Job Satisfaction & Organizational Justice: A Study of UAE Employees - Essay Sample

Introduction

There exists a breadth of literature and empirical studies on job satisfaction in the UAE. Ibrahim and Perez (2013) conducted quantitative research to establish how gender, employee satisfaction, and organizational justice affect employees' commitment in the United Arab Emirates. The five elements of job satisfaction were indexed as promotion, supervision, pay, work, and coworkers, while job level was measured in terms of prestige, complexity ratings, complexity, and special vocational preparation. They tested the direct impact of organizational justice and its attendants, employees' personal qualities, and job satisfaction on employee commitment to the organization. Their findings showed that organizational justice and employee attributes had no effect on organizational commitment, but job satisfaction had a significant impact on organizational commitment. Also, there was a direct correlation between organizational justice and job satisfaction. Other findings showed that there was a positive correlation between job level and job satisfaction (Ibrahim & Perez, 2013).

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Other studies have found no correlation between self-rated performance and job satisfaction. In a survey of government employees in the UAE, the researchers addressed the impact of variables such as marital status, age, tenure, gender, and nationality on the relationship between job satisfaction and performance. Using data from 382 employees working in various government offices, it was found that there was no relationship between job satisfaction and self-rated performance. Even so, the study findings showed that nationality, position, and self-rated performance affected key facets of job satisfaction, such as work environment, professional development, pay, and benefits. Other finds showed that gender, age, and marital status did not affect any facet of job satisfaction (Ibrahim & Perez, 2013).

Shallal (2011), in his study to establish the factors that lead to job satisfaction for Emirati women in the UAE, found that the three most prominent factors for enhancing job satisfaction were education, income, and age. Further, he established that there was a positive correlation between age and job satisfaction and that female who had tertiary level education experienced higher job satisfaction than their counterparts with secondary level education. In like manner, females who earned high incomes reported higher job satisfaction than those who had low incomes (Shallal, 2011).

Al Jenaibi (2010) hypothesized that employees who earned higher salaries had higher levels of job satisfaction, creative employees had higher levels of job satisfaction, and that higher level of experience yielded higher rates of job satisfaction. To test the hypotheses, the researcher used qualitative and quantitative methods to gather information on job satisfaction levels and the various factors that affected the work of the employees. The study findings were that job satisfaction varies from one employee to another and that the prerequisites to job satisfaction are future job prospects, effective management, facilities, communication, and benefits such as salaries.

Overall, the three scholars corroborate that job satisfaction is not a product of a single factor but is subject to a combination of factors. The literature and studies under review attest that there is no single theory that can describe job satisfaction because most workplaces are heterogeneous and have a multiplicity of factors affecting employees.

How Managers in the UAE Make Decisions

The UAE culture has a profound impact on how managers make decisions. Elements of Arab culture that affect managerial decisions include the locals' resentment at reporting to expatriate managers, difficulties in communication, different time management approaches, and aversion to bad news. For example, managers should courteously deliver disappointing news and tackle uncertainties in a diplomatic way, especially those arising from staff performance. Local Emiratis are also averse to negative comments. Therefore, if a manager needs to deliver bad news, they must sandwich it between positive feedback so that it becomes palatable to the recipients (AlMazrouei & Pech, 2015).

UAE society is based on group structures. Thus, management decisions entail the involvement of their subordinates, to enhance the feeling of involvement and ensure that decisions will be supported. Thus, the individualistic style of decision making does not work in the UAE due to the dominance of the group culture. Typically, if an issue arises during a meeting, staffs tend to congregate in discussion groups to look for solutions immediately. Also, when an employee wants to seek an audience with their supervisor, it is common to see his two or three colleagues tagging along to accompany him.

Managers in the UAE tend to align their management practices with the predominant group culture, to optimize staff effectiveness. The culture is collectivist and not individualist, with an emphasis on group aspects. Some of the participants who were interviewed reckoned that a manager needs to think more than they act, and when making a management decision, they have to reflect in-depth to ensure that they are collective (AlMazrouei & Pech, 2015). Otherwise, the arrangements are likely to face opposition from subordinates.

Another cultural aspect that affects managerial decision making is communication. For example, it is inappropriate for a male manager to face and correct a female employee directly. Instead, they should hold back and correct her indirectly. Time management is also subject to cultural norms. In the UAE, people have attitudes towards the time that is different from other cultures. For example, UAE people are not strict on timeliness but have a casual attitude towards time. As a result, crucial deadlines are often missed as employees tend to take their own time to execute tasks. Thus, managers, especially expatriates, have to factor in the apparent time delays when setting project deadlines (AlMazrouei & Pech, 2015). Those managers who fail to hedge against the time delays will often clash with their subordinates, which harm their working relationships with the local staff.

Islamic principles underlie the locals' attitudes towards work. Thus managers are obligated to allow locals to meet their religious obligations such as prayer breaks and Ramadhan observations. Therefore, a manager's decision must align with the Islamic culture, and he should not attempt to impose external customs in a bid to achieve business objectives. The Emirati organizational culture and work ethic are, thus, based on the Islamic culture, which promotes hard work and professionalism, as the basis of social and personal satisfaction (AlMazrouei & Pech, 2015). Thus, a manager should be aware that the Islamic religion governs the work principles in the UAE.

Overall, the UAE business environment is influenced by cultural, religious, and globalization aspects. These aspects comprise of business practices and values that underlie managerial decision-making processes. As examples, accountability, equality, kindness, consultation, commitment, justice, sincerity, consensus, self-discipline, cooperation, persistence, universalism, and honoring of promises comprise acceptable behavior that has a profound influence on business operations.

The Process of 360-Degree Feedback

The 360-degree feedback process is the process of gathering feedback from an individual employee's subordinates, supervisors, peers, and themselves. The feedback is relayed through an anonymous and confidential process that has predefined questions that measure the employee's workplace competencies. The survey questions are measured through a rating scale to measure the strengths and weaknesses of managers and team leaders. After the self-evaluation and the appraisal by others, the system generates tabulation and presents the results for the employee to formulate a development plan (Antonioni, 1996).

The first stage is to communicate the 360-degree feedback process to all the relevant stakeholders. The purpose and importance of the process are aptly described, and so is the methodology that will be used to gather the feedback. Also, employees are appraised on how the feedback will be used. The time frame for communication usually takes between one and three weeks, during which in-person meetings are conducted with supervisors, employees, managers, and raters (Antonioni, 1996).

The second stage is the selection of raters. This is a critical stage where the participants have the opportunity to choose evaluators who will provide feedback that is comprehensive and relevant. Typically, the number of raters depends on the employee's working relationships and job function. This stage usually takes about two weeks (Antonioni, 1996).

The third stage is the distribution of surveys. Each participant receives an email notification with instructions on how to carry out the feedback process. The participants then assign their selected raters with questionnaires. This stage typically takes about one week (Antonioni, 1996).

The fourth stage involves the completion of questionnaires by the participants and is usually the longest stage of the feedback process. The time spent on this stage depends on the employee's job function and the number of raters that will be involved. Typically, a deadline is established at the outset of the feedback process to ensure the timely completion of the survey. This stage usually takes between two and four weeks (Antonioni, 1996).

The fifth stage involves the production of reports. Once the raters have completed the survey, the system produces a confidential report which can either be directly sent to the participants or delivered during feedback sessions. The online system ensures a speedy production of the reports, and this stage typically takes a maximum of two days (Atwater & Waldman, 1998).

The sixth stage involves the facilitation of feedback. Each participant is taken through a confidential feedback meeting. The feedback is relayed to the participant by his manager or by a coach and is aimed at discussing the strengths of the participant and the areas for improvement (Atwater & Waldman, 1998).

The seventh stage entails the completion of a development plan. This is an essential stage because it is the basis upon which an actionable development plan is developed. The participant and his manager or coach identify areas where the employee requires development and skills improvement. They also discuss opportunities for development such as mentoring, coaching, training, and conferences, among others. This stage can take between one and two weeks (Antonioni, 1996).

The eighth and final stage entails a re-evaluation of the 360-degree feedback process. To ensure that the process is continuous and to set the foundation for subsequent reviews, it is imperative to check the progressively check whether the development plan is on course, especially regarding the goals and opportunities that were discussed (Atwater & Waldman, 1998).

The Importance of Interpersonal Skills in Teams Building

First, interpersonal skills encourage effective communication. Communication is the lifeline of a successful business, and employees cannot be effective communicators if they lack interpersonal skills. The interpersonal skills are, therefore, integral in the establishment of positive relationships between employees, which in turn, promotes the mutual exchange of expertise, information, and ideas. Also, the establishment of mutual respect and the consideration of divergent opinions and inputs supports a fluid execution of duties, enhanced task management, and the timely performance of tasks (Salas, Burke & CannonB...