IMPACT OF JOB SATISFACTION ON PERFORMANCE OF EMPLOYEES

IMPACT OF JOB SATISFACTION ON PERFORMANCE OF EMPLOYEES

 

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Preamble

This chapter presents the framework of the study in addition to a review of empirical studies on impact of job satisfaction on performance of employees using General hospital Minna-Niger State.

2.2       Theoretical Framework

2.2.1    Five Psychological Theories of Motivation to Increase Performance

Several researches have been conducted for decades trying to find out what motivates our behaviour, how and why. Below are five popular theories of motivation that can help you increase workplace performance:

(a). Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

The Two factor theory of motivation (otherwise known as dual-factor theory or motivation-hygiene theory) was developed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg in the 1950s.

Analysing the responses of 200 accountants and engineers who were asked about their positive and negative feelings about their work, Herzberg found 2 factors that influence employee motivation and satisfaction…

1. Motivator factors – Simply put, these are factors that lead to satisfaction and motivate employees to work harder. Examples might include enjoying your work, feeling recognised and career progression.
2. Hygiene factors – These factors can lead to dissatisfaction and a lack of motivation if they are absent. Examples include salary, company policies, benefits, relationships with managers and co-workers. According to Herzberg’s findings, while motivator and hygiene factors both influenced motivation, they appeared to work completely independently of each other. While motivator factors increased employee satisfaction and motivation, the absence of these factors didn’t necessarily cause dissatisfaction. Likewise, the presence of hygiene factors didn’t appear to increase satisfaction and motivation but their absence caused an increase in dissatisfaction.

How to apply it to the workplace

According to Hoarer, (2012), this theory implies that for the happiest and most productive workforce, you need to work on improving both motivator and hygiene factors.

To help motivate your employees, make sure they feel appreciated and supported. Give plenty of feedback and make sure your employees understand how they can grow and progress through the company.

To prevent job dissatisfaction, make sure that your employees feel that they are treated right by offering them the best possible working conditions and fair pay. Make sure you pay attention to your team and form supportive relationships with them.

Don’t forget that all of your employees are different and what motivates one person might not motivate another. Anitha (2011) believes that benefits packages should not be one-size-fits all. “For true engagement to occur in a company you must first remove the issues that cause dissatisfaction – the baseline benefits offered by the company that satisfy the hygiene needs of the employee. Then you must focus on the individual and what they want out of their association with your enterprise.”

(b). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The Hierarchy of Needs theory was coined by psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”. The crux of the theory is that individuals’ most basic needs must be met before they become motivated to achieve higher level needs.

The hierarchy is made up of 5 levels:

1. Physiological – these needs must be met in order for a person to survive, such as food, water and shelter.
   2. Safety – including personal and financial security and health and wellbeing.
   3. Love/belonging – the need for friendships, relationships and family.
   4. Esteem – the need to feel confident and be respected by others.
   5. Self-actualisation – the desire to achieve everything you possibly can and become the most that you can be.

According to the hierarchy of needs, you must be in good health, safe and secure with meaningful relationships and confidence before you are able to be the most that you can be.

How to apply it to the workplace

Chip Conley cited in  Asif, (2010), founder of the Joie de Vivre hotel chain and Head of Hospitality at Airbnb, used the Hierarchy of Needs pyramid to transform his business. According to Chip, many managers struggle with the abstract concept of self actualization and so focus on lower levels of the pyramid instead. Conley found one way of helping with higher levels was to help his employees understand the meaning of their roles during a staff retreat.

“In one exercise, we got groups of eight housekeepers at a table and asked an abstract question: if someone from Mars came down and saw what you were doing as a housekeeper in a hotel, what name would they call you? They came up with “The Serenity Sisters,” “The Clutter Busters,” and “The Peace of Mind Police.” There was a sense that people were doing more than just cleaning a room. They were creating a space for a traveler who was far away from home to feel safe and protected.”

Conley’s team were able to realise the importance of their job to the company and to the people they were helping. By showing them the value of their roles, the team were able to feel respected and motivated to work harder. In order to get the most out of your team, you should also make sure you support them in other aspects of their lives outside work. Perhaps you could offer flexible working hours to give employees time to focus on their families and make sure they are paid fairly to help them feel financially stable.

(c). Hawthorne Effect

The Hawthorne Effect was first described by Henry A. Landsberger in 1950 who noticed a tendency for some people to work harder and perform better when they were being observed by researchers. The Hawthorne Effect is named after a series of social experiments on the influence of physical conditions on performance at Western Electric’s factory at Hawthorne, Chicago in the 1920s and 30s.

The researchers changed a number of physical conditions over the course of the experiments including lighting, working hours and breaks. In all cases, employee performance increased when a change was made. The researchers concluded that employees became motivated to work harder as a response to the attention being paid to them, rather than the actual physical changes themselves.

 

How to apply it to the workplace

According to Hoarer, (2012), the Hawthorne Effect studies suggest that employees will work harder if they know they’re being observed. While I don’t recommend hovering over your employees watching them all day, you could try providing regular feedback, letting your team know that you know what they’re up to and how they’re doing.

Showing your employees that you care about them and their working conditions may also motivate them to work harder. Encourage your team to give you feedback and suggestions about their workspace and development.

(d). Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory proposes that people will choose how to behave depending on the outcomes they expect as a result of their behaviour. In other words, we decide what to do based on what we expect the outcome to be. At work, it might be that we work longer hours because we expect a pay rise.

However, according to Asif, (2010), expectancy Theory also suggests that the process by which we decide our behaviours is also influenced by how likely we perceive those rewards to be. In this instance, workers may be more likely to work harder if they had been promised a pay rise (and thus perceived that outcome as very likely) than if they had only assumed they might get one (and perceived the outcome as possible but not likely)

Expectancy Theory is based on three elements:

1. Expectancy – the belief that your effort will result in your desired goal. This is based on your past experience, your self confidence and how difficult you think the goal is to achieve.
   2. Instrumentality – the belief that you will receive a reward if you meet performance expectations.
   3. Valence – the value you place on the reward.

Therefore, according to Expectancy Theory, people are most motivated if they believe that they will receive a desired reward if they hit an achievable target. They are least motivated if they don’t want the reward or they don’t believe that their efforts will result in the reward.

How to apply it to the workplace

The key here is to set achievable goals for your employees and provide rewards that they actually want. Rewards don’t have to come in the form of pay rises, bonuses or all-expenses paid nights out (although I find these are usually welcomed!) Praise, opportunities for progression and “employee of the month” style rewards can all go a long way in motivating your employees.

(e). Three-Dimensional Theory of Attribution

Attribution Theory explains how we attach meaning to our own, and other people’s, behaviour. There are a number of theories about attribution.

According to Deepti (2013), Bernard Weiner’s Three-Dimensional theory of attribution assumes that people try to determine why we do what we do. According to Weiner, the reasons we attribute to our behaviour can influence how we behave in the future. For example, a student who fails an exam could attribute their failure to a number of factors and it’s this attribution that will affect their motivation in the future.

Weiner theorised that specific attributions (e.g. bad luck, not studying hard enough) were less important than the characteristics of that attribution. According to Weiner, there are three main characteristics of attributions that can affect future motivation.

1. Stability – how stable is the attribution? For example, if the student believes they failed the exam because they weren’t smart enough, this is a stable factor. An unstable factor is less permanent, such as being ill. According to Weiner, stable attributions for successful achievements, such as passing exams, can lead to positive expectations, and thus higher motivation, for success in the future. However, in negative situations, such as failing the exam, stable attributions can lead to lower expectations in the future.
2. Locus of control – was the event caused by an internal or an external factor?

For example, if the student believes it’s their own fault they failed the exam, because they are innately not smart enough (an internal cause), they may be less motivated in the future. If they believed an external factor was to blame, such as poor teaching, they may not experience such a drop in motivation.

3. Controllability – how controllable was the situation? If an individual believes they could have performed better, they may be less motivated to try again in the future than someone who believes they failed because of factors outside of their control.

How to apply it to the workplace

Weiner’s Three-Dimensional theory of attribution has implications for employee feedback.

Make sure you give your employees specific feedback, letting them know that you know they can improve and how they can about it. This, in theory, will help prevent them from attributing their failure to an innate lack of skill and see that success is controllable if they work harder or use different strategies.

You could also praise your employees for showing an improvement, even if the outcome was still not correct. For example, you might praise someone for using the correct methodology even though the results weren’t what you wanted. This way, you are encouraging employees to attribute the failure to controllable factors, which again, can be improved upon in the future.

2.3       Conceptual Framework

2.3.1 Job Satisfaction

Akintayo (2011), defined job satisfaction as “a function of the Perceived relationship between what one wants from one’s job and what one perceives it as offering”. Presumably, this definition points to the importance of both dispositional and situational factors as determinants of job satisfaction.  According to Resheske, (2001), job satisfaction history dates back to early 1900’s with the situationist perspective on job satisfaction. Cranny, Smith & Stone 1992 cited in Resheske, (2001), states that satisfaction is determined by certain characteristics of the job and characteristics of the job environment itself. This view has been present in the literature since the first studies by Hauser, Taylor and the various projects at the Western Electric plants in Hawthorne.

These studies follow the assumption that when a certain set of job conditions are present a certain level of job satisfaction will follow. The Hawthorne Studies are considered to be the most important investigation of the human dimensions of industrial relations in the early 20th century. They were done at the Bell Telephone Western Electric manufacturing plant in Chicago beginning in 1924 through the early years of the Depression. The Hawthorne plant created an Industrial Research Division in the early 1920’s. Personnel managers developed experiments to explore the effects of various conditions of work on morale and performance (Brannigan & Zwerman 2001).  According to Resheske, (2001), “Today, reference to the “Hawthorne Effect” represent a situation in which the introduction of experimental conditions intended to identify significant aspects of behavior has the consequence of changing the behavior that it is intended to identify. The initial Hawthorne effect referred to the observation that the performance of the workers increased over time with every variation in the work conditions introduced by the experiments” (Brannigan & Zwerman 2001). In summary, these early studies initiated the quests and research on job satisfaction and perceived workers performance.

Current studies of the  21^st century as conducted by Anitha (2011), conducted study on the topic of a study on job satisfaction of paper mill employees ), This study analyse that Job satisfaction is a general attitude towards one’s job, the difference between the amount of reward workers receive and the amount they believe they should receive. Employee is a back bone of every organization, without employee no work can be done. So employee’s satisfaction is very important. Employees will be more satisfied if they get what they expected, job satisfaction relates to inner feelings of workers. She conclude that the organizations need to modify the reward system of the employees and promotions must be given based on merit, educational qualification and experience, and if these factors are given little more care, the company can maintain good workers with high level of satisfaction, organizational commitment and involvement. This will in turn lead to effectiveness and efficiency in their work which leads to increased performance

Bowen, (2000), posits that the  concepts of job satisfaction and motivation are clearly linked and invariably used interchangeably in practice Bowen,(2000). They further explain that job satisfaction describes or measures the extent of a person’s contentment in his or her job

Whiles motivation explains the driving force(s) behind the pursuit or execution of particular activities or a job. Herzberg as cited in Dawal and Taha (2006)., explains that both phenomena are linked through the influence each has on the other. He continues to giveexamples by saying that lower order needs otherwise known as hygiene factors and higher order needs also known as motivators as also concerning satisfaction and dissatisfaction flowing from these and the need to engender long term career satisfaction

2.3.2 Self Esteem

The notion that self-esteem is open to momentary changes is not new. James (1890) described self-esteem as similar to a barometer that rises and falls as a function of one’s aspirations and success experiences. He also noted that there is a certain average tone to the self-feelings people maintain that is largely independent of objective feedback that might contradict the self concept. Thus, although momentary self-evaluations may be context dependent, people derive their overall sense of self-esteem by averaging feelings about themselves across a number of different social situations.

The extent to which self-esteem fluctuates has been the subject of recent empirical investigation. Savin-Williams and Demo (1983) found that self-esteem fluctuated only slightly around a stable self-concept. They argued that such factors as social class, maturation, birth order, gender, and number of siblings are crucial for establishing a baseline from which fluctuations occur. Wells (1988) similarly found a stable baseline of self-esteem from which there were modest fluctuations, depending on with whom the subjects were interacting (self-esteem was lower for mothers when they were with children and higher when they were with adults) and on the interpersonal context of such social contacts. Thus, it appears that self-esteem is a relatively enduring disposition (Rosenberg, 1986) from which there is some degree of deviation. Given this, considerable research has been conducted with the goal of manipulating self-esteem, and there is agreement that self-evaluations do vary across situations (Wells, 1988).

It seems, therefore, that there is considerable theoretical and conceptual support for the notion that self-esteem can be temporarily altered, although the magnitude of such fluctuations does not appear to be large.

2.3.3 Organisational support

Organisational support has long been considered a key predictor of organisational commitment (Eisenberger et al. 1990). More specifically, Currie and Dollery (2006) found that organisational support was significant in predicting affective commitment and normative commitment; higher scores on organisational support were associated with higher commitment scores.

However organisational support did not significantly predict continuance commitment (Currie and Dollery, 2006). In a similar recent study, Allen et al. (2003) reported that organisational support mediated the relationship between human resource practices and organisational commitment. Social exchange and reciprocity theories (Gouldner, 1960; cited

in Allen et al., 2003) suggest that employees feel an obligation to help those who helped them. It is reasonable, therefore to expect that in organisational settings, organisational support will trigger a desire to repay benefits offered by the organisation by greater identification with the organisation (affective commitment), a feeling of obligation to the organisation (normative commitment) and relative increase in the costs of leaving the

organisation (thereby increasing continuance commitment).

2.3.4 Relationship between organisational support and organisational commitment

In Uganda, Onyinyi (2003) investigated the relationship between organisational support and organisational commitment among health workers and found a weak but significant relationship between the two variables. Similarly, Makanjee et al. (2006) found that organisational support positively influenced radiographers’ organizational commitment in

South African hospitals. Earlier, Ssemogerere (2003) had found that affective commitment was positively correlated with high quality psychological contract which has aspects of perceived organisational support such as fairness and meeting the individual’s needs and expectations on the job.

Judge, Locke, and Durham (1997) proposed a higher order construct they termed core self-evaluations or, more simply, positive self-concept. According to Judge et al. (1997), this construct is a broad dispositional trait that is indicated by four more specific traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability (low neuroticism). The core self evaluations construct was originally proposed as a potential explanatory variable in the dispositional source of job satisfaction. Subsequently, Judge and colleagues also have argued that the construct should be related to work motivation and, ultimately, to job performance (Judge, Erez, & Bono, 1998). Investigations of a link between core self-evaluations and job performance, however, are lacking.

Despite a lack of studies linking the core self-evaluations factor to job satisfaction and, especially, to job performance, three of the core traits (self-esteem, locus of control, and emotional stability) appear to be the most widely studied personality traits in personality and applied psychology. Yet, with the exception of emotional stability and job performance, we have found no meta analyses of the relationship between any of these traits with either job satisfaction or job performance. Thus, the purpose of the present study is to provide a quantitative review of the literature that examines the relationship of the four core self-evaluation traits with job satisfaction and job performance. This study determines whether general relationships exist and, if so, what the magnitudes of these relationships are. First, they considered self-esteem to be the most fundamental manifestation of core self-evaluations as it represents the overall value that one places on oneself as a person. Second, generalized self-efficacy—one’s estimate of one’s fundamental ability to cope, perform, and be successful—was viewed as an indicator of positive core evaluations. Third, internal locus of control was considered a manifestation of core evaluations because internals believe they can control a broad array of factors in their lives. Fourth and finally, emotional stability (low neuroticism), reflecting the tendency to be confident, secure, and steady, was argued to be indicative of core self-evaluations because it is a broad trait (one of the dimensions of the five-factor model of personality) that manifests one’s view of one’s emotional stability.

2.3.5 Organisational politics

This research argues that work place bullying can in some cases, be a form of organisational politics, that is, a deliberate competitive strategy from the perspective of the individual perpetrator. During the past decade workplace bullying and related terms such as mobbing, employee abuse, workplace aggression and victimisation have received growing attention in organisation research. Studies have shown that bullying not only has severe negative effects on the well-being of individual employees  but that it also has negative consequences for the organisations concerned. Some researchers have even tried to calculate the costs of bullying and shown that bullying can be costly both for individual organisations and for society as a whole, in terms of lost performance, increased absenteeism, and higher turnover of personnel. The negative outcomes of bullying thus make it important to increase our understanding of bullying as well as the mechanisms behind it, in order to ensure that management at all levels can take appropriate prevention and intervention measures to reduce the prevalence and mitigate the negative consequences of bullying on job satisfaction.

2.3.6 Working Environment

Job satisfaction is simply defined as the affective orientation that an employee has towards his or her work (Price, 2001). In other words, it is an affective reaction to a job that results from the comparison of perceived outcomes with those that are desired (Kam, 1998). Shortly, job satisfaction describes the feelings, attitudes or preferences of individuals regarding work (Chen, 2008). Furthermore, it is the degree to which employees enjoy their jobs (McCloskey and McCain, 1987). And also, it is possible to see a number of theories developed to understand its nature in literature. Vroom (1964), need/value fulfilment theory, states that job satisfaction is negatively related to the discrepancy between individual needs and the extent to which the job supplies these needs. On the other hand, Porter et.al (1974), collect the influences on job satisfaction in two groups of internal and external satisfactory factors. According to them, internal satisfactory factors are related to the work itself (such as feeling of independence, feeling of achievement, feeling of victory, self-esteem, feeling of control and other similar feeling obtained from work), whereas external satisfactory factors are not directly related to work itself (such as good relationships with colleagues, high salary, good welfare and utilities). So, the influences on job satisfaction can be also divided into work-related and employee-related factors (Glisson and Durick, 1988).

One of the most popular and researched measures of job satisfaction is the Job Descriptive Index (JDI). “The JDI is a 72-item adjective checklist type questionnaire developed by Smith, Kendall, and Hulin in 1969” (Gregson, 1991). This measure bases itself on five facets of job satisfaction. The first facet is the work itself, satisfaction with work itself is measured in terms of the core job characteristics such as autonomy, skill variety, feedback, task identity, and task significance (Hackman & Oldham, 1980). Supervision, the second facet, is measured in such ways as how supervisors provide feedback, assess employees performance ratings, and delegate work assignments. Co-workers, the third facet, are measured in terms of social support, networking, and possible benefits attached to those relationships (Cranny, Smith & Stone, 1992). Pay, the fourth facet, is an important source of satisfaction because it provides a potential source of self-esteem as well as the generic opportunity for anything money can buy (Brockner, 1988). Obviously satisfaction with pay is measured primarily by current income but also by opportunities for salary increases. Promotion is the final facet and the one that the JDI explicitly assesses how perceptions about the future can affect job satisfaction. Today the facets of the JDI are generally assessed by modifying the adjective checklist and using a Likert scale on statements such as, “opportunities for advancement are plentiful” measured from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree) (Cranny, Smith & Stone, 1992).

Job satisfaction is one of the most studied constructs in the areas of industrial organizational psychology, social psychology, organizational behavior, personnel and human resource management, and organizational management. This makes sense in that knowledge of the determinants, the consequences, and other correlates of job satisfaction can be vital to organizational success (Cranny, Smith & Stone, 1992). Proper management can only be attained through knowing what affects job satisfaction.

2.3.7 Concepts of Positive Affectivity and Negative Affectivity

Most researchers have based their studies on these five situational determinants of job satisfaction (pay, promotion, supervision, co-workers and the  work itself) without considering the effects of dispositional variables which have to do with trait stability or instability. Such dispositional determinants which also affect job satisfaction include positive affectivity and negative affectivity. The concepts of positive affectivity and negative affectivity have now been introduced into the study of organizations. Positive affectivity is an individual’s disposition to be happy across time and situations (Watson, 1984); negative affectivity is an individual’s disposition to experience discomfort across time and situations (Watson & Clark, 1984). Unlike the situational variables, positive affectivity and negative affectivity are personality variables. Proponents of these concepts ( Diener & Emmons, 1984; Watson & Clark, 198) have argued that positive and negative affectivity are related but distinct. Recent empirical evidence suggests that positive affectivity and negative affectivity might explain variations in employees’ job satisfaction.

1. Perceived Performance

Job involvement is a belief descriptive of the present job and tends to be a function of how much the job can satisfy one’s present needs (Ojo, 2005). Williams (2004) reported that employees do not get involved on the job only for self-relational interest fulfillment; they also get involved in the job because they let their emotions play a role. Becoming highly involved in the job often times a response to emotional rather than rational needs. Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) found out that job involvement is correlated with job satisfaction and efficiency on the job among the seasoned teachers Mendel (1997) perceived self-efficacy as people s` beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over event that affect their lives. Self-efficacy beliefs determine how people feel, think, motivate themselves and behave. Such beliefs produce these diverse effects through fours major processes. They are cognitive, motivational, affective and selection processes. A strong sense of efficacy enhances human accomplishment and personal well-being in many ways. Willey and Thomason (2004), reported that people with high assurance in their capabilities approach difficulties as challenges to be mastered rather than as threat to be avoided. Such an efficacious outlook fosters intrinsic interest and deep engrossment in activates.

 

Recent research on job satisfaction shows that although intrinsic and extrinsic motivations were initially conceived as a dichotomy and tend to influence efficiency on the job. Many researchers no longer hold to this notion (Akintayo, 2003,Willey and Thomason, 2004). Several studies showed that extrinsic and extrinsic rewards enhance job satisfaction; but could not necessarily foster organizational effectiveness (Akinola, 2001, Armstrong, 2002, and Mendel,1997). Washington and Watson (2000) submit that motivation and satisfaction are interrelated and that their interacting could be felt on workers` effectiveness and efficiency.

 

1. Promotion and Job Satisfaction:

According to Armstrong, (2002), “Promotion is a Shifting of employee for a job of higher significance and higher compensation. “The movement of an employee upward in the hierarchy of the organization, typically that leads to enhancement of responsibility and rank and an improved compensation package is a promotion.”  Many researchers give their opinion that job satisfaction is strongly correlated with promotion opportunities and there is a direct and positive association between promotional opportunities and job satisfaction. Managers who have been promoted feel more satisfaction with opportunities regarding promotion and have more expectations for future promotion (Willey and Thomason, 2004).

iii. Pay and Job Satisfaction:

Job satisfaction is an attitude of an employee over a period of his/her job so the factors of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction changes over the period of time. However, in today’s business climate of continuous changes and uncertainty, the importance of job satisfaction to organizational performance and individual can be “pay”.  According to Warr, (1999).Pay is defined as employee pay which is adequate for their normal expenses. The employee is satisfied with the pay and pay is paid according to work experience and is equal to work done. Primarily pay has been considered as the major factor for job satisfaction however other related factors like promotion, work efforts and the importance/challenge of the job are also taken into account.

1. Supervision and Job Satisfaction:

Supervision is measured in such ways as how supervisors provide feedback, assess employees performance ratings, and delegate work assignments. Understanding the nature of the employees work as well as portraying good example to the employees. Supervision is positively correlated to job satisfaction (Warr,1999).

1. The work itself and Job Satisfaction:

Satisfaction with work itself is measured in terms of the core job characteristics such as autonomy, skill variety, feedback, task identity, and task significance (Hackman & Oldham, 1975). The work itself also refers to the working environment of the workers and their perception about the job itself that they are responsible for.

vi Co-workers and Job Satisfaction:

Co-workers are measured in terms of social support, networking, and possible benefits attached to those relationships (Cranny, Smith & Stone, 1992). The co-worker is friendly, supportive and easy to participate in a discussion.

There are numerous theories which try to explain the antecedents and consequences of job satisfaction. Much of the research on satisfaction is based on motivation theories. In order to understand job satisfaction, it is important to understand what motivates employees at work.

Lawler categorized job satisfaction theories into either content theories or process theories. Content theories are based on various factors which influence job satisfaction. They focus on identifying the needs, drives and incentives/goals and their prioritization by the individual to get satisfaction (Luthans, 2005:240). Experts have been preparing multiple lists of biological, psychological, social and higher level needs of human beings. Interestingly, almost all the researchers categorize these needs into primary, secondary and high level employee requirements, which need to be fulfilled when the worker is needed to be motivated and satisfied. Process theories in contrast take into account the process by which variables such as expectations, needs and values interact with the job to produce job satisfaction.

Process theories are more concerned with ‘how the motivation takes place?’ Similarly, the concept of ‘expectancy’ from ‘cognitive theory’ plays dominant role in the process theories of job-satisfaction (Luthans, 2005:246). Thus, these theories strive to explain how the needs and goals are fulfilled and accepted cognitively (Perry et al., 2006). Several process-based theories have been suggested. Some of such theories have been used by researchers as hypotheses, tested and found them thought-provoking.

2.4       Empirical Review

According to Kaliski (2007) job satisfaction affects worker’s sense of achievement and success on the job. It is generally perceived to be directly linked to performance as well as to personal well-being. Job satisfaction implies doing a job one enjoys, doing it well and being rewarded for one’s efforts. Job satisfaction further implies enthusiasm and happiness with one’s work. Job satisfaction is the key ingredient that leads to recognition, income, promotion, and the achievement of other goals that lead to a feeling of fulfilment.

 

George (2008) observed that Job satisfaction is the collection of feeling and beliefs that people have about their current job. People’s levels of degrees of job satisfaction can range from extreme satisfaction to extreme dissatisfaction. In addition to having attitudes about their jobs as a whole. People also can have attitudes about various aspects of their jobs such as the kind of work they do, their co-workers, supervisors or subordinates and their pay.

Mullins( 2005) noted that job satisfaction is a complex and multifaceted concept which can mean different things to different people. Job satisfaction is usually linked with motivation, but the nature of this relationship is not clear. Satisfaction is not the same as motivation. Job satisfaction is more of an attitude, an internal state. It could, for example, be associated with a personal feeling of achievement, either quantitative or qualitative.

 

Luthans (1998) investigation evidence indicates that there is no strong linkage between satisfaction and performance. For example a comprehensive meta-analysis of the research literature finds only a.17 best estimate correlation between job satisfaction and performance . Satisfied workers will not necessarily be the highest producers. There are many possible moderating variables , the most important of which seems to be rewards. If people receive rewards they feel are equitable , they will be satisfies and this is likely to result in greater performance effort. Also, recent research evidence indicates that satisfaction may not necessarily lead to individual performance improvement but does lead to departmental and organizational level improvements. Finally there is still considerable debate weather satisfaction leads to performance or performance leads to satisfaction.

 

Paramer and East (1993) have discussed previous job satisfaction research among Ohio academic library support staff using Paul E. Specter’s job satisfaction survey. The 434 respondents indicated general satisfaction among females with less experience who worked in public services. Tregone (1993) tried to determine the levels of cooperation of media specialists and public librarians. A significant correlation was shown between the level of satisfaction and the type of library, although librarians in public libraries showed greater satisfaction.

 

Stempien & Loeb(2002) observed that uncertainty of job expectations, volume of work, incompatibility of expectations, and work-family conflict increase emotional exhaustion, and uncertainty of expectations decreases job satisfaction.

 

Ologunde (2005) found that satisfaction with the nature of work is negatively related to turnover intention in hersample of University Teachers in South-western Nigeria. Koh and Goh (1995) also found that satisfaction with the nature of work was negatively associated with turnover intention in their sample of clerical employees in the banking industry in Singapore. This relationship it is believed will hold for other jobs and industries likewise.

 

Debrah (1993) in her study noted that a supervisor with poor interpersonal skills and who is also inflexible very quickly drives employees away. Muchinsky (1990) argues that insufficient information on how to perform the job adequately, unclear expectations of peers and supervisors, ambiguity of performance evaluation methods, extensive job pressures, and lack of consensus on job functions or duties may cause employees to feel less involved and less satisfied with their jobs and careers, less commitment to their organization, and eventually display a propensity to leave the organization. If roles of employees are not clearly spelled out by management/supervisors, this would accelerate the degree of employees quitting their jobs due to lack of role clarity.