Q1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using regular attitude surveys to monitor employee job satisfaction?

Answer:

Employees have attitudes or viewpoints about many aspects of their jobs, their careers, and their organizations. How ever, from the perspective of research and practice, the most focal employee attitude is job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction is an individual’s general attitude toward his/her job. Managers should be interested in their employees’ attitudes because attitudes give warnings of potential problems and because they influence behaviour.

There are various ways that job satisfaction will be measured in organization. Some are as below:

Job satisfaction and job performance:

Theoretically, when employees are not satisfied with their job, they are more likely to have low morale in and low commitment to that job, and high absenteeism is just a reflection of the low morale and low commitment. Obviously, if organization fails to reduce the absenteeism, various negative effects may arise. Directly, the absenteeism will negatively affect those employees themselves and the teams to which they belong in performing their tasks. Indirectly, the high absenteeism rate will have various negative effects on the overall organization, for example, it may result in evil cycle and worsen absenteeism among other employees, it may gradually reduce the morale of the whole pool of employees.

In order to deal with high absenteeism,

1. Organization should make efforts to improve job satisfaction, and obviously, high job satisfaction will reduce absenteeism.

2. The company should launch relevant policies and regulation to deal with high absenteeism, for example, linking reward to non-absenteeism, incorporating absenteeism as criteria for performance management, and others.

Job satisfaction and turnover:

Employee turnover is defined as the number of employees leaving the organisation for over a period of time. Turnover is associated with a variety of factors, such as personal factors, organization factors, and others. But it is widely recognized that low job satisfaction is one of the most important factors for high turnover. In reality, high turnover will cause serious negative impacts on organization.

1. it may directly cause waste of the company in terms of recruitment and selection and training.

2. High turnover may negatively affect the morale of the whole pool of employees

3. High turnover may hinder organization from performing business in continual and stable way

4. High turnover is always to deliver a negative corporate image to the outside, and many others.

Thus it is critical for organization to reduce turnover and ensure a relatively stable pool of employees. How to achieve this goal?

Firstly, improving job satisfaction is a must. Because low job satisfaction is one of the most important factors for high turnover, improving job satisfaction should be effective to reduce turnover.

Secondly the company should develop attractive policies and regulations to retain employees, for example, valuing and respecting people, balancing the individuals’ needs and the organizational needs, and others.

Job satisfaction and Productivity:

In a manufacturing or production industry, low production should eventually be apparent , though it may still take a lot of management efforts to discover that the cause is employee discontent , rather than faults in production methods or working arrangements.

Other Factors:

In a retail or service organisation, it may be relevant to consider the numbers & types of comments or complains received from customers about staffs who are not considerate.

Other relevant statistics might include recruitment or job application statistics. If advertisements consistently attract low numbers of suitable applicants, even though salaries appear to be competitive, this might indicate something about perception of the organisation among the workforce as well as community at large.

The two most widely used approaches for measuring Job satisfaction are “single global rating” and “a summation score made up of a number of job facets.”

a. The single global rating method is nothing more than asking individuals to respond to one question, such as “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your job?”

b. A summation of job facets is more sophisticated:

It identifies key elements in a job and asks for the employee’s feelings about each one ranked on a standardized scale.

Typical factors that would be included are the nature of the work, supervision, present pay, promotion opportunities, and relations with co-workers.

Comparing these approaches, simplicity seems to work as well as complexity. Comparisons of one-question global ratings with the summation-of-job-factors method indicate both are valid.

KEY STEPS IN DEVELOPING AN ATTITUDE SURVEY

Generally, the following steps should be completed in sequence:

1. Decide what you want to find out;2. Select who designs the survey;3. Determine how the survey will be conducted;4. Check the sample in-house;5. Communicate with employees about the survey;6. Decide who will analyze the results and how the results will be communicated.

An effective employee survey is one that would elicit answers to crucial questions. In designing these survey instruments, employers must ensure that two basic questions are asked:

Are employees getting what they want out of the employment relationship?

Is there some gripe about working conditions or supervisors that can be corrected by management?

Design tips.

Be specific about what you want to find out--asking too much makes it more complex and costly to analyze survey results. But enough questions should be asked to get the answers an organization needs to make decisions.

Get input from those who will need to use the survey results --even if an outside consultant is designing and conducting the survey.

Regardless of how the survey is conducted, confidentiality must be guaranteed.

In many instances, when an outside organization develops the survey, employees will be more convinced of the company’s sincerity if they see money being spent on the survey’s administration and follow-up.

Announcement of the survey should come from the company’s top officer, by letter to all employees some three or four weeks before the survey, emphasizing that (1) the survey will preserve the anonymity of the responder and (2) who will analyze the questionnaires.

Don’t include questions on things that the company can’t change; Management must be prepared to make a thorough review of the

results and make specific commitments. Communicating survey results to employees is best done in face-

to-face meetings with employee groups and supplemented by dissemination of results in newsletter or letter to employees;

Follow-up is important; if one or two departments are particularly negative, consider an additional survey and/or personal interviews with groups or randomly selected employees.

Surveys should be conducted annually (but not if commitments from an earlier survey have yet to be fulfilled).

Due to the importance of job satisfaction, more and more organizations adopt regular attitudinal surveys to monitor employee job satisfaction i.e It has various advantages like:

1. It promotes to monitor job satisfaction in a continual approach. Because employees’ job satisfaction changes from time to time, continually measuring and monitoring their job satisfaction is critical for organization to satisfy their changing demands and requirements Managers present the employee with set statements or questions to obtain specific information.

2. Repetition of survey provides comparative benchmarks against which results can be judged.

3. Because the survey is held regularly, employees grow accustomed to the process. They have fewer worries about participating.

4. Policies and practices that management views as objective and fair may be seen as inequitable by employees in general or by certain groups of employees and can lead to negative attitudes about the job and the organization.

5. Employee behaviours are often based on perceptions, not reality. Often employees do not have objective data from which to base their perceptions.

6. The use of regular attitude surveys can alert management to potential problems and employees’ intentions early so that action can be taken to prevent repercussions.

7. It offers effective techniques comprising various proved items to measure and monitor job satisfaction. And organization can easily use these techniques to monitor job satisfaction among their employees.

But regular attitude survey also has a couple of drawbacks.

1. The use of surveys may create an expectation for change that may or may not actually come about.

2. Poor response rate because participants get busy, forget, or don’t see as a priority or the survey gets lost in the vast number of e-mails received each day.

A potential solution is to send reminder notes to encourage participation.

3. A perception of less confidentiality if company officials have access to files and individual responses. And so the collected data may not reflect the reality because employees may hide their opinions.

A potential solution is to encourage employees not to associate their name with the individual surveys. Even the survey can typed by the employee so to avoid recognition of handwriting.

4. Because the organization is completely “hands-off,” there may be an impression that there is little support or interest from the top management echelons.

A potential solution is to hold meetings prior to the survey to explain the purpose of the survey and express its importance.

5. Resistance to shutting down the company to complete the survey.

A potential solution is Administer the survey in small groups so that someone is always on duty.

6. Costly and time consuming Process. Preparing a good Questioner is difficult

Q2: Motivation comes from within a person or is it a result of situation-critically examine.

Answer:

A hen can supply the necessary heat for an egg to be hatched but the chick has to come out on its own will. Only if the chick has the necessary will, vigour and motivation will it come out. No hen can supply these qualities.

Fundamentally, all motivation comes from within.  Self motivation, internal motivation or intrinsic motivation are used interchangeably to describe the same motivational factors that come from within a person.

While it is certainly recognized that external factors can motivate us, this is a secondary factor.  For external forces to be effective in motivating us, they must be in harmony with one of our intrinsic motivational factors.

Intrinsic motivation is defined as the doing of an activity for its inherentsatisfactions rather than for some separable consequence. When intrinsically motivated, a person is moved to act for the fun or challenge entailed rather than because of external prods, pressures, or rewards. The phenomenon of intrinsic motivation was first acknowledged within experimental studies of animal behaviour, where it was discovered that many organisms engage in exploratory, playful, and curiosity-driven behaviours even in the absence of reinforcement or reward (White, 1959). These spontaneous behaviours, although clearly bestowing adaptive benefits on the organism, appear not to be done for any such instrumental reason, but rather for the positive experiences associated with exercising and extending ones capacities.

In humans, intrinsic motivation is not the only form of motivation, or even of volitional activity, but it is a pervasive and important one. From birth onward, humans, in their healthiest states, are active, inquisitive, curious, and playful creatures, displaying a ubiquitous readiness to learn and explore, and they do not require extraneous incentives to do so. This natural motivational tendency is a critical element in cognitive, social, and physical development because it is through acting on one’s inherent interests that one grows in knowledge and skills. The inclinations to take interest in novelty, to actively assimilate, and to creatively apply our skills is not limited to childhood, but is a significant feature of human nature that affects performance, persistence, and well-being across life’s epochs.

Although, in one sense, intrinsic motivation exists within individuals, inanother sense intrinsic motivation exists in the relation between individuals and activities. People are intrinsically motivated for some

activities and not others, and not everyone is intrinsically motivated for any particular task.

Malone and Lepper have integrated a large amount of motivational research into a summary of seven ways we, can design environments that are self motivating.

Motivation through Challenges

Individuals are motivated when they are working towards personally meaningful goals.  Attainment of those goals must require activity that is increasingly difficult, but attainable.  In other words, people like to be challenged, but they must feel their goals are achievable to stay motivated.  This can be accomplished by:

1. Establishing goals that are personally meaningful2. Making those goals possible3. Providing feedback on performance4. Aligning goals with the individual's self esteem

Motivation through Curiosity

In this concept of self motivation we are talking about providing something in the individual's environment that arouses their curiosity.  This can be accomplished by presenting the individual with something that connects their present knowledge or skills with a more desirable level - if the person were to engage in a certain activity.  So to motivate someone through curiosity, the environment must stimulate their interest to learn more.

Motivation through Control

Most people like to feel they are in control of their destiny.  They want to feel in control of what happens to them.  To stay motivated, individuals must understand the cause and effect relationship between an action they will take and the result.  To motivate individuals through the use of control you can:

1. Make the cause and effect relationship clear by establishing a goal and its reward

2. Allow individuals to believe that the work they do does make a difference

3. Allow individuals to choose what they want to learn and how to go about learning it

Motivation through Fantasy

Another intrinsic motivating factor comes via fantasy.  That is individuals can use mental images of things and / or situations that are not actually present to motivate themselves.  You can foster motivation through fantasy by helping individuals imagine themselves in situations that are motivating.

For example, if you know that someone is highly motivated by the thought of being in control, then you can talk to them about a future point in time when they might be in charge of of a large and important business operation.

Motivation through Competition

Individuals can also be motivated by competition.  That's because we gain a certain amount of satisfaction by comparing our performance to that of others.  This type of competition can occur naturally as well as artificially.

When using competition to foster motivation, keep in mind the following:

1. Competition is more motivating to some than others2. Losing in a competition de-motivates more than winning motivates3. Competitive spirits can sometimes reduce the likelihood of being

helpful to competitors

Motivation through Cooperation

Cooperating with others or the feeling that you can help others is very motivating.  Most individuals feel quite satisfied by helping others achieve their goals.  As was the case with competition, motivation through cooperation can occur naturally or artificially.

When attempting to use cooperating to motivate, keep in mind:

1. Cooperation is more important to some individuals than others2. Cooperation is a valuable skill that can be used in many different

situations3. Interpersonal skills are important for cooperation

Motivation through Recognition

Finally, individuals are motivated through recognition.  When their accomplishments are recognized by others, then they feel motivated.  You need to make sure that recognition is distinguished from competition.  With recognition you do not compare their achievements to those of others as you might with a competition. Everyone enjoys being "in the know.” People want to have influence and feel as if they sharepower within the organization. A manager should show that he or she values every person in the organization. It'll translate into a more motivated membership

Characteristics of Intrinsically versus Extrinsically Motivated Employees 1. Extrinsically motivated Employees are more likely to quit after

failure. If the task is complex, the intrinsically motivated employee is more likely to employ logical and efficient performance strategies

2. The intrinsically motivated employee is more likely to apply effective meta cognitive strategies.

3. The intrinsically motivated employee is more likely to take risks and to explore freely.

4. Employees who have previously been extrinsically motivated to do a job are less likely to engage in that job when external incentives are no longer available.

“Maslow’s hierarchy of needs” explains the theory of human motivation.

The lower four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "d-needs":

Physiological

Safety

Love / Belonging

Esteem

Self Actualization

Physiological needs

For the most part, physiological needs are obvious—they are the literal requirements for human survival. Physiological needs include:

Breathing Food, Water Shelter, sleep

Safety needs

With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take precedence and dominate behaviour.

Safety and Security needs include:

Personal security Financial security Health and well-being Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts

Love and Belonging

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layers of human needs are social and involve feelings of belongingness. This aspect of Maslow's hierarchy involves emotionally based relationships in general, such as:

Friendship Intimacy Family

Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues, confidants). This need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure;

Esteem

All humans have a need to be respected and to have self-esteem and self-respect. Also known as the belonging need, esteem presents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel accepted and self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. People with low self-esteem need respect from others. They may seek fame or glory, which again depends on others. Note, however, that many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally, but must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression can also prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.

Most people have a need for a stable self-respect and self-esteem. Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The higher one is the need for self-respect, the need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence and freedom. The latter one ranks higher because it rests more on inner competence won through experience. Deprivation of these needs can lead to an inferiority complex, weakness and helplessness.

Maslow stresses the dangers associated with self-esteem based on fame and outer recognition instead of inner competence.

Self-actualization

This level of need pertains to what a person's full potential is and realizing that potential. Maslow describes this desire as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming. This is a broad definition of the need for self-actualization, but when applied to individuals the need is specific. For example one individual may have the strong desire to become a manager.

ERG theorem is an improvement over Maslow’s theory. ERG stands for

“ Existence , Relatedness and Growth”

Existence Needs co-relate to Maslow's first two levels. This group of needs is concerned with providing the basic requirements for material existence, such as physiological and safety needs.

In a work context this need is satisfied by money earned in a job for the purchase of food, shelter, clothing, etc.

Relatedness Needs co-relate to Maslow's third and fourth levels. This group of needs focuses on the desire to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships with family, friends, co-workers and employers.

This need includes the need to interact with other people, receive public recognition, and feel secure around people.

In a work context and given the amount of time most people spend at work this need is normally satisfied to some extent by their relationships with colleagues and managers.

Growth Needs co-relate to Maslow's fourth and fifth levels. These needs are about the fulfilment of desires to be creative, productive and to complete meaningful tasks in order to build and enhance a person’s self-esteem through personal achievement.

These needs are all about by personal development. In a work context a person's job, career, or profession can provide a significant satisfaction of growth needs.