The Importance of the Employees Perception of Job Satisfaction - Research Paper Example

Background 1 Critical Review of Literature 2 Research Philosophy 3 Research Approach 4 Overview of Research Strategies 7 Likert Scale 9 Questionnaire 9 Interview Strategy 10 Interview Analysis Methodology 12 Interview Questionnaire 13 Interview Questions 13 Appendix: Forward and Disclosure 17 Background The research methodology is based on several connective theories to employee retention. To measure constructs of employee engagement, benchmarks would be an above average response of high values. A successful research would develop an increase in value rating per employee per category. This research is being conducted to improve employee tenure at Company A based on the theory that motivation and job satisfaction is strongly linked to employment tenure. In essence, the purpose is to develop employee tenure in conjunction with the benchmarks and defined constructs according to the majority values of employees. Benchmarks for evaluation of success can be defined by an organisational increase in retention of employees compared to past trends in the facility, with increase in employee engagement of facility compared to past trends. The recommendation is to focus on team and individual development to ensure that employees become fully engaged within their function and as team members. Therefore, by triangulating interviews and surveys from employee and management staff based on motivation, engagement, rewards and recognition, this research will be able to identify weaknesses in the call centre with the ultimate purpose of making recommendations to improve job tenure. Critical Review of Literature The employee’s perception of job satisfaction, motivation and staff turnover will allow for evidence to suggest and identify the correlation between key points in managing employees to develop a continuous, stabilised workforce for Company A. This will lend to an affirmation on the importance of employee motivation in job satisfaction and a stronger understanding of ways in which motivation can lower employee turnover. Lowering employee turnover will, in turn, lower costs in training and development. The focus of the research based on the previous literature review and empirical evidence from Company A is to describe employee perceptions and managerial behaviours in relationship to employee retention. Employee retention is a valid objective of any company, as the literature has shown. This is also relative to understanding the correlation between job satisfaction and staff turnover. These are strongly influenced by employee motivation and job satisfaction. Furthermore, the literature review has shown there is a link between target goals, job pressures and satisfaction that is impacted by managerial pressures and behaviours. In this research study, it is assumed that the preceding literature review is correct, where the decisive factor of the employee on job satisfaction leads to employee retention. In this the common concept of job satisfaction is derived from the employee perception’s of the organisation and the behaviours of management in either fostering or inhibiting the employee’s desire to retain their job. There is also a certain duality found in the literature review, where the employee’s perception is impacted by managerial behaviour and human resource management, which in turn is impacted by Company A’s deliberate stress on cost-effective measures in an objective, physical sense. The multiple dimensions of employee retention create a paradoxical definition relating to the employee’s perception, managerial behaviours, and the fiscal value, where one may affect the other or they may have no relationship at all. Therefore, in conjunction with the theories presented, the research methodology must ask: How are employees recognised and rewarded? What is the impact on employees? Why do employees quit? The following sections explore how these questions will be asked with a final development of interview questions. Research Philosophy According to Patton (1990), a research strategy is a framework for research action that provides the basic direction of the study and describes particular techniques and methods. In social science, several strategies exist to conduct research, such as experiments, surveys, archival analysis, history, and case studies. Here, the researcher has to evaluate and choose the most appropriate strategy, depending on the type of research question, the control of the researcher over actual behavioural events, and the focus on contemporary phenomena (Yin, 2003). The research philosophy for investigating employee tenure and motivation at Company A is triangulation’s of distributed employee surveys and direct management interviews. This will explore the contemporary phenomena of employee tenure in a quick and efficient manner. Research Approach Research approach is very important in order to find the results and to reach conclusion in a systematic way, increasing and enhancing knowledge. In general, the research problems and purposes will determine what research method is most appropriate. This approach is designed to assemble quantitative data that answers questions regarding a population status and hypotheses testing. Descriptive research is used when the research question is understood (Ghauri and GrØnhaug 2002). The outcome of the research, therefore, is dependent on the measurement procedures used in the collection of the data, and this in turn is dependent on the types of data collection (Ghauri and GrØnhaug p 47 2002). McDonough and McDonough (1997, 44-45) note that descriptive research aims to describe the significant events within the context itself (i.e. it provides a ‘rich account’ of the whole situation rather than minimising it). Therefore, this research is descriptive research with the aim to describe reasons for short employee tenure at Company A. This describes a significant event as being employee motivation and management strategy that approaches the employee and management personnel directly as opposed to an indirect case study. Saunders et al (2003) recommends the ‘phenomenology approach’ when studying the social components for each processed used when analysing the data collected from interviews. Phenomenology is a psychosocial theoretical approach to disseminating information. In its simplest form, phenomenology is the study of phenomena: their nature and meanings. The focus is on the way things appear to participants through experience or in the consciousness. The phenomenological researcher aims to provide a rich textured description of lived experience. The aim of phenomenological research is to describe the everyday world as it is immediately experienced. Descriptive phenomenology (Giorgi and Giorgi, 2003) would attempt to study essences of phenomena as it appears in consciousness. The descriptive phenomenology research method is to gather information through natural observations as surveys and interviews. The approach in this research is a survey and interview. Surveys will be distributed to twenty-five employees and there will be three managers interviewed. Some difficulties presented in this research are related to the availability of interviewees at a specific time, permission from management, confidentiality and the condition of Company A to hide their identity. The concern of time and place for the interview was rectified through scheduling with management interviewees and performing the interview at a time that did not impede on personal or professional lives of the interviewees. The distributed survey did not hold a strong concern for time and place as employee participants were able to finish the survey’s over a length of time. The largest concern in this research was with the interviewing and company confidentiality. Face to face interviews with management are nearly impossible to keep confidential. This was a concern of Company A as they preferred to remain anonymous in this research. This required a change in the structure from a specific and recognisable company to that of an anonymous and confidential company. The concern for this research is in the continuity. Therefore this research is presented in a manner that maintains Company A’s confidentiality and request for non-disclosure while presenting itself in a manner that is consistent with Company A’s industry as a call centre operating in the U.K. Furthermore, the research has removed any recognition of Company A, its employee’s, and management staff in regards to this request. However, it is noted that, while Company A prefers not to be named, this research is in direct contact and the presented literature review, research strategy and data analysis are congruent with the desired goal of improving employee retention at Company A. Therefore, the research strategy employed in this methodology is to provide a 'rich account' of the employee engagement and tenure using an analysis of descriptive information. This means that the final recommendation model is not known—for example, the hypothesis does not specifically detail a metric of employee engagement that must be fixed, instead the research hopes to gain evidence of employee engagement in relationship to customer satisfaction that will develop a model for improvement. While there is a formulated hypothesis, the qualitative interview method applied in this study is both descriptive and inductive. This approach is highly phenomenological, where the qualitative interview attempts to study the essences of participants' interactions and relationships based on experiences. Overview of Research Strategies The research methodology selected was a distributed survey in triangulation with face to face semi-structured interviews. This allows for empirical character evidence to be gathered and studied for defining relationships. The research strategy is to enhance employee tenure using motivation, engagement and strategy as a foundation for the research. The study seeks to define the measurements of the consumer sampling using a survey research model. This model is used widely in business research and is fundamentally considered a low cost and time effective method of gathering information from a sample population. Other methodologies were discounted for the same reasons. Specifically, experimental designs would have been costly and hard to identify as a viable approach to this categorical approach, and the interview method would have been within the determined cost, however it would be extremely time consuming. The survey was chosen because it can be deployed to many recipients with low cost and analyzed within a relatively normal timeframe. Furthermore, the survey method allows for the participants to define their values regarding the variables within the survey, where the other considered methods would have imposed the researcher's values onto the participants. While the survey method selected has many valuable qualities, it is also important to note that there exists a certain amount of criticism towards this method. Elizabeth Roberts (1999) identifies these criticisms. The first is that survey research collects data based on variables and does not always denote theoretical value; however, because the research is stated with documented objectives, This is not seen as a barrier to effective survey research. Roberts (p 2 1999) also states that "survey research is too restricted because of the limitations of highly structured questionnaires," yes in this study the limitations are recognized in regards to the sample distribution, survey method, and questionnaire. The third criticism Roberts (p 2 1999) identifies is that survey data may have "measurement error that they are quite unreliable and the validity is extremely low," but in contrast to that statement, Roberts stresses the importance of a good and accurate questionnaire design and analysis. Lastly, criticism that "surveys cannot adequately establish causal connections between variables," is noted, however "appropriate analysis can support the causal relations suggested by the theory," and it is evidential in the data analysis of this research that causal relations are not going to 'hit the mark' in a correlative analysis, so this is not seen as a detriment to this specific study (Roberts p 2 1999). The survey questionnaire was chosen-as noted above-for its cost effectiveness. The written questionnaire allows for a sample population to be easily reached with responses documented and easily dissected using data entry and statistical analysing methods. Because of their widespread use, questionnaires are non-confrontational to the sample population and do not force opinions or options, allowing for accurate and viable responses to be gathered with little bias or influence from the researchers or complicated research equipment. The questionnaire development has taken into consideration possible defects in the question distribution and has made all attempts to use common language and word organisation that is not technical or industry based with the hopes to remove the larger concerns in relation to comprehension and cognition, However, it is important to note that in any research methodology that is dealing with human responses to qualitative or quantitative questions, there remains the possibility of language bias. Likert Scale The Likert Scale is used to identify consumer responses to the above questionnaire. This is done in the common format of a numerical five point scale where one shows a strong disagreement; two is a disagreement; three is a neutral response; four is an agreement; five is a strong agreement to the statements in the questionnaire (Churchill 1979). The benefit of this scaled method is that it allows for easy quantitative analysis to be made from qualitative questions because it defines respondents' opinions with numerical responses (Churchill 1979). The disadvantage of the Likert scale is that it 'boxes' the consumer opinions into specific categories, thus it does not allow for explanation or definition of the responses made (Churchill 1979). This research proposes to define the associations between various metrics of employee perceptions of motivation, reward, recognition, and organisational strategy. A positive correlation between these categories would be indicative that employees are aware of the implications of each defined category towards their personal values and employment choices, while a negative correlation would indicate that HSBC is not providing adequate management strategies. Questionnaire Employee Survey Questions 0 1 2 3 4 5 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Values Unsure Never Monthly Weekly Daily continuously I am motivated by monetary rewards. I am motivated by verbal recognition. There is a good performance appraisal system. I am rewarded for appropriate behavior. I have the appropriate tools and training to perform my job. Strategic Management Unsure Never Monthly Weekly Daily continuously The management team offers encouragement The management gives you the clear understanding of the goals and objectives of the company The management team values my input on ideas. Management provides resources for my job Management develops competencies and skills Very stressful Stressful Neutral Not stressful Stress free How stressful your job is? Interview Strategy Interviewing as a data collection method is common for qualitative research studies. Although methodology may cause the process of interviewing to differ, many methods are similar. The researcher must make pre-interview contact, prepare for the interview by drafting an interview guide, conduct the interview using good communication skills, oversee transcription, and ensure that the transcripts provide the basis for analysis. Although the process of interviewing can be time-consuming and costly, it also can be a rewarding experience for the researcher. Saunders et al (2003) defines an interview as “a purposeful discussion between two or more people," and can collect data that is both reliable and valid. Saunders et al (2003) describe a structured interview as using questionnaires based on predetermined and standard or identical sets of questions; a semi-structured interview as having a list of themes and questions to be covered; and an unstructured interview as informal but used to explore in depth a general area of interest. In this research, a semi-structured interview is used. The semi-structured interview is chosen because it allows for specific data to be discovered based on the employees' perceptions. This is useful in situations where the respondents' range of replies may be estimated and there is a need to clarify details, opinions or ideas. The interview is developed based on the following decisive criteria: (1) what data should be wants to elicit from the interviewees; (2) who are going to be interviewed and why; (3) how to explain the aims of the interview; (4) where the interview will take place; (5) whether to pilot the interview; (6) how to analyse and follow up (if necessary) the interview. In an interview, questions should be clear and non-threatening; the interviewee should speak more than the interviewer. The interview avoids complex, double-barrelled, dichotomous and leading questions (Cohen and Manion 1994). According to Zikmund (2000), some ethical implications could arise when collecting data during interviews. The interview should not intrude into the sales staff’s personal life and assure that the analysis maintains confidentiality and anonymity if required. Therefore, the development of the interview follows the criteria above as (1) data from the interview should define the relationship of employee engagement and customer satisfaction (2) the interview participants were members staff (3) the aims were explained in relation to the data to be collected (4) the interviews took place at at times not invasive to work or personal life (5) the interview was piloted by the structured questions (6) the analysis is based on categorisation of values and engagement. The focus of this study is on detailing the specifics of the structured interview. Interview Analysis Methodology Analysis methodology termed “lad­dering” (Reynolds and Gutman, 1984), for uncovering means-end hierarchies defined by these key elements and connective relationships. Laddering in­volves a tailored interviewing format using primarily a series of directed probes with the express goal of determining sets of linkages be­tween the key perceptions across the range of at­tributes (A), consequences (C), and values (V). The theory of linkages is a foundation for the interview development. Therefore, the categorisation of the interviews follows as previously noted, where each has a phenomenology approach of describing situation and reactions and are categorised by attribute, consequence, and value. Interview Questionnaire The semi-structured interview method is used because it allows for the qualitative and emotional constructs of the participants regarding their risk and opportunity experiences to be examined where other methods, such as quantitative questionnaires would only divulge specific metrics regarding an outcome and not allow for responses to be gauged according to the participants' experience. The interview method allows for the evaluation of individual motivations and responses from risks to describe the process by which risk management succeeded or failed. The focus is on the external and internal forces from environments that create risk exposure. The semi-structured interview is designed to understand the strategies and implications of risk management methods. The interview questions will be empirically analysed as the inputs and outputs have no actual quantitative value. This analysis seeks to define common themes in the employee’s responses. While measures for qualitatively defining interviews exist, there are only two interviews conducted and therefore no quantitative analysis could be accurately applied to the industry. The following questions are used for the interviews: Interview Questions Attributes How does leadership impact employee tenure? What types of resources and training are available to your employees? How your employees are motivated? Values: Does HSBC empower its employees by giving them proper tools and training? Does HSBC empower you through achievable goals and rewards? Do you value your relationship with co-workers? Management? Consequences: Do you feel engaged in your employment experience? Is proper training, goals and rewards impact you as a person? How? Do you feel there is a high turnover rate in HSBC? 10. What incentives does your company offer to the employees to motivate them? Very Frequently Frequently Neutral Non Frequently Not at al A Quarterly bonus B Yearly bonus C Rewards D Promotions 11. Does company’s bonus rewards or promotions scheme really effective in reducing stress at workplace while handling many calls? Agree Moderately agree Neutral Moderately disagree Disagree 12. Do these schemes helpful to reduce the staff turnover in call centre? Yes No References: CHURCHILL JR 1979, A Paradigm For Developing Better Measures Of Marketing Constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, (16)1 pp. 64-73 COHEN, LOUIS AND MANION, LAWRENCE 1994, Research Methods in Education 4th edition, London: Routledge GHAURI, PERVEZ N., GRØNHAUG, KJELL 2002, Research Methods in Business Studies: A Practical Guide. 2nd edition London: Pearson GIORGI, A AND GIORGI, B 2003, Phenomenology. In J A Smith (ed.) Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide To Research Methods. Sage: London. REYNOLDS, T.J., GUTMAN, J. 1984, Advertising Is Image Management, Journal of Advertising Research, 24 (1), pp.27-36 MCDONOUGH, J. AND MCDONOUGH, S. 1997, Research Methods for English Language London: Pearson. PATTON, M.Q. 1990 Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. 2nd Edition. Newbury Park, CA: Sage ROBERTS ELIZABETH 1999 In Defence of the Survey Method: An Illustration from A Study of User Information Satisfaction. Accounting & Finance (39)1 pp 53 SAUNDERS, M., LEWIS, P. AND THORNHILL, D. 2003, Research Methods for Business Students, 3rd Edition, London: FT Prentice Hall. YIN ROBERT 2003 Case Study Research, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications ZIKMUND, W.G. 2000 Business research methods 6th Edition. Orlando: Harcourt Publishers. Appendix: Forward and Disclosure Research records comprise of (I) the research process, (ii) its outcomes or products, (iii) the management of the process and (iv) the primary and analysed research data. Increasingly these records, and the systems, which generate, manipulate, manage and preserve them, are electronic. During the project raw research data is held by the researchers which contain personal data and confidential / sensitive information about the subjects. Additionally, research records will hold personal data about subjects and other people to be used for research purposes. These data exist in a range of formats: hard copy completed questionnaires, paper interview notes, and interview transcripts in digital form, contact information on electronic databases, e-mails, paper correspondence, and additional paper copies of electronic data. Data is often transported from place to place e.g. during fieldwork or to be worked on outside premises. During the project raw data becomes transformed by analysis to anonymised, aggregated data. This data does not pose any confidentiality / privacy problems. Participation is voluntary, and refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which the participant is otherwise entitled. The participant may discontinue participation at any time without penalty. Data may not be shared or disclosed regarding participants’ employment, demographic, name, address or other key identifiers. Information regarding participants is held confidential to the researcher project and not available for transmission to any party. Thank you for your participation. Read More