Motivation And Productivity Related To Job Satisfaction

Essay, Research Paper

Abstract

The relationship between job satisfaction, motivation, and efficiency or productivity is very important in the business industry as well as in personal life. Long term research has found that the single greatest predictor of longevity is work satisfaction. Work is one third to one half of a persons’ lifetime, and if frustrated the mental and physical effects are very costly. Job characteristics including skill variety, task identity, and task significance lead to psychological conditions in which in turn leads to increased motivation, performance and job satisfaction. It is important to investigate this area in order to determine how much of an effect does overall job satisfaction, motivation and productivity have on each other. It is also important to research the relationship between job satisfaction because it can assist businesses in designing and manufacturing an environment to maximize productivity and efficiency while keeping their employees satisfied. Finally, it is significant to study because it can help people better understand what job will best suit them to be motivated and satisfied while making a difference in the productivity level.

Job satisfaction is the met expectations or desires of a job. I t is a collective term of specific attitudes about work or job and it varies as a function of other non-work attitudes (age, health, etc.). Genetic research suggests that 30% to 40% of job satisfaction is inherited. Job satisfaction and life satisfaction are interrelated and influence each other. A gallup 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 varies with the type of occupation, for example, higher management means more satisfaction. Personal characteristics of workers also has an impact on job satisfaction. Job satisfaction increases age. Whites have greater job satisfaction than non-whites. 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 prosocial behaviors.

Motivation at work stimulates the interest of a person in an activity. Motivation at works is very complex because there are multiple motives operating at the same time. Goals motivate and guide workers’ behaviors. Specific goals are better than general goals and little difficulty is better than easy goals. The degree of expectancy determines how much effort is put forth, people will work hard if they expect the effort will pay off. Increased job enrichment which includes more control at work and a high number of tasks to perform leads to high motivation. Stress on the job reduces motivation and productivity. The specific needs to achieve and accomplish motivate people. Recognition and responsibility also help in motivating people to perform at their maximum ability.

Productivity or efficiency is acting effectively with minimum waste or effort. An integration of leadership, work conditions, and climate factors have an effect on increased productivity. Environment of work space can facilitate performance. Physical conditions, psychological conditions, and temporal conditions at work effect efficiency. Overall job satisfaction and motivation work together to increase performance on the job.

The Fisher (2000) study examined six different hypothesized relationships between work satisfaction and mood and emotions. The six hypotheses include the following: “1) Mood and positive and negative emotions while working will be significantly related to overall job satisfaction. 2) Mood and emotion measures will be more strongly related to the Faces scale of overall job satisfaction than the Job In- General Scale and the Facet-free Job Satisfaction Scale. 3) Satisfaction with the work itself will be the facet which is most strongly correlated with mood and emotions while working. Satisfaction with pay and promotion will be the facets least strongly related to mood and emotions while working. 4) Positive and negative emotion measures will each contribute unique variance to the prediction of overall job satisfaction. 5) Affect measures will contribute to the prediction of overall job satisfaction above and beyond the contribution of facet measures of satisfaction. 6) Frequency of experiencing net positive emotion will be a better predictor of overall job satisfaction than will intensity of positive emotion when it is experienced, (Fisher, 2000).”

In the Fisher (2000) there were 125 employed adults from 65 different organizations to participate in the study. Each participant completed questionnaires to determine affective experiences at work. Experience sampling methodology was used to find around 50 reports of immediate mood and emotions over a two week period.

The results from the Fisher (2000) study indicated that all the hypotheses were supported to a certain extent. Real time affect is correlated to overall satisfaction, but it is not the exact same as satisfaction. Moment to moment affect is more intensely correlated to a faces of measure of satisfaction than to more verbal measures of satisfaction. In the Fisher (2000) study, the results suggested that positive and negative emotions both have a profound effect in predicting overall satisfaction. In conclusion, affect while working is a missing piece of overall job attitude.

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 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.

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’ mood state at four different times during the workday. The diaries were completed for 16 workdays. 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 responsivity. Dispositional happiness was measured using two brief self-report measures of general happiness.

The results indicated that average levels of pleasant mood over the 16 workdays and VIE beliefs about the job made important and individual contributions to the prediction of overall job satisfaction. These contributions were over and above the contributions of dispositional happiness. Also, the results showed that independent differences in affective intensity predicted changes in reports of pleasantness and average activation levels. Finally, the results indicated that global job satisfaction judgments are a function of both episodic affective experiences and beliefs about the job. Overall, the hypotheses that Weiss et al. (1999) predicted were proven correctly.

The Weiss et al. (1999) study was important to examine because it can help the business industry better understand employees’ mood and overall job satisfaction. This study was also important to businesses because it shows that two key components (episodic affective experiences and beliefs about the job) are integrated by employees to make a satisfaction judgment. These components can explain why an employee has made a specific evaluation on their job. The Weiss et al. study could have tested more participants in order to get more reliable results. Even though there is sizable literature on job satisfaction, more conceptual thinking and research in this area is needed.

The Igalens and Roussel (1999) study tried to determine how the factors of total compensation might impact work motivation and job satisfaction. Two samples of employees were studied separately in order to recognize the unlike reactions between the two groups. The two groups of samples, French exempt employees and French nonexempt employees, were asked to complete a questionnaire. The word exempt means free from obligations imposed by others. The relationships between the factors of total compensation, work motivation and job satisfaction were investigated using a series of three scales and a structural equations model with Lisrell VII. Proposals were created to suggest the circumstances of compensation efficiency on work motivation and job satisfaction in the cultural structure of employment in France.

The Igalens and Roussel (1999) study concluded that under specific stipulations, independent compensation of the exempt employees can be a determinant of work motivation. Also, flexible pay of nonexempt employees neither motivates nor increases job satisfaction. Finally, benefits of exempt employees neither motivate nor increase job satisfaction.

The purpose of the Venkatesh and Speier (1999) study was to determine how a person’s state of mind during technology training affected motivation, intentions, and the usage of the new technology. The researchers also examined if these feelings about technology training disappear or if they are held over time.

The effect of mood on employee motivation and intentions when employing a specific computer technology was tested at two different periods of time: immediately after the training and 6 weeks after the training, using a repeated-measures field study. The Venkatesh and Speier (1999) study included 316 participants of which 104 were women and 212 were men. All the participants had previous experience using computers, but none of them had prior knowledge about or experience with the database training that occurred during this specific study. There were a total of five teams, in which each team was comprised of a lecturer and technical consultant who conducted each training session. Each employee of the midsize accounting firm (3 separate branches) was randomly assigned to one of three mood treatments: positive, negative, or control. The control was used to minimize any effects due to a specific training team. Twenty- five minute video clips were used to induce positive and negative moods, while a twenty-five minute waiting period was used to create a neutral mood in a manner consistent with prior research. There were a total of 227 usable responses in the mood intervention. Participants then engaged in the training program developed by the organization’s technology management department. Extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, and behavioral intention were all measured using validated scales containing a total of 9 items.

The results suggested that there were only short term increases in intrinsic motivation and intention to use the technology among individuals in the positive mood intervention. Regardless, a long term decrease of intrinsic motivation and intention was observed among those in the negative mood condition. Regression analyses revealed the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on usage was fully mediated by behavioral intention, therefore providing support for the examination of behavioral intention as the key dependent variable.

The Venkatesh and Speier (1999) study was important to investigate because the short and long term effects of employee mood (at the time of computer technology training) on the motivation and intention to use the specific technology is an overlooked topic. This study can help businesses understand employees’ moods and intentions. It was crucial that this study was researched over a period of time, so that it could examine employees substantially. Also, these findings have important theoretical and practical implications for employee training. Repetitive research should be done on this topic in order to grasp more knowledge and a better understanding on mood, training, and intentions.

The Wall, Kemp, Jackson, and Clegg (1986) study tried to determine the long term consequences after implementing self-managing workgroups in a manufacturing environment. The purpose of the new form of organization, autonomous workgroups, was to have employees use self-control over the pace of work, distribution of tasks, organization of breaks, and collective participation in the recruitment and training of new members.

Wall et al. (1986) intended to evaluate the effects of autonomous workgroups over a period of three years, beginning with the start up of production. The research was based on data collected from a total of 545 employees, of which 83 percent were women. The study was based on a quasi-experimental research design consisting of four conditions. These conditions included the main experimental group (all day shift employees), the second experimental group (all night shift employees), and two further nonequivalent control groups. The study had three measurement occasions which were after 6, 18, and 30 months of production. Information on employees, perceptions and attitudes were acquired by responses on questionnaires that were administered after each period of measurement.

The results suggested that a significant and lasting effect on employees’ basic internal job satisfaction, a more brief effect on extrinsic job satisfaction, and no effect on work motivation, job performance, and mental health. At an organizational level, enhancements in efficiency were made possible through the removal of supervisory positions. Also, labor turnover increased. Overall, the Wall et al. (1986) study demonstrated that autonomous workgroups had specific rather than wide-ranging effects on employee attitudes and behaviors.

The Wall et al. (1986) study was significant to investigate because it demonstrates the effects of work when the employees are in control. The study would help business supervisors increase their employees’ overall job satisfaction by allocating more control to their workers. More research should be done to indicate the positive and negative effects on autonomous workgroups.

All of these studies relate to job satisfaction, motivation, and productivity. They demonstrate factors that might related to possible relationships between the variables. These studies can help provide useful information to businesses as well as employees in creating maximum productivity with high job satisfaction and motivation. Overall these studies were significant in examining the causes and effects of the three variables that were being investigated.

In conclusion, the relationship between job satisfaction, motivation, and efficiency are influenced by each other. The effect that each variable can have on each other is significant. In order to help the entire business industry, it is crucial to understand the entire effects of job satisfaction, motivation , and efficiency. Further research should be done on this topic in order to understand the full relationship these factors have on each other.

Bibliography

Fisher, C.D. (2000). Mood and Emotions While Working: Missing Pieces of Job Satisfaction. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 185-202.

Weiss, H., & Nicholas, J., & Daus, C. (1999). An Examination of the Joint Effects of Affective Experiences and Job Beliefs on Job Satisfaction and Variations in Affective Experiences over Time. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 78 (1), 1-24.

Igalens, J., & Roussel, P. (1999). A Study of the Relationship Between Compensation Package, Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 1003-1025.

Venkatesh, V., & Speier, C. (1999). Computer Technology Training in the Workplace: A Longitudinal Investigation of the Effect of Mood. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 79 (1), 1-28.

Wall, T., & Kemp, N., & Jackson, P., & Clegg, C. (1986). Outcomes of Autonomous Workgroups: A Long-Term Field Experiment. Academy of Management Journal, 29 (2), 280-304.