Report on Fundamentals of Human Resource Management - HRM

This report delves into the fundamentals of Human Resource Management (HRM), examining the significant impact of job dissatisfaction and poor job design on employees. It explores the correlation between job insecurity, work stress, and employee satisfaction, highlighting the consequences of these factors on employee performance and organizational turnover. The report reviews existing literature, defining key terms such as job insecurity and work design, and presents research findings related to the Australian context. It discusses various factors influencing job quality, including job content, autonomy, and HRM practices. The report also addresses the psychosocial hazards associated with job insecurity and the importance of addressing the needs of employees with disabilities, emphasizing the role of HRM in fostering a positive work environment and improving employee well-being. The report further highlights the importance of high-quality relationships between employees and employers, employee perception of HRM services, and the positive effects of organizational support on employee attitudes.

Running head: FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The effect of job dissatisfaction and poor job design can
have far-reaching impact on the employees in the organization. It
can be said that when the employees are not happy with the job,
it can affect several areas of their work and behavior. The workers
who are not satisfied with the job are likely to be stressed, the
chances of dissatisfaction increases, and thus they remain
unhappy.The nature of work has considerably changed in many
sectors over the passage of time. According to a study, it has been
found that occupational stress has accounted for more than 50%
of the lost working days(Blusteinet al.2016). Research indicates
that there is a strong correlation between the various dimensions
of stress, workplace and job satisfaction. High level of work stress
is related with low level of job satisfaction. Moreover, it can be
said that the stressors are predictive for job dissatisfaction and
there is high chance for the employees to leave the organization.
Job satisfaction is regarded as an affective orientation of the

2FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
employees towards his/her job. When functioning is regarded as a
motivator, the work related stress results in satisfaction and
creativity and thus it removes mundanity and
boredom(Hennekamet al. 2017).
The dissatisfied employees will spend less time on their job
because they will not be happy with their job role. The companies
whose employee productivity is low will experience loss with the
passage of time. The satisfied employees will utilize most of their
time in producing quality services and products. When the
employees in an organization resign or are terminated, it will
cause dissatisfaction and thus their performance will decline over
the passage of time (Warr and Inceoglu 2017) . As the turnover
rate of the employees increases, dissatisfaction will spread in the
organization and the employees will be encouraged to find job in
other organization. As employees are regarded as the face of the
organization, the business reputation depends on the behavior
and thus employees satisfaction plays an important role in the

3FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
organization. Business failure can be associated to different
variables such as economic hardship or financial distress in the
organization. There are several consequences of job
dissatisfaction that can be measured with the help of exit-voice-
loyalty-neglect framework in the organization. Exit is regarded as
an active and destructive response of the employees. On the
other hand, it can be said that the employees neglect the
organization and they will not be willing to work in the company
(Clarke 2015). They will put less effort in their work and this will
deteriorate the conditions of the employees. This paper will
discuss the literature that is associated with poor job design and
job insecurity of the employees in Australia. The findings and the
implications of human resource management associated with job
dissatisfaction are also highlighted in the paper.

4FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Definitions
Job insecurity is defined as a condition where the
employees lack assurance that their jobs are secured and stable.
There are variations between the definitions given by different
researchers and they all have a common ground of perception
that job insecurity is regarded as a subjective perception. It can be
said that the same event of the company such as poor financial
performance, corporate changes will affect the employees of the
organization in a different way. However, it can be said that the
subjectivity starts from insecurity that is associated with the
insecurity of the employees because they do not know whether
they will remain in that position or they will lose the job. They
might also have to struggle to keep their job or to seek
employment in other organization(Vander Elstet al. 2016).
Job insecurity is also regarded as a subjectivity of threat
that is perceived by the employees. The transactional model of
stress postulates that the perception of threat has become an

5FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
important source of stress for the employees in the organization.
These stress occurs when the perceived capability of the
employees finds difficulty in coping up with the demands and
needs of the employees in the organization. Moreover, losing a
job might also have serious economic consequences on an
individual. The employees who fails to understand the prospect of
job may face uncertainty and ambiguity in losing these privileges.
The workers who are uncertain about their future may not be
able to cope up with the situation effectively (Kinnunenet al.
2014).
Work design refers to a wide spectrum of jobs that are
associated with the internal as well as external factors and thus it
affects the people in the organization and how effectively they
can work to achieve it. Although the concept has its root in
psychological research and theories, poor job design will
demotivate the employees. It can be said that job design can
influence the performance level of the employees and it is seen in

6FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
those cases where motivation of the employees plays a
substantial role. Moreover, lower cost will reduce employee
turnover in the organization. Job design can also affect job
satisfaction (Mislevyet al. 2017). The people who are satisfied
with certain job configurations than others will be able to identify
the job role and thus do their job accordingly. Job design is
regarded as the core function of human resource management
and it is associated with the method, content, relationship of jobs
so that they can satisfy organizational and technological
requirement as well as personal requirement of the employees. It
can be said that the fundamental and the essential basis of task
must not be neglected because the highly structured relational
mechanism will impact employee’s interpersonal
relationship(Kinman 2016).

7FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Literature Review
According to Clarke (2015), the perceptions of job quality
is associated with individual motivation i.e an association with
work flexibility as well as life stage. There are certain intrinsic
factors such as job content and autonomy that will lay moderate
impact on the extrinsic factors such as job security. It has been
found that the retention and attraction of the workers can be
improved by addressing the various factors which are associated
with remuneration and employee’s contract. The experiences and
skills which are associated with career structure will help in
building the organizational capacity and making the job more
attractive. Schaufeli (2016) has highlighted job insecurity as a
psychosocial hazard that will increase in the future because of
economic hardships and other stringent factors because of
increasing competition and globalization. It is defined as a
subjective experience that is threatened by job loss. The
psychological factors that are associated with job insecurity will

8FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
be beneficial in order to understand the various mechanisms that
are associated with it. The most common psychological
determinant of job insecurity is associated with the loss of identity
relevant resources such as need satisfaction and control in the
organization. It is important to investigate the loss of resources
such as differential effects for different persons and for individuals
with different outcomes who will pay more attention to their job
and also fear of losing their job.
According to Connell and Burgess (2014), job quality
framework is associated with the job satisfaction of the
employees. It has been found that human resource
management(HRM) practices can improve the performance of the
employees as well as provide them motivation to perform their
duties properly. The Safety Authority of Australia has claimed that
more that more than one-third of their workers have suffered
from mental health problems which are associated with living
conditions as well as employment facilities. This lays an important

9FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
influence on stress, health, safety and well being of the
employees in the organization. There has been absence of
systematic and proper examination of HRM practices that are
used in many organizations who are dependent on the employees
in their regional workplace. Boxal and Macky (2014) has
highlighted that the employment practices and the “how to work”
factors of the employees are associated with complex practices
such as performance appraisal and teamwork. The employees
must gain genuine experiences and improvements in the
development of team based production in the organization and
these must be changed accordingly with the increasing work
pressure in the organization. The author has stated that to
improve the productivity of the high performance work system
(HPWS) in the organization the workers must gain better access
and control in their work and thus participate in the decisions that
are concerned with them. The autonomy of the workers and the
participation in the decision making process will be used to judge

10FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
the performance of the workers in the organization. It has been
found that the performance of the HPWPs in the organization will
affect the well being of the employees and it will also affect the
work intensity accordingly. The psychosocial model of job strain
that was forwarded by Theorell and Karasek highlighted the
issues that are associated with job stress in the organization.
Work overload is linked with job dissatisfaction in the organization
whereas the job that is intensified under pace and demand will be
associated with increased stress in the organization.
According to McKenzie (2017), retirement and ageing of
the employees in the Australian university is considered as an
important cause of job insecurity and dissatisfaction. These issues
are pertinent with the graduates who wants to pursue their
academic career as a research scholar or in other academic
careers in the organization. Cavanagh et al. (2017) the
management practices for the employees who are not satisfied
with their job role or job design is increasing with the passage of

11FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
time in the organization. The average employment arte for the
people with disability are low in OECD countries. These workers
have lower average incomes than the general workers in the
organization. It is also important to secure the challenges of
employment for the disabled and the weak people in the
organization. The economic participation of the dissatisfied
workers has been regarded as the main goal of the organization
who wanted to activate the social and the economic policies in
the organization. The employers do not understand the support
which is necessary to accommodate and manage the needs of the
workers with physical disability in the organization. The employers
who are willing to carry out structural adjustments of the
employees must provide proper professional and personal
support so that they feel secured and motivated to work for the
development of the organization.
Keimet al.(2014) has stated that role conflict, LOC
predictors and role ambiguity are the important predictors of job

12FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
insecurity. The perceived variables will threaten the control and
induce the feeling of job insecurity process. Job insecurity is a
crucial factor that is related to psychological contract and thus the
job insecurity perception ideas also increases. It can be said that
layoffs and other organizational change will also make the
employees feel that they do not have any proper relationship with
the employers.
According to Meijerink (2016), it is vital to recognize the
companies for having high quality relationships with the
employees. Studies also indicates that there must be variability in
the perception of the employees that are associated with the
services of HRM. It can be said that inactive employment
attributes will affect the perception of the HRM services and the
values. Cullen et al. (2014) has highlighted that the employees
form global impression in the organization and the provision of
adequate resources and values of the individuals will improve the
performance of the employees in the organization. The

13FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
development of positive impression that is necessary for the
providing support to the employees will lead to positive outcome
in the organization. It can be said that when the employees
perceive organizational change, the socio-economic needs are
fulfilled and this will increase positive job attitude including job
satisfaction. If the employees do not feel supportive in the
organization, they might withhold the effort and thus it might
create negative job attitude. The employees’ attitudes and
perceptions are determined by understanding the changing
situations and the impact of these changes will have an effect on
the employees. The factors that are associated to influence the
perception of support to the employees indicates that the
organization must provide favorable workplace experience to
them.

14FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Findings of the Literature
From the above finding, it has been found that that both
job quality and job security is related to each other. Level of job
content and types of job defines the level of security it offers to
the employees. Job content is considered to be an intrinsic factor,
while job security is an extrinsic factor. However, both the factors
are very crucial for a person looking for the job. These two factors
play a crucial role in improving employee retention and hiring of
new employee by a business. However, job retention is also
closely associated with employee remuneration and the quality of
environment they get in the workplace. Moreover, employee
retention is closely linked with the organizational structure, as
they should be satisfied with the environment in which they will
be working (Clarke 2015). Thus, this show that job design
deteriorate the job satisfaction criteria to the candidates. On the
other hand the above literature also show that job security is a
continuous increasing idea in which job security issues will

15FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
continue to increase with the increasing complexities of the
business. Moreover, job security is considered to be a
psychological hazard that is tend to increase with the increase
situation of globalization. Job security has been considered as a
threatening factor that is highly associated with job loss, as
people tend to leave the job in which they do not feel secured.
From the findings it seen that the most common insecurity that
employees faces in a job is lack of identity (Schaufeli 2016).
Employees tend to lose their identity in a bog organization when
they face tough competition from others.
It has been seen from the past literature that quality of the
job is highly related to job satisfaction and the motivation of the
employees to perform their best and give good quality effort in
the company they work. Workplace quality is a highly determining
factor for the quality of work employees will give during their
tenure. It has been seen that maximum of the time the workers
face a lot of problems in their workplace, which demotivates them

16FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
to work as they feel lack of security. Moreover, the workers feel
uncomfortable in such degraded workplace situation, which
hampers their production level even further. However, it has been
found that human resource practices in a company can modify
and improve their job and workplace quality for the employees.
Thus, human practices indirectly will help the employees in
improving their performance in the organization they are working.
Job quality has been an alarming factor in many Australian
companies, influencing the companies negatively (Burgess 2014).
For example, Safety Authority of Australia had experienced
suffering of approximately one-third of its workers due to lack of
employment facility. Most of the workers suffered from severe
health problem, stress, depression and others. The cause of such
problems was lack of HRM practices and improvement in offering
best facilities to the workers.
Various other reasons hamper the motivational factor of
the workers is the rules and regulation that the workers have to

17FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
face in a workplace and the employment practices that they have
to face over the period. Thus, the employees should be give some
kind of motivation at the time of handling critical tasks in order to
help them handle the pressure they face during that period (Boxal
and Macky 2014). Moreover, it has also been seen that
organization can improve the working condition of the workplace
and motivate them to perform better by having a better control
over the workers and their work. They should be allowed to take
part in the decision-making activities of the companies. This
makes the workers feel important and participated in the
important decision-making process of the company. Thus, it is
seen that in order to progress the business and make the
employee to actively participate it is important that the company
itself take the initiative to motivate them (Boxal and Macky 2014).
Thus, both the employee and employer have to be involved to
improve their job quality and feel secured in the job. Moreover,
including the employees in the decision making process will also

18FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
help the employer to judge the capability and performance of the
employees. Theorell and Karasek on the other hand have focused
on the factors that lead to stress in the job and in turn
dissatisfaction among the workers. Moreover, stress from
workplace depends both on the intensity of the work and amount
of workload.
It has also been found from past literature that Australia
has been facing a lot of job satisfaction and job insecurity due to
increasing rate of retirement and ageing. Thus, it is the most
important factors that have resulted in increasing job loss in the
country (McKenzie 2017). Most the students that want to pursue
their career in academic field face such problem. However, a lot of
initiative is being taken to put a check on the increasing rate of job
dissatisfaction in the organization. Many companies are altering
their job design and increasing facilities for the workers so that
they feel secure and needed in the job (Cavanagh et al. 2017).
The job designs are also being implemented for the disable people

19FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
so that they can also feel satisfied with their working
environment. This is because the amount of disable people are
increasing in Australia and it is important that they are also well
included in the organizational work. This is being done in order to
make dissatisfied employee to feel involved in the business and
perform their best for the business.
Some of the literature review also showed that there are
other factors of job security as well such as conflict, LOC
predictors and ambiguity (Keim et al. 2014). These factors are
mainly seen in the psychological contract work and thus it affects
the employees in a large way. Thus, in order to save the
employees from getting demotivated and dissatisfied about the
work the companies need to take steps from time to time.

20FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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