First Day on the Job

Prepared by: Ana Milori

Submitted to: Professor Catherine Klinger

Strategic Human Resource Managament

Strayer University February 26, 2012

Abstract

Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. The happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. Job satisfaction is not the same as motivation or aptitude, although it is clearly linked. Job design aims to enhance job satisfaction and performance. Methods include job rotation, enlargement, enrichment and re-engineering. Other influences on satisfaction include the management style and culture, employee involvement, empowerment and autonomous work position. Job satisfaction is a very important attribute which is frequently measured by organizations. The most common way of measurement is the use of rating scales where employees report their reactions to their jobs. Questions relate to rate of pay, work responsibilities, variety of tasks, promotional opportunities, the work itself and co-workers. Some questioners ask yes or no questions while others ask to rate satisfaction on 1-5 scale (where 1 represents "not at all satisfied" and 5 represents "extremely satisfied”).
Some argue that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, a motivation theory, laid the foundation for job satisfaction theory. This theory explains that people seek to satisfy five specific needs in life – physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs, and self-actualization. Job satisfaction can also be seen within the broader context of the range of issues which affect an individual's experience of work, or their quality of working life. Job satisfaction can be understood in terms of its relationships with other key factors, such as general well-being, stress at work, control at work, home-work interface, and working conditions.

1. Discuss the factors causing the employee’s dissatisfaction.
The employee seems to be loaded up with busy work and work that is not challenging to her. She is looking for work that is thought provoking and to experience new tasks with which she can grow in knowledge about the job. The work now seems to be cyclical, boring, and she feels overworked with mundane tasks. There is no advancing forward toward her ultimate goal of owning her own business. She’s at a point of quitting and seeking a job elsewhere, where she can absorb new knowledge and gain experience. 2. Identify which of these factors could be addressed with improvements in the way the organization handles development as described in the chapter.
Malik needs to understand that, in part, the employee is describing burnout. To correct this problem Malik has an opportunity to discover why this employee is having the symptoms of burnout, and how changes to her job would minimize or reverse the burnout. Some of the causes for burnout that she described were her workload that was heavy at times. But more then just a heavy load of work, it’s routine and boring to her. It would suit her best if the organization would change her tasks that she does daily and make those tasks challenging in her work.
Another symptom of burnout was described as having ‘work that was too little’. This would seem to be her complaint of ‘unmet expectations’, for growing and training on the job. She also needs the experience to reach her ultimate goal, owning her own business. An ‘action plan’ may help both her and the organization. This would be a plan for her career development, and to help her focus on the training that is needed to accomplish her goal. With the organization’s support, she would have the incentive to continue with her current position, knowing that she is being help by Malik and the organization.
There are many choices that she can choose from for development in her selected industry. She could ask Malik if the organization has a mentoring program. If they do, then she could follow the example of the mentor and have him give her guidance through the different situations that she may encounter with the tasks that she would perform at her job. In an article, there is a quote that says, “A good mentor will likely welcome the opportunity to assist you in achieving your personal vision and professional goals.” (Lakoski, 2009) This mentoring program would help the struggling employee, by giving her more of what she is asking for, and that is job enrichment.
A protean career direction is another suggestion that Malik could mention. It would involve taking on a more non-traditional career development process. She would need independent freedom from the organization in her training, and would make all of the decisions about it, but would be given the support of the organization by providing the funds needed for formal education or other means of gaining knowledge about her career choice. 3. Discuss what Malik should do tomorrow with regard to his employee.
Malik recalls that someone in the office has seen the potential in his employee. He heard that she was going to be one of the best ‘high potential’ employees, and a great asset to the organization. Following up the next day, after she voiced her complaints; he should meet with her supervisor and discuss the complaints, and find out if this is a normal pattern that she displays on a regular basis. If this is not a routine complaint by her, then the threat of leaving the organization should be a threat to take serious. Her dissatisfaction with the organization should then be treated as a real threat and because of her being a valued employee, her leaving the organization would be a concern for the managers.
If she is a valued employee with potential and has voiced a serious enough threat of leaving the organization, then efforts to correct the situation should be done. Valued employees are also noted in this article, “Southwest Airlines Co. is helping employees chart career paths. The Dallas airline launched a new talent-management program this year in which managers meet monthly with all nonunion employees to discuss career progress and goals.” (Needleman, 2009) A follow up discussion with his employee should help Malik understand why she feels the way that she does. This would provide insight as to why this issue has occurred.
Malik needs to discuss with her why she is feeling burned out, and how she thinks this situation can be resolved. The discussion may include a question like, what would satisfy her to feel fulfilled with the work that she is doing. Another point to focus on in the discussion is, all the different ways the organization could help her benefit from training and other employee development programs. 4. What long-term changes should Malik suggest for this organization, if it appears that his employee is not the only one with these complaints?
If there seems to be a pattern of complaints being voiced from other employees about feelings of being overworked or work dissatisfaction, then there should be a concerned effort made by the management to correct the issue. Human resource professionals should inform all management of the need for career development programs for employees. Programs, such as, tuition reimbursement, in house training, mentoring and job enrichment. Studies would help provide a wide range of solutions for employees who are dissatisfied with their jobs. 5. Discuss the human resource policies and programs that would support development programs within the organization.
Job enrichment studies should be performed by human resources to determine how the organization can make changes to different jobs by restructuring their tasks. Whether it is job rotations or job transfers both of these programs would provide a broader view for the ‘learning’ employee to understand upstream and/or downstream customer’s processes. This type of program would benefit the individual employee, by their understanding of the work involved, and would benefit the organization as a whole.
Developing employee capacity involves managing programs such as employee orientation sessions, policy and procedure awareness sessions, leadership development workshops and other options designed to enable your company (and employees) to succeed.
Step 1
Structure the training and development department to support associates. Offer training opportunities to those who fail performance appraisals. Encourage employees to develop their professional skills by offering courses at work. Create executive leadership development programs to allow learning new skills necessary to take on management responsibilities. Conduct awareness sessions about new policies and procedures as well as to ensure compliance to local, state and federal regulations.
Step 2
Locate resources to help employees develop the skills they need to perform better. The American Society for Training and Development provides resources for developing and delivering training to global audiences.
Step 3
Develop customized training courses for employees. Cover specific details about the business. Courses in communication, customer service, diversity, ethics, quality and safety typically allow people to function more effectively on the job. Focus on a particular topic such as cultural intelligence for a month at a time. Schedule related activities to promote awareness. Develop templates, job aids, demonstrations and simulations to support employees in working in a consistent manner across the company. Establishing a good image both within the company and with customers and business partners depends on a well-trained workforce.
Step 4
Ensure employees create an annual development plan to establish development objectives and focus learning on activities that align to company's strategic goals.
Step 5
Evaluate training and development programs to ensure they are meeting employee and company needs. Training and development opportunities typically lead to increased job satisfaction and motivation. Employee efficiencies result in operational cost savings and increased capacity, resulting in company financial gains. Learning new technologies and techniques for getting work done also improves operational metrics. Training activities can also increase employee retention rates.

References
Lakoski, J. M. (2009, August 14). Perspective: Top 10 tips to maximize your mentoring. CTSciNet Clinical and Translational Science Network.
Needleman, S. E. (2009, November 16). Businesses mount efforts to retain valued employees. The Wall Street Journal, sec. Management http://mba-lectures.com/management/principles-of-management/1188/causes-of-job-dissatisfaction.html http://www.timothy-judge.com/Judge%20&%20Saari.pdf