In its most basic sense, job satisfaction is a positive emotional state resulting from evaluating one’s job experiences. Job dissatisfaction occurs when these expectations are not met. For example, if an employee expects clean and safe working conditions on the job, then the employee is likely to be dissatisfied if the workplace is dirty and dangerous.
Job satisfaction = A positive emotional state resulting from evaluating one’s job experiences.
Job satisfaction has many dimensions. Commonly noted facets are satisfaction with the work itself, wages, recognition, rapport with supervisors and coworkers, and chance for advancement. Each dimension contributes to an individual’s overall feeling of satisfaction with the job itself, but the “job” is defined differently by different people.
The number of people who are dissatisfied with their jobs nationally varies with the unemployment rate. Higher unemployment rates usually mean more dissatisfied workers because it is more difficult to change jobs, and people stay longer on jobs they do not like. Those workers who are mostly satisfied with their jobs vary from 60 to 85 percent of the total. These numbers are similar to those found in Europe when employees are asked about satisfaction with their jobs.
Individual managers seem to have a greater impact on employee satisfaction than the company itself.
There is no simple formula for predicting a worker’s satisfaction. Furthermore, the relationship between productivity and job satisfaction is not entirely clear. The critical factor is what employees expect from their jobs and what they are receiving as rewards from their jobs. Although job satisfaction itself is interesting and important, perhaps the “bottom line” is the impact that job satisfaction has on organizational commitment, which affects the goals of productivity, quality, and service.
If employees are committed to an organization, they are more likely to be more productive. Organizational commitment is the degree to which employees believe in and accept organizational goals and desire to remain with the organization.
Organizational Commitment = The degree to which employees believe in and accept organizational goals and desire to remain with the organization.
Research has revealed that job satisfaction and organizational commitment tend to influence each other. What this finding suggests is that people who are relatively satisfied with their jobs will be somewhat more committed to the organization and also that people who are relatively committed to the organization are more likely to have greater job satisfaction.
A logical extension of organizational commitment focuses specifically on continuance commitment factors, which suggests that decisions to remain with or leave an organization ultimately are reflected in employee absenteeism and turnover statistics. Individuals who are not as satisfied with their jobs or who are not as committed to the organization are more likely to withdraw from the organization, either occasionally through absenteeism or permanently through turnover.
1. ABSENTEEISM
Absenteeism is expensive, as seen in estimates that absenteeism nationally costs $505 per employee per year. Being absent from work may seem like a small matter to an employee. But if a manager needs 12 people in a unit to get the work done, and 4 of the 12 are absent most of the time, the unit’s work will probably not get done, or additional workers will have to be hired. Nationally, 7.2 days per employee are lost to absenteeism each year.
TYPES OF ABSENTEEISM
Employees can be absent from work for several reasons. Figure depicts the reasons for unscheduled absences. Clearly, some absenteeism is unavoidable. People do get sick and have family issues such as sick children that make it impossible for them to attend work. This is usually referred to as involuntary absenteeism. However, much absenteeism is avoidable; it is called voluntary absenteeism. Often, a relatively small number of individuals in the workplace are responsible for a disproportionate share of the total absenteeism in an organization.
Because illness, death in the family, and other personal reasons for absences are unavoidable and understandable, many employers have sick-leave policies that allow employees a certain number of paid absent days per year. Absenteeism tends to be highest in governmental agencies, utilities, and manufacturing firms.
Absenteeism is lowest in retail/wholesale firms, possibly because those industries use a large percentage of part-time workers.
Reasons for
Unscheduled Absences
MEASURING ABSENTEEISM
Controlling or reducing absenteeism must begin with continuous monitoring of the absenteeism statistics in work units. Such monitoring helps managers pinpoint employees who are frequently absent and the departments that have excessive absenteeism.
Various methods of measuring or computing absenteeism exist. One formula for computing absenteeism rates, suggested by the U.S. Department of Labor, is as follows:
CONTROLLING ABSENTEEISM
Controlling voluntary absenteeism is easier if managers understand its causes more clearly. However, there are a variety of thoughts on reducing voluntary absenteeism. Organizational policies on absenteeism should be stated clearly in an employee handbook and stressed by supervisors and managers. The policies and rules an organization uses to govern absenteeism may provide a clue to the effectiveness of its control. Studies indicate that absence rates are highly related to the policies used to control absenteeism.
Absenteeism control options fall into three categories: (1) discipline, (2) positive reinforcement, and (3) a combination of both. A brief look at each follows.
· Disciplinary approach: Many employers use a disciplinary approach. People who are absent the first time receive an oral warning, but subsequent absences bring written warnings, suspension, and finally dismissal.
· Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement includes such methods as giving employees cash, recognition, time off, or other rewards for meeting attendance standards. Offering rewards for good attendance, giving bonuses for missing fewer than a certain number of days, and “buying back” unused sick leave are all positive methods of reducing absenteeism.
· Combination approach: Combination approaches ideally reward desired behaviors and punish undesired behaviors. One of the most effective absenteeism control methods is to provide paid sick-leave banks for employees to use up to some level. Once that level is exhausted, then the employees may face the loss of some pay if they miss additional work unless they have major illnesses in which long-term disability insurance coverage would begin.
Another method is known as a “no-fault” absenteeism policy. Here, the reasons for absences do not matter, but the employees must manage their time rather than having managers make decisions about excused and unexcused absences.
Once absenteeism exceeds normal limits, then disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment can occur.
Some firms have extended their policies to provide a paid time-off (PTO) program in which vacation time, holidays, and sick leave for each employee are combined into a PTO account. Employees use days from their accounts at their discretion for illness, personal time, or vacation. If employees run out of days in their accounts, then they are not paid for any additional days missed. The PTO programs generally have reduced absenteeism, particularly one-day absences, but overall, time away from work often increases because employees use all of “their” time off by taking unused days as vacation days.
Like absenteeism, turnover is related to job dissatisfaction. Turnover occurs when employees leave an organization and have to be replaced. Excessive turnover can be a very costly problem, one with a major impact on productivity.
One firm had a turnover rate of more than 120% per year! It cost the company $1.5 million a year in lost productivity, increased training time, increased employee selection time, lost work efficiency, and other indirect costs. But cost is not the only reason turnover is important. Lengthy training times, interrupted schedules, additional overtime, mistakes, and not having knowledgeable employees in place are some of the frustrations associated with excessive turnover.
Turnover rates average about 16% per year for all companies, but 21% per year for computer companies. Computer companies average higher turnover because their employees have many opportunities to change jobs in a “hot” industry.
TYPES OF TURNOVER
Turnover often is classified as voluntary or involuntary. The involuntary turnover occurs when an employee is fired. Voluntary turnover occurs when an employee leaves by choice and can be caused by many factors. Causes include lack of challenge, better opportunity elsewhere, pay, supervision, geography, and pressure. Certainly, not all turnover is negative. Some workforce losses are quite desirable, especially if those workers who leave are lower-performing, less reliable individuals.
Turnover = Process in which employees leave the organization and have to be replaced.
MEASURING TURNOVER
The turnover rate for an organization can be computed in different ways. The following formula from the U.S. Department of Labor is widely used. (Separation means leaving the organization.)
Common turnover figures range from almost zero to over 100% per year, and normal turnover rates vary among industries. Organizations that require entrylevel employees to have few skills are likely to have higher turnover rates among those employees than among managerial personnel. As a result, it is important that turnover rates be computed by work units. For instance, one organization had a companywide turnover rate that was not severe—but 80% of the turnover occurred within one department. This imbalance indicated that some action was needed to resolve problems in that unit.
CONTROLLING TURNOVER
Turnover can be controlled in several ways. During the recruiting process, the job should be outlined and a realistic preview of the job presented, so that the reality of the job matches the expectations of the new employee. A good way to eliminate voluntary turnover is to improve selection and to better match applicants to jobs. By fine-tuning the selection process and hiring people who will not have disciplinary problems and low performance, employers can reduce involuntary turnover.
Good employee orientation also helps reduce turnover, because employees who are properly inducted into the company and are well-trained tend to be less likely to leave. Compensation also is important. A fair and equitable pay system can help prevent turnover. Inadequate rewards may lead to voluntary turnover, especially with employees such as salespeople, whose compensation is tied directly to their performance. Career planning and internal promotion can help an organization keep employees, because if individuals believe they have no opportunities for career advancement, they may leave the organization.
Finally, turnover may be linked to personal factors that the organization cannot control. This is particularly true with part-time workers. Here are some of the many reasons employees quit that cannot be controlled by the organization: (1) the employee moves out of the geographic area, (2) the employee decides to stay home for family reasons, (3) the employee’s spouse is transferred, or (4) a student employee graduates from college.
Even though some turnover is inevitable, organizations must take steps to control turnover, particularly that caused by organizational factors such as poor supervision, inadequate training, and inconsistent policies. HR activities should be examined as part of the turnover control efforts.
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