A FACTOR ANALYSIS ON JOB SATISFACTION AND PROBLEMS FACED BY THE PRINTING INDUSTRIES EMPLOYEES

P. Sundara Pandian¹ and M.J. Senthil Kumar^2
1Virudhunagar Hindu Nadars’ Senthikumara Nadar College, India
²Department of Commerce, Sri Kaliswari College, India
10.21917/ijms.2017.0077

Abstract

For the success of any organization, job satisfaction is vital importance. The employees who are satisfied with the job are the biggest assets. The employees who are not satisfied are biggest liabilities. The organization cannot achieve its goals and target unless its workforce who constitutes the organization is satisfied with his/their job. Job satisfaction plays important role in the happiness and prosperity of the individual and the organization which has employed them. The needs of the workers, their undertaking and their aspiration have undergone a rapid industrial growth. Therefore, the attitude and behaviour of men have become an object and critical study for behavioural scientists these days. Printing industry is less risky compare with matches and fireworks. Therefore employers do not care about the working conditions. As a result it leads to poor working condition and welfare facilities. To reduce the cost of production, most of the printing presses are not providing the adequate welfare facilities to their labour and their compensation plans are also not attractive one. It reduces the job satisfaction of the labour and increases the labour problems. Ultimately it reduces the quality of the product as well as increases the labour turnover. This paper analyses the job satisfaction and problems faced by the employees in printing industry.

Keywords:

Job Satisfaction, Welfare Facilities and Working Conditions

1. INTRODUCTION

Job satisfaction of the employees of an organization is an important indicator of the health of any organization. High job satisfaction in the organizations greatly facilitates the task of administration because it creates favorable conditions for the overall progress of the organization. Tremendous changes have taken place in human life during the last few decades. Life was set to its faster pace in the 18th century and inventions like Steam engine, Locomotives, Automobiles, Radio, Telegraph, Atomic energy etc. contribute a lot to this process of change. It increases the competition among the business units. Therefore the organizations are given importance to production and the cost of production. They are never given importance to employee job satisfaction and their problems.

Sivakasi is a well-known small town in India and also in the foreign countries for printing works. In Sivakasi, the printing presses are growing year by year. There is a keen competition among the printing presses. To reduce the cost of production, most of the printing presses are not providing the adequate welfare facilities to their labour and their compensation plans are also not attractive one. It reduces the job satisfaction of the labour and increases the labour problems. Such circumstance, the study on job satisfaction and problems faced by the employees will help to overcome many of the problems faced by printing units in Sivakasi. The study would throw more light on the job satisfaction level of existing printing industry employees.

1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Employees are more loyal and productive when they are satisfied, and these satisfied employees affect the customer satisfaction and organizational productivity. Printing industry is an important industry of Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district providing employment and thereby improving the standard of living of its labour. While Sivakasi is famous for manufacturing fireworks and matches the printing industry grows day by day to support these industries in packages. Printing industry is less risky, compare to match work and firework industries. Therefore employees and employers personally so do not care about the working and safety conditions. As a result it leads to unsatisfied working conditions. The working conditions, compensation schemes, incentives plans, working hours, etc. are also not up to the level of employee expectation. It increases the problems and reduces the job satisfaction among the employees in printing industry. Therefore, there is necessary to study the job satisfaction level and problems faced by the employee in printing industry.

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objectives of the present study are

To identify the problems faced by the employees.

To evaluate the remedial measures to overcome the employees problem.

To offer suggestion on the basis of the finding of the study

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Muthusamy [1] has suggested that, in order to boost the morale of the employees, the management must provide adequate lighting and ventilation facility in the buildings of the mill and provide training facility to the employees. Kute and Upadhyay [2] stated that, the work place training is required to maintain healthy and safety working environment. Print quality inspection, trouble shooting skills and machine maintenance skills are more important to enhance the effectiveness of the press operator in commercial printing industry.

Vijayalakshmi [3] stated that there is need for employers to consider the wellbeing of their employees. Reasonable working hours, reasonably good pay structure, performance based incentive, conducive working environment are the basic requirements and expectations of employees.

Meenatchi [4] pointed out that the training program should be organized in the way to stimulate the employees’ attitude and making their job interesting. In order to enhance industrial peace, handle the conflicts and grievance properly and no political interference and healthy unionism ensure amicable working climate.

Anitha [5] pointed out that Employee will be more satisfied if they get what they expected. The organization may give importance to certain factors such as canteen, rest room facilities, rewards, recognition and promotion policy, so that the company can maintain good workers with high level of satisfaction, organizational commitment and involvement. Verma and Ahmad [6] suggested that, employer should keep in mind the fundamental need of employees. If the employer can tap these needs it will generate pride and enthusiasm in the work force.

Monis and Sreedhara [7] pointed out that, the employee development has been linked to employee commitment to their organization. It increased productivity and decreased absenteeism and turnover. The employee growth and development activities includes career development skills training, opportunities for promotion and internal career advancement, coaching, mentoring, and leadership development programs.

Sarwar and Abugre [8] found that, rewards system plays a significant role in employee satisfaction. It also highlighted that the higher the rewards perceived by workers, the greater the satisfaction of workers towards the organizational policies and practices. It increases the productivity and employee performance.

Indermun [9] pointed out that organizations face strong pressures in competitive environments to be efficient and at the same time produce products of value. By ensuring that their workforce is optimal at all times most organisations can gain competitive advantage. Satisfied employees form a bond with the company and take pride in their organizational membership, they believe in the goals and values of the organisation. Therefore, these employees display high levels of performance and productivity. Dissatisfied employees display characteristics of low productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. These traits are highly costly for the organisation.

Indermun [9] pointed out that organizations face strong pressures in competitive environments to be efficient and at the same time produce products of value. By ensuring that their workforce is optimal at all times most organisations can gain competitive advantage. Satisfied employees form a bond with the company and take pride in their organizational membership, they believe in the goals and values of the organisation. Therefore, these employees display high levels of performance and productivity. Dissatisfied employees display characteristics of low productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. These traits are highly costly for the organisation.

Elnaga and Imran [10] highlighted that empowerment or participative management is one of the most effective ways of helping employees to utilize their creative abilities to improve their performance within the organization they work for. In order to create effective empowering of employees, the organisation requires clear communication channels.

Jhajharia and Gupta [11] suggested that, maintaining high morale among workers can be of tremendous benefit to any company, because happy workers are more likely to produce more, take fewer days off and stay loyal to the company. If the high performing employees leave the company, it is even more difficult to attract new talent.

3. METHODOLOGY

The data required for the study was collected from primary sources and secondary sources. The primary data have been collected from the printing industry employees through interview schedule. The secondary data relevant to the study have been gathered from published sources such as encyclopedia, text books, magazines, journals, and websites.

3.1 SAMPLING METHOD

There are 373 printing presses in Sivakasi. Out of 373 printing units, ten percent units, 38 units are selected as sample units by adopting lottery method. From each unit, 5 workers are randomly selected as respondents. Thus the sample size for the current study is 38*5=190 employees.

4. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 EXPERIENCE

Experience is the best teacher. Experience reduces the problems of the workers and promotes efficiency in performing the task. The researcher collected the information regarding the experience of the respondents. These particulars are portrayed in the following Table.1.

The Table.1 depicted that, out of 190 respondents 51 (26.9 percent) respondents have got work experience of less than 5 years, followed by 96 (50.5%) respondents have 5 to 10 years’ experience, 34 (17.9%) respondents have 11 to 15 years of experience and the remaining 9 (4.7%) respondents have above 15 years’ experience.

It is inferred that majority of the respondents 96 (50.5%) have 5 to10 years of experience

4.2 REMUNERATION

The standard of living of an employee depends on the wages earned. His earnings determine the level of consumption, purchasing power for essential commodities. The standard of living of a worker has a great impact on the efficiency of the worker. The researcher has studied the monthly income of the employee. It is depicted in Table.2

From the above Table.2 it is evident that, out of 190 respondents, 13 respondents (6.8%) are earning below Rs.5,000, 74 (38.9%) respondents fall under Rs.5,001 to Rs.7,500 income category, 78 (41.1%) respondents are getting income between Rs.7,501 and Rs.10,000 and the remaining 25 (13.2%) respondents have an income of more than Rs.10,000.

4.3 PROBLEMS FACED BY THE EMPLOYEES - FACTOR ANALYSIS

An attempt has been made to identify the problems faced by the printing industry employee. To measure the same, 18 statements relating to problems faced by the employee based on earlier research works were selected in order to identify the significant and important dimensions with the help of factor analysis technique. The purpose of factor analysis is to interpret the structure within the variance-covariance matrices of the multivariate data collection made on the different factors related to management traits. The technique uses extraction of the Eigen values and eigenvectors from the matrices of correlations or covariances. The basic mathematical operations in factor analysis are done with many embellishments on the procedures. Factor analysis is a deep and complex methodology. It is one of the most widely used multivariate procedures. The model is based on several unique assumptions. For one, the precise number of factors is assumed prior to the analysis. The factors extracted, or rather the number of factors, are validated by the variance each of them explain to the total. There is a progressive decline in the value of variances with the increasing number of factor dimensions. The first, or the main factor dimension, has the highest of the total variance explained and the bipolar, the next highest and so on, resulting in progressively declining variances.

In order to test whether it was appropriate to apply the exploratory factor analysis technique to this dataset, the researcher used the Kaiser Meyer Olkin test as a measure of sample adequacy. This measure varies between 0 and 1. Kaiser (1974) recommends accepting values greater than 0.5 as acceptable, whereas the level of significance in Chi-square test is at 5% level

The Table.3 shows that the KMO value is .760, which indicates that the degree of variance among the variables is quite high. Hence it is concluded that the factor analysis can be applied.

The 18 statements relating to problems faced by the employees had been extracted into four factors, namely F1, F2, F3 and F4. These factors were identified with new names such as Organizational Factors, Work Environment, Welfare Measures, and Social Support and had been presented in the following tables.

4.3.1 Organizational Factors:

Employees are more satisfied when they feel they are being paid fairly for the work they do. Employees want pay systems and promotion policies that they perceive as being just, unambiguous and in line with their expectations. The pay system is seen as fair based on job demands, individual skill level reduces the employee’s problem. The organizational contextual factors such as pay, job security, incentives influence an employee’s perception and problems.

From the Table.4, the factors such as Job Security, Salary Scheme, Incentive plans, Refreshment facilities, Way of ability used, Rules and Regulation, are the factors with higher positive loadings on factor I and it could be characterized as “Organization Factors”. Hence, F-I is termed as Organization Factors. The Eigen value for the above Factor I was 3.794 and the percentage of variance was 21.076. It could be concluded that Organization Factors rank as the first important problems of employees. The above analysis reveals that, among the six organization factors absence of job security is considered as the major problem by the employees.

4.3.2 Work Environment:

The working environment plays an important role in increasing productivity and reduces the employees’ problems. The provision of a workplace which is cooperative and where employees are cherished and wanted is essential for reducing employees’ problems. If the employees are unhappy with the working conditions, they will become demotivated and not perform optimally.

The factors such as poor working conditions, inhumane treatment, Discrimination, Excessive workload and Working under tension are the factors with higher positive loadings on factor II which is characterized as “Work Environment”. Hence, F-II is termed as Work Environment. The Eigen value for the above Factor II was 2.972 and the percentage of variance was 16.513. It could be concluded that Working Environment factors rank as the Second important problems faced by the employee. The above table pinpoints that poor working condition available in the working place is highlighted as an important problem by employees in the work environment issues.

4.3.3 Welfare Measures:

Individuals prefer organizations that take proper precautions to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. They also prefer physical surroundings that are comfortable (for example, that have air conditioning, lighting, ventilation and physical space), and prefer having the necessary equipment and resources to do the job well. If individuals in an organisations faced a lack or problems because of working conditions that would lead to the obstruction of the work in the institution, which may adversely affect the productivity of individuals.

From the Table.6, the factors such as Safety Measures, Ventilation, Lighting facilities and Rest room facilities are the factors with higher positive loadings on factor III and it could be characterized as “Welfare Measures”. Hence, F III is termed as Welfare Measures. The Eigen value for the above Factor III was 1.762 and the percentage of variance was 9.787. It can be concluded that Welfare Measures Factors rank as the third important problems by the employees. The analysis of the welfare measures reveals that absence of safety printing is highlighted as an important problem by employees.

4.3.4 Social Support:

Social support is presently highlighted as one of the most important issues in the study of employees’ problems. The development of strong social support is being beneficial to treating and preventing employees’ problems. The good relationship with their supervisor, subordinate and colleague reduces the problems

From the Table.7, the variables regarding Relationship with supervisor, Relationship with Colleagues and Family imbalance are the factors with higher positive loadings on factor IV and it could be characterized as Social Support. Hence, F IV is termed as Social Support. The Eigen value for the above Factor IV was 1.762 and the percentage of variance was 9.787. It could be concluded that Social Support ranks as the fourth important problems by the employees. Hence it is concluded that the employees are facing the problem of relationship with supervisors

EXPERIENCE AND OPINION ABOUT EMPLOYEE’S PROBLEMS

In order to identify, if there is any association between the factors extracted from the statements describing the employee’s problems and experiences, the researcher frames the following hypothesis. H0: There is no association between Experience and opinion about employee’s problems To test the above Hypothesis, the researcher used the One Way (ANOVA) test. The result has been displayed in Table.8.

The significance of “F” is less than 0.05 for organization factor, work environment, welfare measure and social support. So the null hypothesis is rejected, and it is concluded that the various factors organization factor, work environment, welfare measure and social support are associated with the Experience of the respondents at 5% level. From the Table.8, it is also evident that the F value is high 16.203 and 18.063 and the significance of F value is .000 for work environment and welfare measure. Hence it is concluded that Experience and work environment and welfare measure are highly associated.

5. SUGGESTIONS

Employees are the back bone of every organization, without employee no production work can be done. The conflict between the employers and the employees gives birth to industrial disputes which stand against the progress and prosperity of the industry as well as worker. No industry can enjoy peace and progress so long as the primary needs of the workers are not fulfilled. In order to reduce the employees’ problems and increase the job satisfaction level the following suggestions were made:

• Job security plays an important role in motivating the employee and reducing the problems among employees. Therefore the organization must provide the job security to their employees.
• Salary is the key factor for employees’ job satisfaction and turnover, so the business units frame the attractive wage system.
• To attract and retain the employee in addition to the salary the company must provide colorful incentives and to genuine welfare measures to workers.
• The work environment is also one of the important factors in increasing the problems among the employees. Therefore the company takes effective step to improve its environment. Similarly the organization should avoid the inhumane treatment and Discrimination. It increases the job satisfaction as well as morale of the employee and reduces the problems.
• The company must take effective steps to reduce the accident and increases the safety standard. Therefore the employees feel their work place is good and safe. It ultimately reduces the problems and increases the production.
• The management and supervisor have to maintain harmonious relationship with the workers so that the worker feels homely in his organization. Similarly the organization takes effective steps to improve the cordial relationship among the employees
• The company must implement the open door policy to allow the employee to bothering their feelings about the job.

6. CONCLUSIONS

Attracting and retaining a talented workforce is a top priority for any type of organization and especially it is more essential to printing industry. In order to retain the employees, the organization should redress the employees’ problems and increase their job satisfaction level. The above factor analysis highlighted that all the eighteen variables related to are very much closely associated with one another. These eighteen variables have been extracted and grouped into four factors. Among the four factors “Organizational factors” has the highest variance of 21.076% and it is considered to be the most influencing factor in increasing the employees’ problem. The printing industry provides job security and attractive salary with serious intention to avoid any dissatisfaction with respect to the same. Similarly improving working condition, implementing adequate safety measures and maintaining smooth relationship among supervisors and employees reduces the employees’ problems and increase the job satisfaction level of the employees.

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