why job performance is important essay

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Essay: Employee Performance and Job Performance

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This chapter reviews the relevant prior literature pertaining to leadership, motivation, training, skill and knowledge that contribute to job performance amongst RMN personnel. The literature reviews are based on the jobs and organization which are related to the job performance in the RMN. The chapter ends with a summary.

2.2 Employee Performance

2.2.1 Job Performance

In this research, job performance is the dependent variable, which is the most frequently used variables in the organizational psychology. For many decades, the view focused on contributing factors that affected job performance has received much attention in the research. The general consensus from numerous studies was that employee performance is only mildly, but positively, linked to general measures of performance.

Sulaiman (2012) explained the six dimensions of job performance namely work duties, work skill, quality of work, work enthusiasm and innovative potential. Roa (2004) defined performance as the output delivered by an individual in relation to their given role during a particular period of a time under the set of circumstances operating at that point of time. An individual’s performance is a function of three sets of factors; the ability or competence to perform various tasks that lead to performance, motivation to carry on each of these tasks and work efforts to carry out. The performance can be measured firm the output and determinant factor on how well an individual has done a given role across the period time. Meanwhile, Dees (2009) in his study mentioned that job performance is the manner in which something fulfills its intended purpose.

The job performance of employees has metamorphosed into a topical issue in organizational management. This development could be attributed to the fact that organizational outcomes and successes are, to a large extent, determined by the performance of their human resources (Hedge, Borman & Lammelein 2006). At organizational level, the determining factors that are important in stimulating employee job performance are very crucial in that managers may be able to deal with policies and practices affecting employees more effectively and efficiently in the fast-paced workplace environment of today (Penny & Joanne 2013).

At both industry and national levels, the subject of job performance has significance to the economies of developing countries such as South Africa, whose productivity levels are partially determined by the aggregate job performance of individual employees in different industries throughout the entire country (Woratz 2012). This presents the need to develop an in-depth understanding of factors influencing job performance in organizations in the sense that, unless updated information on factors influencing job performance is known and understood, organizations will continue to be inundated with nagging employee performance problems that remain unresolved (Avalos 2007).

Motowidlo (2003) claimed that job performance is ‘the total expected value to the organization of discrete behavioral episodes that an individual carries out over a standard period of time’. Usually employees who are able to perform better (high performers) will have higher priority in being hired compared to those low performers. Highly performing employees are needed to attain organizational goals (high level of productivity) and to keep the company in achieving competitive advantages (Sonnentag and Frese, 2002).

Performance management, in study by Michael Armstrong (2005) was defined as a systematic management tool comprised of purposes, standards, objectives, feedback, reward and measurement that are agreed on to receive more effective results from the organizations, individuals and teams by motivating the individuals in a way to make them aware of their own potentials. Napoleon best sums it all when he said that, ‘the man who was armed with it, was worth three men who were not’ as stated in Eric (2011) study.

The theory of planned behavior Ajzen (2011) with its emphasis on the proximal antecedents of job effort and performance is offered as an alternative. According to the theory, intentions to exert effort and to attain certain performance level are determined by attitudes, subjective norms and perception of control in relation to these behavior; and these variables, in turn, are a function of readily accessible beliefs about the likely outcomes of effort and performance, about the normative expectations of important others, and about factors that facilitate or hinder effective performance.

Millet (2010) stated that an effective leader knows how to check, maintain and when necessary, improve staff morale. He listed that by monitoring staff morale, one will realize the ease in bringing in improvements when performance and efficiency begins to deteriorate.

In order to achieve high productivity in an organization, the organization firstly needs to discover methods that can be used to improve the employee’s performance. According to Pushpakumari (2008), a great effort is necessary for the employees to attain high performance in jobs. When the employees are satisfied with their jobs, they tend to be motivated and are willing to put more effort and committed more in their jobs.

Employee performance in the organization will be enhanced if they find that organization are more concerned to satisfy their employees as they perceived (Mohammad Rabiul Basher Rubel & Daisy Mui Hung Kee, 2014).

Organizational commitment will enhance the success of an organization by making employees dedicated to the achievement of its goals (Grawe et al., 2012). The success of any organization can be predicted by its success in raising and maintaining employees’ commitment. High levels of commitment contribute to positive attitudes and behaviors in organizations (Chughtai and Zafar, 2006; Sinclair et al., 2005; Srivastava, 2013).

Job performance also influenced by three principal factors (Farh, Seo & Tesluk 2012; Kacmar et al. 2009), namely: declarative knowledge (knowledge about facts, principles and objects), procedural knowledge and skill (ability to implement declarative knowledge), and motivation (choice to expend effort, level of effort and persistence).

Job performance has connections with a number of organizational outcomes that include customer service and product quality (Blignaut 2011), manager-employee relationships and employee turnover (Dalal & Hulin 2008).

Becker et al, (2011) stated that employee’s performance is measured against the performance standards set by the organization. Good performance means how well employees performed on the assigned tasks. In every organization there are some expectations from the employees with respect to their performance. When they perform up to the standards and meet organizational expectations they are believed to be good performers. From this literature, analysis can be made that job performance actually can be looked on various factors in investigating the element that affected job performance.

2.3 Factors Affecting Job Performance

2.3.1 Leadership

The definition of leadership used in the Malaysian Army Command, Leadership and Management Doctrine, (2007) is the art of influencing and directing people to achieve willingly the team or organizational goal.

Northouse’s (2001) defined leadership, ‘as a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal’ (Northouse, 2001, p.3). The definition supplies the key concepts of process, influence, groups and goals. Viewing leadership as a process suggests that leadership impacts leaders and followers in a situational environment, and is not adequately described as a characteristic or trait of the individual leader (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2006). The process is complex and multidimensional. It includes individuals, situations, groups, technical, function, emotions, feelings, relationships, internal environment and external environment just to name few. Influence involves how a leader affects followers; with or without influence, there is no leadership (Northouse, 2001)

The present study adds to the existing literature of finding the extent of relationship between leadership effectiveness and employee performance in the Indian context with the following objectives: To ascertain the various factors that affects the effectiveness of the existing leadership styles; To determine whether there is any difference in the leadership choice between public and private sector enterprises; To find out the relationship between effective leadership and employee performance as measured by extra effort, employee effectiveness, satisfaction and dependability.

Leaders take the necessary measures and establish human relationships to provide optimal use of human resources in their organization that we can refer to these measures take correct leadership style. Obviously, every leader in their organization uses a particular leadership style that is actually a set of his behavior patterns that frequently occurs during the constant organizational working and others know him by it and as the leader of the organization are in very close cooperation with the staff, the leadership style of these managers has a significant impact on staff morale. And consequently, the staff morale will have an effect on their performance (Shirzad & Kebriya & Zanganeh, 2011).

In fact, leadership is important for all organizations to achieve goals. Since leadership is a key factor for improving the performance of the organization, the success or failure of an organization depends on the effectiveness of leadership at all levels. Researchers have stated that leadership is an ability to influence attitudes, beliefs, and abilities of employees to achieve organizational goals. Over the years, leadership has been a major topic between the researchers but dramatic social changes that have occurred over the past two decades makes the issue of leadership and its relationship with other organizational factors more remarkable (Duckett & Macfarlane, 2003).

From the beginning of globalization, the primary challenge for a manager is to command different strategies to boost a firm’s performance (Habib, Khurram & Idress, 2010). Job satisfaction plays a vital role for the strength of an organization which has significant effect on employee performance. And the word performance we used to pass on the individual aptitude is to be inspired, stirring, pioneering and to be determined to achieve the goals of an organization (Walumbwa & Hartnell, 2011). Leadership is associated with employee performance (Ogbonna & Harris 2000). The relationship between leadership and performance has established a considerable attention (Gadot, 2006). The main theme of the every organization is to enhance employee performance.

According to Mehra et al. (2006), when some organizations seek efficient ways to enable them to outperform others, a longstanding approach is to focus on the effects of leadership. This is because team leaders are believed to play a pivotal role in shaping collective norms, helping teams cope with their environments, and coordinating collective action. This leader-centered perspective has provided valuable insights into the relationship between leadership and team performance. Therefore, summarizing past studies’ literature, there is a positive relationship between leadership and job performance.

2.3.2 Motivation

As performance of employees is significant for organizations, the management should consider improving performance of workers in their companies by encouraging them to do their tasks and duties as efficiently and effectively as possible. Therefore, motivation in firms is absolutely important and necessary because it could change the behavior of employees in positive ways. That is why many managers believe that when they establish motivated employees in the workplace, they can observe significant achievements in their organizations (Mohammad Saeid Aarabi, 2013)

Motivation is the most important matter for every organization, in the public or private sectors. For the success of any organization, motivation plays an important role. All organizations encountes the matter of motivation whether they are in the public or private sector (Chintallo & Mahadeo, 2013). According to Chaudhary & Sharma (2012), the word motivation is derived from ‘Motive’. The meaning of ‘motive’ is needs, wants, and the desire of the persons. Hence, ’employees motivation’ means the process in which an organization inspires its employees in the shape of rewards, bonus etc. for achieving the organization’s goals.

Today, there are many discussions about motivation and the relationship between employee’s efficiency and the organizational efficiencies. Motivation will lead to the fact that workers or employees of the organization will seriously do his duties and responsibilities (Azar and Shafighi, 2013).

Robbins (2001) defines motivation as the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. The three key elements in the definition are intensity, direction and persistence. Intensity is the concern with how hard a person tries. This is the element that most of us focus on when we talk about motivation. However, high intensity is unlikely to lead to favorable job performance outcome unless the effort is channeled in a direction that benefits the organization.

According to Iqbal et al. (2012), the purpose of employee’s motivation and their ability to collectively participate into employee’s performance and in their difficult tasks given by the manager are to achieve maximum productivity. This researcher is more concerned with increase in productivity, perfection and working ability. The needs and wants of employees having more important in research history. Motivation is the one of the most important term of psychology and most managers want maximum output and productivity. They tackle this with in a good manner and motivate their employee in a better way. Motivation also increases the cooperation between employees and managers, it also encourage their responsibilities. It also encourages participation of their subordinates, to take their responsibilities in better way and also to help oversee other employees and monitor their performance. Motivation gives managers a maximum rate of interaction towards work and allows them to know their employee’s working capacity and assign work according to their capacity to get maximum productivity (Ali, Abrar and Haider, 2012).

Therefore, we have to consider the quality of an effort as well as its intensity. Effort that is directed towards and consistent with the organization’s goal is the kind of effort that we should be seeking. Finally, motivation has a persistence dimension. This is a measure of how long a person can maintain effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.

Motivation is a Latin word and it means ‘To move’ (Wade & Tavris, 2008). Psychologists believe that motivation is the process that drives individual towards achieving a goal. Moreover, motivation gives a person a purpose and the drive that he needs to achieve it. It helps people to push or pull from a bad situation, which are negative features in their lives. Nowadays, employers are interested to know about motivation and how to motivate their employees to improve productivity.

On the other hand, employees who feel motivated to work are likely to be persistent, creative and productive, turning out high quality work that they willingly undertake. Motivation can be defined as something inside people that drives them to action. Motivation is the willingness to work at a certain level of effort. Motivation emerges out of needs, values, goals, intentions and expectations (Josiah Roman Aketch, Odhiambo Odera, Paul Chepkuto & Ochieng Okaka, 2012).

Therefore, Maslow’s Motivation Theory is important as it assists the learner to acquire the behaviour necessary for effective performance. People learn if they accept the need for training and commit to it. If their motivation is weak, for instance if they doubt their ability to learn, no matter how well their training is designed and implemented, its effectiveness will be limited (Bruce,2003).

As supported by Armstrong (2001), the more highly motivated the trainee, the more quickly and thoroughly a new skill or knowledge is learned. This means training should be based on what the employee desires, such as job promotion and recognition to enhance performance. Maslow’s model has had a considerable impact on the study of motivation in general and in particular with regards to employee performance that relates to this research.

Contrary to Maslow’s views, the short answer appears to be the fact that for the majority of people, money is clearly significant and a motivator at work. But to what extent is money a significant motivator and how important depends upon their individual circumstances and the other happiness they derive from work. The bottom line is definitely the extent to which money motivates people to work to the top of their abilities. Even though pay may still make people tick, there are now a number of other significant influences on motivation. For a lot of people, the feeling of being recognized and valued appears more important than money in motivating them to keep on in a particular job. (Laurie 2007, 255) Therefore, motivation has been an issue of concern in the past and has established itself as an integral part in current organizational settings. Motivation is quite complex to comprehend thus placing awareness to the fact that several factors influence employees performance in a particular organization. Reason being that, what motivates one worker will not definitely motivate the other employee within the same company.

McShane et al defines motivation as ‘…a factor that exist in an individual which has the potential to affect the way, strength and eagerness of behaving towards work’. (McShane & Von Glinow 2003, 132) The above definition of motivation has been supported by Petri & Govern, ‘motivation is the thought that explains the propelling force in an individual that explains differences in intensity of behavior’. (Petri & Govern 2004, 16).

The employee motivation is obviously important. In fact, it is one of the most important and essential factors for the achievement of employees, and ultimately, the organizational targets and goals (Berman et al., 2010). Ololube (2006) asserts that motivation to work, whether intrinsic or extrinsic are very essential in the lives of workers because they form the fundamental reason for working in life. It represents the complex forces and needs which provide the energy for an individual to perform a particular task (Schulze & Steyn, 2003). Moreover, employee motivation serves as an essential component of business operations whereby high motivation coincides with job satisfaction, a sense of pride in one’s work, a lifelong commitment to organization which enhances performance and productivity (Linz et al., 2006). Likewise, for Islamic organizations, this factor is useful to examine the employees’ performance, although the findings may be equivocal.

Motivation increases the job involvement by making the work more meaningful and interesting as well as the fact that it keeps the employees more productive and improves their subsequent job performance (Kamery, 2004; Ekerman, 2006).

Further research needs to be carried out on a larger population and sample size to increase the generalizability of the findings. More motivation factors and other factors that could have influenced on job performance must be included in order to obtain more comprehensive understanding factors that influence on job performance (Mohammad Saeid Aarabi, Indra Devi Subramaniam & Abu Baker Almintisir Abu Baker Akeel, 2013). 2.3.3 Attitude

Bagozzi states that the term attitude is often used as an umbrella expression covering such concepts as preferences, feelings, emotions, beliefs, expectations, judgments, appraisals, values, principles, opinions, and intentions (Onzima, A. D., 2011). Attitude can be formed from a person’s past and present. In lay language, attitude may refer to the distinct concept of mood, or be especially synonymous with teenage rebellion.

An attitude is actually defined as ‘… a summary evaluation of an object or thought’ (Malhotra, N. K.,2005). The object or phenomenon can be anything a person discriminates or holds in mind (Bohner, G., and Wanke, M., 2002) and may include people, products, and organizations.

Attitude plays an important role in generating a smooth assignment so that it can be executed efficiently and effectively with the consent of personal behavior. An organization is able to develop specific skills and training to its employees based on the needs and requirements of the organization. Particularly the military is in dire need of a positive thinking in all aspects of the assignment. Positive attitude in the nature of a person or the organization includes factors that will produce the best performance and achieve the standards set by the organization.

Sergio Roman (2005) stated that the level of education affects a person in performing a task. High level of education will encourage an attitude to do the job better, and more quality compared to workers with lower education. Attitude consists of the three main components, namely discerning awareness, influence and behavior. Cognitive category in attitude is a belief, opinion and knowledge or information about an individual. Influence on attitudes translates into behavior. Behavior on the part commission refers to a certain attitude towards something or someone. The three components of this attitude prove that attitude is something that is complex. It can be concluded that emotions and feelings affect an individual’s attitude towards something or someone.

The attitude-performance problem has drawn extensive research from all fields of behavioral sciences over the past 70 years (Luu, H.,2011). Arguments that support an attitude towards work cause performance usually refer to the functions of attitudes as guidelines and facilitators of behavior (e.g. Judge, T. A., Carl J. T., Joyce E. B., 2001) or refer to the functions of attitudes as the motivational effects of the personal importance or identification with the job or organization (e.g., as a component or a consequence of the commitment; see (Meyer, J. P., Becker, T. E., and Vandenberghe, C., 2004).

Attitude towards work is the feelings we have toward different aspects of the work environment (Carpeter et al, 2009). According to him, there are some elements which influence attitude towards work, namely personality, person-environment fit, job characteristics, psychological contract, organizational justice, work relationship and stress.

According to Sulaiman, et al (2013), given the facts about competency and attitude having equal effect on performance, competency is employee’s skills and knowledge, potential and attitude are internal feelings to perform tasks efficiently and quickly. Employees are the source of earnings for all services provider organizations and if they are committed to their work, they can provide services efficiently, where attitude and performance are correlated where a good behavior person can deal with customers perfectly and increase organization profit. Lee and Chen (2013) concluded that employees doing work for a long time in organizations have a negative attitude because the longer the time passed with the specific organization, their commitment to work is also lower and finding motivation is a solution for this type of situation.

(Judge et al. 2001) noted that ‘although most social psychologist would argue that attitudes do predict corresponding behaviors, industrial organizational psychologists continue to hold the view that the most focal behavior on the job (job performance)’.

Employee attitude is the most influencing factor that forms personality traits especially at workplace (Waryszak, R. and B. King, 2001). A leader can influence the attitude of his subordinates, psychologically influence them to erect high level of performance and enhance the satisfaction of employees (Burris, E.R., J.R. Detert and D.S. Chiaburu, 2008).

In the line with the previous opinion, (Wei, W. C., and Chu, S. H., 2008) performed a survey about the relationship between attitude towards work and job performance in the financial service industry and they found that work attitude has a positive effect on job performance. Better work attitude leads to better job performance. Studies on attitude mentioned above affirmed that attitude is about the conduct of life through knowledge which transferences to the performance of individual.

2.3.4 Skill

Skill is the learned capacity or ability to carry out the pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy or both. In other words, the abilities that one possesses. Skill can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self-motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be useful only for a certain job. Skill usually requires certain environment stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used. People need a broad range of skills in order to contribute to the modern economy.

Dokko, Wilk and Rothbard (2008) proposed a psychological theory to propose socio cognitive factors that interfere with the transfer of knowledge and skill acquired from prior work experience. The finding showed that task-relevant knowledge and skill mediates the relationship between prior related experience and job performance. The study also suggests that the positive effect of prior related experience on task relevant knowledge and skill is attenuated by higher levels of experience within the current firm.

Benjamin (2012) asserts that providing employees with an opportunity to take on a variety of skills of greater complexity in their current roles enables an employee to learn new tasks in a supported environment and develop the skills needed to progress in his career. Management can also assess the employee’s performance and see how he responds to feedback on the new responsibilities, thus enabling company executives to devise a job design that is workable and effective.

In the view of Garg & Rastogi (2006), skill variety refers to the extent to which the job requires the employee to draw from a number of different skills and abilities as well as upon a range of knowledge (cited in Ali, 2010). According to Benjamin (2012), the theory behind providing skill variety in job design is that it will reduce boredom, thereby increasing job satisfaction and motivation. This is likely to be true as long as the employee enjoys the skills and perceives the addition and mix of skills to be a benefit to the job. But adding a variety of skills which the employee finds stressful, isn’t qualified to address, or simply adding basic duties and minimal skills without adding to the intrinsic value of the job could actually have the opposite effect and increase dissatisfaction.

This finding empirically confirms the theoretical arguments given by Al-Ahmadi (2009), Ivancevich (1998), (Kahya, 2007), Garg & Rastogi (2006), Aswathappa (2006), Mathis and Jackson (2003), Campion et al (2005), and Perry et al., (2006). They explained that strong, positive relationship exist between the extent of a firm’s adoption of high involvement HRM strategies including skill variety and job performance. The implication of the finding is that, hospitals should provide nurses with more training to enhance their skills in order to improve nurse’s job performance

Arnold (2007) defined employability skills as the ability to survive in a job. Kearns (2001) has listed employability skills as i) the availability of work and individual works capacity, ii) knowledge in entrepreneurships, iii) the creative and innovative, interpersonal skills and iv) thinking and willingness to learn.

Effective trainings convey relevant and useful information that inform employees and develop skills and behaviors that can be transferred back to the workplace. (Montana & Charnov, 2000). The goal of training is to create an impact that lasts beyond the end time of the training itself. The focus is on creating specific action steps and commitments that focus people’s attention on incorporating their new skills and ideas back at work. Training can be offered as skill development for individuals and groups. In general, trainings involve presentation and learning of content as a means for enhancing skill development and improving workplace behaviors (Karlan & Valdivia, 2011)

These two processes, training and development are often closely connected. Training can be used as a proactive means for developing skills and expertise to prevent problems from arising and can be an effective tool in addressing any skills or performance gaps among staff.

In a similar approach, Sultana et al (2012) found training and development significant for the employee performance and they suggested that the organization must increase their investment in training and development to increase the performance of employees as well as their skills and capabilities.

Azami Zaharim (2009) stated that employability skills are skills that are very influential in ensuring the success and progress of a company or industry. Affandi (2012) identifies that employees or graduates having employability skills are able to perform in various situations. In this regard, the military organization with its trained personnel who work in technical working environment should be capable of maintaining their own skills or among their peers so that it will meet the needs of the organizations.

All the studies found that the higher average levels of labor productivity in firms in continental Europe were closely related to the greater skills and knowledge of their workforces, especially intermediate skills. Skill levels were also shown to be associated with the uptake of new equipment and to maintenance activity. These studies mostly took place in the mid to late 80s and early 90s but the findings have been replicated very recently (Mason and Wagner, 2002) with similar results.

Leithch (2006) acclaimed that investing in the literacy and numeracy skills on young people will improve their chances of employability; enhance productivity at company level, and competitiveness internationally. However, while literacy and numeracy skills are necessary, they are by no means sufficient. Furthermore, Leithch continued by examining qualifications and those things that can be measured. However, skills are arguably more broad-based.

A recent study published by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) (Purcell et al. 2003) also finds these positive impacts and examines the ways in which HR practices may impact on performance and asserts that for people to perform above minimal requirements they must: i)have the ability, ie the requisite knowledge and skills; ii) be motivated to work well and iii) be given the opportunity to deploy their skills and contribute.

While study by Minbaeva (2005) stated that skill is the process of developing talents in order to more effectively perform a specific job or task.

2.3.5 Knowledge

Knowledge refers to the information possessed and their ability to assimilate additional information. Relating to the current information, the RMN requires the Navy People to have skills of specific job tasks and a strong basis in general education. Relating to new information, the RMN desires the Navy People that are life-long learners and are easily trainable, meaning that they have the ability to receive instruction and new information.

Knowledge is familiarity with someone or something, which can include facts, information, descriptions or skills acquired through experience or education. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); it can be more or less formal or systematic. In philosophy, the study of knowledge is called epistemology; the philosopher Plato famously defined knowledge as ‘justified true belief’. However, no single agreed upon definition of knowledge exists, though there are numerous theories to explain it. Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: communication, association, perception and reasoning; while knowledge is also said to be related to the capacity of acknowledge in human beings.

Knowledge workers are becoming an increasingly important and voluminous group of employees, covering a quarter to a half of workers in advanced economies (e.g., Davenport, 2006; Levenson, 2012).

Knowledge characteristics reflect the kinds of knowledge, skill, and ability demands that are placed on an individual as a function of what is done on the job (Morgeson & Humphrey, 2006). Recent dissemination of service work and overflow of knowledge workers have particularly emphasized the importance of cognitive ability for handling working issues. As organizations increasingly struggle with complexity and tend to build their future on the knowledge work, they should be able to recognize, understand and design jobs that will utilize competencies of their workers. The most prominent knowledge characteristics are: job complexity, information processing, problem solving, skill variety, and specialization.

Judge (2004) revealed that high-ability teams perform better than lower-ability teams, especially when the workload is high. High-ability teams are also more flexible when it comes to changing situation as they were able to more effectively adapt prior knowledge to suit a set of new problems. The failures of the employees to perform their job effectively will certainly jeopardize the overall performance of an organization, thus cause lower productivity as mentioned by Abu AlRub (2004).

Likewise, Almeida et al (2003) examining the relationship between experience and performance frequently treat work experience as a substitute of knowledge. Knowledge characteristics are the structural features of jobs that affect the development and utilization of information and skills (Parker et al., 2001). If they are enriched, they can create challenging jobs and provide workers with opportunities to solve problems, process complex information, and to apply deep and broad skills (e.g., Morgeson & Campion, 2002; Morgeson & Humphrey, 2006). Their recent development reflects the wide increase of knowledge work and knowledge workers in modern business (Huang, 2011). Demanding and complex work settings for knowledge workers should positively influence on their task and contextual performance.

Jasvinder, Anwar and Ruslan (2001) stated that knowledge can be obtained through one’s own effort and can also be achieved through training, work and courses and through the positions he held throughout his career. Blasko (2009) explained on the importance of education and the inculcation of a higher level of knowledge to ensure that changes to the structure within the organization and development of military doctrine. Blasko said in his study of the Chinese Army on People Liberation Army (PLA) education reform organization, a lot of PLA institutions and training centers were combined and courses for its members have been modified according to the needs through the development of weapons systems and the concept of a combination of the three services. Even PLA officers are encouraged to furthering their studies in more than 50 PLA schools, locally and abroad.

Schack (2004) proved that the expert knowledge can be measured and it contributes in optimizing human performance. The study found that a person with expertise in a particular field to perform all tasks needed excel in their field and those who do not have any expertise failed to shine in the performance of his duties in any field whatsoever. Knowledge can increase a person’s level of aspiration. It can also be a motivating factor to a person to take necessary measures to achieve the aspects of higher knowledge. When a level of knowledge is as what as expected, an individual in his career, will directly help him to perform his job effectively.

Study from the above mentioned scholars can be interpreted that knowledge is one of the main factors that should be considered in measuring performance.

2.4 Performance Theory and Model

Organizations need highly performing individuals in order to meet their goals, to deliver the services they specialized in, and finally to achieve competitive advantage. Performance is also important for the individual. Accomplishing tasks and performing at a high level can be a source of effectiveness, with feelings of mastery and pride. Low performance and not achieving the goals might be experienced as dissatisfying or even as a personal failure. Moreover, performance, if it is recognized by others within the organization, is often rewarded by financial and other benefits. Performance is a major, although not the only, prerequisite for future career development and success in the labor market. Although there might be exceptions, high performers get promoted more easily within an organization and generally have better career opportunities than low performers (VanScotter, Motowidlo, & Cross, 2000).

Flexible work options traditionally have been introduced largely to meet employer needs for flexibility or to keep costs down, although they may also have met employee needs and demands (Krausz et al., 2000). Most importantly, there is virtually no research finding that employees working on flexi-time have lower productivity than those on traditional fixed work schedules (Yang and Zheng, 2011).

Moreover, Christen et al. (2006) argued that employees’ effort and ability determined the level of job performance. They also claim a different concept of effort and performance, which is an input to work while job performance is an output from those efforts. Generally, job performance is related to the employees’ ability to carry out their job well or not.

This evidence suggests the long-standing idea that there are leaders and followers in teams. The leaders make decisions and the followers abide by them. While agreeableness was positively correlated with working with a team, it is negatively correlated with being a leader. Those followers who don’t always agree and are willing to voice their own opinions end up moving up the ranks while those who blindly agree are left as followers.

The strongest force behind the spread of more decent working time arrangements, one that is both productive and socially healthy, remains a full employment economy plus the new institutional structures that facilitate a formal expression for desired flexibility in working time options. Therefore, companies could and should be offered incentives to adopt and spread flexible working time arrangements, such as flexi-time and working time accounts, which are known to improve employee morale and attitudes. This could, in turn, not only enhance individual work performance, but also improve company productivity, quality and, ultimately, the sustainability of firm performance (Lonnie Golden, 2011).

New perspective on performance also provides hints as to how to start developing models which contain cross-level linkages from individual to group to organizational performance. Most of the research on performance within organizations conducted to date has used highly specific measures when examining individual performance (Viswesvaran & Ones, 2000).

Reinforcement theory is an instrument used by managers to increase or decrease employees’ behaviors. As performance and effectiveness are more emphasized nowadays, it is important to understand and utilize these concepts in motivating staffs. Positive reinforcement is seen to be the most effective way of motivating staffs to perform better in organizations (Leong Teen Wei, Rashad Yazdanifard, 2014)

Traditional research finds the structural factors, e.g., composition, leadership structure, and board size, to be the most relevant influences on board effectiveness. Alternatively, behavioral approaches emphasize as the key factors of board effectiveness those influencing the processes within boards, i.e., effort norms, cognitive conflict, and usage of knowledge, as well as board members’ characteristics, including background diversity and behavioral characteristics. Factor analysis indicates that a new integrative framework for board effectiveness evaluation is much needed as a good starting point model for further empirical research. It is also suggested that the proper model implementation is contingent on its adjustment to the given socio-economic circumstances (Verica M. Babi”, Jelena D. Nikoli” & Jelena M. Eri”, 2011)

The method an organization chooses for performance reviews and evaluations can have the biggest effect on employee performance. Organizations that fail to review their employee’s performance or recognize a job well done may soon find disgruntled employees. Furthermore, organizations that stringently monitor employee work without providing employees the opportunity to provide feedback may also result in non-motivated employees (Cardy & Selvarajan, 2004).

The idea implies the dual role of the theory first to organizations and second to employees on the basis that both the organization and the employees must decide on the performance of their organization, and that when employees put in their best in the service of the organization, the culture and human resource practice should also ensure that the employees’ level of needs are reflected in the values the organization holds with high esteem (Greenberg & Baron, 2003).

Employee’s performance is an issue that has received wide attention in literature and research due to its importance since every organization aims to achieve higher performance (Ojo, 2009). For clarity, the two concepts, employees and performance, will be defined separately as follows to ensure common understanding. (a) Employees are people who are hired, working on the basis of part time or full time under an employment arrangement, whether it is in written or oral expression. It also includes agreement on the remuneration and the kind of duties expected of the employee within a time frame (Shumen, 2009). (b) Performance is the achievement of a set of assigned tasks that are anchored to time, with a result indicator that will measure the accomplishment level of the task assigned, which can be measured only when a performance standard has been put in place (Shumen, 2009).

Performances are activities that ensure goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner (Cardy & Selvarajan, 2004; McNamara 2005). Employee’s performance refers to the observable behaviors and actions which explain how a job is done, plus the results that are expected for satisfactory job performance (McNamara, 2005). To achieve or encourage higher performance from employees, the following criteria should be considered (Cardy & Selvarajan, 2004).

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Job performance: Why task and contextual performance matter from an Evidence-based Management perspective

• All Management Learning Resources
• Job performance

• Executive summary

Job performance (sometimes also called work performance) is a widely used tool and metric in management, however organizations rarely address what it really is, which dimensions it includes, and in which areas of work it becomes important. This CQ Dossier describes the two major components of job performance - task and contextual performance - and their relevance to the workplace in various spheres. We discuss the available evidence of how organizations who incorporate contextual performance into hiring, appraisal and training can gain a competitive advantage and provide information on how the two components of job performance interplay in practice.

Job performance is an important building block in management

Job performance consists of task performance and contextual performance, contextual performance: the ability of employees to contribute to the overall well-being of the organization, the benefits of contextual performance: improved organizational culture and climate, contextual performance is linked to organizational performance, personality and contextual performance: selecting the right employees, human resource practices: contextual performance plays a role in selection, assessment and performance appraisal, job analysis often includes important task and contextual behavior, leadership development: contextual performance can be covered in management training initiatives , key take-aways, references and further reading.

One of the main objectives of any working professional, whether it be a manager or an employee, is to deliver high performance on the job and to support your fellow peers, teams and coworkers to do the same. Consequently, the concept of job performance (sometimes also called work performance) is an important building block in management. However, even though the term job performance is a widely used tool in management, organizations rarely address what it really is, which dimensions it includes, and in which areas of organizational practice it becomes important. 

On a general level, job performance describes the contribution of an individual to the overall success of an organization. On a more specific and measurable level, job performance can be broken down into different factors. Depending on the framework you use, the factors vary (Koopmans et al. 2011). However, there is a broad consensus in the scientific community that job performance consists of two interplaying components.

According to Borman & Motowidlo (1993), job performance consists of two main factors:

• Task performance describes the core job responsibilities of an employee. It is also called "in-role prescribed behavior" (Koopmans et al. 2011) and is reflected in specific work outcomes and deliverables as well as their quality and quantity.
• Contextual performance goes beyond formal job responsiblities. Also referred to as "discretionary extra-role behavior" (Koopmans et al. 2011) contextual performance is reflected in activities such as coaching coworkers, strengthening social networks within an organization and going the extra mile for the organization.

One of the most important functions of an organization is to ensure that employees are effective in performing their jobs. However, in recent years, contextual performance is viewed as an integral part of overall job performance. Now practitioners and researchers view job performance as moving beyond what is considered effective for performance on a task. In the VUCA world, with changes in the global market and increased competition, employees are now expected to go beyond what is expected in their job description.

Contextual performance captures this ability of employees to engage in activities that contribute to the overall well-being of the organization. This aspect of job performance is viewed as equally important as task performance. Examples of contextual performance include volunteering for additional work, being a good organizational citizen, cooperating with coworkers and additional discretionary behaviors (Borman & Motowidlo, 1993).

Researchers and practitioners agree that job performance is multidimensional and consists of two main factors: task performance and contextual performance (Motowidlo & Schmit, 1999). Task performance is important because it relates to producing job-specific goods and services and requires employees to acquire and demonstrate core technical skills.

Although task performance is necessary, contextual performance boosts the organizational climate through strengthening social networks. When employees engage in contextual performance this contributes to the culture and climate of the organization. Contextual performance has the ability to transform the organization because employees volunteer for extra work, persist with enthusiasm and help and cooperate with others (Motowidlo & Schmit, 1999).

One of the main reasons to also include contextual performance as a measure of job performance is that it impacts the quality of human resource practices (Befort & Hattrup, 2003). Job performance is intrinsically linked to the goals and mission of the organization (Motowidlo & Schmit, 1999). Consequently, decisions concerning how to measure job performance and the relative weight assigned to task vs. contextual behaviors has important implications for decisions made regarding human resource practices (Befort & Hattrup, 2003).

There is research to suggest that personality traits are more effective predictors of contextual performance rather than predictors of task performance (Borman & Motowidlo, 1997). Borman and colleagues demonstrated that the personality traits of conscientiousness and dependability correlate more highly with organizational citizenship behaviors than with task performance (Borman, Penner, Allen & Motowidlo, 2001). In comparison,  general cognitive ability  is more related to task performance (Arvey & Murphy, 1998).

There is also research showing that when organizations use job analysis, personality traits predict both task and contextual job performance (Jenkins & Griffith, 2004). One suggestion is to use narrow traits to predict contextual job performance rather than a reliance on global traits such as the Big Five personality factors (Jenkins & Griffith, 2004).

How and where does contextual performance matter in an organization?

Having introduced the concept of job performance and its two sub-dimensions, task performance and contextual performance, the questions arises how organizations can, should, and often already do make use of these two concepts.By understanding the interplay of these two dimensions, it becomes easier to understand how organizational practices work and how one's own behavior within it is crucial.

The importance of including contextual performance in human resource practices such as selection and assessment was demonstrated in a study by Murphy and Shiarella (1997). They demonstrated that the validity of selection procedures depended on the relative values placed on task and contextual performance. Including contextual performance in decision-making is also important for performance appraisal, which is an important human resource practice.

Managerial decision-making plays an important role in the performance appraisal function. Research has shown that supervisors differ in the relative weight they provide for the dimensions of task and contextual performance when deciding the overall contribution of the employee to the organization (Rotundo & Sackett, 2002). When managers place relative values on task and contextual performance behaviors this impacts decisions about promotions and other rewards.

Inclusion of contextual performance in assessment decisions can also impact the fairness of human resource practices. Research has shown that the relative importance that an organization places on task and contextual performance can influence adverse impact and the hiring of minorities (Hattrup, Rock & Scalia, 1997).

It is important for organizations to conduct a thorough job or organizational analysis to include important task and contextual behaviors that are job-relevant. One popular job analysis method, such as the Position Analysis Questionnaire, involves collecting ratings of the importance of job-relevant behaviors (McCormick, Jeannerette & Mecham, 1972).

Inclusion of these types of ratings has the potential to communicate those job-relevant behaviors that are valued within the organization. They impact hiring decisions and send a message on which behaviors are relevant to the organization in terms of daily behavior, behaviors that need to be trained, and behaviors that are rewarded through promotion or pay.

Research has shown that more experienced managers value contextual performance to a greater degree than less experienced managers (Befort, & Hattrup, 2003). Over time, managers gain a better appreciation of how task performance is related to the overall organizational context. Managers can learn to focus more on behaviors that are contribute to social connectedness and promote a positive work climate (Befort & Hattrup, 2003).

Organizations can implement management training initiatives that encourage less experienced managers to gain knowledge of how task and contextual performance are linked to the mission of the organization. These gains in knowledge can impact performance management measures such as appraisal ratings and managerial decision-making. 

In conclusion, this  CQ Dossier presents an argument for including both task and contextual performance for selection, performance management and training of employees. Inclusion of contextual performance provides organizations with a sustained competitive advantage because it is linked to the overall mission of the organization.

• Job performance is a building block in management but is not clearly defined in many organizations
• Job performance consists of the two main factors task performance and contextual performance
• Task performance is reflected in specific work outcomes and deliverables as well as their quality and quantity
• Contextual performance occurs when employees go beyond what is expected
• Contextual performance contributes to the overall well-being of the organization
• Personality traits are related to contextual performance and can be used in hiring decision
• Experienced managers pay more attention to contextual performance than inexperienced managers
• Organizations can include contextual performance in job analysis efforts

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Arvey, R. D., & Murphy K.R. (1998). Performance evaluations in work settings. Annual Review of Psychology , 49, 141-168.

Befort, N. and Hattrup, K. (2003) Valuing Task and Contextual Performance: Experience, Job Roles, and Ratings of the Importance of Job Behaviors.  Applied HRM Research , 8, 17-32.

Borman, W. C., & Motowidlo, S. J. (1993). Expanding the criterion domain to include elements of contextual performance. In N. Schmitt & W. C. Borman (Eds.), Personnel selection in organizations (pp. 71-98). San Francisco: Jossey- Bass.

Borman, W. C., Penner, L. A., Allen, T. D., & Motowidlo, S. J. (2001). Personality predictors of citizenship performance. International Journal of Selection and Assessmen t, 9, (1-2), 52-69.

Cichy, Ronald F.; Cha, JaeMin; Kim, SeungHyun (2009): The relationship between organizational commitment and contextual performance among private club leaders. In:  International Journal of Hospitality Management  28 (1), S. 53–62.

Hattrup, K., Rock, J., & Scalia, C. (1997). The effects of varying conceptualizations of job performance on adverse impact, minority hiring, and predicted performance. Journal of Applied Psychology , 82, 656-664.

Koopmans, Linda; Bernaards, Claire M.; Hildebrandt, Vincent H.; Schaufeli, Wilmar B.; Vet Henrica, C. W. de; van der Beek, Allard J. (2011): Conceptual frameworks of individual work performance. A systematic review. In:  Journal of occupational and environmental medicine  53 (8), S. 856–866.

McCormick, E. J., Jeanneret, P. R., & Mecham, R. C. (1972). A study of job characteristics and job dimensions based on the Position Analysis Questionnaire. Journal of Applied Psychology , 56, 347-368.

Motowidlo, S. J., & Schmit, M. J. (1999). Performance assessment in unique jobs. In D. R. Ilgen & E. D. Pulakos (Eds.), The changing nature of performance (pp. 56-86). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Murphy, K. R., & Shiarella, A. H. (1997). Implications of the multidimensional nature of job performance for the validity of selection tests: Multivariate frameworks for studying test validity. Personnel Psychology , 50, 823- 854.

Rotundo, M., & Sackett, P. R. (2002). The relative importance of task, citizenship, and counterproductive performance to global ratings of job performance: A policy capturing approach. Journal of Applied Psychology , 87, 66-80.

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Organizational performance: What it is and how to measure and improve it

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Personality as a predictor of job performance: How to measure personality and select the right employees

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What Is Job Satisfaction and Why Is It Important?

Are you aware of what right  actually means?

Determining whether you are satisfied with your job, whether it is right for you, and why that is important often involves personal intuition and circumstances. For some people, the right job might entail earning a certain salary. For others, the right job might involve having a supportive team.

With more than 21,000 participants in their study, researchers Dobrow, Ganzach, and Liu (2018) found that over a 40-year span, people who stayed in the same organization over time became less satisfied, and people who moved to different organizations over time became happier.

What does this mean? Does job satisfaction come from staying in an organization or leaving it? If someone were to stay in an organization, what would retain their satisfaction?

In this article, we will explore just that and more, including divulging the ingredients of job satisfaction, real-life examples of it, and how it relates to motivation.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Work & Career Coaching Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients identify opportunities for professional growth and create a more meaningful career.

This Article Contains:

What is job satisfaction, 10 proven ingredients for job satisfaction, is job satisfaction important 4 benefits, 2 real-life examples, a note on job satisfaction and motivation, positivepsychology.com’s job satisfaction tools, a take-home message.

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

You have probably heard that quote before, yet it may still have relevance today. It makes us ask whether emotions like happiness, stress, and anxiety play an important role in job satisfaction.

The aptly titled Job Satisfaction (Hoppock, 1935) defines job satisfaction as any combination of psychological, physiological, and environmental circumstances that cause a person to truthfully say that they are satisfied with a job.

Going a little deeper and fast-forwarding to this century, job satisfaction has been called a set of favorable or unfavorable feelings and emotions with which employees view their work (Karatepe, Uludag, Menevis, Hadzimehmedagic, & Baddar, 2006).

Before we get to favorable feelings or proven ingredients for job satisfaction, let’s first assess what leads to those unfavorable feelings.

The graphic above from the University of Southern California’s Applied Psychology Program shows some factors that make American employees unhappy or burnt out with jobs.

Many of us have experienced unhappiness because of these factors and more at some point in our careers. Let’s take a look at what can be done to satisfy ourselves in a job.

Although it is subjective, job satisfaction research (Kumari, 2011) has showcased the following:

1. Communication

Communication can be extremely important to retaining levels of satisfaction, on both a personal and professional level. It is exhibited in allowing employees to be open, collaborative, trustworthy, and even confrontational when needed.

Defining a company culture links to job satisfaction as it provides values and guidance about topics ranging from organizational goals to appropriate levels of interaction between employees.

3. Security

It’s no surprise that once a culture is established in a workplace, satisfaction can then be enhanced by added feelings of security. Security may arise from knowing you work for a viable company with long-term goals, insinuating feelings of belonging to that company (Berg, Grant, & Johnson, 2010). This can be enhanced by having honest communication and transparency within a company.

4. Leadership

Tied into increased motivation for employees, leadership, or influencing a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2006), can lead to job satisfaction by making sure communication and instruction of tasks is adequate and easily understood.

In turn, when employees feel that leaders can guide them through tasks, their motivation and satisfaction increases.

With leadership having a crucial influence on job satisfaction, this related article with leadership activities  is a recommended read.

5. Opportunities

Employees can gain more satisfaction with their job when more challenging opportunities arise. This can lead to participation in interesting and diverse projects and get employees away from the monotony of a role.

6. Career development

Employees can become more satisfied with their job when they know there is an individualized plan for them. Beyond the formal nature of appraisals, if there is a path in place for growth, this can encourage employees to stay happier for longer.

7. Working conditions

Job satisfaction can be increased if a resilient workplace is a cooperative environment. This means a place with respect for diverse ideas and opinions, honest and constructive feedback, mentoring opportunities, and freedom from harassment.

8. Employee personality

Most ingredients linked to job satisfaction may have roots in elements outside of the employees’ control (such as leadership from managers and communication from company leaders), but what about the employees themselves? Can they control their own levels of satisfaction? Bakker, Tims, and Derks (2012) talk about just that.

These researchers discuss how job satisfaction can be determined by how proactive the employee is at work. Does the employee proactively seek out a manager for feedback? Does the employee go the extra mile to achieve tasks within a company? Does the employee try to stick to company goals, lead meetings, and ask questions when unsure about how to complete a task?

If yes, these employees are ones who can show more satisfaction in the workplace. Proactiveness in the workplace can lead to positive job appraisals, which when fed back to the employee, can lead to satisfaction.

For more on constructive feedback, read our article discussing ways to give negative feedback  constructively.

9. Pay and benefits

Organizational success and job satisfaction are also linked to employees’ perceptions of adequate pay and benefits (Edwards, 2008).

While pay and benefits are not the only reason employees find satisfaction in their workplaces, research going back more than 30 years (e.g., Gerhart, 1987) shows that pay and benefits, at least according to how employees view themselves in their roles, has ranked high on lists of job satisfaction factors.

10. Rewards and recognition

Beyond monetary gain and being paid fairly for the work they do, job satisfaction for employees means that promotional policies are unambiguous and in line with their expectations.

A key finding here (Kumari, 2011) is that satisfaction at a job is not exclusively linked to pay, but to the perceived fairness of how one is recognized at work for achievements.

2 Job Crafting Coaching Manuals [PDF]

Help others redesign their work. This manual and the accompanying client workbook outline a seven-session coaching trajectory for you, the practitioner, to expertly guide others through their own unique job crafting journey.

We have already discussed what employees look for in achieving and maintaining job satisfaction. But why is it important? And why should organizations care?

First, it is a primary responsibility of organizations to ascertain that employees are satisfied with their jobs through measurements, but also to find out the causes of dissatisfaction when employees are not feeling satisfied (McBride, 2002).

Tools such as the following help measure some important factors that go into employees’ job satisfaction (Spector, 1997, chapter 2):

• Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1985)
• Job Description Index (Castanheira, 2014)
• The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Weiss, Dawis, and England, 1967)

As to why job satisfaction is so important, the Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report from the Society for Human Resource Management (Lee et al., 2016) notes four benefits of making sure employees are satisfied with their work.

1. Increased profits

This is one any manager and employee might appreciate. Keeping employees satisfied can lead to higher sales, lower costs, and a stronger bottom line.

2. Higher productivity

Irrespective of their job titles or salary, employees who are more satisfied with their job, whether they feel satisfied with the organizational culture, with the rewards they are getting, or with recognition, can produce more and do it more efficiently.

3. Lower turnover

If employees are more satisfied with their job, they are less likely to leave. It also helps to recruit better quality talent as new talent sees employee staying power as added value.

When employees feel there is a growth path for them, they are more satisfied. In turn, because they feel the organization has their best interests at heart, they tend to support the organization’s mission and objectives. When this happens, employees may tell their friends or relatives about the good nature of the organization, which helps spread organizational goodwill.

The Job Satisfaction Wheel can help assess your current job satisfaction and identify improvement areas. Job satisfaction measures subjective wellbeing at work (Judge & Klinger, 2008).

According to Roelen et al. (2008), there are seven key indicators of job satisfaction:

• Task variety
• Working conditions
• Education and development opportunities
• Person-environment fit

Here’s how you can use the Job Satisfaction Wheel:

• Rate the seven job satisfaction domains on a scale from one – “not at all satisfied” to ten – “completely satisfied”. Place a circle around each score on the wheel.
• Connect your scores by drawing a line and forming an inner wheel. This gives you an overview of how satisfied you are with your current job.
• Looking at the wheel, where do you see areas for improvement? What would it take to improve the score? Which action steps can you take?

Honesty and communication about a company’s objectives and goals can be vital and are linked to job satisfaction for employees. But do employees only care about company success? How does honest communication impact their own, individual success?

The importance of honesty and communication

Agarwal and Mehta (2014) were interested in employee job satisfaction within the IT industry.

Their curiosity stemmed from the idea that IT employees may largely be working in isolation, away from other employees, and the researchers wondered if employees valued appraisals more in such circumstances than in other industries. They discussed how performance appraisal was directly linked to satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) for the employee.

Additionally, they also discuss how honest and consistent communication and regular updates of employee progress (bi-annual rather than yearly appraisals) can not only increase employee satisfaction at work, but also help companies by decreasing the rate of attrition. Interestingly enough, Agarwal and Mehta (2014) did not discuss company goals or performance in their findings.

Let’s take a look at some familiar companies you may have heard of.

Although the phrase “the customer is always right” may be common, it does not seem to ring all true behind the scenes (or the counter, in this case).

The CEO’s mantra was that if managers look out for employees, employees will look after customers. To do this, he offered health insurance to all employees despite the excessive cost and being advised against it.

Is it surprising that good leadership strengths , recognition, and reward given to employees increased job satisfaction and in turn increased profits for Starbucks? It certainly fits in line with the aforementioned research in this article.

While also producing satisfied end-users like us when using Google’s products, Google puts a lot of work into job satisfaction for its employees as well.

It’s interesting to note that Google does not care (perhaps as much) about employee titles, but more about what type of leaders its employees are, or emergent leadership. This draws us back to the importance of positive leadership in job satisfaction.

Gillett (2016) writes that Google attracts talent with competitive pay and keeps employees satisfied by allowing telecommuting. This may show an appreciation for work–life balance and retention.

Gillett also writes that according to compensation and data company PayScale, nearly three-quarters of Google employees find their jobs meaningful, citing that Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

She describes Google employees thinking that their goal of working at Google is a moral rather than a business goal, which in turn creates motivation to innovate and push into new areas.

These sound like great organizational goals that drive profits. Furthermore, Google staff certainly demonstrate that job satisfaction can indeed lead to employees supporting the organization’s goals and objectives.

According to Latham (2012), motivation is a cognitive resource allocation process in which a person makes choices as to the time and energy to be allocated to an array of motives or tasks. The key word here seems to be choice .

When an employee is able to make a choice, they feel more motivated to perform a task. When an employee is more motivated to perform and complete a task, this tends to be linked with higher job satisfaction (Jalagat, 2016).

Choice, as directed or allowed by organizational policy, can lead to further motivation and, in turn, job satisfaction as well as performance. This seems to be echoed by the work of Ilies and Judge (2003).

Ilies and Judge (2003) discuss how leaders interact with employees, specifically by talking to them more as a person, and how assigning tasks and providing a career path can affect their motivation level.

When determining job satisfaction, it is key to remember that human factors such as motivation, excitement, satisfaction, and dissatisfaction must be considered. This is clearly indicated by the Starbucks example.

When employees are encouraged to be great leaders and to engage in challenging opportunities, such as at Google, they can end up feeling more satisfied with their job.

As one of the key ingredients of job satisfaction, communication among employees, managers, and staff cannot be underestimated.

However, communication is not automatically generated or achieved right away. When introducing new employees into a workplace, it may be even more important to establish good and fun communication procedures between employees.

This helpful article with work-related communication games and exercises can help improve communication at the workplace.

For other ways to establish happiness in the workplace , this article offers a guide and tips for making employees happier.

To determine your own job satisfaction, you need to do an assessment of your strengths and skills. This tool guides you to complete a Strengths In Challenging Times worksheet in order to do exactly that.

Another invaluable tool based on the Japanese concept of ikigai is Job Crafting of Ikigai . It is an interesting exercise that helps you understand what fuels your passions and, in turn, change aspects of your role to make it more fulfilling.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others manage stress without spending hours on research and session prep, this collection contains 17 validated stress management tools for practitioners . Use them to help others identify signs of burnout and create more balance in their lives.

Job satisfaction can be a two-way street. Employees need to feel satisfied, and organizations must help employees realize their potential.

If you are interested in increasing the job satisfaction of your employees, be sure to look beyond the seemingly practical benefits of providing adequate salaries and health insurance, although those too are critical.

Motivating employees may be just as important. Job satisfaction links to motivation, which employees can gain even more of when realizing their full potential. Besides providing adequate salaries and health insurance, much more can be done by companies to motivate and guide employees. In turn, companies will reap the benefits of loyalty and shared objectives.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Work & Career Coaching Exercises for free .

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Importance of Performance Appraisal Essay

Methods of performance appraisal in organizations, performance appraisal schemes process is an open process, importance of performance appraisal interview, performance appraisal and pay decisions in organizations, reference list.

Performance appraisal involves systematic review of staff performance on a written basis, at regular time intervals; and holding of appraisal interviews at which employees have the opportunity to discuss performance issues past, present, and future, on a one-on-one basis, usually with their immediate line manager. Performance appraisal applies a systematic approach to supplement organizations on going processes of assessing their staff.

Performance appraisal covers a whole spectrum of employees in organizations. Past practices of had confined performance appraisal to managers and supervisors. However, there is current evidence that most organizations are expanding performance appraisal schemes to include not only secretarial and clerical staff, but also manual employees. Organizations in both private and public sector also extent performance appraisal schemes to cover higher echelons of organizations, to include directors (Deb, 2006, p. 200).

Performance appraisal schemes in organizations fulfill multiple objectives. This is important in that several objectives can be attained. It is important for everyone in the organization, particularly organization’s decision makers, to be fully aware of precise objectives of performance appraisal system expects to fulfill and specific priorities within these objectives (Towers, 1996, p. 199).

Performance appraisal in organizations assists in identification of training and development requirements of workers. Without appraisal schemes in organizations, would not be accurately identified in organizations.

In addition, appraisal of employee’s performance provides them with feedback on job performance, thus creating a basis for improvement and development. Performance appraisal in organizations is directly associated with motivation of employees. This is because it offers some of the vital components of effective strategies of motivation (Chandramohan, 2006, p. 138).

Organizations utilize a wide variety of techniques and criteria for appraising their staff performance. Organizations in both private sectors ensure that they adopt appropriate and effective appraisal methods for evaluating their staff. For instance, majority of organizations review performance against objectives that those organizations have preset. This stemmed from the Management by objectives philosophy.

Organizations ensure that these objectives are specific and measurable, and challenging to employees, though achievable. This has encouraged organizations to set effective objectives which have ensured substantial employees’ participation in the process of setting organizational goals. Shared goal setting in organizations has led to enhanced feeling of commitment by employees to meet goals that have jointly been agreed upon (Schuter, 2007, p. 279).

Since organizations have extended performance appraisal to all levels of organizations, a number of performance variants have been developed. For example, methods of setting objectives, definition of achievable results, are often considered in organizations to be appropriate for managerial than for subordinate employees. At subordinate organizational levels, performance appraisal mechanisms focus on behavior assessment as appropriate.

Appraisal of employee competencies or job behaviors diligently derives employee characteristics from detailed job analysis. This has assisted organizations to determine important appraisal dimensions that are most effective. Organizations, for instance, are using competencies or behaviors, such as counseling, analytical skills, communication skills, willingness and others to introduce acceptable change (Edwards, 2003, p. 173).

Towers (1996) describe a popular behavioral approach in the US, referred to as BARS (behaviorally anchored rating scales) (p. 201). This performance appraisal method provides a set of behavioral descriptions at every level in the rating scale.

When organizational scales measure the quality of performance, they use a set of statements to describe the behavior associated with the worst quality, at one end, and the best quality at the other, with intermediate statements in between. The adoption of wide coverage of performance appraisal schemes has enabled organizations to develop two or more variants of their appraisal systems. This has effectively addressed differing needs of various categories of staff in organizations (Wilton, 2010, p. 9)..

Majority of organizations in both private and public sector have moved towards enhanced openness in the appraisal process. This is done through free exposure of appraisal report and its contents to employees being apprised.

The trend by organizations towards openness has been encouraged by a number of factors, such as: increased application performance appraisal methods that are result oriented that stem from the philosophy of management-by-objectives changing social climate, stressing participation and involvement and feedback as a basis for development; and the increasing influence white collar unions, encouraging nee for mutual trust (towers, 1996, p. 199).

Organizations at all levels cannot operate a performance appraisal scheme that is result oriented without openness. This is because the approach needs superiors and subordinates to identify and set goals that are seen by both as realistic for subordinates. The agreed goals where possible translate into measurable objectives. This has become the basis for subsequent evaluation of subordinate’s performance in majority of organizations (Towers, 1999, p. 120).

According to Towers (1996), aspects of performance appraisal practice have occurred between 1977 and 1986 in most organizations (p. 210). He cites a survey which highlights that only 8% of organizations used closed appraisal systems in 1986. In this system, the individual was not allowed access to completed performance appraisal report, compared with 26% in 1977 (Towers, 1996, p. 199).

The evidence here shows that a rising number of organizations understand the need of open communication in performance appraisal process. Most organizations recognize the importance of openness to apply to those aspects concerned with current performance. Those parts that are undisclosed relate to evaluation of an employees future performance (Towers, 1996, p. 201).

Performance appraisal has been given a legal dimension which varies from country to country. Data Protection act in the UK, for instance, provides individual employees the legal right to access personal data. This includes information about them contained in appraisal documents, if it is stored in the computer. The Act also defines personnel data and covers both factual and evaluative information. This implies that employees could access opinions about them expressed in appraisal documents (Chandramohan, 2006, p. 139).

Most organizations view appraisal interviews as a key feature of determining the success or failure performance appraisal schemes. Appraisal schemes in organizations include provision for holding performance appraisal interviews which offer an opportunity for managers to inform employees about their performance. In addition, managers will also be able to develop plans for the future. Appraisal interview in organizations serve numerous objectives.

They relate to overall objectives which organizations expect their performance appraisal schemes to achieve. They are likely to include let employees understand where they stand provide a chance for discussion about employees job performance over a period under review and recommending action to enhance performance of employee performance, including the setting of objectives (Chanramohan, 2006, p. 141).

Effective performance interviews have enabled organizations to: enhance employee participation, thus, increasing greater feelings of satisfaction on the part of employees towards the interview and the interviewer; support interview by showing appreciation of employees point of view, and organizations adopting a constructive perspective to problems. This has increased a chance that employee’s behavior and performance will change in a positive way; identifies and solves problems affecting employees job performance.

This increases the likelihood that the employee’s behavior and performance in the organization will change in a positive way, compared with circumstances where appraisers impose solutions; emphasizes performance rather than personality as a result enhancing satisfaction with the interview; involvement in goal-setting provides a powerful effect on employees’ subsequent performance than a general discussion about goals; and others (Towers, 1996, p. 204).

Performance appraisal is a vital part of the management process. Therefore, it makes it necessary for managers and employees in organizations to feel ownership of performance appraisal schemes and recognize their involvement is central to its success. Successful performance appraisal, design and implementation is encouraged by the element of consultation.

Consultation at the design stage with groups such as; directors, managers, supervisors, employees, trade unions, and others, assists to reduce or eliminate anxieties. This helps generate interest and commitment besides stimulating innovative ideas about appraisal techniques and procedures of implementation. Thus it ensures that the appraisal schemes adopted by organizations are effectively tailored to the requirements of the organization (Chandramohan, 2006, p. 139).

Commitment on the part of top management is necessary as the benefits of performance appraisal relate to medium and long term. This support and interest encourages managers at other levels to put emphasis to the implementation of performance appraisal. This is made easier if they are clearly made aware on how objectively and effectively appraisal of their staff will impact on their own appraisals (Deb, 2006, p. 203).

Performance appraisal is directly linked to pay decisions in organizations. Organizations used different approaches to performance appraisal in the past. To date, most organizations have shifted towards generally held views on how performance appraisal and pay decisions are associated.

This happens despite presence of substantial variations in organizational practices. Organizations in the US, for instance, consistently articulate merit of associating performance appraisal to pay. These organizations use performance appraisal for pay decisions. They ensure that employees who emerge from performance appraisal system as higher achievers get greater rewards than those considered as under performers (Towers, 1996, p. 199).

Organizational practices in most countries appear to follow the US pattern of linking performance appraisal with pay decisions. In sum, there are several advantages of linking performance appraisal to pay decisions: performance appraisal is taken seriously by all parties, appraisers, appraisees and reviewers; many people feel that there must be a close relation between performance appraisal and pay, for reasons of fairness; and there is likelihood of organizations developing cultures that are performance oriented (Edwards, 2003, p. 173).

Performance appraisal schemes enhance management accountability in organizations. Great majority of organizations in the UK overwhelmingly entrust the task of conducting appraisals to people in direct line management responsibility for employees being appraised. US organizations too emphasize performance appraisal as an integral part of managerial role to be undertaken by individuals with immediate management responsibility (Edwards, 2003, p. 172).

Traditionally, the role of employee’s had been to offer whatever it takes to meet the expectations of the manager. The manager in this case was regarded as a customer. The manager is today considered as the provider of direction, resources and coaching advice to customers regarded as internal customers.

Upward performance appraisal was, for instance, introduced in BP Exploration in 1990. This was a new example to be tried in the UK, introduced in reaction to flattening of organizational structure and need to introduce more open, participative style of management (Schuter, 2007, p. 279).

This upward performance appraisal in organizations addressed effectiveness of managers in managing people. Subsequently, enables staff to meet with managers to discuss the aggregate results in order to develop ways to defeat challenges which have been identified. This approach implementation can be perceived as main symbol of transformation.

In the US, upward performance appraisal is a practice that is widely practiced. They have been adopted to improve upward communication s, develop skills of supervisors and managers, and assist its competitiveness in market place effectively (Wilton, 2010, p. 10).

Performance appraisal is the most important tool for an organization. The information it provides is highly necessary in making decisions regarding various personal aspects such as promotion and merit increases. Performance appraisal also associates information gathering and decision making process which offers the basis for determining for HR functions such as recruitment, selection, training and development, and compensation (Chandramonhan, 2006, p. 138).

Objective and accurate information is necessary in any organization. They assist in isolating weak areas in the initial systems. Performance appraisal is the most significant tool for organizations, since information it provides is highly useful in making decisions regarding personnel aspects. Overall, performance appraisal can be placed in the whole spectrum of human resource management function (Deb, 2006, p. 212).

Deb, Tapaney., 2006. Strategic Approach to Human Resource Management. New York: Routledge.

Edwards, J. , scott, J., & Raju, N., 2003. The Human Resource Program Evaluation Handbook . New York: Routledge.

Chandramohan, A., 2006. Human Resource Management . New York: APH Publishing.

Schuter, R., Jackson, S., 2007. Strategic Human Resource Management . New York: Wiley & Sons.

Towers, B., 1996. The Handbook of Human Resource. New York: Wiley & Sons.

Wilton, Nick., 2006. Human Resource Management. New York: Routledge.

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• Optimal Performance and Appraisals
• Discussing the Lead User Process: 3M Company
• The Importance of Implementing Change in an Organization
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Performance management: Why keeping score is so important, and so hard

Effective performance management is essential to businesses. Through both formal and informal processes, it helps them align their employees, resources, and systems to meet their strategic objectives. It works as a dashboard too, providing an early warning of potential problems and allowing managers to know when they must make adjustments to keep a business on track.

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Organizations that get performance management right become formidable competitive machines. Much of GE’s successful transformation under former CEO Jack Welch, for instance, was attributed to his ability to get the company’s 250,000 or so employees “pulling in the same direction”—and pulling to the best of their individual abilities. As Henry Ford said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”

Yet in too many companies, the performance-management system is slow, wobbly, or downright broken. At best, these organizations aren’t operating as efficiently or effectively as they could. At worst, changes in technologies, markets, or competitive environments can leave them unable to respond.

Strong performance management rests on the simple principle that “what gets measured gets done.” In an ideal system, a business creates a cascade of metrics and targets, from its top-level strategic objectives down to the daily activities of its frontline employees. Managers continually monitor those metrics and regularly engage with their teams to discuss progress in meeting the targets. Good performance is rewarded; underperformance triggers action to address the problem.

Where do things go wrong?

In the real world, the details of performancemanagement systems are difficult to get right. Let’s look at a few common pitfalls.

Poor metrics

The metrics that a company chooses must actually promote the performance it wants. Usually, it can achieve this only by incorporating several of them into a balanced scorecard. Problems arise when that doesn’t happen. Some manufacturing plants, for example, still set overall production targets for each shift individually. Since each shift’s incentives are based only on its own performance, not on the performance of all shifts for the entire day, workers have every incentive to decide whether they can complete a full “unit” of work during their shift.

If they think they can, they start and complete a unit. But if they don’t, they may slow down or stop altogether toward the end of the shift because otherwise all of the credit for finishing their uncompleted work would go to the following shift. Each shift therefore starts with little or no work in process, which cuts both productivity and output. A better approach would combine targets for individual teams with the plant’s overall output, so workers benefit from doing what they can to support the next shift as well as their own.

Poor targets

Selecting the right targets is both science and art. If they are too easy, they won’t improve performance. If they are out of reach, staff won’t even try to hit them. The best targets are attainable, but with a healthy element of stretch required.

To set such targets, companies must often overcome cultural barriers. In some Asian organizations, for example, missing targets is considered deeply embarrassing, so managers tend to set them too low. In the United States, by contrast, setting a target lower than one achieved in a previous period is often deemed unacceptable, even if there are valid reasons for the change.

Lack of transparency

Employees have to believe their targets encourage meaningful achievement. Frequently, however, the link between individual effort and company objectives is obscure or gets diluted as metrics and targets cascade through the organization. Different levels of management, in an attempt to boost their own standing or ensure against underperformance elsewhere, may insert buffers into targets. Metrics at one level may have no logical link to those further up the cascade.

In the best performance-management systems, the entire organization operates from a single, verified version of the truth, and all employees understand both the organization’s overall performance and how they contributed to it. At the end of every shift at one company in the automotive sector, all employees pass the daily production board, where they can see their department’s results and the impact on the plant’s performance. The company has linked the top-line financial metrics that shareholders and the board of directors care about to the production metrics that matter on the ground. Frontline employees can see the “thread” that connects their daily performance with the performance of their plant or business unit (Exhibit 1).

A senior leader at another manufacturer aligns the whole organization around a shared vision through quarterly town-hall meetings for more than 5,000 staff. Managers not only share the company’s financial performance and plant-specific results but also introduce new employees, celebrate work anniversaries, and recognize successful teams. Most important, if targets are missed, the senior leader acts as a role model by taking responsibility.

Lack of relevance

The right set of metrics for any part of a business depends on a host of factors, including the size and location of an organization, the scope of its activities, the growth characteristics of its sector, and whether it is a start-up or mature. To accommodate those differences, companies must think both top-down and bottom-up. One option is the hoshin-kanri (or policy-deployment) approach: all employees determine the metrics and targets for their own parts of the organization. Employees who set their own goals tend to have a greater sense of ownership for and commitment to achieving them than do those whose goals are simply imposed from above.

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Lack of dialogue.

Performance management doesn’t work without frequent, honest, open, and effective communication. Metrics aren’t a passive measure of progress but an active part of an organization’s everyday management. Daily shift huddles, toolbox talks, after-action reviews, and the like all help to engage team members and to maintain a focus on doing what matters most. Applying the “plan–do–check–act” feedback loop, based on pioneering research from Charles Shewhart and W. Edwards Deming, helps teams learn from their mistakes and identify good ideas that can be applied elsewhere. And in many high-performing companies, supervisors act as coaches and mentors. One-on-one sessions for employees demonstrate concern and reinforce good habits at every stage of career development.

Lack of consequences

Performance must have consequences. While the majority of employees will never face the relentless “win or leave” pressure typical of professional sports, weak accountability tells people that just showing up is acceptable.

Rewarding good performance is probably even more important than penalizing bad performance. Most companies have various kinds of formal and informal recognition-and-reward systems, but few do enough of this kind of morale building, either in volume or frequency. In venues from lunchroom celebrations to town-hall announcements, employee-of-the-month and team-achievement awards are invaluable to encourage behavior that improves performance and keeps it high. One COO at an industrial-goods company keeps a standing agenda item in the monthly business review for recognizing the performance of individuals and teams. Employees on the list may find a gift waiting at home to thank them (and their families) for a job well done.

Lack of management engagement

The words of Toyota honorary chairman Fujio Cho—“Go and see, ask why, show respect”—are now famous as basic lean-production principles. Yet in many companies, senior managers rarely visit plants except during periodic business reviews, and they appear on the shop floor only when a major new capital improvement is to be inspected.

Management interactions with frontline personnel are an extremely powerful performance-management tool. They send a message that employees are respected as experts in their part of the business, give managers an opportunity to act as role models, and can be a quick way to solve problems and identify improvements.

One company’s machinery shop, for example, had developed such a reputation for sloppiness and missed deadlines that managers suggested outsourcing much of its work. When a senior manager was persuaded to visit the workshop, he was appalled at the dirty, cluttered, and poorly maintained environment. Employees reported chronic underfunding for replacement parts and tools, and asked the manager what it would take to save their jobs. He told them to “clean up the shop and give me a list of what needs to be fixed.” Both sides lived up to their commitments, and in less than a year the shop became a reference case for efficiency within the company.

Building a strong performance-management system

The best companies build performance-management systems that actively help them avoid these pitfalls. Such systems share a number of characteristics.

Metrics: Emphasizing leading indicators

Too often, companies measure and manage performance through lagging indicators, such as compliance with monthly output or quality targets. By the time the results are known, it is too late to influence the consequences. The best companies track the same metrics—but also integrate their performance-management systems into critical process inputs. Industrial Internet technologies, such as the SCADA 1 1. Supervisory control and data acquisition. architecture and distributed-control systems, let manufacturing staff know within minutes (or seconds) about variations in performance, even in remote parts of a plant. That lets people react long before the variation undercuts output or quality.

Some changes require almost no investment in technology. At the end of each workday, for example, production and functional teams can complete a checkout form assessing how it went. A combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics and simple graphics (such as traffic lights and smiley faces) provides an easy, highly effective tool for identifying and correcting issues or problems before the next day’s work begins.

As performance-management systems evolve, the metrics they use will become more complex, incorporating continuous rather than discrete variables: “everyone showed up on time today” will become “the team achieved 93 percent on the schedule-performance index using 90 percent of the labor-performance index.” The extra detail better informs decisions such as whether to add more labor to meet a delivery date or to push out a schedule for delivery.

Sustainability: Standard work and a regular heartbeat

Regardless of changes to metrics and targets, the best companies keep the cadence of meetings and reviews constant, so they become an intrinsic part of the rhythm of everyday operations (Exhibit 2).

The emphasis on regular, standardized processes goes beyond explicit performance-management activities and extends deep into every aspect of a company’s operating models. Standard work, for example, is based on three simple rules. First, there should be a standard for all activities. Second, everyone must have the knowledge and ability to meet that standard. Finally, compliance with it must be monitored and measured.

In many functions, the business cycle forces a regular rhythm or cadence: the weekly payroll, the monthly accounting close, or the quarterly inventory review. Good companies take advantage of these requirements to define a few central metrics, such as cycle times and accuracy, thus driving continuous improvement across every function.

As part of a lean-manufacturing excellence program, one industrial-commodities company encourages employees to indicate “what went well today, what didn’t go well today, what management can do to help” on their productionarea boards every day. Supervisors collect the information on index cards and post them on a lean-idea board. Representatives of each function meet with the plant manager every morning and accept or reject the cards or return them for more information. Every accepted card gets an owner and timeline for completion. Company leaders estimate that the boards generate at least $2 million a year in cost savings or higher output—but the impact on employee morale and engagement is “priceless.”

The great re-make: Manufacturing for modern times

This 21-article compendium gives practical insights for manufacturing leaders looking to keep a step ahead of today’s disruptions.

A checklist or standard operating procedure that defines the steps and sequences for every key process usually enforces standard work. In employee onboarding, for example, one company noted that small details—assigning email addresses, telephone numbers, and software and hardware access—were especially important for retaining employees early in their tenures. A checklist is now at the front of each new hire’s personnel file, with a copy in the supervisor’s file. The performance reviews of supervisors now assess how well they handled the onboarding of new employees, and everyone who resigns completes a mandatory exit interview.

Continuous improvement: Standard work is for leaders too

Standard work is essential at all levels of an organization, including the C-suite and senior management in general. Standard work for leaders forces a routine that, while uncomfortable at first, develops expectations throughout an organization. It is those expectations, along with specific metrics, that ultimately drive predictable, sustainable performance.

One global resources company now requires managers to demonstrate that they spend 50 percent of their time on a combination of coaching their people and attending safety briefings, shift huddles, improvement reviews, and production meetings. To free up time, other meetings are scheduled only on one day a week— and conference rooms no longer have chairs.

Taking this approach even further, every autumn a field-services organization commits itself to a comprehensive, enterprise-wide calendar for the entire following year. The calendar sets dates for all conferences, monthly and quarterly management meetings, formal performance reviews, and succession-plan meetings, as well as training and development opportunities. All agendas are fixed, and all meetings are subject to strict time limits. There is little need for additional leeway because internal reporting follows tight guidelines for transparency and timeliness: financial results are published internally every month, while data on the performance of teams and units in meeting annual incentive-plan goals are updated and published monthly on bulletin boards.

Most industrial companies have access to rich data on the performance of their operations. The technological advances associated with increasing use of automation, advanced analytics, and connected devices mean that this resource constantly improves. But how can organizations best use their data? A crucial part of the answer is instant feedback loops, daily performance dialogues, and routine performance reviews. Maintaining the willingness and ability to hardwire these performance-management processes into the rhythm of daily work isn’t sexy—but over the long run, it’s the most effective route to real, sustainable performance improvements.

Raffaele Carpi is a partner in McKinsey’s Lisbon office , John Douglas is an alumnus of the Houston office , and Frédéric Gascon is a senior vice president of RTS and is based in the Montréal office .

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Using people analytics to drive business performance: A case study

Continuous improvement—make good management every leader’s daily habit

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Does Work Make You Happy? Evidence from the World Happiness Report

• Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
• George Ward

Blue collar vs. white collar, employed vs. unemployed, self-employed vs. the rest.

A new analysis draws on data from hundreds of thousands of individuals across the globe, investigating the ways in which elements of people’s working lives drive their wellbeing. The type of job you have matters: white-collar and managerial workers are generally happier than blue-collar workers. Where you live also matters: life evaluation fluctuates according to country. Interestingly, in all countries, self-employed people report both more positive and more negative work experiences, suggesting that being your own boss is both rewarding and stressful. Being unemployed is miserable, and not just for the unemployed person: people who remain employed in areas with high unemployment also report lower overall wellbeing. Finally, while pay is important, certain non-monetary aspects of employment matter too: factors like autonomy and work-life balance can influence how happy you feel.

Since most of us spend a great deal of our lives working, it is inevitable that work plays a key role in shaping our levels of happiness. In a recent chapter of the World Happiness Report — published annually to coincide with the United Nation’s International Day of Happiness — we look more closely at the relationship between work and happiness. We draw largely upon the Gallup World Poll , which has been surveying people in over 150 countries around the world since 2006. These efforts allow us to analyze data from hundreds of thousands of individuals across the globe and investigate the ways in which elements of people’s working lives drive their wellbeing.

• JN Jan-Emmanuel De Neve is Associate Professor of Economics and Strategy at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and an Associate Editor of the World Happiness Report .
• GW George Ward is a Ph.D. student at the Institute for Work and Employment Research, MIT Sloan School of Management.

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