Employee Dissatisfaction at Work - Coursework Example

Running head: Employee Dissatisfaction at Work Name Institution Course Professor Date Employee satisfaction is important to organizational success. A satisfied employee performs his or her duties well which help an organization in achieving its goals. The behaviour of a satisfied and dissatisfied employee is different. A satisfied employee exhibits commitment and involvement to work. He or she also shows better productivity. Employees in most cases have certain aspirations and expectations which they want organizational management to fulfilled them. In case the management fails or neglects to satisfy the employees’ expectations and needs, feeling of discontent or dissatisfaction develops and grievances may take place. Grievance in this case is the employee expectation and organizational management practice of not paying much attention to the employees’ aspirations and needs. There will be dissatisfaction among employees if proper care and mechanisms are not put in place by the management in mitigating their effects which ultimately result in disruption of operations. As a result, organisational functioning is affected and paralysed. Therefore, employees’ grievances must be addressed early by considering the causes of dissatisfaction of the employees concerned. This essay explores various overt and covert manifestations of employee dissatisfaction at work. In addition, steps and strategies that managers can take in minimising their occurrence and in addressing them when they occur are also discussed. Job satisfaction in the workplace is important in several ways. Lower turnover rate is directly related to employee satisfaction. Satisfaction represents work experience outcome and therefore higher levels of dissatisfaction help in identifying organizational problems that needs management attention (Hellriegel & Slocum 2007, p.58). Moreover, job satisfaction is linked to a large extent to both mental and physical health problems, turnover and absenteeism. Absenteeism and turnover rates that are of the highest levels are costly to organizations. Many experts of management have suggested that strong relationship that occurs between absenteeism and turnover and dissatisfaction is a compelling reason for organizational management to pay careful attention to job satisfaction of the employees. Costs that are associated with employee dissatisfaction can be high and hence identification of employee dissatisfaction should form major part of every manager’s job description (Wagner & Hollenbeck 1998, p.118). Once employee dissatisfaction is identified, interventions should be put in place that targets its source. In some cases, employees who are dissatisfied with some aspect of their work may not be able to speak out for fear of being called chronic complainers. In extreme cases, some workers attitudes may have deteriorated that they regard as a waste of time to report dissatisfaction at work. For this reason, it is imperative for managers in organizations to monitor employees’ attitudes by means of a systematic, anonymous and regular employee survey program (Wagner & Hollenbeck 1998, p. 118). Regardless of the types of measures and programs an organization puts in place in monitoring employees’ attitudes and recognising dissatisfaction, it is no secret that dissatisfaction costs organizations a lot. It is important at this point to note that when employees in the organization are not offered a chance to participate in the process of change, they will likely feel dissatisfied, distressed, ignored, and resentful. These characteristics are powerful emotions which can easily undermine the motivation and drive of employees and as a result lead to drop in productivity of these employees. Hence organisations must recognise various overt and covert manifestations of employee satisfaction. The two most noticeable symptoms of employee dissatisfaction in organizations are turnover and absenteeism (Lloyd 2002, p.58). Unilaterally imposing change often contributes in a large magnitude to such dissatisfaction and productivity suffers further as employees ties with the organization is loosened by such factors as faking sickness or quitting the organisation altogether. Absenteeism without concrete reason is an overt manifestation of employee dissatisfaction at work. An employee that misses job regularly may be exhibiting symptoms of dissatisfaction with the job or at times with fellow employees. Many reasons can explain why an employee misses to report to his or her place of work. Missing to report to work may also be a sign of turbulent home situation of an employee such as a sick spouse or child. Absenteeism is also the most open manifestations of employee dissatisfaction in an organization. Communication by the employer to the employee helps in getting to the root of the problem and in assessing the ways in which employer can offer support to the employee in tough circumstances. Organizations are faced with the challenge of attracting the right qualified individuals for the job and also retaining them for organizational benefit. The organization may be successful in attracting qualified and competent employees by creating high expectations and offering lucrative pay packages. Retention of competent employees is more difficult. Despite the strategies that organization employs in retaining them, employees leave their jobs when they become dissatisfied. Dissatisfied employee exhibits different behaviour from those of a satisfied employee who shows commitment and involvement to work hence better productivity from these employees (Chitale, Mohanty & Dubey, p. 51). Dissatisfaction by employees emanates from many sources but communication breakdown is the major contributor. Bad communication has the effect of disconnecting the employees’ feelings from the organization. Lack of communication makes it difficult for employees to achieve any progress in their work efficiency. Manifestations of employee dissatisfaction begin to cripple in and hence it is important for management to identify these symptoms. Tardiness is a performance symptom of an employee who is dissatisfied. Some employees are habitual late comers to places of work which is an overt manifestation of employee dissatisfaction. Occasionally, everyone in an organization will be late in reporting to their places of work but employees who report to work late regularly indicate employee dissatisfaction. Linger in arriving to workplace by an employee on a regular basis indicates that the employee is attempting to delay interaction in the place of work which is no longer appealing and comfortable. Manifestation of low employee satisfaction in workplace occurs through various kinds of behaviours. Dissatisfaction in some instances leads to mobilization of employees union which many organizations attempts to avoid at all cost. Outward sign of an employee who is dissatisfied at work manifests itself through behavioural or physical withdrawal from work as depicted by high turnover rates and early retirement (Bennett & Kaufman 2007, p. 62). Organizational members regularly leave their current jobs for personal reasons or to get opportunity to advance their careers, but employees leaving their jobs in large numbers may be an indication of high level of employee dissatisfaction. A senior employee in an organization who suddenly hands in a resignation letter is often a sign that there is something wrong in the organization. Senior employees know the organization very well than any other members and their abrupt request to resign indicates highest level of dissatisfaction. Therefore, it is a necessity for a company to conduct exit interviews as a way of discovering the reasons why the employees leave the organization. In addition, it will also be an opportunity where areas of improvement can be identified. Employees’ dissatisfaction at work is accompanied by warning signs which are open while others are concealed. Management are required therefore to identify these manifestations if operations in the organization are not to be disrupted. The drop in work performance and productivity of employees indicate that employees are dissatisfied at work (Dickson 2011, p. 20). Decrease in production affects budgetary accounts of a company. It is apparent that productivity provides a good indication of satisfied employees. When an employee quality of work falls dramatically, it may be a manifestation of dissatisfaction. In other cases, it could be as a result of personal issues with co-workers. An employee who is dissatisfied with his or her work is likely to be less attentive to the job details hence production suffers and performance of the work is derailed. Employees’ performance of tasks is unacceptable and if he or she works in an assembly line can cause disruption to the whole process. This may arise when an employee incorrectly puts materials together or omit minor parts which cause the product being produced to completely fail or work at all. The decline in performance quality and output is personnel issues that organization must address urgently (Dickson 2011, p.20). All these manifestations of employee dissatisfaction are easily identifiable as evident by accounting variances in the budgeted items and the realised results. Furthermore, frequent customers complaint about the quality of the products is a sign that employees are not performing their work up to the standards required. Low productivity, regular errors and sloppy work are in essence not only manifestations of employee dissatisfaction at work, but they also affect an organization’s bottom line. In an organization, there exist different groups of employees. Employees can be described as engaged, compliant, indifferent, or disengaged (Dickson 2011, p. 18). Engaged employees are passionate about and emotionally attached to the organization. The contributions of these employees to the organizational success are fully and they find fulfilment in their jobs. Engaged employees can transition easily to indifferent, compliant, or even disengaged if engagement primary influencers are not addressed in an active manner. Complaint employees are not happy but they just do what is enough to get by and conform to expectations. These kind of employees manifests employee dissatisfaction that is hard to identify. Indifferent employees feel disenchanted by issues in the organization that seems never to be resolved. These types of employees are dissatisfied and they just do enough and are vocal as far as their dissatisfaction is concerned. Indifferent employees have the ability to bring low organizational morale because of their vocal nature about dissatisfaction which disrupts department morale or the whole organization. Low organizational morale therefore is a sign of employee dissatisfaction. An employee who is dissatisfied at work is not easy to identify. This is because covert manifestations of employee dissatisfaction are hard to notice. Attitude of employees is a sign of employee discontent or satisfaction in a workplace. Bad attitude signals employee dissatisfaction at workplace and it manifest itself in many ways. Frequent complaints, poor customer service and arguments between employees themselves and management is a clear indication of dissatisfied workforce (Lashley 2001, p.222). An employee in a work place that refuses supervisors requests or fails to follow the instructions that were given to him or her is an employee who is dissatisfied. Negative attitude can be seen in employees whose appearances and hygiene suddenly changes. This is a covert manifestation of employees’ dissatisfaction which employers in most cases fail to notice at all. The real issues that underlies poor attitude should be resolved immediately in the organization before it spreads throughout the entire organization. Organizational management determines to a large extent the levels of satisfaction of employees. Employee will be satisfied with co-workers, supervisors and subordinates in the workplace who help them realize rewards. On the other hand, employees will achieve satisfaction with organizations having policies and procedures designed in helping them attain rewards. Employees become dissatisfied when organizations imposed conflicting and/or ambiguous roles on them (Hellriegel & Slocum 2007, p.56). Dissatisfied and disgruntled employees have the ability of affecting the organization productivity, reputation and morale in a negative way. Therefore, management must find ways of minimising the occurrence of overt and covert manifestations of employee dissatisfaction at work. Minimising occurrence of manifestation of Employee dissatisfaction Manifestations of employee dissatisfaction that occur in high levels is an indication to the managers that there exist problems such as the reward system, working conditions and role of employee in the organization. Managers can put strategies in place to minimise the occurrence of manifestations of employee dissatisfaction. Managing occurrence of employee dissatisfaction can be a complicated task for management owing to the nature of different manifestations of employee dissatisfaction. For example, belief that eliminating unhappy employee has an effect of reducing work dissatisfaction in an organization is not an end to it. This is because this strategy does not consider that overt unhappiness of one employee may not take into consideration employees who do not express their unhappiness openly but have all the behaviours and symptoms of work dissatisfaction (Glicken & Robinson 2013, p. 183). Although some manifestations of employee dissatisfaction at work may difficult to be figured out, managers can still minimise their occurrence. Employee turnover which is a sign of employee dissatisfaction at work can be reduced but this depends on the overall work environment offered to the employees. Significantly reducing employee turnover, management should select the right individuals for the job through competency screening and behaviour-based testing. This ensures that the right people are given the jobs that they enjoy doing and hence will deliver on their mandate without much conflict of roles. Although salary does not directly leads to employee dissatisfaction at work, it contributes to it. Offering competitive and attractive pay package can minimised the occurrence of employees’ turnover especially when salary and benefits is manifestation of their dissatisfaction at work. Organizations are places where conflicts often arise either between employees and management or employees and supervisors. These conflicts can occur because of employees who are not satisfied with their work. The manifestations of dissatisfaction of employees at workplaces occurrence can be minimised by managers. Employees require medium where they can air their grievances to the management of the organizations which can be described as “voice of the employees”. From perspective of the employees, this voice describes how organizational employees advance and express their interests, ideas and opinions, solving of the problems, raise concerns, and both contribute and participate in decision-making of the workplace with management (Teicher, Holland & Gough 2013, p. 119). The ‘voice’ of the employees can either be direct or indirect. Direct voice involves direct communication that occurs between individuals or a group of employees together with their immediate managers. The result of these interactions is emphasizing the productivity enhancement and the commitment of the employee. This approach advocates development of direct relationships between managers and employees with minimal influence from trade unions which is consistent with the perspective of the unitarist approach. In this way, managers are able to minimise incidence of manifestations of employee dissatisfaction. Managers can also use indirect voice in the workplace in reducing employee dissatisfaction. Indirect voice is a term referring to interaction and communication between an employee intermediary, union representative and management which is typically oriented towards employee enhancement participation in decision making of the management (Teicher et al., 2013, p. 120). Establishment, maintenance and integration of channels of employee voice in the workplace helps in making employees to be highly committed and involved in their work hence minimising occurrence of manifestations of employee dissatisfaction. Addressing Manifestations of Employee Dissatisfaction Manifestations of employee dissatisfaction at work needs to be addressed by the organizational management otherwise they may paralysed and disrupts the operations of the organization. Managers can use survey in dealing with employee manifestations of work dissatisfaction when they do occur. Survey is a technique used in obtaining information about employees’ opinion, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours (Chanda, Krishna, & Shen, p. 103). Surveys help in gathering of information on different issues such as the attitudes of employee towards policies. Exit interviews for example provide feedback of why an employee chooses to resign and the actions that mangers can initiate in addressing dissatisfaction of employees. Periodical survey also enables managers in detecting changes in the attitude of the employee hence can undertake planning in minimising their discontentment. Identification of the possible causes of various overt and covert manifestations of employees’ dissatisfaction at work is the first step in addressing them when they occur. Managers should direct their efforts in finding reasons why employee dissatisfaction occur in their organisations. This is a two-fold strategy as not only does it identify the steps that can be taken in addressing the current situation, it also assist in discovering mechanisms in prevention of their occurrence happening again. Managers expect employees to show good attitude both inside and outside their organization to co-workers and customers (Othman & Suleiman 2013, p.194). Employees can depict poor attitudes necessitating managers to address them by carefully investigating the genesis of the problem. In conclusion, the entire workforce can be affected when turnover and absenteeism and other overt and covert manifestations of employee dissatisfaction are not effectively controlled and managed properly. Employees in workplace have the ability of affecting the operations of the organization either negatively or positively. Employee who is dissatisfied at work can exhibit various overt and covert manifestations of their dissatisfaction. Regular absenteeism and high levels of turnover of employees are examples of overt manifestations of employee dissatisfaction. Covert manifestations of workers are hard to identify but they do have serious repercussions to the organization. Managers can initiate various strategies in minimising occurrence of employee dissatisfaction by finding out the reasons for their dissatisfaction. Moreover, they can also address them when they occur by use of survey programs which detect reasons for employee dissatisfaction. References Bennett, J. T & Kaufman, B. E. 2007, What do unions do? a twenty-year perspective. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick.   Chanda, A. Krishna S, B & Shen, J. 2007, Strategic human resource technologies: keys to managing people. Sage Publishers, London. Dickson, D. A. 2011, Fostering employee engagement: practical tools and best practice techniques. HRD Press, Amherst. Glicken, M. D & Robinson, B. 2013, Treating Worker Dissatisfaction During Economic Change. 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