Job Satisfaction Case Study
Introduction
“Job satisfaction refers to the degree of
pleasure or positive affect that an employee has toward his or her job”
(Locke, 1976). Job characteristics, social comparison, and disposition
are factors that contribute to job satisfaction. According to research,
performance, absenteeism, and turnover are three variables that correlate with
job satisfaction. “Job satisfaction has been highly studied and
seems related to almost every aspect of a person’s job” (The Pennsylvania
State University, 2001). Helping people attain satisfaction with what they do
at their jobs, is not only an important aspect of I/O psychology, it is
important to all those who work; a 1/3 of our days are spent working and we
will work an average of 20 to 30 years in our lifetime (The Pennsylvania State
University, 2011). This personal case study will be explore and illustrate how
job satisfaction is directly linked to the level of motivation and attitude an
employee has in regards to his job.
Overview
Causes of Job Satisfaction &
Dissatisfaction
Job Characteristics: Looks at core characteristics and job
factors when dealing with job satisfaction. “The most popular measure of job
satisfaction assesses how employees feel about their jobs along five
dimensions: the type of work itself, pay, promotional opportunities,
supervision, and co-workers” (Smith, Kendall, & Hulin, 1969).
Social Comparison: “The social-information processing
approach to job satisfaction assumes that attitudes are determined, in part, by
the attitudes of those around us” (Jex & Spector, 1989). This looks at how
individuals compare themselves with others in the work place. Individuals can
bring others down by whining, or motivate them as well based on attitudes.
Disposition: “The most recent explanation for job satisfaction is that
some employees are more prone to be satisfied or dissatisfied, in spite of the
nature of the job or the social environment” (The Pennsylvania State
University, 2011). Disposition is the mood and temperament of individuals and
let us know if they are satisfied or dissatisfied with their jobs.
Correlates of Job Satisfaction
Performance: Looks at how individuals perform in their jobs.
Under job satisfaction performance has been studied for over 40 years.
The idea of understanding employee performance is so companies can find
ways to keep employee performance meeting or exceeding company
standards, rather than falling below.
Absenteeism: Looks at individuals and why they may be absent from their
jobs. Companies give employees a certain amount of days for time off work.
Under job satisfaction its important to know why employees are taking off work.
Is it for vacation or might it be the working conditions at work?
Turnover: Looks at rate in which employees come and go from their
jobs. This is an important part of wanting to see other options for employees.
If they are dissatisfied they will likely seek similar or other jobs that make
them satisfied.
Details of Case
John Callahan has been employed by the New
Jersey Bank since January of 1989. He first worked as a teller and was
awarded Employee-of-the-Year in 1991. Due to his excellent skills, he was
promoted to the position of branch manager in 1993. Mr. Callahan’s case
load includes supervising employees, investigating theft and fraud, and an
occasional institutional loan approval, however, he specializes in the bank
reconciliations that occur in Bergen County, NJ.
Mr. Callahan would like to be promoted to a
Vice President administration position where he would have the opportunity to
assist supervisors and guide newer employees in their managerial positions.
However, promotional opportunities are very rare in New Jersey Bank. Mr.
Callahan is also under the impression that social networking with the current
supervisors is more important to obtain a promotion, rather than work ethic or
experience. He chooses not to engage in office politics and therefore has
been in the same position since 1993 doing the same type of cases.
Although Mr. Callahan’s work ethic is strong
and he still cares for the clients he assists, he is extremely dissatisfied
with the department where he works and no longer tries to go ‘above and beyond’
in order to complete his duties.
Analysis
Given the subjective nature of job
satisfaction, evaluative, cognitive, and behavioral components
must be considered in order to determine overall global job
satisfaction. For Mr. Callahan’s case, an evaluation was
performed according to his individual job facet satisfaction. By
examining specific facet areas relevant to his job, his global job
satisfaction was determined. This in turn, could assist the department he
works for in diagnosing organizational issues, and highlight areas for
intervention. Although the causes of job satisfaction are complex and
multifaceted, three general categories contribute to job satisfaction: Job
Characteristics, Social Comparisons, and Disposition (The Pennsylvania State
University, 2011). These three categories, along with additional correlates
that influence satisfaction, will provide us with the evaluative, cognitive,
and behavioral components needed to determine the banker’s job
satisfaction.
Job Characteristics
Research has shown that job satisfaction is
determined by the nature and characteristics of jobs (Spector & Jex,
1991). Smith, Kendall, & Hulin (1969), developed the five facets of
job satisfaction that assess how employees feel about their jobs. By
analyzing Mr. Callahan’s case according to the five categories, more insight
was gained into his level of satisfaction with his job.
1. Type of Work itself
Mr. Callahan is a banker in charge of handling
a range of cases, including theft and fraud. He specializes in bank
reconciliations, which often make up the majority of his workload. He spends
most of his time filling out paperwork and at other times conducting
interviews.
2. Pay
His pay comes in at $67,000 annually, with
overtime opportunities available for emergency call outs. Pay and benefits
are reported as being satisfactory. The banker will receive a
pension when he retires at the age of 50, which is 50% of his pay for life and
full medical benefits.
3. Promotional Opportunities
Promotions are available only if a supervisor
were to retire, which rarely occurs at New Jersey Bank, and competition for
promotions is extremely difficult. Promotions are routinely granted to
employees that engage in office politics, and social networking with their supervisors.
Mr. Callahan had the opportunity twice to receive recognition by promotion
but was denied. He was awarded Officer-of-the-Year in 1991 and then
subsequently promoted to branch manager in 1993. Since being branch
manager there have been no demerits, but no accommodations either. This is not
out of the norm for the department; recognition awards were stopped once the
new CEO was hired.
4. Supervision
Mr. Callahan usually works his cases
alone, and is behind a desk unless he is out in the field conducting
interviews. He operates with an amount of autonomy but
has low skill variety. He feels his direct supervisor is a
micro-manager, and watches over his paperwork very closely. He is
required to keep his supervisor informed about his progress. Since this
is the case, autonomy in certain aspects is kept at a minimum. He still
works independently most of the time. On occasions in which a potential suspect
(due to bank theft) is viewed as a possible physical threat, a co-worker
will accompany Mr. Callahan to the interview.
5. Co-Workers
New Jersey Bank is on the smaller side,
employing 32 employees and 3 branch managers, one being Mr.
Callahan. Mr. Callahan has by far the most experience of his
co-workers (he was transferred to the main bank after being a supervisor a
smaller bank branch.) However, the 3 branch managers are assigned the same
type of work and considered to be of equal status.
Social Comparisons
Mr. Callahan is under the belief that there
are certain cliques in place at work, commonly referred to as the ‘good old
boy’ system, which is made up of those who are willing to engage
in office politics and lunch with the supervisors on a daily basis.
In Mr. Callahan’s bank it appears that in order to get a promotion one must
participate in these office politics to please the
supervisors. Although Mr. Callahan is highly respected at his bank
for his work ethic and knowledge, it has become evident to him
that promotional opportunities are not based on these factors. To Mr.
Callahan, promotions are based on being part of the ‘good old boy’
system. He feels that due to his lack of participation in these office
politics, he has been passed over twice during promotional opportunities.
He is very frustrated and unsatisfied by this, and would like a chance to teach
some of the less experienced bankers what he has learned through working cases
and interviewing people. His social comparison is demotivating as he is
comparing his strong work ethic, experience, and knowledge to his lesser valued
attributes such as office politics.
Additionally, because of the political system
at work behind the scenes, overall attitude of employees is low. The
banker finds the atmosphere reflects an oppressed environment, since his
co-workers feel there is not much room for promotion or advancement.
Other employees in the department, as well as himself, view their work to be
routine and boring (low skill variety). His main complaint is the
complete lack of recognition/feedback for a job well
done. Rarely does he get a thank-you (positive feedback) from his
department or the clients that he helps. Another complaint is that the
banker’s office is located in the basement of the bank, on the other side of the
building from where the teller units are located upstairs. He finds
communication between supervisors and employees to be lacking as a result of
this, which is necessary when working on cases. In addition, he sits at
his desk for many hours throughout the day without seeing sunlight. When
he compares his work environment to some of the other officers in his
department that have nicer offices, he feels additional dissatisfaction with
his job. Another area of dissatisfaction for Mr. Callahan has to do with
his supervisor. He considers his supervisor to be a micro-manager, and
finds working under his direction to be suppressive. The banker also has
more experience doing investigative work than his supervisor, and is bothered
even more by his micro-managing for this reason.
Overall, social comparisons to other New
Jersey Bank employees have produced negative and hostile feelings for Mr.
Callahan, which have contributed to most of the dissatisfaction he feels with
his job.
Disposition
Although Mr. Callahan states that his home
life is positive, due to the nature of his work, he has a more cynical view of
life. He feels this cynicism would have developed regardless of whether he was
happy with his department or not. He deals with the worst of the fraud
and theft offenders and considers himself to be jaded in the sense that
it’s hard for him to find the good in people. His job forces him to study
people in order to determine what motivates them to cheat others, and over the
years this has had an influence on his overall disposition. Mr.
Callahan’s disposition is leading to negative affectivity from working in his position which in turn affects his
position. In other words, one could say Mr. Callahan is
spiraling into job dissatisfaction. As he is impacted by the
horrors of his victims and perpetrators his disposition becomes more negative
which in turn has him respond more negatively to other aspects of his job
creating overall job dissatisfaction.
Despite feeling increasingly negative towards
his position at work, Mr. Callahan feels fulfilled outside of work through time
spent with his wife and children, serving in the United States Air Force,
and refereeing for midget football, which he finds to be healthy distractions
from his dissatisfaction with work.
Correlates of Job Satisfaction
Although a good deal of research has been
conducted, the relationship between job satisfaction and other factors of work
is shown to be strictly correlational. Due to the complex nature of these
relationships, research has been unable to tell which factor is the primary
influence on an employee’s level of satisfaction. Therefore, it is
concluded that job satisfaction and other factors affecting one’s job are
related, but it is not possible to tell which factor is causing the
satisfaction or dissatisfaction. By examining Mr. Callahan’s case on the
basis of performance, absenteeism, and turnover, there is a better
understanding of the correlates contributing to his
overall global job satisfaction.
Performance
The relationship between job satisfaction and
performance has been studied for over 40 years, and there has been an overall
weak relationship found between the two constructs. A meta-analysis
conducted by Iaffaldano and Muchinsky (1985), “found the correlation
between satisfaction and performance to be only .17” (The Pennsylvania
State University, 2011).
According to the Global Model of Performance,
“performance is determined by ability, motivation, and opportunity”
(The Pennsylvania State University, 2011). As indicated by Mr. Callahan’s
22-year tenure and promotion to branch manager in 1993, it can be concluded
that his ability level is high. However, the lack of opportunity for a
Vice President position has led to feelings of dissatisfaction with his job.
This has in turn led to a decrease in motivation. When opportunity for a
promotion was viewed as viable through exhibiting superior performance, the
banker was motivated to go “above and beyond.” When opportunity
was shown to be available only through office politics and networking, his
motivation to excel decreased and his attitude became negative. Although
his satisfaction had gone down, he still continued to work on his cases
relentlessly without a noticeable decrease in his performance. However,
his performance did decrease somewhat, since he is no longer going the extra
mile. The small change in performance, instead of a drastic change, could
be attributed to the motivation he gets from his desire to continuing to help innocent
victims of fraud and theft. He could also be motivated from his desire to
keep his job, and to reach retirement and receive his pension. Therefore,
he maintains a minimum level of performance. There are several
correlates to his motivation, however there is not one single factor that
is causing his motivation.
Absenteeism
There has been an overall weak relationship
found between job satisfaction and absence. While a dissatisfied worker
may choose to miss work, a satisfied employee may not be able to attend work
due to various circumstances. Compared to a dissatisfied worker, a
satisfied employee is more likely to attend work if they have a minor illness,
such as a cold or headache. When factors such as excused versus unexcused
absences and organizational sanctions for absenteeism are taken into account, a
small, but consistent negative relationship is found between the two constructs
(The Pennsylvania State University, 2001).
Mr. Callahan is given a good bit of
vacation time and uses it liberally, but will call off ‘sick’ a couple of times
a month just in order to avoid reporting to work. If his case load is light it
is not uncommon for him to call off sick 1 to 2 days a month, but these are in
reality days to take a break rather than there being an illness. There is no
penalty for calling off because employees are given an absurd amount of sick
days, but upon retirement employees are given a bonus for the amount of sick
days they have remaining which deters some people from taking too many.
Employees are initially given 100 sick days and receive an additional sick day
per month. Employees receive a bonus of $100 per remaining sick day, or a
bonus of $10,000 if all sick days are remaining. In order to
receive the bonus employees must have at least 55 sick days remaining.
Because of job dissatisfaction, Mr. Callahan is more likely to be absent
from work but he has maintained an attendance level that will qualify him for a
bonus upon retirement. Vacation time is very satisfactory (9 weeks/year)
but he must schedule these in advance, so there is no way to call off last
minute ‘on vacation’. There are no other types of personal days.
One can determine from examining the detective’s case study, that his job
dissatisfaction is correlated to absenteeism, since burnout and lack of desire
to be at work has caused him to be absent.
