JOB ENRICHMENT AND EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION IN NIGERIAN ORGANIZATIONS: A STUDY OF SELECTED UNIVERSITIES IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION.
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JOB ENRICHMENT AND EMPLOYEE
SATISFACTION IN NIGERIAN ORGANIZATIONS: A STUDY OF SELECTED UNIVERSITIES IN THE
NIGER DELTA REGION.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 background
to the study 1
1.2 statement
of problem 1
1.3 conceptual
framework 1
1.4 purpose
of the study 5
1.5 research
questions 7
1.6 research
hypotheses 9
1.7 significance
of the study 10
1.8 scope
of the study 11
1.9 limitation
of the study 12
1.10 organization of the study 13
1.11 operational definition of term 14
CHAPTER
TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction 18
2.2 concept of job enrichment 18
2.3 theoretical
framework 18
2.4 dimensions
of job enrichment 21
2.4.1 skill variety 21
2.4.2 task identify 22
2.4.3 task significance 22
2.4.4 autonomy 23
2.4.5 feedback 23
2.5 concept of job satisfaction 24
2.5.1 job satisfaction defined 26
2.5.2 determination and causes of job satisfaction 29
2.6 measures
of employees satisfaction 30
2.7 organizational
culture 33
2.8 relationship
between job enrichment and employee
Satisfaction 34
2.9 theories/models
of job satisfaction 36
2.10 the link
between motivation and satisfaction 42
2.11 correlations of job satisfaction with other
variables 46
2.11.1 job involvement 46
2.11.2 organizational citizenship behaviour 47
2.11.3 organizational commitment 48
2.11.4 turnover 49
2.11.5 absenteeism 49
2.11.6 perceived stress 50
CHAPTER
THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 64
3.2 research
design 64
3.3 population
of the study 64
3.4 sampling
size determination and sampling procedure 65
3.5 pilot
study 67
3.6.1 independent variable measuring instrument 67
3.6.2 dependent variable measuring instrument 67
3.6.3 moderating variable measuring instrument 68
3.7 test of
validity and reliability 69
3.7.1 reliability and validity of the job
diagnostic survey(JDS) 71
3.7.2 reliability and validity of Minnesota
statisfaction
Questionnaire (MSQ20) 71
3.7.3 reliability and validity of the corporate
culture 72
3.8 research
instrument 72
3.9 procedure
methods of data collection 74
3.10 data analysis technique 74
Reference
Appendix 1
Questionnaire
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The
success of an organization depends not merely on its technical know-how,
updated machinery, good plant layout and other production based dynamics. It
also depends upon its human resources. A satisfied, happy and hardworking
employee is the biggest asset of any organization. Therefore, the workforce of
any organization is responsible to a large extent for its productivity,
sustainability, and profitability. Thus, for the success of any organization,
it is very important to manage human resource effectively and to find out
whether its employees are satisfied or not.
One
of the key assets of any organization is its employees. The success or failure
of the organization depends on their satisfaction or dissatisfaction. One of
the reasons for deteriorating job performance in most organization is low job
satisfaction. As a consequence, work slows down, employee remain absent and
sometimes employee may leave the organization resulting to reduced level of
stability of tenure and to a large extent, the stability of the organization.
High job satisfaction on the other hand, is desired by most organization because
it is connected with positive outcomes that mangers desire. High job
satisfaction is the hallmark of well managed organization and is fundamentally
the result of effective behavioural management. It is the measure of the
counting process of building a supportive human climate in an organization.
The
level of motivation, satisfaction and work performance of an employee on the
job is influenced by job enrichment. Human resource management literature
indicates that job enrichment is influenced by job characteristics, such as
skill variety, tasks identify, task importance, autonomy, job feedback and job
scope (Fried and Ferris 1987:292). Interestingly, job characteristics have
impact on employee satisfaction. Job enrichment is simply the introduction of
variety and significance into the work (Miner 2002) and employee satisfaction
is the organization’s ability to fulfill the physical, emotional and
physiological needs of its employee (Malatjie, 2007:21).
The
question of how to properly enrich a job in terms of design so that employees
are more productive and more satisfied has received attention from manages and
researchers since the beginning of the 19th century in an attempt to
determine the most efficient way to perform jobs. What was in the fashion at
the that time were simplification and specialization of the task, which, in
corroboration with scientists, confirmed to be useful to enhance the efficiency
of production (Taylor 1911, Gilbreth 1911, as cited in Morgeson & Campion
2002). Generally, the classical management theorists pioneered job enrichment
with the concept of simplification and specialization of the task.
Specialization reflects a depth of knowledge and skill in a particular area.
However, the work of Frederick Herzberg on two-factor theory popularized the
concept of job enrichment and the concept has proven to be very meaningful and
useful in the workplace. Hackman & Oldham (1980) job characteristic model
(JCM) is also the basis for job enrichment model. The theory was built on
previous knowledge and research, mainly coming from Need Hierarchy theory and
from expectancy theory, and using also an earlier work by Turner and Lawrence (1965)
about task attributes (Jacko 2004:2).
They
depicted positive work structure in the form of five job characteristics (skill
variety, task identify, task significance, autonomy, feedback) which promoted
higher intrinsic psychological factors (meaningfulness, responsibility,
knowledge of results) and thus improve motivation and work performance. An
employee with the knowledge of results of their work, a sense of
responsibility, and an understanding of the meaningfulness of their work will
ultimately have greater satisfaction on the job.
Job
enrichment is under the influence of job related factors and jobs’
characteristics (i.e. the nature of work, variety, management work groups, work
condition and advancement opportunities). The job design in terms of scope,
depth, interest, and perceived value is of great importance on the impact of
job enrichment on employee satisfaction. The nature and characteristics of
employee work has a great impact on worker satisfaction and the way they
perform at work.
According
to Ugboro (2006), well designed jobs have a positive influence on employee
motivation and performance, leading to improved individual and group
organizational performance outcomes such as their membership (joining/leaving
an organization), reliable role beahviour (how well the worker does their job),
and innovative, spontaneous action (going above and beyond the normal job).
Theories
behind work design traditionally focuses on creating or changing the nature of
employee job to improve their psychological state and therefore increase their
performance outcomes (Achiaa,2012:1). Work design refers to a spectrum of job
factors, ranging from internal and external organizational factors to the way
tasks are organized, that affect what people do at work and how effectively
they can do it. The concept has roots in theories of work motivation to improve
employee satisfaction and performance and therefore organizational productivity
and efficiency (Campion, Mumford, Morgeson & Nahrgang, 2005).
The
nature of job design goes a long way to make job enrichment a reality. The way
organizations design job is necessary because it will either boost or reduce
job performance. Herzberg was the first to state that organizations should
concentrate on increasing worker productivity through job enrichment and that
job enrichment is directly to job satisfaction job enrichment and employee
satisfaction causes a series of influence on various aspects of organizational
life. Some of them such as the influence of job satisfaction on employee
productivity work productivity, work effort, loyalty, employee absenteeism,
staff turnover, tardiness, accident, strikes, grievances, sabotage etc.
Job
satisfaction is an important factor for the organizations success. Job satisfaction
is a collection of positive feelings or an emotional state that a person
perceive based on a variety of aspect of the work itself or work environment.
Rain, Lane & Steiner (1991) states that job satisfaction is correlated to
life satisfaction which means that people who satisfied with life will tend to
be satisfied with the job and people who are satisfied with their job will tend
to be satisfied with their life. Satisfied workers will be more productive and
stay with the organization longer, while dissatisfied workers will be less
productive and will have reasons to want to quite the job (Sarker, Crossman,
Chinmeteepituck,2003). Productivity results from looking at how hard employees
work and how smartly they work (Riechheld, 1996). According to Reichheld, there
are criteria that impact on how hard employees are working. They work hard
when:
1. They have job pride,
2. When they find their jobs interesting and
meaningful, and
3. When
they are recognized for their work and benefit from the work they have
accomplished.
Satisfied
employee provides higher level of external service quality and the required
service experience to the customer which in turn leads to customer
satisfaction. Arnett, Laverie and Mclane (2002) found that employee
satisfaction is linked to positive employee behaviour such as having a good
customer orientation. Job satisfaction can be a leading contribution factor for
employee turnover reduction. Previous researchers have shown that satisfied
employees are more likely to stay in the organization than those who are
dissatisfied (Mobley et al., 1979; and Salazar and Hubbard, 2000). So, by
focusing on what contributes to job satisfaction, an organization can reduce
turnover.
By
evaluating job satisfaction an organization can increase positive outcomes such
as employee performance and satisfaction, and can also decrease absenteeism and
turnover. Investigating the employee or employee value- perception can aid in
managers’ ability to build and create work environment that help them to achieve
high level of employee satisfaction.
Job
enrichment and employee satisfaction represent one of the most complex areas
facing managers when it comes to managing their employees. Many studies have
demonstrated an unusually huge impact of job enrichment on employee
satisfaction. It is good to note that the level of satisfaction has a great
impact on productivity and on performance of business organizations. This study
was inspired by the need to know how employee job satisfaction may be affected
by job enrichment in the workplace and to understand if job enrichment theory
termed job characteristics Theory Model by Hackman & Oldham (1980)
understands the reality in contemporary society, considering the fact that jobs
are different in nature from those in the 1990s and 1970s, when job
characteristics Theory Model was formulated.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The
main problem of a study refers to the inevitable consequences arising from lack
of a phenomenon under study. (Uzoagulu 1998:13). In today’s organizations,
priorities of workplace are dynamically changing and employee perception of
work has also changed. Now in workplace, the employee is interested in doing
enriched jobs which can satisfy his/her feelings of growth and career
development. The major problems organizations face is if employee satisfaction
is influenced by the type of jobs/tasks a person is assigned to complete at
work and whether employee find their work interesting and meaningful. What
determines employee satisfaction is on the job outcomes.
Job
that does not offer skill variety, task identify, task importance, and autonomy
and job feedback may not lead to employee satisfaction.
How
to make job meaningful in organization with a view to enhancing performance in
organization in terms of job modifications has been management practitioners
concern since the nineteen century. Both management practitioners and
researchers have grappled with the issue of job enrichment for years probably
because of the belief that it would solve organizational problems. The fact
that job enrichment is firmly lodged in the vocabulary of managers is not in
doubt but the extents which to managers are beginning to accept job enrichment
is still not clear in terms of its applicability in the workplace.
When
an employee fails on assigned job, he fails sometimes faulty job designed. A
variety of job factors enhances job enrichment at work some of which are
tangible and some intangible. Although employee derive satisfaction from their
job, or places of work, for different reason, this study is specifically
concerned with the need fulfillment satisfaction-satisfaction based on the
extent to which a job satisfaction the need of the employee.
Job
enrichment factors identified as skill variety, task identify, task importance,
autonomy, and feedback that the study dimension are anchored on as a focal
point, are based on the notion that job enrichment is influenced by the type of
tasks a person completes at work. By inference it implies that employees as
part of job enrichment will prefer tasks of moderate ability. Arising from the
foregoing, the questions are: does the number of different skills necessary to
do a job (skill variety) lead to employee satisfaction in organization/ whether
or not an employee does an entire job or a piece of job (task identify/task
variety) actually affects employee satisfaction? Does the impact a job has on
other people (task significance/task importance) actually affect employee
satisfaction? Does the freedom employees have to do their jobs as they see fit
(autonomy) actually count in employee satisfaction? Does it really matter to
employee satisfaction if it is obvious to the employee that they are he doing
this jobs correctly i.e. how much insight a person has with regards to
different aspects of this job affect his/her performance on the job.
While
there are numerous contributions in the areas of job enrichment and job
satisfaction, there are not too many of such studies that attempt to combine
the two concepts into a larger relational flow. It is furtherance of this that
this study reviews literature from a number of studies that attempt to outline
how the enrichment of a job can affect employee job satisfaction and relate the
two in such a way as to the demonstrate their applicability and degree of relevance.
1.3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The
conceptual framework for this research focuses on job enrichment as independent
variable and employee satisfaction as dependent variable.
Figure
1.1 the conceptual framework indicating the relationship transformational
leadership style and employee satisfaction as well as the moderating variable. |
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Source:
Conceptualized by the Researcher
Oldham
and Hackman (1980) has identified skill variety, skill identify, task
significance, autonomy, and feedback as dimensions of job enrichment and Cosier
and Dalton (1983), Eagly and Chaiken (1993), TekeII, Jeremy Kyle (2014) have
all identified affective and cognitive job satisfaction as measures of employee
satisfaction. In the model stated above, job enrichment is the independent
variable while employee satisfaction is the dependent variable. The independent
variable (job enrichment) is on the left side of the model while the dependent
variable (job satisfaction) is on the right side. The moderating variable
(culture) is located in the middle of the model.
The
dimensions of job enrichment are skill variety, task identify, task
significance, autonomy and feedback. The measures of employee satisfaction is
affective job satisfaction same as intrinsic satisfaction. The contextual
variable for this study is corporate culture. It is assumed that the
relationship between the independent variable (job enrichment) and the
dependent variable (employee satisfaction) may be directed or moderated by
corporate culture.
1.4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The
purpose of this study is to examine the role of job enrichment on employee
satisfaction in selected Nigerian Universities in the Niger Delta Region of
Nigeria. In this regard, the specific purposes of the study are:
i. To
identify the relationship between skill variety and how it affects employee
satisfaction.
ii. To
examine how task identify affects employee satisfaction
iii. To
investigate if task significance influences employee satisfaction.
iv. To
investigate the relationship between autonomy and employee satisfaction.
v. To
find out if job feedback has influence on employee satisfaction.
vi. To
determine how the culture of the organization moderates the relationship
between job enrichment and employee satisfaction.
1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Within
the framework of the study, several issues were grounded in the theoretical and
practical analyses. For this reason, specific research questions stand out and
are as follows;
i. To
what extent does skill variety influence employee satisfaction?
ii. To
what extent does task identify affect employee satisfaction?
iii. To
what extent does significance affect employee satisfaction?
iv. To
what extent does autonomy affect employee satisfaction?
v. To
what extent does feedback have any influence on employee satisfaction?
vi. To what
extent does the culture of the organization moderate the relationship between
job enrichment and employee satisfaction.
1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Based
on the research objectives, the following hypotheses were formulated for the
study.
H01:
There is no significance relationship between skill variety and affective
satisfaction.
H02:
There is no significance relationship between task identify and affective
satisfaction.
H03:
There is no significance relationship between task significance and affective
satisfaction.
H04:
There is no significance relationship between autonomy and affective
satisfaction.
H05:
There is no significance relationship between job feedback and affective
satisfaction.
H06:
The culture of an organization does not significantly moderate the relationship
between job enrichment and employee satisfaction.
1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
significance of a study contains the benefits or value of the study (Uzoagulu
1998:33). This study is intended to help organizations under stud to be aware
of the significance and importance of job enrichment and its effects on
employee satisfaction, as well as, how to address or cope with the resultant
consequences arising from its misapplication or misconception. The significance
of the study will be categorized into two: theoretical significance and
practical significance.
THEORETICAL SIGNIFICANCE
This
study is intended to help academicians and scholars in specific terms who might
be interested in this area of research in adding to their wealth of knowledge
by broadening their scope.
PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The
study will help organizations, human resource practitioners, and other users of
such information relating to job enrichment and employee satisfaction in
dealing with situations arising from its effects or lack of it. The researcher
being an employer of laour, will benefit immensely from the results of his
findings.
1.8 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The
scope of this study covers three areas namely content scope, geographic scope,
and study unit. Specifically, this study attempts to investigate the causal
relationship between job enrichment and employee satisfaction using culture as
the moderating variable.
Our
unit of analysis was inspired by Pfeffer (1982) who argued that the level of or
unit of analysis is determined by the theoretical content of the criteria
value. In this study, the study units are individuals not organization. The
organization is of two-Micro and Macro level. The study is a micro level
analysis. It is deductive; the researcher is pulling from a major knowledge.
In
addition, the geographic scope is a sample of 4 selected Universities of the 11
Universities in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria.
Thus,
this study is a case study that focuses specifically on the employees of
selected Nigerian Universities in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. However,
generalizability of the results of the study is problematic as the study is
conducted in few selected Nigerian Universities in the Niger Delta Region of
Nigeria.
1.9 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
All
studies or investigations have restrictions (Alberts, 2007:9). These
restrictions maybe that there is limited available research funding,
restriction of the sample, practical issues like time constraints, a lack of
research support, and the limited available measuring instruments and methods
of data analysis. In the course of carrying out this study, the following
limitations were envisaged:
Given
the timing of the research work, it was not possible to cover universities in
the six geo-political zone of Nigeria. Hence emphasis was on selected
universities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It should be noted that the
selected cases are not considered representative of a larger population.
It
is also foresee that the researcher might be constrained by limited resources,
as a result contact persons are likely to be used to distribute and completed
questionnaire.
1.10 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This
study is divided into several chapters. This will ensure that the discussions
are clear and consistent with the distinct arrears covered by each chapter. For
the purpose of this study, the discussions are divided into five chapters.
Chapter One
This
chapter outlines the introduction, problem statement, conceptual framework, and
purpose of the study, research questions, and research hypotheses, significance
of the study, scope of the study and limitation of the study.
Chapter Two
To
aid in the attainment of the purpose of the study, a survey of the available
literature will be undertaken in chapter two. Hence, the chapter will therefore
provide the theoretical grounding that forms the premise of the study and gives
an overview of existing literature on job enrichment and employee job
satisfaction.
Chapter Three
This
chapter provide an in depth discussion of the research methodology used to
investigate the research problem. The design of the sample selection and size,
research instruments used, procedures followed and the statistical techniques
used to analyze the data is also highlighted. By and large, the chapter focuses
on the methodology used to collect data through questionnaire and interviews
from the sampled population.
Chapter Four
The
chapter focuses on the results of the study i.e. the chapter focuses on the
findings that became apparent from the research study.
Chapter Five
Chapter
five discusses result from findings. Conclusions are drawn based on the
obtained results and the possible practical implications of the research
findings are highlighted. In conclusion, recommendations for future studies are
recommended. In summary, chapter five entails a conclusion and makes
recommendations.
1.11 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF
TERMS
Autonomy:
The degree to which to the job provides substantial, independence, and
discretion to the employee in scheduling the work and in determining the
procedures to be used in carrying it out.
Affective organizational
satisfaction: This is the emotional attachment,
identification with, and involvement in the activities of the organization.
Employee Commitment:
A strong belief in and the acceptance of organization’s goals, a willingness to
exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization and a desire to remain
a member of the organization.
Employee Performance:
This is the degree of accomplishment of the task that makes up employees job.
Foci of Commitment:
This refers to the individual and groups to whom the employee is attached.
Feedback from Job (itself):
The degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job
results in the employee obtaining direct and clear information about the
effectiveness of his or her performance.
Job Design: changing the content/process of a specific job.
Job Enlargement:
Adding more variety into job.
Loyalty:
This is the effective response to, and the identification with an organization
based on a sense of duty and responsibility.
Organizational Commitment:
A organization’s commitment to improving the partnership between employees and
his or her employer. In addition, it refers to the organization believing in
their employees and making them feel wanted and important. This, the
organization does to foster satisfaction and ensure stability of ensure from
the perspective of the employee.
Organizational Performance:
This is the net effect of employees effort as modified by his abilities and job
description.
Specialization:
The degree to which job involves performing specialized task or possessing
specialized knowledge and skill.
Skill Variety:
The degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities in
carrying out the work, which involve the use of a number of different skills
and talents of the employee.
Task Identify:
The degree to which the job requires completion of a ‘whole” and identifiable
piece of work that is, doing a job from beginning to end with a visible
outcome.
Task Significance:
The degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of
the other people whether in the immediate organization or in the external
environment.
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