Measuring Job Satisfaction

Question 1

Measure 1

Answer 1

Job Descriptive Index (Smith et al., 1969)

1. To measure job satisfaction.
2. Measures 5 aspects of job satisfaction:
   > Experience of the work
   > Salary
   > Promotion prospects
   > Experience of supervision
   > Experience of co-workers
3. A very simple scale to which workers simply answer yes, no or can’t decide in response to a series of statement about their job.
4. This is an interesting example of a scale to study as the results are compared with standardised norms based on data from a large sample of people which is regularly updated.
   > Any individual’s score can be compared with normative scores in respect of age, gender, job level, education and ‘community prosperity’.
   > This means that rather than simply measuring the satisfaction of an individual, their satisfaction can be compared with these norms to see whether the individual is more or less satisfied with his or her job than other similar individuals.
5. Advantages of Job Descriptive Index:
   > Measures specific, objective areas of job satisfaction rather than satisfaction in general terms.
   > Relatively easy to read and does not use any complex language, which makes it suitable to use with a large variety of people.

Question 2

Measure 2

Answer 2

The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Weiss et al., 1967)

1. Designed by Weiss et al. to measure an employee’s satisfaction with their job.
2. There is a long version (100 items) and a shorter version (20 items).
3. The MSQ measures satisfaction with a range of aspects of an employee’s job:
   > Company policies
   > Security
   > Independence
   > Recognition
   > Variety
   > Working conditions
   > Scope for advancement
   > Responsibility
4. Originally used the following 5 response choices:
   > Very satisfied
   > Satisfied
   > ‘N’ (neither satisfied nor dissatisfied)
   > Dissatisfied
   > Very dissatisfied
5. However, results using this set of response choices tended to be skewed and generally alternated between ‘satisfied’ and ‘very satisfied’.
   > A later version adjusted for this by using the following 5 response categories:
   » Not satisfied
   » Somewhat satisfied
   » Satisfied
   » Very satisfied
   » Extremely satisfied
6. Results from this version tended to be more varied and although ‘satisfied’ was the most common response, responses were spread in both directions around this central point.

Question 3

Measure 3

Answer 3

Quality of working life (QWL) (Walton, 1974)

1. A term used commonly in organisational psychology although there does not appear to be one agreed definition.
2. Heskett, Sasser and Schlesinger proposed that QWL could be described as the feelings that employees have towards their jobs, colleagues and companies and that these feelings would affect an organisation’s growth and profitability.
   > Others see QWL as a process by which an organisation responds to employee needs.
3. Consider QWL in its broadest sense: a range of factors which determines our feelings about our working life such as:
   > Job security
   > Reward systems
   > Pay levels
   > Opportunity for growth
4. Walton developed a typology which consists of 8 key components to assess QWL. They described using different words in different texts but their core meanings are the same.
   A. Fair and adequate payment
   > In order to measure this, the researcher could ask questions to determine whether the pay received by the worker is enough for them to live on or whether it is equivalent to the pay that other workers are receiving.
   > They might also ask participants to rate their agreement with statements such as ‘I am satisfied with the amount of money I earn’.
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   B. Safe and healthy working conditions
   > Walton’s typology can be used to assess a range of health and safety issues which may contribute to QWL.
   > For example, appropriate clothing and safety procedures may be in place as a result of employer concern, union action or legislation and whilst this may vary from culture to culture it is evident that this is required for QWL.
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   C. Providing opportunities to use and develop skills
   > People will rate their QWL higher if they are given autonomy and independence to do their jobs and if there is scope to develop their skills.
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   D. Opportunity for career growth and security
   > This is obviously related to the previous point in its focus on career growth but also refers to the sense of security that an employee feels in his or her employment.
   > There has been a move away from permanent employment to fixed term or even ‘zero-hours’ contracts (with no guaranteed weekly hours) in some cultures recently and this will bring with it a drop in QWL.
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   E. Positive social relationships/integration within the workplace
   > QWL is affected by the social context.
   > Positive relationships at work will be of great benefit, not only raising worker productivity and satisfaction but decreasing stress, absenteeism and staff turnover.
   > Explain in terms of the importance of social needs in Maslow’s theory of motivation.
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   F. The total life space
   > Western society often refers to this as the ‘work-life balance’.
   > Any assessment of QWL would need to measure the extent to which employees were able to maintain this balance.
   > It may seem like a small gesture, but allowing someone an afternoon off to watch their child perform in a school play will significantly affect their ratings of their QWL.
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   G. Constitutionalism (policies and procedures) in the workplace
   > Does the worplace have appropriate policies in place for dealing with bullying for example, or managing dissent?
   > To what extent do employees value the ‘organisational culture’ and to what extent is this culture a supportive one?
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   H. Social relevance
   > QWL is enhanced when people can rate the social relevance of what they do (or what the organisation does) positively.
5. Walton’s typology has been used to develop a variety of techniques to measure QWL in a variety of orgaisations and cultures.
   > However different these organisations and cultures are, these same 8 components of QWL will be valid.

Question 4

Evaluation

Answer 4

1. Psychometric testing
   > Three areas here all involve some type of psychometric testing.
   > Although such tests can be relatively easy to administer and score, they are prone to demand characteristics and social desirability bias, and flaws in their construction can have serious effects on the outcome.
2. Job Description Index
   > It is one of the most thoroughly tested and carefully validated tests and is based on standardised norms, which means that each individual’s score can be compared to a bank of scores taken from a huge sample of particiants in many different occupations.
   > It is therefore possible to identify whether the individual is more or less satisfied than others of the same age, sex, occupation and so on.
3. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire
   > A well-validated test but the discussion above on the different response categories highlights one of the problems of psychometric tests.
   > Offering respondents slightly different responses to choose from can have significant effects on the answers that they give which would clearly reduce both the reliability and the validity of the test.
   > However, both tests are widely used and the results can be applied to improving aspects of the working environment in order to make workers more satisfied and hence more motivated and productive.
4. Quality of working life
   > A very useful, although very broad, concept whose application has generated a range of initiatives in many organisations from the development of workable policies for dealing with bullying, allowing for compassionate leave or the ability to work flexibly through to the provision of social activities designed to improve employees’ quality of working life.