Job Satisfaction In Engineering Firms: An Essay.

1. Project context

Identify and explore YOUR future profession (marketing, HR. accounting or management) Produce a critical review of your understanding of what It means to 'become a professional' in YOUR future profession. 

2. Project proposal

Identify a problem or issue - this must be CRUCIALLY relevant to your profession - which your professional project will address, and write the following-

• Clear and concise working title for your project;

• Background and definition of the issue/problem, including a justification why this issue/problem is crucially relevant to your profession:

• Your project's proposed aim and objectives/research questions.

• A preliminary critical literature review on this issue/problem, particularly highlighting any gaps in the literature,

• An overview of how you will be proceeding with your project. including secondary information sources. approaches to analyse them. major milestones and a Gantt chart schedule. 

3. In addition

you are required to attach evidence that you have discussed your proposed topic with your campus tutor and that the campus tutor (or unit co-ordinator. for external students) has approved the topic prior to the vacation week For on-campus students, you should use the (available here) to record your interactions with your campus tutor-print it and bring it to every meeting you have with your tutor On-campus students should submit the logbook with their assessment (if necessary by scanning it).

The aim of this project is to identify and explore the future profession. My future profession is engineering. The project context identifies the importance of engineers as they have unique role of solving problems through devices, materials, systems and processes. This project context identifies the meaning and understanding of a professional as they believe in making small changes (Boxall, Hutchison, & Wassenaar, 2014).

A professional is an individual who is certified by a professional body and an expert to conduct a specific task. The standard of education and training makes the professional expert in a particular field or group (Cullen et al., 2013).

The engineer is responsible to serve the organization closely. Engineering refers to the professional art that applies science for conversion of resources for the benefit of man. If the engineers are satisfied at their job, they shall perform better and increase their performance standard (Hülsheger et al., 2013). The difference between a professional and other employee is critical. The professionals want to get better at their profession and believe they are never to proficient to make corrections. The other workers may believe in making significant changes, but a professional is different from them as they want to get better at everything and make small changes. A professional is concerned about every detail and gives everything to a particular task (Jain, & Moreno, 2015).

A professional must know to balance technical skills and managerial skills. The job of an engineer involves both technical and managerial skills. The balance between the two is delicate. Technical skills involve the practical skills to get the job done. The managerial skills refer to the soft skills that are presented by personality traits, communication abilities and others. The engineers seek to balance the hard and soft skills. The engineers must possess technical skills like information technology, mathematical, mechanical or scientific tasks. The soft skills possessed by the engineers are communication, creativity, collaboration and others. Job satisfaction is a vital part of the organization and the diverse skill set helps in responding to the changing dynamics (Olafsen et al., 2015).

The engineers are considered as the key to organizational success. Engineers apply the principles of science and mathematics to make things work effectively and efficiently. They also contribute to the organization by making innovations in technology or other fields. The HR professionals have an important job of managing the engineers in the organization (Pinder, 2015).

The engineering professionals must maintain high standards of conduct within the field. They follow the strictest code of ethics and conduct while interacting with employees. The engineers must promote safety, productivity, reliability and efficiency in engineering. Therefore, the human resource professionals are responsible to make recommendations based on facts and not bias. Every state or country has its association of engineers that guides them to follow engineering standards, ethical standards and code of conduct (Xiong et al., 2014).

The literature states that the role of professionals is crucial in delivering in the organization.  Early researchers hypothesized that employees are looking for clearly defined job responsibilities along with exciting work environment that makes good use of their knowledge, skills and abilities.

Critical Evaluation

Title- Job Satisfaction in Engineering Firms

Job satisfaction refers to the attitudes or preferences of the individuals regarding work. It refers to the feelings or attitudes people have towards work. The aim of this research study is to determine the factors that affect motivational level of the employees. The study focuses on the feelings and attitudes of the employees in engineering firms. One of the main roles of the human resource department is to ensure that the employees are satisfied with their jobs. If they are dissatisfied, it leads to issues such as turnover and absenteeism. Therefore, the human resource professionals need to measure job satisfaction and examine the relationship between absenteeism, productivity and turnover (Sungsoo Ahn, 2014).

Job satisfaction is the effective orientation that an employee has towards work. The researchers and scholars and administrators have noticed the importance of job satisfaction. The studies have found that the dissatisfied employees are more likely to leave their jobs. A number of motivational theories explain the way in which rewards affect the behaviour and motivational level of employees (Samadzadeh, 2013). The studies suggest that the most satisfied employees fulfil their duties and responsibilities towards the organization (Seyal, & Afzaal, 2013). The task of human resources begins with recruiting the right people and continues with practicing programs to keep them committed and engaged to the organization. It is challenging for the engineering firms to maintain employee satisfaction as the right talent must be recruited (Nie et al., 2015).

The primary aim of this research study is to identify job satisfaction levels in the Australian engineering firms. The strategies used by them to motivate the employees shall be assessed. The general objective is t examine the relationship between employee performance and job satisfaction. The specific objectives of this research are listed as under:

• To probe the extent to which recognition and reward affects job satisfaction level and employee performance of the engineering firms in Australia.
• To investigate the influence of work environment on job satisfaction of the engineering firms in Australia.
• To determine the influence of training and development on job satisfaction among the engineering firm employees in Australia.
• To identify the strategies used by the engineering firms in Australia to motivate the employees and ensure job satisfaction.

The research study shall answer the following primary research questions-

What are the strategies used by the engineering firms in Australia to motivate its employees and ensure job satisfaction?

The secondary research questions that shall be answered in this research study are-

• What is the extent to which recognition and reward affects job satisfaction level and employee performance of the engineering firms in Australia?
• How does work environment influence the job satisfaction of the engineering firms in Australia?
• How does training and development on job satisfaction among the engineering firm employees in Australia?
• What are the strategies currently used by the Australian engineering firms to motivate the employees and ensure job satisfaction?

The hypotheses formulated for this research study are:

H₀= Rewards and motivation has no significant influence over job satisfaction.

H₁= Rewards and motivation influence the job satisfaction positively.

According to Andersen and Kjeldsen (2013), job satisfaction ensures recruiting the right employees and retaining them to maintain productivity. The models such as Herzberg’s two factor theory, Maslow’s motivational theory and other relevant theories shall be analysed. Reward is something that an employee receives in the form of salaries, bonuses or promotion. The engineering firms in Australia may assert that the benefits make a dedicated workforce. The previous studies and conducted on a general basis that covers the job satisfaction among employees. Not much research has been conducted on the engineering firms where the employees have a different attitude towards work. Therefore, this research study shall address the gaps and specifically address the motivational factors and job satisfaction of employees in engineering firms.

The data shall be collected using primary and secondary research methodologies. To conduct the study, the research onion shall be applied as propounded by Saunders et al. (2007). Among the ontological frameworks, the constructivism philosophy shall be applied where the social phenomena is created by the observer. The research approach adopted for this study is inductive approach in which there is no initial framework. Observations or tests are conducted can determine a pattern that eventually helps in developing a theory. This approach is adopted as the data collected shall be mainly based on qualitative method of data collection. Interviews shall be carried out so that the pattern between respondents can be determined. Further, the quantitative method such as survey may also be applied to gather numerical data and findings (Tawney, Gast, & Ledford, 2014).

Particulars	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
Selecting the research topic	Yes
Collecting background information	Yes
Gaining access and reviewing secondary research sources on the University database	Yes	Yes
Collecting primary data	Yes	Yes
Presenting research results and analysing them			Yes
Prepare final document				Yes	Yes

Table 1: Gantt Chart

Source: Created by Author

References:

Andersen, L. B., & Kjeldsen, A. M. (2013). Public service motivation, user orientation, and job satisfaction: A question of employment sector?. International Public Management Journal, 16(2), 252-274.

Bach, S., & Edwards, M. (2013). Managing human resources (1st ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

Boxall, P., Hutchison, A., & Wassenaar, B. (2014). How do high-involvement work processes influence employee outcomes? An examination of the mediating roles of skill utilisation and intrinsic motivation. The International Journal Of Human Resource Management, 26(13), 1737-1752. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.962070

Cullen, K., Edwards, B., Casper, W., & Gue, K. (2013). Employees’ Adaptability and Perceptions of Change-Related Uncertainty: Implications for Perceived Organizational Support, Job Satisfaction, and Performance. Journal Of Business And Psychology, 29(2), 269-280. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10869-013-9312-y

Hülsheger, U., Alberts, H., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 98(2), 310-325. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0031313

Jain, A., & Moreno, A. (2015). Organizational learning, knowledge management practices and firm’s performance. The Learning Organization, 22(1), 14-39. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/tlo-05-2013-0024

Nie, Y., Chua, B. L., Yeung, A. S., Ryan, R. M., & Chan, W. Y. (2015). The importance of autonomy support and the mediating role of work motivation for well?being: Testing self?determination theory in a Chinese work organisation. International Journal of Psychology, 50(4), 245-255.

Olafsen, A., Halvari, H., Forest, J., & Deci, E. (2015). Show them the money? The role of pay, managerial need support, and justice in a self-determination theory model of intrinsic work motivation. Scandinavian Journal Of Psychology, 56(4), 447-457. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12211

Pinder, C. (2015). Work motivation in organizational behavior (1st ed.). US: Psychology Press.

Samadzadeh, M. (2013). Investigating the effect of work stress, general health quality, organizational intelligence and job satisfaction on employee performance. Management Science Letters, 18(2), 2989-2994. https://dx.doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2013.10.023

Seyal, A. H., & Afzaal, T. (2013). An investigation of relationship among emotional intelligence, organizational commitment and job satisfaction: Evidence from academics in Brunei Darussalam. International Business Research, 6(3), 217.

Strohmeier, S. (2013). Employee relationship management — Realizing competitive advantage through information technology?. Human Resource Management Review, 23(1), 93-104. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2012.06.009

Sungsoo Ahn. (2014). The Moderating Role of Job Resource in Job Demand-Job Burnout among Local Public Officials. Korean Journal Of Local Government & Administration Studies, 28(4), 139-162. https://dx.doi.org/10.18398/kjlgas.2014.28.4.139

Tawney, J., Gast, D. & Ledford, J., (2014). Single case research methodology. 1st ed. New York: Routledge.

Xiong, B., Skitmore, M., Xia, B., Masrom, M., Ye, K., & Bridge, A. (2014). Examining the influence of participant performance factors on contractor satisfaction: A structural equation model. International Journal Of Project Management, 32(3), 482-491. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2013.06.003