Management Chapter 6 Human Resource Decision Making Organizations The Decision Quit Least Two Major

Unlock access to all the studying documents.

View Full Document

Chapter 6: Human Resource Decision Making in Organizations

the decision to quit. At least two major streams of research have proposed models that

incorporate these ideas, and the basic concepts of these models are present in Figure 6.1. Job

dissatisfaction causes the employee to begin thinking about quitting, which leads to a search

for alternatives.

It is best to stop the turnover before the employee begins searching for alternatives because he

or she might find a more attractive alternative. Even if an employee begins searching for

alternatives, it may still be possible to retain the employee by convincing him or her that the

current job really is better than the alternatives. In fact, the search for alternatives sometimes

leads to increased satisfaction on the current job after the employee discovers that the

alternatives were not as positive as once believed. Other models have proposed similar

mechanisms but have also suggested that job dissatisfaction must reach a critical level before

anything happens and, at that point, it may be too late to do anything.

Another interesting model that deviates a bit from the basic model in Figure 6.1 focuses on

“shocks” to the individual. First, this model proposes that several paths can lead to turnover,

and they do not all require shocks. This model begins with shock and not with job

dissatisfaction. In fact, the dissatisfaction occurs only because the employee started thinking

about the job in response to the shock.

The notion of job embeddedness has been proposed as an explanation for why some people

B. The Causes of Job Dissatisfaction

A common thread in these models of the turnover process is job dissatisfaction. For example,

one line of research, using identical twins, has (cautiously) suggested that a certain component

of job dissatisfaction may be genetic. A related line of research has suggested that some

individuals are disposed toward being satisfied, while others are simply disposed toward

being dissatisfied, and that, although conditions on the job play a role, these tendencies are as

important in determining levels of job dissatisfaction. More typical approaches to job

dissatisfaction, however, tend to focus on the following job-related factors.

• Nature of the work—one of the most important sources of dissatisfaction on the job is

the nature of the work that a person does.

• Pay and benefits—it may not be a surprise that an employee’s level of satisfaction on

Chapter 6: Human Resource Decision Making in Organizations

potential sources of job dissatisfaction.

C. The Effects of Job Dissatisfaction

Job dissatisfaction is a major determinant of voluntary turnover, but it is also predictive of

other types of withdrawal behavior. For example, a strong relationship exists between job

dissatisfaction and absenteeism, partly because employees who are dissatisfied may not

always be able to leave their jobs (because of a lack of alternatives); thus, they choose to

withdraw partially by being absent.

A subtler form of withdrawal that does not involve being away from the job is a reduction of

commitment to the organization. Organizational commitment is the degree to which an

employee identifies with an organization and is willing to exert effort on behalf of the

organization. Employees who lack organizational commitment are excellent candidates for

physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion on the job), and (through the first two processes)

employee health. The most intriguing possibility, however, is the link between job satisfaction

and productivity. Although there are cases in which performance and satisfaction have

common determinants, and even some in which the most productive employees are also the

most satisfied, no consistent causal relationship between job satisfaction and performance has

been found.

D. Measuring and Monitoring Job Satisfaction

Organizations spend a fair amount of time and effort monitoring the levels of their

employees’ job satisfaction, primarily through the use of attitude surveys that are distributed

to employees once or more a year. Although many organizations design their own attitude

surveys (or hire consulting firms to design them), some widely used measures of job

satisfaction often show up as part of these surveys. By using standard measures of job

Chapter 6: Human Resource Decision Making in Organizations

satisfaction, an organization not only tracks changes in its employees’ levels of satisfaction

but also is able to compare satisfaction levels with other organizations that use the same

measures.

The job descriptive index (JDI) is the most commonly used measure of job satisfaction. It

assesses satisfaction with specific job aspects such as pay, the work itself, and supervision,

but it does not have a single overall measure of job satisfaction (although it is easy to assess

E. Retention Strategies

When an organization learns of a potential problem, most likely through a survey, it is

important that something be done. Employees are less likely to respond honestly to survey

questions if they feel that no one will respond to their concerns.

Job enrichment has been consistently linked with higher levels of job satisfaction. By making

employees’ work more challenging and meaningful and by granting them more autonomy and

more opportunity to use their skills, the work itself becomes both motivating and satisfying

Chapter 6: Human Resource Decision Making in Organizations

V. Managing Human Resources during Mergers and Acquisitions

Although a lot of attention is paid to big mergers and acquisitions, the public is less aware that

many of these mergers and acquisitions actually fail. There is considerable speculation and some

limited research on why mergers and acquisitions fail, but much of the attention has been paid to

a deal’s financial elements (e.g., the acquiring firm paid too much) or to strategic elements (e.g.,

the new business was too far from the firm’s areas of expertise).

When a merger or acquisition is announced, several interesting processes begin. The most

obvious is that employees in the firms involved become concerned about their jobs, especially

Closing Case: Hard Facts and Half-Truths

Case Summary

Stanford University professors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Bob Sutton, authors of Hard Facts,

Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense, have put out a call for a renewed reliance on

rationality in managerial decision making—an approach that they call evidence-based

management (EBM). They define evidence-based management as “a commitment to finding and

using the best theory and data available at the time to make decisions,” but their “Five Principles

Chapter 6: Human Resource Decision Making in Organizations

another matter altogether when it comes to the kind of collaborative teams that make so many

organizational decisions today. According to Pfeffer and Sutton, wide disparities in pay often

weaken both trust among team members and the social connectivity that contributes to strong,

team-based decision-making. Or consider another increasingly prevalent policy for evaluating

and rewarding talent. Pfeffer and Sutton found that, according to many HR managers, forced

ranking impaired morale and collaboration and ultimately reduced productivity.

Case Questions

1. Do you think evidence-based management seems like common sense? If so, why wasn’t it

advocated earlier?

Students’ answers will vary. Evidence-based management (or EBM) might seem like

common sense although this may not be the case. EBM, in other words, is the study of

2. Are there circumstances in which evidence-based management might not be the best

approach?

Students’ answers will vary. Most of the time, evidence-based management is the best

approach to follow. “Management decisions should be based on the best evidence,

3. Could automated evidence-based management ever replace human decision makers? Why,

or why not?

4. Would you want your work under Jack Welch’s system at General Electric? Why, or why

not?

Students’ answers will vary. Jack Welch practices “forced ranking” system at General

Electric that divides employees into three groups based on their performance—the top 20

Discussion Questions

1. Explain how organizations can temporarily increase the size of their workforce.

There are several methods that can be used to temporarily increase the size of the

2. Identify and discuss examples of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice that you

have experienced.

Students’ answers will vary. Following is an example of a distributive, procedural, and

interactional justice that students might have experienced. “I experienced distributive

3. Summarize the basic legal issues involved in layoffs.

Layoffs can become legally problematic if the actual strategy used for determining who

will be laid off is not reasonable. A layoff strategy that targets older workers is probably

illegal and would rarely be considered as fair.

4. Distinguish between involuntary and voluntary turnover.

There are times when the organization seeks to sever the employment relationship, not

with a large number of employees but with specific employees. Involuntary turnover is

terminating employees whose services are no longer desired. Mangers cannot always

8. What are the basic consequences of job dissatisfaction in the workforce?

A primary concern with job dissatisfaction is that it leads to increased voluntary turnover.

Job dissatisfaction is a major determinant of turnover, but it is also predictive of other

types of withdrawal behavior such as absenteeism or tardiness. A subtler form of

9. Describe realistic job previews, and comment on their role in rightsizing.

Realistic job previews (RJP) are pre-employment previews that provide accurate and

realistic information to the job applicant. They are often used with new employees as a

means of socializing them in their new job roles, but they are also effective in rightsizing

10. What are the special challenges facing the Human Resource Management function during

the process of mergers or acquisitions?

Students’ answers may vary. When two organizations merge, there is a very high

possibility that some roles will be redundant, which may result in possible layoffs. This

may be a source of anxiety for many employees, which may even lead to some leaving

Additional Resource

How a New Lens on “HR” Can Reduce Turnover and the Cycle of Poverty