Factors That Affect Employee Satisfaction and Performance - Essay Example

Emotions and Moods Introduction Affect is responsiveness to change and to situations or feelings (Hume 2006, p.278). Affect can either be positive or negative in nature (Robins et al. 2011). A Positive affect can influence how motivated a person is. This is because, positive response to situations can make an employee feel motivated to do the task at hand. An employee with a negative reaction or response towards situations in the place of work can feel less motivated to carry out the job. The level of motivation affects satisfaction and performance. Employee satisfaction is the feeling that things are alright and in order. It can be affected by the factors in the work place. The aim of the Affective Events Theory therefore is to explain the factors that influence employee satisfaction and performance, the dimensions involved in emotional intelligence and the applications of these emotions and moods. Work environment (Robins et al. 2011). Hosie, Sevastos and Cooper (2006) found out that the issue of affect in the place of work “can be measured in terms of ‘feeling good’ or satisfied and ‘feeling bad’ or dissatisfied” (p. 39). If the employee feels good about the conditions at the place of work, then his morale is likely to be boosted. As a result of this, performance is likely to improve. Things like high pay, favorable allowances, bonuses, fair employee appraisal and healthy relationships are likely to boost the morale of the employee and performance. If the employee is unsatisfied about the activities or conditions at work, then the morale is likely to reduce leading to poor performance. Factors that can reduce the employee morale are poor remuneration, unfair performance appraisal, poor working conditions and unhealthy work relationships. Work events (Robins et al. 2011). Activities or events at the place of work can affect the morale, satisfaction and performance of an employee (Robins et al. 2011). If the events are stressful involving a lot of hustle or if they have negative emotional, health or physical effects they can lower the morale of the employee. Consequently, if the morale and safety is low, the level of motivation also reduces therefore affecting performance. Events or activities with less emotional or physical negative impacts on the employee can improve performance. A healthy working environment that poses no risk to an employee’s health, emotions or physical appearance can be an encouragement to work. This is because such workers feel appreciated and protected. Personal dispositions (Robins et al. 2011): An employee’s personal status can affect how satisfied they are with the job. It can also affect their output. If an employee is well appreciated, he can have high esteem which can make him perform better. The person will therefore be in a position to perform well even when the conditions are negative. On the other hand, an employee who is rarely recognized or is poorly paid can feel less satisfied with the work. Such an employee may feel less appreciated as compared to the other employees. This can lead to result to poor performance. The mood of an employee can also determine how satisfied he or she is with work as well as his or her performance. Both positive and negative moods can affect performance (Robins et al. 2011). Both can have positive and negative impacts on the employees. An employee with a positive mood towards work can be more active in performance. This is beneficial, although it can disrupt other employees. An employee with a negative mood can be a poor performer. Such an employee might concentrate more on his problems rather than solve the issues at work. This can lower performance An employee’s response to issues or situations reflects emotions and moods.Some emotions such as fear or even positive emotions can be caused by nervous transmissions in the brain (“Organizational behavior”, 2003). A layoff that is likely to take place can have negative emotions on the employee since he is likely to have fear that he might be one of the people to be laid off. Changes in emotions can cause fluctuations in job satisfaction and performance. Positive or negative emotions can distract workers and affect performance. A person’s personality and mood can be a determining factor on how intense the emotional response is. A person of high personality such as a manager may be positively emotional since they may want to keep things in control and be seen as having leadership qualities. They may therefore put pressure on the employees in order to achieve their goals. The employee may be negatively emotional since he may have a lot of pressure from his leaders to deliver results. An employee’s emotions can influence his or her performance and the factors of satisfaction in the place of work. Emotional intelligence: Sparrow and Knight (2009, p.4) states that, “emotional intelligence is about integrating feelings and thinking”. If a person is able to manage his emotions and is also able to read the emotions of his work mates, he may be more effective at work. Emotional intelligence is important in job performance. An employee who possesses the dimensions of emotional intelligence is in a position to understand the pressure at work and the emotions of others. This can be motivating to all the employees therefore improving the genera performance. Emotional intelligence can be measured in various proportions (Hume 2006, p.278): Self-awareness (Hume 2006, p.278): This is the process of being able to know one’s feelings. An employee who is aware of their emotions is able to control them and share with other people. This is unlike a person who fails to recognize their emotions and who lets them sway him. Self-management (Hume 2006, p.278): It is the ability to manage one’s emotions and their effects. A person who is aware of their feelings is more capable of managing them so that they cannot affect performance. On the other hand, a person who is a poor manager of personal emotions can be unable to know their impact on the lives of others. Self-motivation (Hume 2006, p.278): It is the ability to persist in the presence of problems and challenges. It is necessary that an employee carries out things that boost their morale. For instance, they can participate in community activities and team building. Such activities enable an employee to learn how to resist defeat and to courageously solve problems. An employee with self-motivation is good in performance since he is able to cope with conditions at work. Empathy (Hume 2006, p.278): It is the ability to know the feelings of other people. When an employee has self -motivation as well as empathy, he is able to motivate himself as well as the other people therefore boosting everyone’s performance. Social skills (Hume 2006, p.278): It is the ability to take care of other people’s emotions (Hume 2006, p.278). This can help the overall performance since possession of social skills can help an employee share their experiences and issues with other people. Emotions are applicable in several contexts or situations. Some of them are: Decision making (Robins et al. 2011): Emotions can affect the kind of decisions being made in the organization. A person with positive emotions is likely to make effective decisions as opposed to a person with negative emotions. Leadership (Robins et al. 2011): Emotions can affect how an employee accepts or passes instructions to other employees. An employee with negative emotions is more likely to ignore or to pass ineffective instructions as opposed to one with positive emotions, Negotiations (Robins et al. 2011): An employee with positive emotions can be good at solving conflicts as opposed to the one with negative emotions. Job attitudes (Robins et al. 2011): If an employee is positively emotional, he may not allow stress at work to affect conditions at home. People with positive attitude don’t carry the emotions from work back home. On the other hand, a person with negative emotions may tend to carry stress home leading to wrangles in their families. Motivation (Robins et al. 2011): Positive emotions can increase motivation to work (Robins et al. 2011). Things like bonuses boost the emotions and motivation of employees to work harder therefore improving performance. Negative emotions can lower the motivation of the employees. Unfair promotions or overworking of employees can demotivate the employees therefore leading to poor performance. Conclusion Affective Events Theory seeks to explain the factors that affect employee satisfaction and performance. Affect is the responsiveness to situations. It can be positive or negative in nature. Hosie et al. (2006, p.31) stated that “Emotions last for a short period of time, while affect or mood takes a longer duration”. Work events, work environment, personal dispositions and emotional reactions are among factors that affect employee satisfaction and performance. Emotional intelligence is therefore important to manage these emotions at the work place. Aspects of emotional intelligence, such as self-awareness, self-management, self-motivation, empathy and social skills are crucial in improving employee satisfaction and performance. Emotions affect decision making, leadership, negotiations, job attitudes and motivation among other factors. If the effect of emotions on these factors is positive, employee satisfaction and performance will improve as opposed to when they are negative. References Hosie, P., Sevastos, P., & Cooper, C. (2006). Happy-Performing Managers: The Impact of Affective wellbeing and Intrinsic Job Satisfaction in the workplace. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Hume, D 2006, Emotions and moods, Pearson, Frenchs Forest. Organizational behavior: (2003). In F. Dansereau. & F. Yammarino (Ed.) Multi-Level Issues in Organizational Behavior and Strategy (pp. 57). Kidlington, UK: Elsevier Science Ltd. Robbins, SP, Judge, TA, Millett, B, & Boyle, M. 2011. Organizational Behavior, Pearson, Frenchs Forest. Sparrow, T & Knight, A 2009, Applied Emotional Intelligence: The Importance of Attitudes in Developing Emotional Intelligence, John Wiley & Sons, United States. Read More