Difference between Job Satisfaction the Loyalty of the Workers of the Company

Employee loyalty is one of the crucial concerns, nowadays, faced by the managers and organizational leaders in terms of managing the organizational workforce. As employees are the most valuable aspect in the organization, they need to be nourished and guided properly, to ensure the highest cooperation and performance at workplaces. However, high employee turnover has become a common phenomenon in industries, which is due to lack of job satisfaction (Dahl and Peltier, 2014). It affects an employee’s commitment and their intention towards leaving the job enhances. Several industrial analysts, as well as reports, have been revealed that organizational success is associated with employee loyalty, which is further linked with their job satisfaction. Thus, the current research, the issue would be emphasized.

Research rationale

It has been revealed from several surveys that satisfied employees are committed towards their organizational responsibilities, as well as these employees are more likely to be retained in the company for a longer span, showing loyalty to the company. In this context, statistics are revealing that the employee turnover rate is significantly increasing among both developed as well as developing countries, most of which are associated with low job satisfaction. The recent report by the Conference Board, the New York-based nonprofit research group suggested that 52.3% of Americans are unhappy at their work. Especially the young generations have been seen to be unsatisfied with their jobs globally (Zhu et al., 2014). Approximately 42% of millennials are expected to change their jobs within every 1 to 3 years. Further, it has been claimed that employee onboarding is an ignored aspect of the hiring process since decades; whereas it is also claimed that strong onboarding processes and higher retention rates are related. Further, it has also been estimated that the average cost for replacing $8/hour employee is approximately $5,500; whereas the direct cost for a new employee is $57,968, indicating a huge loss for the company (Lonial and Raju, 2015). Therefore, it is clear that in order to address the issue of employee turnover, job satisfaction needs to be improved, while exploring the relationship between the job satisfaction, commitment, and loyalty of the employees. The following study would, thus, shed light on this research issue.

Research aim

The key aim of the research is to explore the relationship between an employee’s job satisfaction and their loyalty and commitment towards the company.

Research objectives

In order to accomplish the above-mentioned aim, the following objectives are established.

•             To conceptualize employee’s job satisfaction, commitment, and loyalty

•             To figure out the connection between job satisfaction and loyalty of employees

•             To investigate the positive and negative factors influencing job satisfaction and a commitment of employees towards the company

•             To recommend strategies for enhancing job satisfaction of employees thereby making them committed and loyal to the company

Research questions

The following questions would be answered for accomplishing the above-mentioned objectives

•             How job satisfaction of employees and their loyalty or commitment towards the company is connected?

•             What are the positive or negative factors, influencing employees’ job satisfaction?

•             What strategies can be recommended for enhancing job satisfaction of employees thereby making them committed and loyal to the company?

Preliminary literature review

Lee et al. (2015) defined job satisfaction as the condition when the employee drives satisfaction to be engaged within the organizational environment successfully. Job satisfaction is the key to employees’ performance. Further, it is noteworthy that job satisfaction can be measured through different dimensions, including “cognitive (evaluative), effective (or emotional) and behavioral components”. Several studies have shown that workplace engagement has a significant influence on employee’s job satisfaction. Thus, to gain good performance from the employees, the employer must implement strategies for enhancing employee’s job satisfaction. Further, it has been argued by Waqas et al., (2014) that employees’ job satisfaction can be hindered by several internal as well as external factors. In this context, motivation plays a crucial role in influencing an employee’s job satisfaction. Leadership style often shapes organizational culture; whereas, Lu and Gursoy (2016) claimed that organizational culture and historical background have a significant contribution in shaping the leaders’ characteristic traits and selection of leadership style. As the leaders and managers are the key players of organizational motivation, their leadership traits also play a crucial role in motivating employees; and thereby contributing further in their job satisfaction.

Compared to that Picón et al., (2014) revealed that internal factors of employees, including the academic factors, characteristic traits, adaptability, assertiveness, family and social obligations can significantly affect the employee’s job satisfaction. In this context, it has been revealed that low commitment is a key consequence of lower job satisfaction among employees. Further, Waqas et al., (2014) highlighted that the organizational external factors affecting the job satisfaction of an employee. The key organizational external factors include work pressure, lack of motivation and support, working condition, interpersonal conflicts, improper wage, lack of reward or appreciation, discrimination, bullying or harassment, lack of achievements, authoritative organizational culture, lack of career opportunities, inappropriate job responsibilities, lack of work-life balance and unmet commitment by the leaders.

While investigating the connection between job satisfaction and commitment, it has been revealed that there is a significant link between these two aspects. In this context, the key difference between these two factors, as highlighted by Lu et al., (2016) is that the “commitment” can be demonstrated as the emotional response of an employee towards the organization; but the “job satisfaction” is demonstrated as the overall response of the employee towards his job. In this context, to explore the relationship between these two variables, Hair et al., (2015) conducted a study and analyzed data through content analysis and structural equation modeling. Authors revealed that employee satisfaction at their jobs has a visible relationship with commitment and the former is the antecedent of the later variable; which further facilitates the relationships with the other variables including work and personal characteristics.