E XPERIMENTAL S TUDIES

6.7 E XPERIMENTAL S TUDIES

Richard J. Harmer, School of Psychology Australian Catholic University, St. Patrick's Campus and Bruce M. Findlay Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, study on “The effect of workplace relationships on employee job satisfaction for 25 to 35 year olds”, The aim of the study was to determine the role an employee's co-worker and direct supervisor relationships had in predicting their level of job satisfaction.

Sixty-nine individuals participated in the study, 35 males (Age: M = 31.8, SD = 6.0) and 34 females (Age: M = 29.5, SD = 5.0). Fifty-three participants indicated that they were employed full time; twelve indicated that they were employed part time; and the remaining participants indicated that they were

Industrial Psychology

employed casual or ‘other’. Work and job satisfaction was measured using the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Job in General (JIG) scales. Results indicate that 52.1% of an employee's job satisfaction can be predicted by the quality of their workplace relationships, with an individual's relationship with their co-workers the strongest predictor. Results indicate that the quality of an employee’s co-worker and immediate supervisor relationships does not significantly predict their level of well-being. Implications of the study's finding with respect to workforce planning are discussed and suggestions for further research are made.

Using individual data from the European Survey on Working Conditions (ESWC) covering all EU member states, this study aimed at contributing to our understanding of the effects of High Performance Workplace Organizations (HPWOs) on worker's job satisfaction. The estimation results show that a higher involvement of workers in HPWOs is associated with higher job satisfaction. This positive effect is dominated by the involvement of workers in flexible work systems, indicating that workers particularly value the opportunities associated with these systems, such as an increased autonomy over how to perform their tasks, and increased communication with co-workers. Being involved in team work and job rotations as well as supporting human resource practices appear to contribute relatively little to the increased job satisfaction from being involved in HPWOs.

Having a good laugh at the workplace contributes to high levels of job satisfaction, according to a latest study. Swinburne University of Technology psychologist Maren Rawlings found that individuals who use, and are surrounded by, positive humour in the workplace had higher levels of job satisfaction than those who don't.

In recent years the National Health Service (NHS) in Britain has experienced an acute shortage of qualified nurses. This has placed issues of recruitment and retention in the profession high on the political agenda. In this paper we investigate the determinants of job satisfaction for nurses, and establish the importance of job satisfaction in determining nurses' intentions to quit the NHS. We find that nurses who report overall dissatisfaction with their jobs have a 65% higher probability of intending to quit than those reporting to be satisfied. However, dissatisfaction with promotion and training opportunities are found to have a stronger impact than workload or pay. Recent policies, which focus heavily on improving the pay of all NHS nurses will only have limited success unless they are accompanied by, improved promotion and training opportunities. Better retention will, in turn, lead to reduced workload. Study done by Shields, Michael A. University of Leicester, England on “Improving Nurse Retention in the British National Health Service: The Impact of Job Satisfaction on Intentions to Quit”.

Stress

CHAPTER 7