Job Satisfaction

Introduction

Job satisfaction is very important in the different business organization in Oman and high salaries people working in Oman reflects the desire of organizations to satisfy their employees,  retain them and reduce their turnover rates but high salaries are not the only factors that help in motivating employees and maintain their job satisfaction. There are other factors that are used in business organizations working in Oman to maintain employees' job satisfaction; among them are the work environment, employees' recognition, different opportunities presented for employees by the organizations they work for and the empowerment of employees and different types of performance and reward management systems. (The report, 2016) The current report is discussing how far job satisfaction is important for employees working in companies of Oman either they are foreign employees or native Omani as job satisfaction is one of the most important human resource management issues that leaves its impact over many areas of the business such as productivity, performance and profitability. The research is investigating how employees can be job satisfied and how far this is related to high salaries and other factors as to satisfy employees, there are different methods that should be applied to satisfy employees and before applying them; management has to understand employees and to identify the most suitable method for each of them. This is applied via a questionnaire distributed on different employees in companies working in Oman from both public and private sectors and the questionnaire contains 10 questions related to the issue of job satisfaction and its relationship to salaries. The questionnaire is provided for employees from both sexes males and females and for people from different ages and different nationalities.

Literature Review

According to Raziqa and Maulabakhsh, (2015) job satisfaction can be referred to as an orientation of employees feelings towards a specific role or task they have to perform in the work place. It is a very important element in motivating employees and encouraging them to perform better and raise productivity. There are a number of factors affecting employees' job satisfaction such as the work environment, motivation, employee empowerment and salaries. There are many ways for raising employees' morale and encouraging them to have job satisfaction such as regarding all different needs of employees and trying to meet them, communication with employees, effective leadership style, training, environmental conditions, physical and psychological needs and empowering of employees. Waqas et al,(2014) explained the importance of having satisfied employees in the workplace referring to the high productivity that is associated with high rates of satisfaction in the workplace, high job satisfaction can also lead to high employees' retention and high success rates. Employees who are not satisfied on the contrary can cause different conflicts and stress in the workplace, they can affect other employees and cause different problems, they will be so lazy and disappointed that they can't provide the company with any positive outcomes. Employees job satisfaction can turn a lazy employee to an active one who is happy and feeling well towards the place where he lives.

There is a great impact of reward and recognition on satisfying employees which can improve their performance and retain them into the organization. Management should give high interest in systems for reward and performance appraisal and it should find out which systems are more suitable to the needs of its employees and then to apply them. Motivation is an important factor that can help employees be satisfied; this can be through monetary rewards such as raising salaries and giving employees more pay or non-monetary rewards such as recognizing the best employees and the most effective ones in the company, making parties and events for special employees to appreciate them and giving them certificates for appreciation. There are different activities and processes that are involved within motivation to raise employees' morale and job satisfaction through affecting their behaviors and raising their sense of belonging to the organization. Effective leadership should focus on motivating employees by addressing different needs they have. Danish and Usman, (2010) explained this referring to the Maslow hierarchy of needs and confirmed that each employee or group of employees can be addressed through a need from such hierarchy that should be studied by the managers. 

The level of organizational communication with employees can affect their job satisfaction. Managerial communication can help employees engage more in the workplace, perform better and achieve both personal and organizational goals. To raise employees' job satisfaction; it is important for management to focus on communication as based on the goal setting theory, the managers can communicate the organizational goals with employees and they can make these goals difficult to improve employees' abilities to solve problems, they can also motivate employees by rewards and recognition towards achieving the goals that should involve their personal goals as well. Farahbod et al, (2013) Organizational communication can help understand problems of employees, their conflicts and psychological and physical sufferings in order to meet them and satisfy employees. Managers' responsibilities should include focusing on employees' complaints and realizing their needs related to their career such as the need for training and promotion and those individual needs such as financial needs. Then the company should prepare a suitable development plan for employees as training them and developing their skills and experiences can satisfy their career needs and those who are more effective than others can be also motivated by rewards to encourage others to be like them. Hanaysha et al, (2016)

Analysis

Analyzing the data got from the questionnaire will help in realizing how far job satisfaction is important for employees and how they can be job satisfied. Sample of participants were students and teachers from Majan college.

Q1How far you are satisfied with your job at the company?

-Satisfied

-Not satisfied

-Neutral

Q1	Teacher	Male	Female
A	45%	35%	20%
B
C

Answers show that 45% of teachers were satisfied 35% of males and 20% of females were satisfied. This shows that employees need more techniques for making them satisfied.

Q2Job satisfaction is good because:

-It helps you work better.

-it improves work environment.

-It creates good relations between staff.

Q2	TEACHER	Male	Female
A	60 %
B		35%
C			5%

Answers show that most teachers see that job satisfaction helps them work better 60% and males 35% finds it improves the work environment and only 5% of females think it creates good relations between staff.

This means that satisfied employees are able to work better and that job satisfaction can improve the work environment.

Q3Is there good communication between management and staff?

-Most of the time

-Sometimes

-Rarely

Q3	Teachers	MALES	Females
A	33%
B		24%
C			43%

Answers show that there are 33% of teachers agree that there is communication between management and staff most of the time, 24% sometimes of males and 43% of females rarely.

This gives an idea about lack of effective communication between management and staff in many of the Omani business organizations and the need to more communication to satisfy employees.

Q4Is your work appreciated by management?

-Always

-Frequently

-Occasionally

Q4	Teachers	Males	Females
A	20%
B		20%
C			60%

 Answers show that many of teachers are not always appreciated by managers as only 20% are. 20% of males are frequently appreciated and 60% of females are occasionally appreciated.

This tells that there is a problem in management as low appreciation makes employees not satisfied.

Q5Does the organization provide you with training to improve your performance?

-Yes

-No

-Sometimes

Q5	Teachers	Males	Females
A	33%
B		24%
C			56%

20% of teachers agreed their organizations provide them with training while 24% of males refused and 56% of females said sometimes.

This means that there should be more training for Omani employees by their organizations to improve their performance and satisfy them.

Q6 Are you satisfied with the salary and benefits provided by the organization?

-Very satisfied.

-Somewhat satisfied.

-Not at all satisfied.

Q6	Very Satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Not at all satisfied
A	40%
B		50%
C			10%

Answers show that 40% of teachers are satisfied with salaries and 50% of males are somewhat satisfied and 10% of females not at all satisfied. This tells that salaries in Oman are satisfying to a good extent but there could be other reasons for job satisfaction.

Q7Does the management reward you for your good work?

-Always.

-Sometimes

-Never

Q7	Teachers	Males	Females
A	33%
B		33%
C			34%

Answers tell that 33% of teachers are always rewarded for good work, 33% males are sometimes rewarded and 34% females are never. This shows that there should be more reward systems.

Q8What is the possibility for you looking for another job?

-Most likely.

-Not very likely.

-Not at all.

Q8	Teachers	Males	Females
A	50%
B		44%
C			6%

Half teachers 50% are most likely look for another job, 44% males not very likely and 6% females not at all. This reflects high dissatisfaction with jobs.

Q9 what changes that can be brought about do you recommend to ensure improvement in your job?

Answers included changing the leadership styles, training systems and performance appraisal systems.

Q10 how can the organization ensure the staff are satisfied?

Answers reflected a need for tools to evaluate performance and reward and recognize employees.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to focus on the need for having satisfied employees and to communicate with them to realize how far they are satisfied and to understand reasons for their dissatisfaction. This can be done by applying different techniques for rewarding and appraising employees.