Human Resource Management Employees Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Human Resources Management Employee Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

The research by Saari & Judge (2004) does lay the foundation of three specific gaps between the Human Resources practice and the scientific research that support theories that provide insight onto how to properly integrate workers into a workforce to meet organizational goals and the mission. The gaps outlined by Sarri & Judge are below.

The Causes of Employee Attitudes

The Results of Positive or Negative Job Satisfaction

How To Measure and Influence Employee Attitude

The Causes of Employee Attitudes are a subdivided into core categories including Dispositional Influences, Cultural Influences, Work Situation Influences. The gaps are a function of these categories as the real job work environment is subject to differentiation and variation from the underlying theory. "In addition, one of the most important areas of the work situation to influence job satisfaction -- the work itself -- is often overlooked by practitioners when addressing job satisfaction." (Sarri, Judge, 2004)

The research from prior work in the area of theoretical behavioral approaches within the work place has revealed an interesting thesis to why some are more likely to integrate and work within a structured system at the work place. Although many systems are unstructured, the worker may not have the most appropriate skill set to utilize such an environment. "Researchers have begun to explore the psychological processes that underlie dispositional causes of job satisfaction. For example, Weiss and Cropenzano (1996) suggest that disposition may influence the experience of emotionally significant events at work, which in turn influences job satisfaction. Similarly, Brief (1998) and Motowidlo (1996) have developed theoretical models in an attempt to better understand the relationship between dispositions and job satisfaction." (Sarri, Judge, 2004)

Additionally research from Durkheim and others "found that a key personality trait, core self-evaluation, correlates with (is statistically relevant to) employee job satisfaction." (Sarri, Judge, 2004) The research reveals that extraverted personalities and an autonomous work ethic (Sarri, Judge), which are somewhat divergent, are the most critical aspects to job satisfaction. Extraverted personalities are not normally found working autonomously. Additionally, the extraverted personality is often reprimanded by management for interfering with the work of others and not focusing on their own work.

Cultural influences and Work Situation Influences are also had a major impact on the relative happiness of an employee on the job. The Hofstede research (1980, 1985) was comprehensive in nature and covered 67 countries (Sarri, Judge, 2004) and "found the four cross cultural dimensions are individualism-collectivism; uncertainty avoidance vs. risk taking; power distance, or the extent to which power is unequally distributed; and masculinity/femininity, more recently called achievement orientation." (Sarri, Judge, 2004)

Since the study, much as changed within work environments and the work groups that are created when an employee is hired to work. Subsequent to achievement orientation, workers are often marginalized by work groups as the inherent biases and dissention to a particular idea is often facilitated. A true winner that always produces the best solution will often not have their idea worked on as often as should due to co-worker input that will often cause the idea to not be investigated.

The inability for the inclusion of the most appropriate ideas within the group environment is inherently restricting. Additionally, the notion of autonomous work teams that work on their own ideas yet convene to discuss particulars with their projects such that the work group is a collective brain that enables each other to progress. Often times, in college settings such as dormitories, these activities occur and are often the most appropriate means to achieve innovation. If the work place were more like a college dormitory, perhaps there would be further integration and success with respect to the organizational goal structure.

"In a study examining the importance of job attributes, employees ranked interesting work as the most important job attribute and good wages ranked fifth, whereas when it came to what managers thought employees wanted, good wages ranked first while interesting work ranked fifth (Kovach, 1995)." (Sarri, Judge, 2004) Wages have since become more important to many workers considering the outsourcing of jobs and the relative high cost of living throughout many parts of the world.

The second gap is with regard to Negative Job Satisfaction. Job Satisfaction and Job Performance (Sarri, Judge, 2004) are a function of a management fad and illusory (Iaffaldano & Muchinsky, 1985). That is, the "statistical correlation between job satisfaction and job performance was about .17." (Sarri, Judge, 2004) The low correlation is slightly positive but does indicate there is no correlation between job satisfaction and job performance. The coefficient of determination would tell how much of the variable of job satisfaction is explained by job performance.

"Consistent with the spillover model, a review of the research literature indicated that job and life satisfaction are correlated (average true score correlation: .44; Tait, Padgett, & Baldwin, 1989). Since a job is a significant part of one's life, the relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction makes sense -- one's job experiences spill over into one's life." (Sarri, Judge, 2004)

The practical view amongst the workforce is there is a correlation between one's outlook on life and one's satisfaction on the job. Barista's at Starbucks make from $10 to $12 USD on average however the job atmosphere and benefits for part time workers propels Starbucks as a nice place to work. Additionally, the level of life satisfaction for Starbucks employees is higher than for any other work with a comparable wage.

The third gap does focus on approaches to measuring and influencing employee attitudes. "In the research literature, the two most extensively validated employee attitude survey measures are the Job Descriptive Index (JDI; Smith, Kendall, & Hulin, 1969) and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ; Weiss, Dawis, England & Lofquist, 1967). The JDI assesses satisfaction with five different job areas: pay, promotion, coworkers, supervision, and the work itself." (Sarri, Judge, 2004)

These areas are a function of the second gap and therefor do not add much to the conversation. Pay was indicated by the research to not be as important as job satisfaction and responsibility. However, we know that many workers have chosen careers based on salary and we also know that many workers have bypassed Wall Street careers in favor of not-for-profits and other forms of work that are more intrinsically and perhaps spiritually rewarding.