Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ

Southern luzon STATE University
Republic of Philippines



ThAi nguyen University
Socialist Republic of Vietnam






JOB SATISFACTION AND WORKING PERFORMANCE OF PERSONNEL
AT HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY, PHU THO, VIETNAM: A PROPOSED
STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM


Advisor: Dr. Apolonia A. Espinosa
Name of Student: Nguyen Nhat Dang
English Name: Michael
Date of Birth: 20-3-1959
Course: SLSU-DEd.M



Thai Nguyen, 2014

ii
JOB SATISFACTION AND WORKING PERFORMANCE OF PERSONNEL
AT HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY, PHU THO, VIETNAM: A PROPOSED
STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM




A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines
In Collaboration with
Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam


In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management






by

NGUYEN NHAT DANG (MICHAEL)
Thai Nguyen, 2014


iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Grateful acknowledgement is hereby extended to the following individuals who have
provided the researcher much needed support in the completion of this work:
Dr. Apolonia A. Espinosa, his adviser, whose wisdom and knowledge, perseverance and
patience, courage and optimism, constructive criticizing led to the final completion of this study;
Dr Cecilia N. Gascon, and other professors of the panel of examiners, for their
valuable suggestions and recommendations;
Dr. Teresita V. dela Cruz, Dr. Walberto A. Macaraan, and other professors of
the Southern Luzon State University and Thai Nguyen University for their valuable lectures
and advice;
The Director Board of ITC, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha and the other teachers and
staff of ITC, for their enthusiastic support during the course;
Pr. Dr. Cao van, the Rector of Hung Vuong University and other members of the
Rector Board, for their encouragement and financial assistance;
The Monitor and other classmates, for their help and support;
The staff and teacher respondents, for their patience and generosity in answering
the questionnaires;
All members of my family and friends, for their advice and close concern;
This piece of work is humbly dedicated to these respectable persons, for without
them this would not be possible.

NND






iv

DEED OF DECLARATION

I, Nguyen Nhat Dang (English name: Michael), hereby submit my thesis for oral
examination, entitled ―Job Satisfaction and Working Performance of Personnel at Hung
Vuong University, PhuTho, Vietnam: A Proposed Strategic Development Program‖,
truthfully declare that the said paper is a product of my original research investigation.

Signed this ………………01 May, 2014 at Thai Nguyen University


NGUYEN NHAT DANG
DEdM Candidate
















v
TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………………
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………………
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………….
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study……………………………………………………. 1
Objectives of the study ………………………………………………………
Hypothesis .
Significance of the Study .
Scope and Limitation of the Study …………………………………………
Definition of terms ……………………………………………………………
Chapter 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Related Literature and Studies ………………………………………………10
Research Paradigm …………………………………………………………
Chapter 3. METHODOLOGY
Locale of the Study 29
Research Design
Population and Sampling
Research Instrumentation
Validation of Instrument
Data Gathering Procedures
Statistical Treatment

Chapter 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ……………………………………. 37


vi

Chapter 5. SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary 66
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations
BIBLIOGRAPHY 74
APPENDICES 76
RESEARCHER’S PROFILE 87



















vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
HVU
Hung Vuong University

HRM
Human resource Management
CSE
Core self-evaluations .

ABSTRACT
TITLE OF RESEARCH
Job Satisfaction and Working Performance of Personnel at Hung
Vuong University, PhuTho, Vietnam: A Proposed Strategic
Development Program

RESEARCHER
NGUYEN NHAT DANG (MICHAEL)
DEGREE CONFERRED
Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management
NAME/ADDRESS OF
INSTITUTION
Southern Luzon State University
and Thai Nguyen University
ADVISER
Dr. Apolonia A. Espinosa
YEAR WRITTEN
2013-2014


This study intended to investigate the relationships of job satisfaction and working
performance of Hung Vuong Personnel with an end view of proposing a strategic
development program. It specifically sought to determine the level of job satisfaction of Hung
Vuong Personnel in terms of the nature of work, salary and benefits, professional growth/
promotion, quality of supervision, interpersonal relationship, self-actualization and fulfilment,

working environment, and employee recognition. It also sought to find out the working
performance of the personnel in terms of productivity, knowledge and skills, communication,
problem solving, attendance and punctuality, and teamwork. In addition, it also pursued to
determine whether the perceptions of the managers and staff differ from each other; ascertain
which of the job satisfaction variables best predict the working performance of respondents;


viii
and propose a strategic development program that could improve the working performance of
the personnel. The descriptive survey research was employed in this study. There were three
hundred and fifty eight (358) respondents to answer the questionnaire, among them, 296
respondents were ordinary staff and teachers and 62 respondents were managers. The
measuring instruments utilized in this research were the frequency, percentage distribution,
the weighted means, Regression and the One – way ANOVA.
Based on the data gathered, it was found that the perception of both managers and
ordinary staff and teachers on job satisfaction and working performance falls in the "Good"
category. Salaries and benefits and employee recognition are the best to predict the
employees' working performance. There are also differences in working performance between
the groups of respondents in terms of ages, gender and positions. The findings are indicative
that the employees' satisfaction and working performance still need further improvement since
most of the difficulties identified were seen related to individuals of both managers and
ordinary employees. The proposed solutions generally are to adjust the school policies which
lead to the key to successful implementation of the employees’ performance evaluation and
job satisfaction and job performance improvement. Management effort and initiatives must be
required to efficiently implement the job satisfaction and job performance improvement.
Thus, it was recommended that the school's improvement on the employees' job satisfaction
and working performance must be continuously given attention by all the managers, staffs and
teachers of the school by producing a long term concrete and detailed plan to make the
employees' job satisfaction and working performance get on well. In order to increase the
employees’ job satisfaction and working performance, the school must design and implement

the strategic development program to help staffs improve their knowledge and skills, create
fair opportunities for the staff and teachers on promotion etc, so that they would feel safe and
happy at work. Finally, the strategic development program must be carried out with the
enthusiastic participation of all the teachers and staff.


1
Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
The development of an organization, an area or a country depends on many factors, and
conditions, but mainly on the human factor. Therefore, more important than any other factors,
the human resource always occupies a central position and plays a key role in the development
of the organization, the area or the country. Hence, for an organization or business to develop,
it has to focus much on human resource management (HRM). Among many factors of human
resource management, job satisfaction and working performance of the personnel are the most
important issues that every manager has to give attention.
Job satisfaction focuses on factors such as the nature of work, salary and benefits,
professional growth/promotion, quality of supervision, interpersonal relationship, self-
actualization and fulfillment, working environment, and employee recognition. The high level
of job satisfaction can help the employees feel safe and happy at work. This would make the
organization develop in a good way. Meanwhile, working performance focuses on factors
such as productivity, job knowledge and skills, communication, problem solving, attendance
and punctuality, and teamwork. The employees' working performance always plays a decisive
role in the successes of an organization. Therefore, this issue is always one of the most
important tasks of an organization.
Job satisfaction and working performance of the personnel are closely related to each
other. Therefore, the improvement of these two issues can lead to the improvement of the
HRM in particular and the development of the whole organization in general.
For Vietnam in general and Phu Tho province in particular, exploiting and using the

human resource effectively are very important matters. The human resource must bring into
play the diversity and richness of the eastern cultural tradition such as: fondness for learning,


2
respect to talents, knowledge, and science. However, up to now, the important potentials have
not been fully exploited because the human resource may not have been effectively used.
Nowadays as the world becomes a knowledgeable economy, the problem of high-
qualified human resource is a very pressing one. For a country like Vietnam, which has newly
overcome the threshold of poverty, it is very important to take a short cut for the development
to fill the gap between the rich and the poor, the high land and the low land areas, and the
countryside and the cities to make Vietnam become a developed country. This aim can only be
achieved if Vietnam has a high-qualified workforce. In order to achieve this goal, Hung
Vuong University (HVU) was established based on decision 81/2003 by the Vietnamese
Prime Minister on April 29, 2003 with a mission of training the high qualified human resource
and transferring new technology to serve the socio-economic development in Phu Tho and
other Northern mountainous provinces.
Phu Tho is a northern mountainous province in Vietnam. It is located east of Vinh
Phuc, south east of Ha Noi, south of Hoa Binh, south west of Son La, and northwest of Yen
Bai and Tuyen Quang. In terms of culture, Phu Tho is considered the birth place of Vietnam,
where the first kingdom of Vietnamese people named Van Lang was established more than
4,000 years ago. The two famous cultural heritages originating from Phu Tho, having been
recognized by UNESCO, are Xoan folk song and ancestor worshipping that speak out the old
cultural traditions in Vietnam in general and Phu Tho in particular.
For a new university like Hung Vuong University, human resource management in
general and job satisfaction and working performance in particular are among the most
important issues that the school must pay attention to. However, there haven't been any
studies about these problems in Vietnam. This is the reason which compelled the researcher to
conduct his research on this field.

3
Background of the Study
Hung Vuong University is a disciplinary university. It was established on the
foundation of a College of Education located in Phu Tho province. It has 432 staff and
roughly 7000 students.
Like the other mountainous provinces in the north of Vietnam, Phu Tho is still a poor
province and is meeting a lot of difficulties in comparison with the big cities and low land
provinces in terms of socio-economic conditions. The investment on education is limited and
in general, the living standard of local people is still low. Hence, Hung Vuong University is
not an exception. Because of the reasons of low salary, poor working conditions etc, some
part of HVU's employees do not really keep their minds on their work. Apart from that, about
70% of the staff is young (under 35) therefore their knowledge, working skill, working
experience, etc. are still very limited. Many of them need more time to improve themselves to
be able to do the two major duties of a university teacher, which are teaching and conducting
researches at university level.
This fact has led to some problems of human resource management, especially the
problems concerning job satisfaction and working performance. Therefore, it is important to
find solutions to those problems so that Hung Vuong University can attract the high-qualified
employees to come and work permanently.
Because of the practical situation of the University, it is believed that it was necessary
to conduct a study that would determine the level of the job satisfaction, find out working
performance of personnel at Hung Vuong University, Phu Tho, Vietnam to serve as basis for
a proposed strategic development program to help the school solve the problems and soon
achieve its goals.

4
Objectives of the Study
This study intended to investigate the relationships of job satisfaction and working
performance of Hung Vuong Personnel during SY 2012 – 2013 with an end view of
proposing a strategic development program.
Specifically, it aimed to meet the following objectives:
1. Determine the demographic profile of the respondents as to:
1.1 Sex;
1.2. Ages;
1.3. Work unit;
1.4 Occupations, and
1.5. Positions.
2. Determine the level of Job satisfaction of Hung Vuong Personnel in terms of
2.1. The nature of work;
2.2. Salary and benefits;
2.3. Professional growth/ promotion;
2.4. Quality of supervision;
2.5. Interpersonal relationship;
2.6. Self-actualization and fulfillment;
2.7. Working environment; and
2.8. Employee recognition.
3. Find out the working performance of the personnel in terms of
3.1. Productivity;
3.2. Knowledge and skills;
3.3. Communication;
3.4. Problem solving;
3.5. Attendance and Punctuality; and

5
3.6. Teamwork.
4. Determine whether the perceptions of respondents differ from each other in reference to
their demographic profile;
5. Identify which of the job satisfaction variables and demographic profile best predict the
working performance of respondents; and
6. Propose a strategic development program that could improve the working performance of
the personnel.

Null Hypothesis
None of the job satisfaction variables predict working performance of the personnel of
Hung Vuong University.

Significance of the Study
This study can bring benefits to the following people and organizations:
Phu Tho and other Provinces as well as organizations with the same concerns. The
results will help provide information on some basic situation of job satisfaction and working
performance of employees in the educational area.
Managers of Hung Vuong University. The research gives the managers of Hung
Vuong University some ideas on employees’ job satisfaction and working performance. The
results of the study can be used as bases for the board of rectors of HVU to set up plans to
improve its employees' job satisfaction and working performance.
Employees. If the results of the study can be applied at HVU, its employees will be
more motivated and satisfied with their jobs, which will lead to job involvement and later will
result in organizational commitment.


6
Researcher. With the position as the Director of Personnel of HVU, the researcher can

apply the results of the study in making strategic plans to improve HVU's personnel's job
satisfaction and working performance.
Future Researchers. The study may serve as reference for future researchers who will
do a study on a topic related to this one. This could serve as a baseline information for more
researches along this line in the future.

Scope and Limitation
The study was conducted at Hung Vuong University in Phu Tho Province from
April 2013 to October 2013. It focused on the investigation of employees' job
satisfaction and working performance at Hung Vuong University, including the main
factors of job satisfaction such as (1) the Nature of work, (2) Salary and benefits, (3)
professional growth/promotion, (4) Quality of supervision, (5) Interpersonal relationship, (6)
Self-actualization and fulfillment, (7) Working environment, and (8) Employee recognition.
Main factors of working performance were also given attention: (1) Productivity, (2) Job
knowledge and skills, (3) Communication, (4) Problem solving, (5) Attendance and
punctuality, and (6) Teamwork.
Measurement of the employees' job satisfaction and working performance was limited
to the use of questionnaires, and the answers of 358 respondents who were the managers,
teachers and staff of the school. The study was conducted from April 2013 to October 2013.

Definition of Terms
To ensure common understanding among the readers, the following terms are defined
conceptually and operationally:

Attendance and punctuality means being at the workplace every workday and on time.


7
Age refers to the length of time of the person, from birth to dead. In the company, age is the
length of time of the person that works in the company.

Benefits are the things concerning personal living condition an organization offers its
employees, such as insurance, social and health care, travel allowance, gifts on special
occasions, worthy rewards to good employees, etc.
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication
requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver needs
not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of
communication; thus communication can occur across vast distances in time and
space. Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of
communicative commonality. The communication process is complete once the
receiver has understood the message of the sender.
Employee refers to the worker who has to carry out instructions from managers to complete
own tasks.
Employee Recognition is essentially positive feedback that lets employees know they are
valued and appreciated by their coworkers and the organization. To have the greatest
impact in the workplace, recognition activities should also reinforce and encourage
work that advances employees, departmental, and/or institutional goals and values.
Interpersonal relationship in a school is the interpersonal relationship in every area
concerning education between teachers and other staff, teachers and students, school
and the students' parents, teachers and the supervisors, etc.
Job satisfaction is the state of how content an individual is with his or her job at his/ her
work place. It is the extent of pleasurable feelings individuals have about their jobs.
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something, which can include facts, information,
descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the
theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical


8
skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); it can
be more or less formal or systematic.
Nature of work refers to the job description, the type of things an individual will be doing at

a work place if hired.
Occupation is a person's usual or principal work or business, especially as a means of earning
a living; vocation.
Position refers to a social or official rank or status.
Problem solving refers to the process of working through details of a problem to reach a
solution. Problem solving may include mathematical or systematic operations and can
be a gauge of an individual's critical thinking skills.
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. It is a ratio of what is produced to
what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average,
expressing the total output divided by the total input. It is a measure of output from a
production process, per unit of input.
Professional growth/promotion refers to the equal opportunities of the employees to develop
their professional knowledge and skills as well as to stand a fair chance in promotion.
Quality of supervision refers to standards of the supervisors in the following fields:
professional knowledge and skills, management knowledge and skills, ethical
leadership (democracy, being fair, responsibility, enthusiasm, consideration to the
inferiors, etc).
Skills are personal abilities and talents that help employees carry out work-related tasks.
Salary is a form of remuneration paid periodically by an employer to an employee, the
amount and frequency of which may be specified in an employment contract.
Self-actualization and fulfillment refers to the employees' commitment, motivation,
responsibility, dedication and pride for their jobs.
Sex refers to a person’s biological sex whether male and female.


9
Strategic development program is the program which aims at developing the organization's
employees and the business by dealing with critical problems. The aim of the Strategic
Development Program is to develop the employees while at the same time developing
the business by focusing on the critical problems that happen in its practical situations.

Teamwork refers to the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to
achieve a goal.
Working environment can be identified as the place that one works. This refers to the factors
in the working environment, such as co-workers, air quality, ergonomic seating,
management (the boss), equipment, place of work, childcare, parking, and noise.
Working Performance refers to the job-related activities expected of a worker and how well
those activities were executed (de la Cruz, 2014).
Work unit is a division or department of an organization.
















10
Chapter 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND STUDIES
This chapter presents the relevant readings and related literature, which bear
significance and similarities in this study. This also includes the paradigm and the definition
of terms that could help the readers to fully understand the context of this study.

Job Satisfaction
There have been many studies about job satisfaction in Vietnam and overseas,
including studies by Schemerhon (1993), Spector (1997), Crossman and Bassem (2003),
Bowling, Beehr, Wagner, & Libkuman (2005), Thompson and Phua (2012), Trần Thị Kim
Dung (2005), Vũ Khắc Đạt (2009) and Nguyễn Trần Thanh Bình (2009), etc. According to
them, in general, job satisfaction is how content an individual is with his or her job at the
workplace. Scholars and human resource professionals generally make a distinction between
affective job satisfaction and cognitive job satisfaction. Affective job satisfaction is the extent
of pleasurable emotional feelings individuals have about their jobs overall, and is different to
cognitive job satisfaction which is the extent of individuals’ satisfaction with particular facets
of their jobs, such as pay, pension arrangements, working hours, and numerous other aspects
of their jobs.
At its most general level of conceptualization, job satisfaction is simply how content
an individual is with his or her job. At the more specific levels of conceptualization used by
academic researchers and human resources professionals, job satisfaction has varying
definitions. Affective job satisfaction is usually defined as a one-dimensional subjective
construct representing an overall emotional feeling individuals have about their job as a
whole. Hence, affective job satisfaction for individuals reflects the degree of pleasure or
happiness their job in general induces. Cognitive job satisfaction is usually defined as being a
more objective and logical evaluation of various facets of a job. As such, cognitive job


11
satisfaction can be one-dimensional if it comprises evaluation of just one aspect of a job, such
as pay or maternity leave, or multidimensional if two or more facets of a job are
simultaneously evaluated. Cognitive job satisfaction does not assess the degree of pleasure or
happiness that arises from specific job facets, but rather gauges the extent to which those job
facets are judged by the jobholder to be satisfactory in comparison with objectives they
themselves set or with other jobs. While cognitive job satisfaction might help to bring about

affective job satisfaction, the two constructs are distinct, not necessarily directly related, and
have different antecedents and consequences.
Job satisfaction can also be seen within the broader context of the range of issues,
which affect an individual's experience of work, or their quality of working life. Job
satisfaction can be understood in terms of its relationships with other key factors, such as
general well-being, stress at work, control at work, homework interface, and working
conditions.
However, there is confusion and debate among Human resource professionals and
managers on the topic of employee attitudes and job satisfaction—even at a time when
employees are increasingly important for organizational success and competitiveness.
According to Rynes, Colbert, & Brown (2002), it is important to find:
(1) the causes of employee attitudes,
(2) the results of positive or negative job satisfaction,
(3) how to measure and influence employee attitudes.
One of the most important aspects of an individual’s work in a modern organization
concerns the management of communication demands that he or she encounters on the job.
Demands can be characterized as a communication load, which refers to ―the rate and
complexity of communication inputs an individual must process in a particular time frame.‖
Individuals in an organization can experience communication over-load and communication
under-load which can affect their level of job satisfaction. Communication overload can occur


12
when ―an individual receives too many messages in a short period of time which can result in
unprocessed information or when an individual faces more complex messages that are more
difficult to process. Due to this process, ―given an individual’s style of work and motivation
to complete a task, when more inputs exist than outputs, the individual perceives a condition
of overload which can be positively or negatively related to job satisfaction. In comparison,
communication under load can occur when messages or inputs are sent below the individual’s
ability to process them.‖ According to the ideas of communication over-load and under-load,

if an individual does not receive enough input on the job or is unsuccessful in processing
these inputs, the individual is more likely to become dissatisfied, aggravated, and unhappy
with their work which leads to a low level of job satisfaction.
If some job satisfaction surveys are to be believed then as many as a third of us are
considering a change of job. Clearly many are finding it hard to get that feeling of satisfaction
from work.
Job satisfaction is important not just because it boosts work performance but also
because it increases our quality of life. Many people spend so much time at work that when it
becomes dissatisfying, the rest of their life soon follows.
Everyone's job is different but here are 10 factors that psychologists regularly find are
important in how satisfied people are with their jobs, including:
Little hassles. If you ask doctors what is the worst part of their jobs, what do you think
they say? Carrying out difficult, painful procedures? Telling people they've only got months
to live? No, it's something that might seem much less stressful: administration.
We tend to downplay day-to-day irritations, thinking we've got bigger fish to fry. But
actually people's job satisfaction is surprisingly sensitive to daily hassles. It might not seem
like much but when it happens almost every day and it's beyond our control, it hits job
satisfaction hard.


13
This category is one of the easiest wins for boosting employee satisfaction. Managers
should find out about those little daily hassles and address them.
Perception of fair pay. Whatever your job, for you to be satisfied, the pay should be
fair. The bigger the difference between what you think you should earn and what you do earn,
the less satisfied you'll be.
The important point here is it's all about perception. If you perceive that other people
doing a similar job get paid about the same as you then you're more likely to be satisfied with
your job than if you think they're getting more than you.
Achievement. People feel more satisfied with their job if they've achieved something.

In some jobs achievements are obvious, but for others they're not. As smaller cogs in larger
machines it may be difficult to tell what we're contributing. That is why the next factor can be
so important.
Feedback. There's nothing worse than not knowing whether or not you're doing a good
job. When it comes to job satisfaction, no news is bad news. Getting negative feedback can be
painful but at least it tells you where improvements can be made. On the other hand positive
feedback can make all the difference to how satisfied people feel.
Complexity and variety. People generally find jobs more satisfying if they are more
complex and offer more variety. People seem to like complex (but not impossible) jobs,
perhaps because it pushes them more. Too easy and people get bored.
To be satisfied people need to be challenged a little and they need some variety in the
tasks they carry out. It sounds easy when put like that but many jobs offer neither complexity
nor variety.
Control. You may have certain tasks you have to do, but how you do them should be
up to you. The more control people perceive in how they carry out their job, the more
satisfaction they experience.


14
If people aren't given some control, they will attempt to retake it by cutting corners,
stealing small amounts or finding other ways to undermine the system. Psychologists have
found that people who work in jobs where they have little latitude—at every level—find their
work very stressful and consequently unsatisfying.
Organizational support. Workers want to know their organization cares about them:
that they are getting something back for what they are putting in. This is primarily
communicated through things like how bosses treat us, the kinds of fringe benefits we get and
other subtle messages. If people perceive more organizational support, they experience higher
job satisfaction.
Remember: It's not just whether the organization is actually being supportive; it's whether it
appears that way. The point being that appearances are really important here. If people don't

perceive it, then for them it might as well not exist. That's why great managers need a
politician's touch.
Work-home overflow. Low job satisfaction isn't only the boss' or organization's fault,
sometimes it's down to home-life. Trouble at home breeds trouble at the office.
Some research, though, suggests that trouble at the office is more likely to spill over
into the family domain compared with the other way around (Ford et al., 2007). Either way
finding ways of distancing yourself from work while at home are likely to protect you against
job stressors (Sonnentag et al., 2010).
Honeymoons and hangovers. Job honeymoons and hangovers are often forgotten by
psychologists but well-known to employees. People experience honeymoon periods after a
month or two in a new job when their satisfaction shoots up. But then it normally begins to
tail off after six months or so.
The honeymoon period at the start of a new job tends to be stronger when people were
particularly dissatisfied with their previous job. So, hangovers from the last job tend to
produce more intense honeymoons in the next job.


15

Easily pleased. Some of us are more easily satisfied (or dissatisfied) than others, no
matter how good (or bad) the job is. To misquote a famous cliché: You can't satisfy all the
people all the time.
Still, some jobs do seem better suited to certain types of people. A lot of work has
been done on person-environment fit but because jobs vary so much it's difficult to
summarize.
One generalization that can be made, though, is that people get more satisfied with
their jobs as they get older. Perhaps this is because the older people are; the more likely they
are to have found the right work for them. There's little evidence for this but I'd certainly like
to think it was true.
On the darker days, though, we tend to think it's because young people have sky-high

expectations (which are soon dashed) and older people have learned to live with their lot,
however uninspiring it is.
Why can't we all be satisfied?
When you look at this list of what makes for a satisfying job, you might wonder why
everyone can't have one. With a little thought, most of the predictors of satisfaction can be
provided.
The answer is probably quite simple. Organizations pay lip-service to keeping their
employees satisfied, but many don't really believe it makes a difference. What this research
shows is that it can make a huge difference.
If you're a manager looking to improve satisfaction at your workplace then start with
point number 1: find out about people's little hassles and address them. It might not look like
much but people will really appreciate it.




16
Working Performance
Working performance (job performance) is a commonly used, yet poorly defined
concept in industrial and organizational psychology, the branch of psychology that deals with
the workplace. It's also part of Human Resources Management. It most commonly refers to
whether a person performs their job well. Despite the confusion over how it should be exactly
defined, working performance is an extremely important criterion that relates to
organizational outcomes and success. Many scientists have studied about working
performance, such as John P. Campbell, BAI Xiaojun, ZHOU Fei, Waleed Ahmed Abdel –
Razek and Tran Thi Kim Dung, etc.
Among the most commonly accepted theories of job performance comes from the
work of John P. Campbell and colleagues. Coming from a psychological perspective,
Campbell (1990) describes job performance as an individual level variable. That is,
performance is something a single person does. This differentiates it from more encompassing

constructs such as organizational performance or national performance, which are higher-
level variables.
There are several key features to Campbell's conceptualization of job performance,
which help clarify what job performance means.
First, Campbell defines performance as behavior. It is something done by the
employee. This concept differentiates performance from outcomes. Outcomes are the result of
an individual's performance, but they are also the result of other influences. In other words,
more factors determine outcomes than just an employee's behaviors and actions.
Campbell allows for exceptions when defining performance as behavior. For
instance, he clarifies that performance does not have to be directly observable actions of an
individual. It can consist of mental productions such as answers or decisions. However,
performance needs to be under the individual's control, regardless of whether the performance
of interest is mental or behavioral.


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The difference between individual controlled action and outcomes is best conveyed
through an example. On a sales job, a favorable outcome is a certain level of revenue
generated through the sale of something (merchandise, some service, insurance). Revenue can
be generated or not, depending on the behavior of employees. When the employee performs
this sales job well, he is able to move more merchandise. However, certain factors other than
employees' behavior influence revenue generated. For example, sales might slump due to
economic conditions, changes in customer preferences, production bottlenecks, etc. In these
conditions, employee performance can be adequate, yet sales can still be low. The first is
performance and the second is the effectiveness of that performance. These two can be
decoupled because performance is not the same as effectiveness.
Another closely related construct is productivity. This can be thought of as a
comparison of the amount of effectiveness that results from a certain level of cost associated
with that effectiveness. In other words, effectiveness is the ratio of outputs to inputs—those
inputs being effort, monetary costs, resources, etc.

Utility is another related construct, which is defined as the value of a particular level
of performance, effectiveness, or productivity. Utilities of performance, effectiveness, and
productivity are value judgments.
Despite the emphasis on defining and predicting job performance, it is not a single
unified construct. There are vastly many jobs each with different performance standards.
Therefore, job performance is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct consisting of
more than one kind of behavior. According to Campbell (1990) proposed eight-factor model
of performance, the behaviors of the employees are as follows:
The first factor is task specific behaviors, which include those behaviors that an
individual undertakes as part of a job. They are the core substantive tasks that delineate one
job from another.