Review Of Research: Aspects Of Job Satisfaction In The UAE

1. A review of research papers on job satisfaction in the UAE

“The degree to which people like their jobs” (Spector, 1997, p. 7) is the simplest definition for job satisfaction. . The level of job satisfaction is important because it indicated the strength and the success of the organization. This is because if the employees have a positive feeling toward their job, the level of productivity will rise, they will be more loyal and committed to the organization and the level of absents and turnover will reduce. So the happier the employee the better service will be provided to the customer, which will result in a better image of the organization. In contrast, the low job satisfaction has negative impacts in the customer which will leads in decreasing in productivity. The nature of the job, the salaries, promotions and colleagues are basically the main elements of the workers’ satisfaction about their jobs. Thus, it is important that the management manage these aspects through rewording employees, motivating them and providing a good work environment for them.

The United Arab Emirates is one of the counties that have a diversified workforce, which will make the factors that should be considered to ensure high level of job satisfaction are more complicated. However, the UAE provides a high support to the employee given by the administration such as financial security, familial care, pension policies, medical insurance, etc. According to study conducted by Goldstein and Rockart that mentioned that the continuous support from the administration will increase the level of the job satisfaction, therefore, the UAE has a high level of job satisfaction among the employee.

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Other important aspects of job satisfaction maintain the business contexts in UAE are:

· Salaries and promotions

There is a strong link between the amount of salary and the opportunity for career advancement and job satisfaction. Having a higher percentage of salary as well as getting promotions in a career this will make the employee satisfaction’s level is higher. Whereas, low salary and lack of opportunities to get promotions will reduce the job satisfaction level.

· Clear responsibilities and functions within a job description

A clear job description that explain all the responsibilities will help the employee to understand what kind of performance is expected from him/her and give him/her the freedom to the choose the job the he/she can perform his/her best on it. Furthermore, choosing the right position according to the employee skills this will lead to increase the self-efficacy resulting in increasing the level of job satisfaction.

· Use and apply the employees’ skills and abilities in the field.

According to several studies in the Middle East, practical application of employs’ abilities in the job will increase their positive feeling s towards their work. This could be mainly because the employee will know that their effort have been noticed and applied in the field and will make them feel that their skills are valuable and important for making the organization more success. Moreover, this will increase the employees’ self-steam and motivation leading to higher level of job satisfaction. So, it’s an important task that the management of any organization need to practice if they need to maintain their employee satisfied through recognizing their work and appreciated by applying it and rewards them back.

· Organizational aspects and temperaments

Many studies in the Middle East have been approved that the temperaments and the organizational aspects can affect the job satisfaction level. This means that, the organization needs to not only consider the employee skills and work, it also needs to make sure that the employee can build a good relationship inside and outside the working field. To establish this level, the organization needs to provide an atmosphere where they have a duties and rules to follow yet they are free and friendly to express what they feel.

· Organisational loyalty and assistance

Building a relationship between the worker and the organization based on trust and loyalty will create loyal employee and leading to loyal customers. This could be achieved over the time, when the employee will understands the ethics objectives of the organization and feels the support and the backing from his management. This will build a strong connection and trust between the management and the employee which will result in increasing the job satisfaction.

· The colleagues and the administration.

As mentioned previously in this essay, the colleague is one of the main elements that has a direct impact in job satisfaction. The good relationship with the colleagues and the administration that is based on respect and support from the senior and a positive attitude from the supervisor will create a healthy environment in the organization. Studies has been shown that respect and positive attitudes from the peers has a higher impact in the level of job satisfaction than the salary.

· Community perception.

Due to overall political and social position in the UAE and middle east and in the world overall, this aspect could have a high impact in job satisfaction. This is because most of the people will be happy to serve their community and be a great part in growing and developing their country, so if the organization will provide this opportunity for them this will likely increase this level of job satisfaction. In addition, if organization shares the same believes and principles of the community, the level of acceptances and respect will increase among the employees, which will automatically increase the level of job satisfaction.

2. A review of recent research on how managers in the UAE make decisions.

Leadership is a power that can be used to help in improving and developing not only an organization but a nation. The United Arab Emirates had one of the best leaders in the world who transformed it from desert to one of the most well-known county. “The Ruler should not have any barrier which separates him from his people.” His Highness Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. In this quotes we can understand his leadership style which created a strong relationship with his people based on love and respect. However, according to an article called “Antecedents and consequences of managerial decision-making styles in the Arabian Gulf.” autocratic and a pseudo-consultative style of decision-making is followed by most of the managers in UAE. The autocratic style means that the decision is made by the leaders without considering any other opinion and the followers needs to apply it without questioning it. This leadership style has a lot of disadvantages because it’s undermining the importance of the employee which will lead to decrease the job satisfaction. The other leadership style (pseudo-consultative style) mean that the leadership involve the subordinates in the decision making be he has the authority in making the decision is returned to him only.

Making a decision goes through mainly sex essential steps: These steps are

1. Identify the Problem:

Before taking any action, the manager should recognize and identify the problem and the causes first. This step will help the manager to find the right solution for his problem

2. Identify the alternatives:

After identifying the problem, the decision-maker needs to set alternative solutions for the problem as much as possible to broaden the options for the organization.

3. Evaluate the alternative:

To reach to the best solution, the manager needs to evaluate the alternatives by collecting sufficient data and analyse it. This evaluation could be based in the advantages or disadvantages, the costs and the benefits.

4. Choose alternative:

After evaluating all the alternatives, the decision-maker needs to choose the optimum solution for his problem.

5. Impalement the decision:

Once the optimal solution has been selected the implementation of the decision is required. Failure could be happened while the implementation because those who are implementing the decision do not fully understand it or not really committed to it. Thus, to avoid such problem, the manager should involve them in the process of making decision.

6. Evaluation:

The final step is to evaluate the result. Monitoring the results should be maintained to ensure that the decision is implemented successfully and in case of any mistakes, corrective action should be taken. Evaluation is not one time activity, it needs to be continued through on-going process.

3. A description of the process of 360 Feedback with examples from UAE organizations

360 feedback is a tool where it used to gather information or feedback about an employee from different source which could be the colleagues, senior, supervisors or customers. It is typically a questioner that contains several statements about the information that the reviewer wants to measure. This method can help the managers to understand the effectiveness of his employees. Moreover, it will offer a better prescriptive about his employee, which will make his decisions more fair and objective.

360 degree feedback process is:

1. Communicating 360: it is important to communicate with all who are involved in this process to explain the 360 process and how the information will be collected and used. This could be done by doing a meeting for all the involved employee and it could take 1-3 weeks.
2. Selecting raters: in order to ensure that the data are related and completed, the participate needs to choose a sufficient number of the feedback provider. The number will verify according to the employee’s job. This step is the most important step in the process and it usually takes 1-2 weeks.
3. Distributing surveys: an online system will help the manager to distribute the questioner faster. Then, participants will receive a notification through their e-mail with the instruction of completing the questioner. this step might need one week to be done.
4. Completing questionnaires: to complete the questioner might take long time in span of 2-4 week depends on the number of the participants and the employee role on the organization. Thus, setting a deadline for this process is recommended to ensure that the raters will complete the survey on time.
5. Producing reports: after all the raters have completed the questioner, the confidential report will be produced and sent to the participants. online system will allow this step to be done within 1-2 days.
6. Facilitating feedback: once the participants receive their feedback report, it’s important to set a meeting to discuss their strength and how they can improve their weakness. Each session could take 1-2 hours.
7. Completing development plan: establishing a development plan for each employee based on his/her 360 degree feedback is the aim of this process. This will allow the employees to improve their skill through trainings, workshops or conference. This step may last for 2 weeks
8. Re-evaluating: this step will allow the manager to see if there is any improvements happened and also will provide another chance for new feedback.

Philips is an example of one world’s leading diversified technology companies, which is also well-known in the United Arab Emirates. In 2013, Philips used 360 degree feedback method in their organization for better developments in their employees’ skills. Since, employee all over the world will be using it. Philips designed a 360 feedback tool that is easy to use with a brief instruction step by step in how to complete the questioner. then they created a simple reported which designed in a way that highlights the a couple of feedback themes and development area. Then the reports were generated to the participants all over the world. According to their results, this process has positive feedback from the managers. Additionally, the participants like this tool that allows them to knows their strength and the development area. To sum up, this process provides easily-actionable reports that lead to behaviour- changes.

4. The importance of interpersonal skills in team building

Interpersonal skills are social skills and behaviours that people use to interact and communicate with each other. These skills are rarely taught in schools, people can have it naturally or learn it from their parents and develop it through social activities. Poor interpersonal skill may lead to failure personal relationships as well as difficulty in business world. In contrast people with good interpersonal skills are highly wanted in the business world. This is because these employees can work well other team members to achieve their aim. According to big think edge(2018) the employee needs to have these interpersonal skills to be succusseful in the organization:

1. Exercising Self-Awareness: being aware of your emotion can help you be aware of the messages you carry to others ether by word or any other kind of communication.
2. Being Cognizant of Nonverbal Communication: it can be formed as a body language, eye contact, facial expression. By controlling it and using it properly will help in build strong relationships.
3. Being Respectful of Others: according to survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), respect is the top factor that donates job satisfaction in organization. Being respectful will foster positive relationships and working environment.
4. Showing Empathy and Understanding: taking in consideration people’s feelings and needs is essential to build relationships in organization.
5. Being a Clear Communicator: communication is very important skill that people need to have if they want to succeed in their life as well as their business relations.
6. Engaging in Active Listening: being an active listener and open minded will allow you to learn, grow and increase your understanding.
7. Behaving Appropriately: although being appropriate can vary from one organization to anther depending on their culture, yet there are common appropriate behaviour that need to be followed in any organization.
8. Being Receptive to Feedback: person should be open to the feedback because it will allow him to develop his personality and skills.

An example case study: Plant Director with as lack of interpersonal skills was hired in talented company with regional sales and distribution operations. However, after lots of training she developed her skills and build strong relation with her team through opening her management style. This results in increasing the productivity by 5% in her first year of appointment.