Influence of Job Satisfaction on Staff Turnover Dissertation

Influence of Job Satisfaction on Staff Turnover - Dissertation Example Graham defined job satisfaction as, "The measurement of one's total feelings and attitudes towards one's job"(Graham, p. 68, 1982). Some specialists state job satisfaction as â€Å"any combination of psychological, physiological, and environmental circumstances that causes a person truthfully to say, ‘I am satisfied with my job’† (Hoppock, p. 47, 1935). One more defines job satisfaction as â€Å"an affective (emotional) reaction to a job that results from the incumbent’s comparison of actual outcomes with those that are desired† (Cranny et al., p.1, 1992). Dissatisfied employees are always complaining about their physical health like stiffness in muscles and joints (O’Driscoll & Beehr, 1994). Job satisfaction is a key factor that affects the employee’s turnover intention and, â€Å"Job satisfaction is important for organizations to address due to its impact on absenteeism, (1) turnover, (2) and pro-social â€Å"citizenship† beha viors such as helping coworkers, helping customers, and being more cooperative with all social ties† (Karl & Sutton, p.515, 1998). Dissatisfaction of the employees when reaches a certain limit, it gives rise to turnover intention. Most of the studies show a reasonable connection between job satisfaction and turnover intentions (Samad, pp. 1-5, 2006). Turnover intention is the intent of the staff to quit their organization. The ratio of the figure of members of organization who leave during a specific period divided by the average number of employees in that organization is the rate of turnover (Price, p.10-25, 1977). Dissatisfaction of employees is a major issue for the organizations as they suffer a lot if a competent individual quits the job due to dissatisfaction. Turnover can cause serious damage and destruction to the organization by bringing extra direct or indirect cost to it. Expenses incurred on the assortment, staffing, initiation and training of new workers is direct cost (Staw, p. 253-273, 1980). Cost of knowledge, abridged morale, stress on the existing staff and the loss of social capital are the i ndirect costs suffered by the organization (Des & Shaw, p.446-456, 2001). Therefore, the organizations must take steps to identify the factors causing job dissatisfaction in the employees. A number of aspects influence the job satisfaction of the employees. The matter of knowing about the factors affecting the job satisfaction of the individuals working for the organization is of utmost importance. The two types of the factors that manipulate the job satisfaction of an individual are factors involving the work environment and the demographic characteristics. Education, gender, age, and term of employment are the demographic measures while the difference of roles, task variety, remuneration, and relationship with colleagues are the work environment measures (Allen, pp. 27, 2002). It is obligatory for the organization to provide best possible working environment to the employees so that they feel comfortable. Dissatisfied employees are a cause of numerous problems for the organization s and are not productive. A recent study reveals the consequences of job dissatisfaction through which one can conclude that if disgruntled workers stay in the organization they may take on counter-productive activities (Spector, 1997). Roznowski and Hulin contend that overall job satisfaction measures are "the most informative data a manager or researcher can have for predicting employee behavior"(Roznowski and Hulin, 1992, p. 26). Job satisfaction of an individual directly affects his or her turnover intention. Experts have been