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EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP AND JOB SATISFACTION IN SELECTED PUBLIC SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN OYO STATE.

CHAPTER ONE                                              

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the study

At the beginning of any established business contract is the employment relationship which connects the employees and employers to sell labour, where both party have standard interest they pursue in the establishment of the employment relationship (Budd & Bhave, 2008). In the situation of employment relationship both the employer and the employee exchange their worth to produce an after value for the benefit of the organization and the customers (Gaile & Sumilo, 2016). The external environment context of employment relationship identifies two actors to this relationship; the organization and the individual, where the organization is the employer of labour who presets the organization of work for defined goals to secure the sustainability of the organization, while the individuals are the employees who provide the competence required to execute given task. This is as a result of employer and employee not been static they change, develop and establish interaction within their environment and workplace (Gaile & Sumilo, 2016). Employer-employee relationship existed in Nigeria before the colonial era in light of the rural economy, culture and conventions which were the reasons for arrangement of work and reward (Ubeku, 1993). In this situation the employer took the place as head of the family, while the employees are members of the close family or more distant family (Yesufu, 1982). The head of the family who is referred to as the employer was at liberty to determine the reward system, recruitment process, employee promotion which was not really based on legitimacy or position, he was also obliged to make provision for food, shelter, security for all employees (relatives) and determine when they would get married and to whom (Iwuji, 1968).

The development of employer-employee relationship is essential for the satisfactory execution of any firm and for the employees to become occupied in the organization (Tansel & Gazioglu, 2012). This interactive relationship concentrates on the nature of relationships that organizations have with their employees, not just in line with contribution to hierarchical execution and accomplishment of organizational objectives, but serving to re-build and ensure authoritative notoriety and image in a turbulent environment (Kim & Rhee, 2011; Men, 2011). Kim and Rhee (2011) recommended that if employees have encountered great long-term relationship with their management they are probably going to consider organizational issues as their own, and are probably going to forward and share steady information as answers for their organization amid the managerial turbulence.

The nature and consequences of employment relationships in recent years has brought about intense changes in the competitive environment, where business owners that wish to contend at a higher level must comprehend the human side of their organization and business process (Xesha, Iwu, Slabbert & Nduna, 2014). According to Jansen, Curseu and Vermeulen (2013), employees must be social architects who can work on a parallel level in the organization, constantly enhancing the business procedure and cultivating an environment favorable for development, hazard-taking, self-coordinated teamwork, responsibility, quality and self-change. It has been observed that without solid employer-employee relationships, it gets to be distinctly difficult to be effective as a business owner (Ford, Gadde, Hakansson, & Snehota, 2003; Accuff & Wood, 2004; Donaldson & O’Toole, 2007; Browne & Keeley, 2009; Selmier & Travis, 2013). They express their opinion that business owners need long haul employer and employee relationships that will bring them through testing and troublesome circumstances.

Jackson (2009) affirms that the reality about business relationships are that, they are just as complex in any other relationship. They require lots of effort to maintain and must be mutually beneficial to all the parties involved. He emphasized that in any business relationship, the business owner must be willing to give, share and support, not simply just take or get. Finance might be the front line tool to get people to work at their best but good relationships form the foundation for increased productivity (Xesha, Iwu, Slabbert & Nduna, 2014).

There are various reasons that have been identified to foster a good employer-employee relationship. According to Burns (2012), employees who are inspired to work as a result of employer-employee relationship produce better and more output. Such employees strive to become better in an organization because employees who have good relationship with their employer are usually driven by the identified competency of such employee. The ultimate result of a positive employer-employee relationship leads to employee’s job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction is seen as a peoples’ subjective valuation of the diverse parts of their job, it is the feeling and thoughts of workers about their work and place of work (Locke, 1976). Croham (1989) says that job satisfaction is a behavioral pattern of contentment, derivation of pleasure and having a positive effect felt on one’s job.  A Higher job utility result in improvements of the target angles at the work place either because of increased outcomes or disappointing aspects of the job been minimized while satisfying perspectives are given more prominent significance. An employee who is satisfied with his job would perform his duties well and be committed to his job, and subsequently to his organization. Thus, employers should know the factors that can affect their employees’ job satisfaction level since it would affect the performance of the organization as well (Locke, 1976). Levy-Garboua, Montmarquette and Simonnet (2007) demonstrate that job satisfaction is an indicator of quits and non-attendance in like manner wages because people leave low-satisfaction jobs for high-satisfaction jobs. Daft and Marcic (2010) depict job satisfaction as an extra pointer of good relationships between the employer and the employees; therefore fulfilled workers more often than not have great relationships with their employer. The study of Jeon and Choi (2012) called attention to the fact that employees who are content with their jobs are most likely to fulfill customer’s satisfaction and oversee good relationships with them and enhance their performance and productivity.

Managers and administrators have realized that having capable staff is a competitive advantage, effective and productive workforce makes an organization not only survive but flourish (kumar & Arora, 2012). Due to this understanding, retention of satisfied employees as key potentials in an organization which represents the total of the inherent abilities, acquired knowledge, capabilities and skills give employees the guarantee and security that they have access to their jobs and in turn they develop a level of increased job satisfaction which leads to higher organizational performance (Eberendu & Kenneth-okere, 2015). Employer-employee relationship defines the level of job satisfaction an employee should have towards his work and workplace.

Knowledge about the impact of employer-employee relationships upon commitment (job satisfaction) is an important issue for managers because the retention of staff has been identified as a key factor affecting organizational effectiveness (Gollan, 2005; Ostroff & Bowen, 2000). To harness the employer-employee relationship in any organization, there is the need for adequate supervision from employers who would look into the affairs and duties of the employees to make sure that they are performing at optimum level. Further, when employees perceive high levels of support from management including their supervisor, they are also likely to experience high morale and job satisfaction (Podsakoff, MacKenzie., Paine & Bachrach, 2000).

• Statement of the Problem

Employers and employees have responsibilities that need to be addressed in their personal lives which are yet to be solved, how much more would they be able to manage work relationships and handle several individuals all at the same time if there are no measures of building relationships in the organization? The relationship between the employer and the employee is critical, therefore business owners need to pay considerable attention regarding this relationship in the event that they need their businesses to develop and succeed (Bhattacharya, Sen, & Korschun, 2012). Government organizations in Nigeria should look into issues such as ‘to what degree are supervision, pay, recognition, benefit and job satisfaction of utmost importance to the development of employer-employee relationship in the workplace’

Supervisory behavior has turned into the blocking scourge to the advancement and achievement of organizations in the country (Young, 2009). Where Beaset (1994) says that the nature and level of supervision is a variable which can impact the satisfaction individuals get from their work including; specialized information, human relation, ability and coordination of work exercise, but are not being put into practice in the civil service organizations. Most civil service organizations in the nation today are still operating with logical administration approach, where the workers are thought to be simply one more machine without demeanor and feeling (Adebayo & Ogunsina, 2011). This logical approach, has brought about the lack of inappropriate supervision leading to about abusive supervision towards employees and their feeling of low positivity about their work (higher frustration and lower perceived organizational support) to react negatively toward others in the workplace (Harris, Harvey, Harris & Cast, 2013). This actions carried out by employers have resulted in ridiculing, public criticizing, and silent treatment that represents negative reciprocity towards employee’s job satisfaction (Tepper, 2007). In the case of abusive supervision, this has resulted in wrong treatment by supervisors to their employees, causing subordinates to direct their aggression to their colleagues leading to disunity, grudge and dissatisfaction at work and to their level of satisfaction. Based on this, how does supervision affect an employee’s job satisfaction?

Every employee is entitled to some level of reward after delivering a function or task which is their desired pay (Eshun & Duah, 2011). Alongside employers anticipate that employees will convey or execute designated obligations to their satisfaction while employees anticipate that their employers will guarantee them of satisfactory wages and salaries (pay) after they obediently execute what is expected of them (Ali, Edwin & Tirimba, 2015). If these expectations have been followed, it would be noted that there will be no negative effect, but Pay dissatisfaction has been identified by the employees and has various important and undesirable impacts on employee outcomes (Heneman & Judge, 2000). However, an employee’s level of dissatisfaction with pay has led to decreased commitment to the job, increase stealing, and increased turnover (Currall, Towler, Judge & Kohn 2005; Miceli & Mulvey, 2000).  Hence for every organization there is a pay scheme which is used as a standard to determine an employee’s take home. The problem evolving from the civil service not having adequate pay leads to employees not getting enough salary or salary equivalent to their job to keep them satisfied at work. Some literature have it that revoking a bonus from one year to the next is likely to have a detrimental effect on employee utility, and that over time job satisfaction diminishes as employees potentially adapt to the non-payment of rewards (Pouliaka, 2010). It has therefore been seen that there is a negative outcome from small compensation packages which results in employee’s level of job satisfaction. Therefore, how does pay relate to an employee’s job satisfaction?

Human resources are the most vital asserts of any organization (Chikungwa & Chamisa, 2013). To this effect, organizations have realized the importance of establishing a fair balance between employees’ contribution to the organization and employer’s contribution to employees, through establishing this balance, employees are also rewarded through recognition (Alam, Saeed, Sahabuddin & Akter, 2013). The central principle of recognizing employee performance is to make employees feel appreciated and valued (Sarvadi, 2005). Nevertheless, research has proven that employees whose performance get recognized tend to have higher self-esteem, more confidence, more willingness to take on new challenges, more eagerness to be innovative and high level of satisfaction derived from working in such organization, but the most shared problem in the civil service organizations today is that they miss the important component of recognizing an employee’s output and effort, which has led to high turnover and low input to an employee’s duty which causes job dissatisfaction.). (Mason, 2001). However, Recognition of performance systems are powerful means of directing attention within an organization, hence management must understand the psychology of praising employees for good work, to apply the principles of employee recognition and encourage others to initiate it in their working relationships (Alam, et al, 2013). To what extent therefore, does recognition affect job satisfaction in the civil service organization?

A negative provision of employee benefit has resulted in employees’ increased lack of interest to work, decreased morale and job dissatisfaction (Mathis and John, 2003). As such, surveys and experience from the human resource professionals have shown that while employees are concerned about how best to gain from the benefits offered to them by the organization and enjoy attractive conditions of service, employers on the other hand would be striving to cut costs so as to earn post impressive profit (Milkovitch & Newman, 2004). Employee benefits becomes measures of better employment offer, made by organizations to their employees and families for improving the employee welfare and focus on maintaining the quality of employee job satisfaction (Kamau, 2010). Mathis and Jackson (2003) affirms that an employer that provides a more attractive benefit package often enjoys the advantage of loyal workers over other employers in recruiting and retaining satisfied employees when the competing firms offers similar benefits. Furthermore, it is only natural for employees to stay for long periods of time at organizations providing good benefits. It is particularly notable that the civil service organizations when evaluated with competitors (private organizations) in the same industry, fall short of both quantity and quality of employee benefits, whereby leading to a negative effect on an employee’s job satisfaction (Bennett, Blum, Long & Roman 1993). This study would provide answer to the question: what relationship exists between benefit and job satisfaction?

Government organizations in Nigeria need to address the issue of employee supervision, pay, recognition and benefits to foster a better coordination of employer-employee relationship in the workplace. If these issues are not handled appropriately they would lead to employee job dissatisfaction, which would lead to downturn in the performance of the organization (researcher’s pilot study, 2016).

Therefore, in the light of the issues, could it then be said that adherence to the improvement of employer-employee relationship can improve the level of job satisfaction in the public service organizations in Nigeria?

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to investigate the effect of employer-employee relationship on job satisfaction of staff in selected public service organizations in Oyo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of this study are to:

1. examine the effects of supervision on job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State
2. examine the relationship between pay and job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State
3. evaluate the effect of recognition on job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State
4. investigate the relationship between benefit and job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State 

1.4       Research Questions 

1. To what extent does supervision affect job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State?
2. What relationship exists between pay and job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State?
3. What is the effect of recognition on job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State?
4. How does benefit relate with job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State?

1.5       Research Hypotheses

Ho₁: supervision has no significant effect on job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State.

Ho₂: there is no significant relationship between pay and job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State.

Ho₃: Recognition has no significant effect on job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo State.

Ho₄: there is no significant relationship between benefit and job satisfaction in selected public service organizations in Oyo state.

 

1.6       Operationalization of Variables

Y = f (X)

Y = Dependent Variable

X = Independent Variable

Where

Y = Job Satisfaction (JB)

X = Employer-Employee Relationship (EER)

X = (x₁, x₂, x₃, x₄)

Where

x₁ = Supervision (S)

x₂ = Pay (P)

x₃ = Recognition (R)

x₄ = Benefits (B)

Functional Relationship

Y= f(x₁) …………………………………………..Equation 1

Y= f(x₂)…………………………………………….Equation 2

Y= f(x₃)………………………………………….. .Equation 3

Y= f(x₄)……………………………………………Equation 4

Regression model, we have:

Y = α₀ + β₁x₁ + e……………………………………………Equation 1

Y = α₀ + β₂x₂ + e ………………………………………….. Equation 2

Y = α₀ + β₃x₃ + e ………………………………………….. Equation 3

Y = α₀ + β₄x₄ + e ………………………………………….. Equation 4

β = regression parameter, which measures the coefficient of Employer-Employee Relationship, each measures the effect of a given change in Employer-Employee Relationship on Job satisfaction of the companies.

α₀ = constant or intercept of Employer-Employee Relationship, this is the average value of the dependent variable when the independent variable is equal to zero

e = error term or stochastic variable, this is included in the model to accommodate the influence of other variables that affect the dependent variables but which are not included in the model.

1.7       Scope of the Study

The study will focus on the effect of employer-employee relationship on job satisfaction. The study will be limited to four (4) public service organizations in Oyo state Nigeria. These organizations are: Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), The Federal Immigration Service (FIS), The Nigerian Customs service Ibadan (NCS) and Forestry research institute of Nigeria (FRIN). These four organizations were selected among others because of the manner of work supervision they receive from the organizations, their large workforce would enable the opinions employees vary and not be one sided and also they represent government institutions that deal with various structural levels within the organizations. The public service which is the research point has been identified to have less monitoring strategies that enhances employer-employee relationship and the satisfactory level of job holders; this has brought about the need for this research.

The population of this study would be the employees of the organizations on level 8 and above. The total population is 2249 as at February, 2016. The sample size for the study is 440 using the Taro Yamane formula (1967). The simple random sampling method will be adopted to select the respondents that correspond with the sampling size. Also, a structured questionnaire will be used to obtain data for this study. The simple linear regression and correlation technique will be used to test the effect of the independent variables on the dependent variable.

1.8       Significance of the Study

The eventual significance of this study will be discussed under different functional headings appropriately:

Government: The study would be beneficial to the government. As a result, the federal government as the major employer of labour would be educated on what measures to be taken to promote a well-structured organization in their dealings with employees. The government would be able to identify when the organizations are not operating in line with their objectives and would be able to administer appropriate measures to correct such actions.

Management Practices: The study aims to provide information which would present an empirical framework for management on the possible ways to resolve the challenges of employer-employee relationship as it relates to an employee’s job satisfaction. This would help executive managers, permanent secretary’s and direct bosses to handle the management level with the knowledge that they would treat their employees with appropriate work related behaviours, regarding workplace employer-employee relationship. It will also provide the necessary framework for potential business owners, potential researchers most especially in Nigeria, to make a positive case for the observation and proper management of workplace employer-employee relationship in the Nigerian civil service organizations.

Employers and Employees: This study would assist the employers to know what and what not to do to their employees to make them satisfied on their job. They would understand that employment is not just about an expected return but also the development of morale, build-up of character and common ground.  The human resources of each organization must be involved in what goes on in the organisation, so as to develop positive relationships in the work environment between both employers and employees. The study will also provide good understanding on the importance of positive relationship which will have a positive effect on the employee job satisfaction to improve their productivity. This would lead to better and higher level of positive competitiveness among other organisations.

1.9       Operational Definition of Terms

Employer-Employee relationship: This is a mutual understanding between the management and its workers in an organization which leads to satisfaction, productivity, motivation and increased morale where both parties perform set duties to meet up the organizational goals.

Employer: A person seen as the employer of labor in an organization or representative of the management board in the work environment. The employer in this research signifies that person who is in charge of the affairs of the organization in setting goals and targets for the employees.

Employee: employees are workers in an organization who are employed and placed in different departments or segments of the organization. The employee takes assigned duties and delivers result at expected timeline.

Supervision:  an act or function of overseeing, managing, directing an employee to perform a specified work related responsibility.

Pay: To give employee money that is due for work done, goods received or a debt incurred. An obligation made to an employee as compensation for work or services rendered.

Recognition: it’s a form of appreciation between management and employees to reward them on reaching specific goals or producing high results in the workplace. It an official acceptance of the honour for an outstanding performance in the work place.

Benefits: A non-wage compensation provided to an employee in addition to his normal wage or salary for better satisfaction in the work environment. This is a payment in form of a gift made to employees by an employer such has free health insurance, pension plan and so on so as to promote the employees wellbeing.

Job satisfaction: The overall contentment the employee derives with his or her job. In other words whether or not they like the job or individual they work with either the nature aspect of the job or supervision.

Employment relationship: This is the setup of any employment contract between the organization and the employee to meet specified goals and objectives.

Performance: The ability to execute specific instructions or duties according to the expectation of an individual or organization. It is the accomplishment of estimated work towards a specified time frame.