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Factors Affecting Employee Job Satisfaction And Employee Performance In Tesco
Factors Affecting Employee Job Satisfaction And Employee Performance In Tesco
Table of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Background to study
1.1 Background to Company
1.2 Research Question/Problem
1.3 Terms of Reference
1.4 Any historical aspect of problem
1.5 Research rationale
1.5 Summary of Relevant Theory
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Importance of Right workforce
2.2 Importance of employee involvement
2.3 Theoretical Framework of Job Attitude
2.4 Job Satisfaction
2.5 Employee Job Satisfaction Determinants
2.6 Job Involvement
2.7 Organizational Commitment
2.8 Job Factors and Job Attitudes
2.9 Present Situation
2.10 Why Job Attitude Is Important
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research strategy
3.3 Research approach
3.4 Research timescale
3.5 Data collection
3.6 Feasibility
Chapter 4: Results and Discussion
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Individual Factors
4.3 Organizational Determinants
4.4 Rewards systems
4.5 Job satisfaction and employee turnover
4.6 Summary
Chapter 5: Conclusion & Recommendations
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Summary of Main Findings
Bibliography
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Background to topic
Due to the high competition in the global market, there has been a great need for various companies to re-strategize their operation formulae to ensure success. There are various methods of improving productivity in an organization. Improving employees’ morale in a company enhances feel of ownership and satisfaction among employees which helps in improving performance quality. There are many factors that affect satisfaction of employees in an organization. The dissertation looks into the factors affecting the satisfaction of Tesco employees and how the overall performance of employees is affected. Tesco has many challenges of integrating specific requirements of various employees.
1.1 Background to company
Tesco is a leading United Kingdom retailer headquartered Chestnut, United Kingdom. Tesco is among the largest retailer, as measured by the total revenues and the world’s second biggest retailer after Wal-Mart as measured by total profits (Potter & Mahlich, 2011). Currently, the retail giant has a firm foot print in Asia, Europe, and North America. In the UK alone, it enjoys a 30 percent share of the local market. It also enjoys market dominance in the Republic of Ireland, Malaysia and Thailand (Deloitte, 2010). Since 1919, when the company opened its first doors, it has rapidly diversified its market share courtesy of its aggressive marketing strategies of responsive product development and differentiation that is built around modern information technology innovations such as virtual selling. Today, the company sells a wide range of merchandise including groceries, electronics, books, clothing, fuel, music and even financial products.
1.2 Research Question/Problem
The research aims at examining the factors affecting employee job satisfaction and relationship among the factors and the performance of employee in Tesco.
1.3 Terms of Reference
The objective is to find out the factors affecting the performances of Tesco’s employees and how the overall performance of the company is affected.
Through the research, various methods and techniques employed in Tesco in retaining their employees are determined. The limitations as related to employee satisfaction and retention are also highlighted.
The research provides recommendation based on the analysis of the steps and strategies Tesco should employee to retain and satisfy their employees.
1.4 Any historical aspect of problem
According to Diaz-Serrano & Cabral (2005), to ensure optimal productivity, a company has to ensure that their employees are satisfied with their job descriptions and positions. There have been different techniques and methods that have been used by different companies to satisfy their employees. As stated by Diaz-Serrano & Cabral (2005), workforce has great desire for social recognition compared to other factors affecting satisfaction of employees. A better working condition motivates employees and thus enhanced productivity and cooperation between employee and management. Additionally, even though there are different methods that an organization can use to retain and satisfy its workforce, the applicability and efficacy of the methods depends on the company. According to Miller (2007), regardless of the methods a company employs, the methods should be one that takes care of components that affect the social components of workforce. This is an indication that for any method to excel, it must incorporate and affect communication, sense of ownership and relationship between management and employees.
It is important for Tesco to investigate the factors affecting employee satisfaction thoroughly as a crucial aspect and procedure of business survival and growth. Through employee satisfaction analysis, the company not only gain knowledge of the employee satisfaction drivers but establish techniques of employee retention and having a competing edge over other companies. Knowledge of the employee satisfaction factors is a strong backbone on which a company can base its employee retention. This is when the company knows the satisfaction drivers its workforce. According to Cooper (2008) and Pink (2009), the knowledge of factors affecting employee satisfaction helps in strengthening the intermarriage of different variables in a company regarding employee’s satisfaction and retention.
1.5 Research rationale
Employees are considered as one of the important aspects of an organization and improving their morale improves their performance. Understanding people from different backgrounds is challenging especially to managers from different origins where they have different life experiences. A lot of wisdom is required of the managers dealing with employees from different nationalities to link the needs of different people and improve their productivity while maintaining low employee turnover.
The researcher believes that the research will improve knowledge to managers at Tesco especially in the areas of human relations. The research will be helpful in improving employee morale and understanding different needs of employees working in a diversified environment.
1.6 Summary of Relevant Theory
Various studies have noted that satisfaction of workforce depends on behaviors of management and employees themselves. There is a need to understand how consumers’ and employees’ behaviors, geographical location and gender affect overall performance of a company. However, it must be noted that behavior of workforce is not only the factor and that it has many intervening variables which have to be considered.
For example, suppose a business is not willing to increase employee loyalty, there are lower chances of its success. On a similar basis, a company which wants to make sure it satisfies its employees has to ensure it examines their behavior with respect to changes in service quality and market approach techniques used may also not be planning to be successful.
According to findings of Lin (2007), there exists a strong positive correlation between service quality and workforce satisfaction in most companies. Form the 134 respondent in Lin (2007)’s study, nearly 92% showed a grater satisfaction when perceived the services offered to be of high quality. Refrain to marketing strategies, a significant proportion of respondents, nearly 83%, showed that marketing technique used by a company is important in determining employees’ satisfactions and retention.
One study carried out in Germany (Bryan and Locke 1967a), indicated that there is a connection between job satisfaction of employees and consumers. Employee satisfaction which is related to enhanced employee loyalty, employee retention, continuity and finally increased productivity. These findings are also similar to Bryan and Locke 1967a who state that employee satisfaction and brand loyalty are related. This indicates that that greatest care must be considered when attempting to develop satisfaction strategies (Lin, 2007).
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.0 IntroductionThe second chapter, literature review entails an investigation of past research and articles and explanation of the involved concepts in regard to jot attitude and employee job satisfaction. Literature review covers various topics. The first section covers the significance of employee retention and performance engagement. Role of Tesco’s philosophy and culture in creating and engaging workplace environment is also discussed. The theoretical framework of this study maintains a top-down order that begins with the current business environment and ends with a review of the issues associated with leadership, motivation, rewards, and human resource management.
2.1 Importance of Right workforce
The volume of research on employee job attitudes reflects their importance to organizations in terms of identifying satisfaction, estimating loyalty, and reducing turnover (Knoop, 1995; Porter, Steers, & Modway, 1974). The value of examining performance in terms of manufacturing or assembly has been an important area of research, in which job attitudes has a direct correlation on job performance (Anderson & Mohr, 2003; Bettencourt, Gwinner, & Meuter, 2001). Job performance on the other hand, is also critical especially on the field of treatment services to the victims of natural disasters.
As of late, no studies are known to have been conducted on the job attitudes of employees providing disaster relief services. This study intends to explore the possibility of enhancing the state of employee engagement and retention in the disaster management sector (DMS), and also to explore the ways to attract quality employees to the DMS. Since this sector demands a wholehearted commitment from the employees to deal successfully with one of the noble professions in the world.
2.2 Importance of employee involvement
The importance of employee involvement and interaction in supporting disaster victims (Beck & Franke, 1996), who are immediately confronted with emotions that include fear, a profound sense of loss, and anxiety cannot be understated (Albano, Causey, & Carter, 2001). Disaster victims face life-altering injury and death resulting from natural disasters (Beck & Franke, 1996). The trauma of experiencing a natural disaster may result in extreme stress-related disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (Miller & Kraus, 1994).
The aforementioned consequences of disasters clearly show the gravity of the jobs associated with providing relief, and they hint at the challenge of attracting and retaining talented and committed employees in the DMS. Higher remuneration cannot be the sole driver of engaging, attracting, or retaining quality employees in this sector; prospective employees with qualifications can easily choose risk-free jobs instead. Thus, the DMS needs to strike the right chord in employees to ignite the missionary approach in them.
A brief explanation of the activities of the American Red Cross (ARC) corroborates the fact that the DMS truly needs committed and motivated workers more than anything else (ARC, 2006). The ARC’s disaster relief employees are charged with providing assistance and meeting victims’ immediate emergency disaster-caused needs, where they must support the ARC’s mission and extend every available courtesy. In response to these natural disasters, the ARC deploys volunteers to provide emergency services to victims.
The magnitude of devastation can sometimes leave relief workers wondering where to start. During the 2005 hurricane season, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States. Hurricane Katrina flooded neighborhoods and literally destroyed part of the state of Louisiana, particularly the city of New Orleans, by killing more than 1,193 people and destroying most of the human made structures (Hine, 2005). Hurricane Rita followed Katrina weeks later, further damaging what was left in that region and causing more power outages and evacuations.
The aforementioned examples highlight the gravity of disaster management and show the levels of dedication and commitment required to meet such challenges. Therefore, researching the attitudes of employees in disaster relief work may provide valuable information to first responders. The groundbreaking work by Steers and Porter (1979) underscored the importance of work and motivation. Bettencourt et al. (2001) also supported this premise. According to Steers and Porter, The concept of the organization has long symbolized the efficiency, effectiveness and rational allocation of resources for tasks to be accomplishment (p. 555).
Employers may perceive that their employees are pleased or at least content with their jobs based on performance (Wright & Cropanzano, 2001); compliance with the rules of power sources that may reflect what employees are experiencing (Koslowsky et al., 2001); and low employee turnover rates (Spillane, 1973). Employees also may formulate perceptions of their organizations based on their employers’ concern about, commitment to, and appreciation of their employees (Brief & Weiss, 2002; Hershberger, Lichtenstein, & Knox, 1994; McAllister & Bigley, 2002) and their consumers (Anderson & Mohr, 2003; Bettencourt et al., 2001).
A characteristic of company loyalty and organizational citizenship behavior is reflected in the employees’ representation of their organizations to consumers. Bettencourt et al. (2001) asserted that “contact employee participation in organizational citizenship behaviors is basic to a company’s ability of meeting changing employee needs (p. 30). Job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment are components of the attitudes descriptive of the workplace environment. These attitudes affect job behavior and can be instrumental in the level of employee output.
Job attitude is the outcome of the collective influence of several factors that include organizational philosophy, leadership behavior, motivation and reward systems, and cultural and demographic influences. These factors are dispersed among three spheres of the workplace: company dimensions, job dimensions, and payment or compensation system.
2.3 Theoretical Framework of Job Attitude
Organizations generally value employee loyalty and dedication (O’Driscoll & Randall, 1999). Organizational behavior research over the past 15 years has resulted in empirical studies involving job- and work-related attitudes (Steel & Rentsch, 1997; Taber, 1991). Specific focus has been applied to employee job satisfaction (Hart, 1999); job involvement (Brown, 1996); and job commitment (Shore & Tetrick, 1991).
Job involvement, often referred to as job commitment, has been associated with organizational support (O’Driscoll & Randall, 1999). The constructs of job attitudes and job involvement have been paired in studies of research stability (Steel & Rentsch, 1997); commitment and support (O’Driscoll & Randall, 1999); and organizational citizenship behaviors (Bettencourt et al., 2001; Moorman, 1991; Organ & Konovsky, 1989).
Job-related attitudes, similar to attitudes in general, are derived from individual perceptions. Individuals can formulate perceptions according to their thought processes or outside influences (Elbert, Seale, & McMahon, 2001). Employers may perceive that employees are pleased or at least content with their jobs based on performance (Wright & Cropanzano, 2001); compliance with the rules of power sources (Koslowsky, Schwarzwald, & Ashuri, 2001); and low turnover rates (Spillane, 1973). Employees may also formulate perceptions of their organizations based upon their employers’ concern about, commitment to, and appreciation of the employees (Brief & Weiss, 2002; Hershberger et al., 1994; McAllister & Bigley, 2002) and consumers (Anderson & Mohr, 2003; Bettencourt et al., 2001).
A characteristic of company loyalty and organizational citizenship behavior is reflected in the employees’ representation of the organizations to consumers (Bettencourt et al., 2001). Thus, research on attitudes is important because it contributes to job behavior. O’Driscoll and Randall (1999) provided an example of the importance of understanding job attitudes and the ways in which they affect job behavior. Job-related attitudes such as job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment are general representations of distinct constructs (Brooke, Russell, & Price, 1988).
2.4 Job Satisfaction
According to Paul (1989), features of job satisfaction can include pay, security, working conditions, need for autonomy responsibility, or accomplishment.
Wright, Cropanzano, Denney, and Moline (2002) described job satisfaction as “a reflection of how desirable or attractive an employee considers their job to be” (p. 146). A generally positive attitude about one’s job is associated with satisfaction with one’s job. These needs are individualized and include the personality style of the employee.
The overall job satisfaction of employees warrants periodic review by employers in their efforts to maintain a valuable workforce. Employees can anonymously submit information regarding their needs and desires through surveys, which can provide an unobstructed view of employees’ needs and collect information without fear of retaliation from employers (Rogelberg, Fisher, Maynard, Hakel, & Horvath, 2001).
2.5 Employee Job Satisfaction Determinants
Employee job satisfaction still remains a very important topic in the facet of organizational behavior. The satisfaction of employees is the way they expresses orientation towards their jobs. It is as well the extent of connection that the employees have with their jobs. Other scholars regard it as the pleasurable emotions state that comes from one’s job appraisal, effectual reaction to one’s job and their attitude towards and the perception they have regarding their jobs. The other factors that job satisfaction is based on are; workload, attitude, physical condition, and even the career aspirations of employees. Well satisfied employees have positive attitudes towards their jobs and makes psychologically healthy community.
Realization that a satisfied employee is highly likely to perform better than unsatisfied counterparts has made social scientists to attempt establishing the factors that lead to higher employee job satisfaction. The past consultations from the TESCO staff at every managerial level identified problems with consistency and literacy. The innovative skills that were introduced led to the analysis of the employees’ job roles and satisfaction. However, it is also important to establish the relationship that subsists between a particular variable and overall employee job satisfaction. The problem is to evaluate if there is any relationship between gender and overall job satisfaction, age and overall job satisfaction, tenure and the overall satisfaction of the employee, position and overall satisfaction, and lastly, the relationship between the extrinsic /intrinsic variables and the employee satisfaction. The study conducted by Delaney has shown that there is connection between demographic variables like gender, age, race, and education and job satisfaction. The more educated employees or older are being satisfied more than the younger and or with less education. However, this seems to have less or no impact on the TESCO’s employees’ job satisfaction.
Primarily, the function of TESCO is to export and import shipment on clients’ behalf in London and so has relation with employee satisfaction. In organizations where job satisfaction evaluation has taken place, results have been analyzed and mapped and this provided exact precise skills picture. Regarding the attraction ability, train and retain clients has promoted TESCO to explore ways of performance improvements. Workers’ turnover has decreased terribly since its launch. This has in turn produced important savings in training cost and recruitments.
Job satisfaction affects the life of individuals. Suppose the workers are satisfied with the jobs that they do, this covers all their lives. Workers who have high job satisfaction do have more positive behaviors and better psychological health in the organization than those who don’t. The study of TESCO (in the past) has explored the effect of gender on the employees’ perception of job satisfaction. The result indicates that there are many person variables that influence job satisfaction in various and complex ways. Trust is one of the factors that influence job satisfaction in TESCO.
Without the trust of the lack of trust among the members of organization, and between the managers and the employees, there may be a close down of the organizations operations. It is a crucial ingredient for the effectiveness of an organization. Mistrust can result suppose there is a disconnection between the managers and the workers. This disconnection may lead to mistrust and job dissatisfaction and hence the difficulty in the attraction and the retention of the talents that the workers have. The important difference exists between the managers/supervisors and the non-supervisors on how they give an interpretation on the term “leadership” whether they actually give attention to the concern of the employees or not. How the organization handles gender and equality also contributes to employee satisfaction. There should be no significant difference that exists between the female and male employees.
All the employees are to considered and rated equal unless they differ in experience ort education. The significance is only in the attitude that the workers have towards the employers/supervisors. It has also shown that there is significant association between the genders, age group, and location of job, worker position, occupation and agency. The gender roles have been highlighted through these analyses. There are many factors that determine the job satisfaction of an individual in an organization (factors like salary, gender, administration and guiding among others). It has been noted that the family ties also affects the job satisfaction on an individual in an organization.
2.6 Job Involvement
Job involvement describes the employees’ interest in specific job duties (O’Driscoll & Randall, 1999; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Employees who relate to their job tasks and value the importance of those tasks are generally concerned about their work. Healthy self-esteem, self-worth, and a positive work ethics can be considered antecedents to job involvement (Steel & Rentsch, 1997). Lodahl and Kejner (1965) asserted that job involvement is rooted in individual values according to job involvement theory. Job Involvement is another trait that has a significant impact on job attitude in relation to performance.
Brown (1996) and Kanungo (1979) described complete engagement in one’s work as a state of involvement and alienation as a separation from one’s work. Employee involvement versus alienation of the workforce is preferable to employers. The consequences can be extremely costly to employers if the workers in disaster response organizations were to neglect specific duties incidental to the care to victims.
2.7 Organizational Commitment
Meyer and Allen (1991) noted that commitment reflects the three general themes of effectual involvement to the company, perceived costs connected with abandoning the company obligations to remain with the organization. These attitudes are present in any organization. Research has distinguished between two types of commitment to an organization: affective and continuance. The level of commitment of disaster relief workers, as with other members of the workforce, can provide valuable information to service agencies in terms of the employees’ desire to remain (Andrew et al., 2002; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).
2. 8 Job Factors and Job Attitudes
Job factors generally are divided into intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors include recognition and achievement, and refer to the work itself, whereas extrinsic factors include working conditions, coworkers, and compensation, and they relate to the environment in which the work in done (Spillane, 1973). Each employee holds opinions on both groups of factors and can rate their significance or importance, that is, one set of factors may hold more significance to one employee versus another (Spillane, 1973). Studies have been conducted aligning job attitudes with job factors. For example, some studies have reviewed the relationship between organizational commitment and turnover (Blau & Boal, 1987; Porter, Steers, & Mowday, 1974). These studies have reported distinctions in predicting turnover using the construct of organizational commitment.
2.9 Present Situation
The global recession has served as a notice of reorientation to all companies, which are now busy reorganizing their workforce and reshaping their employees’ attitudes to cope with the recession (Duff, 2009). Companies also are required to produce more for less, and they have to bank on human capital more than ever. Thus, the issue of employee engagement and retention has become more intense because most companies now cannot afford to pay more to attract or retain quality employees, nor can they afford to lose talented employees with experience.
From the employees’ perspective, it is difficult to work more for less, especially because of the fear of losing their jobs or the downgraded state of the market. Yet the competition, which is actually a struggle for existence in disguise, has become intense. The entire global trade circuit is experiencing confusion while trying to identify the right moves to rejuvenate employees, the market, and the business. Market analysts also are in a quandary to offer any bold solutions. A professional suggestion would corroborate this view (Suster, 2010).
According to Brown (2008), director of HR services at PriceWaterhouseCooper, companies need to review and rectify four areas. Considering a pay increase for the performers, Brown stated, “The main question is how to link reward with performance, and not whether to link it” (p. 22). As for the issue of equal pay, Brown suggested, it is important to make sure salary differences are explained (p. 22), thereby identifying the need to eliminate pay disparities. As for effectiveness, Brown asserted that it could be an important tool to reduce the cost and increase the productivity.
Brown’s (2008) suggestions seems confusing because it is doubtful whether companies are in a position to reward the top performers or to maintain a policy of equal pay, which may result in more spending. If the companies are not in a position to cover the first two issues, they naturally would not be able to enhance the effectiveness of the employees, if one ascribes to the common concept that money plays a central role in enhancing the effectiveness of employees. Otherwise, Brown would have suggested different ways to enhance the same.
Observers such as Wellins (2008) have commented that it should be the responsibility of the employees to become more engaged amid this crisis (i.e., the economic downturn) and that their leaders should support them. These suggestions (Ulrich, 1997) are almost directionless because the desired job attitudes of the employees primarily are a reflection of the collective performance of the management, leadership, and the HRM department. Therefore, such equivocal prescriptions and comments lead to one conclusion: The issue of getting more productivity from employees at less cost requires more insight than previously thought. Therefore, Wagner and Harter (2006) fathoming the significance of employee engagement and retention, this study reviewed some literature that was relevant to the topic.
2.10 Why Job Attitude Is Important
Kahn (1990) asserted that employees are more satisfied when they find themselves voluntarily engaged in their work. This mental state actually contributes to the profit of an organization in more than one way. For example, happy employees develop more creative thinking or seldom are absent from work. Wagner and Harter (2006) added another vital dimension to the aforementioned state. They noted that happy employees experience fewer job-related injuries. Thus, from this perspective, job attitude benefits the companies.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This chapter entails an elaboration of the manner in which data for analysis was collected, arranged, sorted and analyzed in order to generate information for formulation of conclusions and recommendations. Data relevant to the aspects of employee job satisfaction at Tesco was collected from secondary sources and analyzed to help in evaluating various aspects of employee satisfaction at the Tesco , Thailand. These models are deemed sufficient to ensure reliability of the responses and the outcomes of analysis.
3.2 Research strategyIn this study, the research applied qualitative research strategies in order to capture all aspects of the data collected. Through this model, hypotheses are tested in order to assess the impact of variability in the data. The qualitative approach helped in the examination of the current organizational elements that would impact the employee job satisfaction while exploring the various factors that may act as drivers to the satisfaction of employees at the Tesco outlets. By evaluating the aspects in this format, it was possible to come up with or propose strategies to be adopted by the Tesco organization to ensure utmost satisfaction of the employees and also make recommendations for future research where a gap is deemed to exist.
The research design for this study is of the case study type, and Tesco is the subject of the case. Ayelet et al (2008) state that the primary concern of such studies should be to find out “what is fit for a particular setting or case under given circumstances”. By conducting the employee job satisfaction research, the study attempted to assess the best method of handling the employees to ensure maximum satisfaction hence maximum productivity.
3.3 Research approach
The study takes qualitative approach was to achieve the desired objectives. It is only questionnaires that were employed in this research. The qualitative approach was to help in the examination of the current job-related demographic factors. Various factors that act as drivers to the compensation strategies adopted by the organization were explored. This method was appropriate because the research aims were to examine the employee job satisfaction in Tesco bearing in mind the diverse nature of the contemporary workforce.
Random sampling was used whereby questionnaires were issued at random to people working in Tesco. This was with expectations of ensuring that each person in the organization is
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