfaction, leadership, rewards, performance appraisal and various other motivating factors. This research paper aims to look into these factors about the employee attitude and how can it affect the organisation.

1.1 Background Study

The employees are the main force for any organisation and it is these employees who decide the running of the company in many cases when it comes to productivity and achieving the goals, without this human force the organisation is just nothing, it is this force which makes use of the raw materials and turns them into a furnished products or goods.

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But when we speak about the attitude and the nature of the employees it may differ from person to person, because each individual has his own abilities, learning experience, innovative thinking and so on and by this they bring in different kinds of aspirations into the job (Mullins 2002) and apart from this they are of different gender and age, perceptions etc which will lead to a different behaviour from each of them and hence due to this sometimes there may be rational thinking as well , so here it is clear that individual values do matter and how this can be related to job satisfaction and their performance which can indirectly affect the organisation.

There are a few techniques in management which can be used to investigate the perceptions and behaviour of employees in the organisation and also some theories which we will touch upon.

1.2 Research Aim & Objectives

1. This research paper aims to investigate the employee behaviour and their attitude with respect to leadership

2. The paper also aims to investigate whether employee attitude and job satisfaction go hand in hand

3. Can the employee attitude be changed which is also referred to as OB MOD

1.3 Research Question

The attitude of the employees towards work in the organisation and what effect it can have in the organisation

1.4 Keywords: Organisation behaviour, employee satisfaction, attitude, perception

1.5 Area of Research: Employee Attitude, job satisfaction (Organisation Behaviour)

2.0 Literature Review

Genetic research suggests that 30% to 40% of job satisfaction is inherited. Job satisfaction and life satisfaction are interrelated and influence each other. A gallop poll indicates that approximately 10% to 13% of workers are dissatisfied, while about 85% of workers are satisfied. Other surveys asking questions in a different manner suggests that more workers are dissatisfied. Job satisfaction and performance varies with the type of occupation, for example, higher management means more satisfaction. Personal characteristics of workers also have an impact on job satisfaction. Job satisfaction increases age. The level of education is slightly negatively related to job satisfaction. If personal skills and abilities are not required by a job, job satisfaction decreases. When a person is more adjusted personally, they will be more satisfied with work. Most of all having a job with decent and fair wage may be the most important variable to job satisfaction. High job satisfaction is associated with low turnover and low absenteeism and with high commitment. Although the evidence is not conclusive, high job satisfaction is associated with high performance and pro social behaviour.

2.1 Employee Attitude And Perceptions

Employee attitude and perceptions used in research and facet versus global measures. The areas discussed are not meant to provide knowledge of all relevant considerations for designing employee surveys, but rather provide background on the research and an overview of some major areas of study. In the research literature, the two most extensively validated employee attitude and perception towards their job satisfaction survey measures are the Job Descriptive Index (JDI; Smith, Kendall, & Hulin, 1969).

2.2 Assessment Criteria for Job Satisfaction

The JDI assesses satisfaction with five different job areas: pay, promotion, co-workers, supervision, and the work itself. The JDI is reliable and has an impressive array of validation evidence. The MSQ has the advantage of versatility long and short forms are available, as well as faceted and overall measures.

Another measure used in job satisfaction research (e.g., Judge, Erez, Bono, & Thoresen, in press) is an updated and reliable five-item version of an earlier scale by Brayfield and Rothe (1951). All of these measures have led to greater scientific understanding of employee attitudes, and their greatest value may be for research purposes, yet these measures may be useful for practitioners as well. In practice, organizations often wish to obtain a more detailed assessment of employee attitudes and/or customize their surveys to assess issues unique to their firm.

In the Fisher (2000) study, it suggest, that positive and negative emotions both have a profound effect in predicting overall satisfaction on job. In conclusion, affect while working is a missing piece of overall job attitude. E.g. Twenty-four male and female managerial workers were asked to complete a diary during work hours. The diary was to include a report of the workers the state of mood at four different intervals during the working hours. And this was completed in 16 days. Mood was measured using a 24-item checklist called the Current Mood Report (CMR). The CMR was used to assess the dimensions of pleasantness and activation. At another time, the participants were asked to complete a measure of overall satisfaction using the Valence-Instrumentality-Expectancy (VIE) measure of beliefs about the job. Affect intensity was measured using the Affect Intensity Measure (AIM), a 40-item questionnaire designed to measure individual differences in affective responsively. Dispositional happiness was measured using two brief self-report measures of general happiness. The results indicated that were obtained from stated the average levels of the employees about their pleasant mood in the sixteen day period and VIE beliefs about the job made important and this contributions from the individuals have a great impact on the overall satisfaction of the job.

The purpose of the Weiss, Nicholas, and Daus (1999) study was to investigate the different influences of episodic levels of pleasant mood at work. They examined the relationship between one s job performance and job satisfaction, and prediction of patterns of affective states over time. Weiss et al. predicted that reported mood would be highly associated to general job satisfaction and that individual differences in general happiness would be related to mood levels as well as changes in mood over time. Finally, it was expected that they could discover cycles in mood changes over time.

Job empowerment enables employees to participate in decision-making process and experience autonomy across and down the hierarchy. Although in real business, it s easier to have an empowerment policy than to actually implement it (Rosenfeld & Wilson 1999:101), it s said that empowerment prorammes can lead to motivated staff, quality customer service and improved profits (Jamison 1999:20) by means of job satisfaction.

Self-managed team-working approach relates to job empowerment, and is widespread and increasingly popular in USA (Mullins 2002). Individual members of the group have higher levels of job satisfaction (Cordery & Smith 1991:464), because they get greater autonomy and responsibility for the work of team. Also, members of team can work out best means to achieve goals by team effort, and member can improve skills and knowledge by learning from each other during working. Autonomous working groups can be means to enhance productivity, flexibility and work satisfaction.

2.3 Motivation Theories for Improving Productivity and Job Satisfaction

Motivation is a complex subject, it is a very personal thing, and it is influenced by many variables. Each and every individual has his own needs and requirements and every one would like to satisfy it in one way or the other.. The various needs and expectations at work can be categorized in a number of ways for example the simple divisions into physiological and social motives, or into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Broad three-fold classification as a starting point for reviewing the motivation to work, and also given the complex and variable nature of needs, Economic rewards such as pay, fringe benefits, pension rights, security and other forms of material goods. Intrinsic satisfaction is derived generally from the type of work, the interest shown in the job, and the employee s personal growth and development from various perspectives. The major theories of motivation include

Maslow s Theory of hierarchical needs

Herzberg s two- factor theory;

Alderfer s modified needs hierarchy model s theory;

McClelland s theory

Often out of these theories Maslows Hierarchy and Herzberg s theory have been discussed a lot by many researchers and has a significant role in the motivation segment of any organisation.

2.4 Previous Study on Motivation

An article named What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys by Carolyn Wiley aimed to explore the factors that motivate employees in their jobs. The methodology was Secondary survey data. Between 1946 and 1992 surveys were administered by different researchers to people employed in all industries. These were designed to identify the top motivating factors for employees at each particular time. Carolyn Wiley then compares the findings of these surveys.

Carolyn discovered that the most highly motivating factor in the workplace has changed over the last 40 years and matured somewhat from recognition for a job well done to the need for a challenge and enjoyment at work. It would be interesting to see if the new research topic can build on these surveys and identify the most highly motivating factor in 2004. It would then be possible to say whether societies needs at work have matured any further since 1992.

3.0 Research Design and Methodology

The data required to investigate the specified research area is qualitative form of data. The primary data will be collected mainly via questionnaire and interviews which will be again compared with the available secondary data which is sought from various journals and other online sources of previous works already done by research experts. Thus the data collected through various sources would be analysed later in the next stage for carrying the research to next level and to see how fart eh research is can go ahead.

The secondary data would also be used to identify and describe motivation and its importance to the work place, and will attempt to gain an insight into what motivates employees to be successful across a number of different industries and how their attitudes differ. I would especially like to identify the most common motivator to see how this compares with those that have been identified through 40 years of research highlighted by Carolyn Wiley. I would like to see if the most common motivator across the industries has matured further since 1992 when it was found to be the need for a challenge and to enjoy your job. I predict that the most common motivator now will be somewhat more sophisticated. I am also probe my sample of employees into revealing information surrounding their perception of employee benefits such as pension schemes, medical cover etc and whether these things make them perform better at work or make their jobs more satisfactory. It would be interesting to note if employees automatically expect to receive such benefits and do not see them as a motivator to increase performance.

Thus the data gathered from the questionnaires will be qualitative categorical data. I will analyse this data by firstly reading the completed questionnaires and identifying any that cannot be used. Categorical data cannot be measured numerically but can be classified into sets or categories according to criteria set by those analysing the data. This will have to be done a number of times in order to look at different aspects of the research topic.

4.0 Data Analysis

There is no doubt that the data analysis is the most mysterious and complex phase of any qualitative research project, and this is the phase which is least discussed in any literature of a research, many of the strategies which are involved in the research program are familiar to many experienced researchers and it s a crunch time for those who just get in to this practice of research.

Generally people start creating a database once they gather any information, however just creating a database is not going to serve the purpose it is s must to turn this raw data into a useful data which can be used for some purpose and gives the scope for advanced research, so this requires an analytical process of the data and there are many software s in the market like Excel and SPSS which can be used for the analysis of the data. SPSS is similar software like Microsoft Excel and is highly used in the data analysis of any research these days.

Once the required information is gathered, processing that information is very vital to get the right statistics. Because without analysing the collected data we cannot come to a proper conclusion and there is no use for the research. In our case the target audience of the research are mainly the employees, and the data is to be acquired mainly form the employees working in the organisation where a lot of scope is given for motivation and employee job satisfaction..

5.0 Time Chart

6.0 Conclusion