How Organizational Culture Relates To Job Satisfaction of Employees
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How Organizational Culture Relates To Job Satisfaction of Employees
The human resources department of any company considers job satisfaction of their employees as an important concern. Companies put in efforts to ensure they achieve employee job satisfaction. Employee satisfaction is necessary as it helps in retaining employees in the organization as well as motivating them to raise their performance levels. Hoppock (1935), states that job satisfaction encompasses different physiological, psychological, and environmental factors that come into play to make an employee declare that they are happy and satisfied with their job. This paper will address the concept of employee satisfaction, and how it can be achieved. I will focus on the components of organizational culture, and how each component, contributes to the attainment of employee satisfaction, as well as the relationship between employee satisfaction and organizational culture.
Employee satisfaction is dependent on quite a number of factors in the workplace environment. These include growth opportunities in the company, fairness, participatory decision-making, among others. However, most researchers link employee satisfaction to organizational culture. Organizational culture helps a company run its business, and combines a company’s value systems and beliefs (Schhneider, 1983).
Different organizations have different goals and objectives to achieve. Their employees play a vital role in the achievement of these goals. The probability of achieving these depends on the performance of employees. Subsequently, the work environment, and the level of employee motivation and satisfaction affect employees’ performance. For example, institutions of learning mainly produce human capital that is essential for the whole country. The quality of a country’s human capital is therefore, dependent on the quality of minds instructors and teachers produce in these learning institutions. If a teacher is dissatisfied, they will produce half-baked students, which is derogatory to the institution and to the whole nation. For an organization to be successful, it must exhibit an excellent or brilliant culture (Peters, 1982). If an organizational culture is supportive, it increases its employee satisfaction, and in return, enhances its viability.
Burner and Stalk (1961, p.103-108) argue that mechanistic organizations are more appropriate, compared to bureaucratic organizations. Bureaucratic organizations do not value employees who are not in managerial position. Their policies and rules are for the protection of the management team. This differential treatment of employees does not ensure equal job satisfaction for employees, as only the few in the management slot will feel appreciated. On the other hand, mechanistic organizations provide stable environments for their employees, through the clearly defined and differentiated tasks. These therefore are more likely to ensure job satisfaction for their employees.
Gilmore and Williams, (2009) suggest that organizations should adopt the ‘best practice’ strategy to people management. Here, employers invest in training employees, thereby enhancing their skills, competence, and knowledge. Use of financial and non-financial rewards mold employee behaviors to expected standards of the organization. Involving employees in decision-making process and providing opportunities for career growth, all aim at job satisfaction for employees. It is also critical that organizations assess the level of their security and take protective measures, and identify threats as well as mitigate crisis. Crisis management and preparedness is the key to ensure physical security of employees (Mason, 2004).
Job satisfaction includes how an employee feels about their job, and how they evaluate it (Schneider et al., 1975). This places an employee in a positive emotional state. If the organizational culture undergoes substantial changes, this subsequently affects the employee expectations, as well as their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, job satisfaction and organizational culture are interdependent. The company management must ensure that these two factors remain in balance at all times. If an organizational change is introduced, it must cater for the needs of both the employees and the company itself, ensuring that employee satisfaction remains. Positive management of an organization will therefore ensure employee job satisfaction, as well as company’s productivity remains in place (Zammuto and Krakower, 1991).
Kline and Boyd (1994) address the influence of organizational culture on employee job satisfaction. They argue that, work environment affects different employees differently. Communication channels, which are part of the organizational culture, also influence employee job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is therefore, a result of organizational culture. In a study by Sempane et al. (2002), organizations exhibit both positive and negative internal relations. This is because of the different perceptions the different employees hold about the organizational culture.
Huang and Chi (2004) feel that employees must accept and be satisfied with the culture of their organization for them to experience job satisfaction. If the organizational culture is conducive for employees, they will be motivated to work harder, and commit to their work. This in turn raises the productivity of the organization. If the organization is a high performer, its employees get that credit, and it makes them proud, so they look back and rejoice in such an achievement. This way, their jobs become fulfilling and satisfying.
Culture of an organization includes the forms of communication employed by the organization, as well as the nature of relationships in the organization, including the employee-employer relationship and employee-employee relationship. Communication should be conducted in the most modest way, as it is the basis of all relationships in an organization. McHugh et al. (1993) note that if the culture of an organization is poor, this will subsequently lower the productivity of the organization, since the main forces behind organizational productivity, who are employees, will be dissatisfied with their jobs and hence plunge into an ocean of underperformance. Herzberg (1968, p 54-56) argues that job enrichment and motivators such as job security, reduced working hours, and good work relationships for employees enhances their job satisfaction and performance.
In conclusion, this paper supports the idea that organizational culture is empirical for job satisfaction of employee. The organizational culture comes in twofold, first is the organizational culture in relation to employers, then the organizational culture that relates to employees. All forms of communication and relationships between the employee and employer, and between the employees themselves, form part of an organizational culture. The nature of policies, work ethics, goals, objectives, and general expectations of the employer toward their employees provide an environment that influences job satisfaction for employees. I would recommend that all employers and policymakers ensure that the kind of organizational culture they develop in their organization is supportive of the employees, in order for them to experience job satisfaction. Employers should also be concerned with employee relations and cultivate in them a culture of open mindedness, cooperation, mutual respect, and trust, and respect of opinions and thought. All these are ingredients for a positive organizational culture, which will lead to job satisfaction in employees, and finally result in a competent company.
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