Job Satisfaction and Retention Strategies: A Case Study of Oliver Smith

This report analyzes the case study of Oliver Smith and discusses the impact of job satisfaction on employee retention. It also suggests strategies to retain skilled employees like Smith. Lack of transparency and opportunities for promotion have led to work dissatisfaction for Smith. The report suggests that promotion and reducing corruption in the system can help retain skilled employees.

Running Head: WORK & ORGANIZATION
Work & Organization
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Report 2: The case study of Oliver Smith
Introduction
Job satisfaction is considered to be an crucial factor that not only ensure the loyalty of the
employees to wads an organization but also eradicate the issue of excessive employee retention.
According to researchers, performance, absenteeism as well as turnover are three variables that
correlate with job satisfaction (Abbas et al. 2014). Along with this, the work environment of the
organization and the amount of transparency present in the work process of the same is a major
determinant of the work satisfaction of the employees in case of Detective Smith, lack of the
mentioned factor have given rise to work dissatisfaction. Considering the fact that Smith is a
highly skilled employee of the police department, the organization should undergo efficient
strategy to retain Smith.
Critical analysis
According to the theory of job satisfaction, job satisfaction possesses a strong connection
with employee motivation. According to the Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory, needs of an
individual forms a five level of hierarchy which is compromised of physiological needs, safety,
belongingness/love, esteem, and self-actualization.

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Maslow stated that primary needs like safety and physiological needs should be met first before
more complex needs like belonging and esteem can be met. The need hierarchy of Maslow had
been developed to explain the motivation of an individual in general. However, its main tenants
are appropriate to the employment setting and have been used to explain job satisfaction. In case
of Detective Smith, he has already achieved the needs through his talent and skills. Being an
highly efficient detective, his job is secure and the cases he solve with perfection provide him
with internal satisfaction. However, considering the fact that the mentioned department lacks
opportunity for promotion, the highly skilled employee is getting deprived of esteem that
includes approval, recognization as well as respect (Huang et al. 2016). All these factors has the
potential to provide Mr. smith with both extrinsic as well as intrinsic motivation. The term
intrinsic motivation can be defined as the motivation that posses the capacities to enhance the
self esteem as well happiness of an individual. Some of the examples of intrinsic motivation in
workplace include promotion, different types of leaves, proper work life balance, friendly work
environment and corruption free work place.

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When it comes to extrinsic motivation, it includes enhancement remuneration, rewarding
systems, high incentives and others. Organizations, with high employee loyalty due to efficient
job satisfaction are found to implement the above mentioned factors in order to retain skilled
employees and thus gain competitive advantage in the industry. When it comes to Mr. Smith,
promotion of the designation he belongs will help him to enhance his self esteem and act as an
extrinsic reward system. The fact that there exist rare chances of being promoted has the
potential to dishearten Mr. Smith and lower his motivation to work for the department. Along
with that, promotion would have enhanced his remuneration which would have provided him
with extrinsic motivation.
According to the theory of disposition, the job satisfaction of an employee is closely
related with the personality of that employee. It postulates that a person has a strong tendency
towards a definite level of pleasure, and that these remain quite constant as well as steady across
time. Being an employee who posses great respect for ethic, lack of ethics along with unethical
activity in the workplace have given rise to the feeling of job dissatisfaction. According to
researchers, transparency in workplace is a major fact that enhances the loyalty of the employees
towards the organization and also creates an effective bondage between the employees and the
organization (Lee, Back and Chan 2015). His job forces him to study people in order to decide
what motivates them to do horrible things, and throughout years this has had an influence on his
overall disposition. Being a detective he have to deal with variety of cynicism that are bound to
impose an adverse affect on his psychology. He deals with criminals, child molesters, and
rapists, and considers himself to be fed-up in the sense that it's difficult for him to find the good
in people (Bakker and Demerouti 2017). This in turn imposes negative effect on his psychology
and has the potential to cause stress. Considering the fact that there prevails a practice in the

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department where an employee can get promoted just by keeping unethical and unofficial contact
with the supervisor rather than doing any kinds of hard work, has the potential to cause harm to
the organization since it will diminish the commitment of the ethical employees.
Reflective
From the above discussion, I have developed the opinion that the job satisfaction of Mr.
Smith has got highly influenced by the lack of chases of being promoted. Considering the fact
that he posses all the skills to become a superior officer who posses the capability to provide
guidance to the police department, it is an unethical act to restrict his promotion. Being a highly
skilled employee, I think, attrition of Mr. Smith will adversely affect the police department.
Hence, the organization should invest on implementing strategies to retain it. The first step that
should be taken by the organization includes providing Mr. Smith with promotion.
Secondly, as per my opinion, in order to enhance the bondage between the employees of the
organization and gain a more clear and ethical police department, the organization should invest
on strategies to reduce corruption in the system.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that job satisfaction is highly affected by
transparency in the system. Considering the fact that the mentioned department lacks opportunity
for promotion, Mr. Smith is getting deprived of esteem that includes approval, recognization as
well as respect. Thus in order to retain skilled employee like Mr. Smith, it is highly crucial for
the department to enforce strategies to ensure high transparency in the system.

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Reference list
Abbas, M., Raja, U., Darr, W. and Bouckenooghe, D., 2014. Combined effects of perceived
politics and psychological capital on job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and
performance. Journal of Management, 40(7), pp.1813-1830.
Bakker, A.B. and Demerouti, E., 2017. Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and looking
forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), p.273.
Huang, Y.H., Lee, J., McFadden, A.C., Murphy, L.A., Robertson, M.M., Cheung, J.H. and
Zohar, D., 2016. Beyond safety outcomes: An investigation of the impact of safety climate on
job satisfaction, employee engagement and turnover using social exchange theory as the
theoretical framework. Applied ergonomics, 55, pp.248-257.
Lee, J.S., Back, K.J. and Chan, E.S., 2015. Quality of work life and job satisfaction among
frontline hotel employees: A self-determination and need satisfaction theory
approach. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(5), pp.768-789.