Self Improvement Books

Deckers Motivation

Aaron Decker

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction:

Introduction:

There are number of theories that relate to job satisfaction, Maslow’s need hierarchy theory is one of these theories that describe the hierarchical needs of employees which is related to job satisfaction. Other theories include the goal theory by Edwin Locke (1965) and the equity theory by John Adams (1965), all these theories describe ways in which employees can be motivated and therefore have higher job satisfaction levels. The following is a discussion of the meaning of motivation, job satisfaction and the theories that relate to job satisfaction.

Motivation:

According to Wong (2000, p.16) motivation refers to the internal urge or drive that activates human behaviour resulting in directing the individual toward achieving objectives, Motivational theory is concerned with the processes that describe how and why human behaviour is activated and directed to achieve certain outcome. Motivation Theory is an important field in organisation behaviour because the behaviour of employees can be analysed and result in deriving appropriate strategies that will improve organisational performance.

Job satisfaction:

Job satisfaction can be defined as a pleasing or optimistic psychological state ensuing from the appraisal of an individual’s job or job acquaintance. According to Latham, (1990) job satisfaction is an outcome of staff member’s opinion of “how well their job delivers those things that are viewed as important.” (Edwin 1990), some ways to increase job satisfaction include deploying efficient motivation programs which make employees more fulfilled with and committed to their jobs. This include better compensation packages, improving working conditions, fiscal benefits, staff training, availability of information, and enhanced internal communication (Armstrong,  2006)

Theories that relate to job satisfaction:

a. Need hierarchy theory:

This theory was developed by Abraham Maslow whereby he described the 5 hierarchy of needs, they include physiological needs, safety, social, esteem and self actualisation needs Deckers (2002, pp. 19-26). The lowest level of need is physiological needs and these needs include those required to sustain life and they include water and sleep Mullins (2007, pp. 63-67). When an individual has satisfied these needs he moves to higher needs and in this case an employee who has satisfied physiological needs will want to satisfy safety needs, therefore individuals will satisfy one need and move to higher needs.

This theory relates to job satisfaction in terms of meeting employee needs, employees are motivated to meet their needs in an organisation whereby motivation is associated with the unsatisfied needs, and therefore managers should understand workers needs and allow workers to satisfy their needs as a way of motivating them.

Individuals are likely to work hard if they expect that their needs will be met, also if workers expect to be rewarded they will be highly motivated, for this reason therefore it is important to understand employee needs and satisfy them, it is also important to understand the importance of these outcomes to employees, this way the most important needs should be met in order to motivate workers, for example from Maslow’s theory when workers have satisfied lower needs then it will be not important when an organisation tend to satisfy these lower needs because they are less important to them.

b. Equity theory:

John Adams (1965) developed the Equity theory Cook(1993, pp 14-18), this is also another theory that relates to job satisfaction, individuals job satisfaction will be influenced by how fairly they are treated in an organisation, it is important that employees are fairly treated in an organisation whereby rewards should be based on performance. Therefore the equity theory is related to job satisfaction given that employees will be more satisfied when employees are fairly treated. (Cook, 1993)

c. Goal setting theory:

The goal setting theory was developed by Edwin Locke (1965) states that individuals are highly motivated if specific and not general goals are set Edwin (1990, pp 24-26 ), when there are goals set by employees then they are more likely to be motivated and therefore have higher job satisfaction if these goals are met, the other concept in this theory is that goals that are moderately difficult are more likely to motivate workers than difficult goals. (Edwin 1990)

There are also other factors that will influence job satisfaction in the organisation, according to researchers age will influence job satisfaction whereby older workers are more likely to have higher job satisfaction than younger workers, other factors include gender, and race and occupational level, employees at higher occupational levels are highly motivated than those at lower positions. (Koontz 2006)

Conclusion:

Some of the main points discussed include the importance of the Maslow need theory in explaining job satisfaction and motivation, higher motivation means that the workers have higher job satisfaction levels, organisation should concentrate on understanding employee needs and aim at meeting the needs of their employees, the employees should also feel that they are fairly treated in the organisation according to the equity theory, and finally specific goals should rather than general goals and this will result into higher motivation and job satisfaction.

References:

Armstrong, Michael. 2003.A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 9th Ed. London: Kogan Page Publishers

Cook, K. and Messick, D. 1993. Equity theory: psychological and sociological perspectives. New York: Pearson

Deckers, Lambert. 2002. Motivation: Biological, Psychological, and Environmental, 2nd Ed. New York: Pearson.

Edwin A. Locke, Gary P. Latham. 1990. A theory of goal setting and task performance. Prentice Hall.

Koontz H and Weihrich H. 2006. Essentials of Management. Jakarta: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishers, 2006.

Mullins L. 2007. Management and Organisational Behaviour, 8th Ed. New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall

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