Introduction

Employees sense of success and achievement which is termed as Job Satisfaction is perceived to
have a direct linkage with the productivity and personal wellbeing of the employees. This implies
doing a job which one enjoys and the rewardswhich he/she receives for the efforts
(eNotes
2012). It is said that happy employees create happy customers. One of the research from the
university of Missouri says that the CEOs who pay more attention to employees job satisfaction are
actually able to increase customers satisfaction and also increase the number of customers who
would like to do repeat business with the company(Business News Daily 2011). Other studies have
found that there exists a link between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and productivity. It
says:

Satisfied employees are more productive, loyal and innovative.

Increase in job satisfaction leads to increase moral of employees which results in increased
productivity of employee.

The overall outcome would is customer retention(Corporate Leadership Council 2003)

Keeping in mind the survey results of management consulting company which showed that workers
in DrainFlow are less satisfied than workers in other comparable jobs and customer survey result
which revealed 40% customer dissatisfaction and also the above mentioned facts, this report is
presented which proposes plans that can help in increasing employees motivation, performance and
customer satisfaction. The Proposed report revolves around four important aspects pertaining to Job
design, Job satisfaction, personality and Emotional Labor. Based on the observation and interaction
with the employees it may be inferred that present job design iscontributing to employees
dissatisfaction. Although the job specialization is cutting the cost but there is a concern with regards
to customers dissatisfaction when it comes to response time and cost. This customer dissatisfaction
is coming out as a result of employees dissatisfaction of the job design. Therefore this report
suggests some of the ways of redesigning the jobs that can help employees feel more
satisfied with the work.Research and Organizational Behavior theories like Hezbergs Motivator
Hygiene theory and Adams Equity Theory have also shown that there exists important link between
rewards, recognition and employee satisfaction. To keep employees motivated a reward system
(monetary and non-monetary) is proposed which if implemented can add to employees
satisfaction.

The
report also discusses specific plans to measure the effectiveness of the reward system. There are
hiring recommendations with special focus on personality traits and emotional labor that can help in
finding the right people who are better suited for the kind of job.
Job Satisfaction and Productivity
While job specialization can avoid cost which arises from varied experience and it can create
condition that may foster learning and improve efficiency, it may also lead to cognitive arousal
resulting in disengagement from task. With repetitive and familiar task workers do not find a way to
improve performance, they lose motivation which affects the performance (Harvard Business School
2011). Workers in DrainFlowsee their work mostly in technical, or Mechanical terms and they also
find it stressful to deal with negative feedback from customers and co-workers. This has caused
employees dissatisfaction with their work. This employee dissatisfaction is a cause of concern for the
organization because research has shown that satisfied workers do a better job. Studies conducted
since 1980s show that there exists a link between satisfaction, productivity and financial success of
the company. Happy employees work harder and are more motivated which results in increased
productivity .Although earlier theories such as Hawthonstudies(1930s) did not show any higher
impact of employee satisfaction on productivity . However, latter studies of James Heskitt, W. Sasser
and Schlesinger (1997) clearly demonstrate that higher satisfaction of employee leads to higher
customer satisfaction and higher profit.

Job
Characteristic and Response to work
Job Characteristic Theory by Hackman & Oldham;1975,1980 establishes the relationship between
job characteristic and individual response to work. It says that employees job satisfaction, work
motivation and the productivity are the function of job characteristics Task identity, task significance,
skill variety, autonomy and feedback are five central characteristics. The five characteristics are
discussed in brief:
Task Identity: The degree to which job requires completing the entire work (from start to end ) which
ensures some visible outcomes.

Task Significance:The degree to which the job has an impact on the lives of other people.Whether
those people are in the organization or in the world at large.
Skill-Variety: The degree to which a job requires different kind of work that needs to be done
involving his/her different skills and talent.
Autonomy:The degree to which the job provides independence, freedom with respect to taking
decisions about time, procedure and process.
Feedback:The degree to which the job gives clear idea about the effectiveness of the performance
of the employee.
Looking at the present job characteristics of Drain Flow it is evident that it does not satisfy the above
mentioned job characteristics which has made the job mechanical and technical for the employees.
There is no autonomy and skill-variety. Employees do the same task again and again. There is no
internal feedback system on performance and because of specialization there is lack of task identity
as well (Bulletin Philology 1997)
Intradepartmental job rotation can be one strategy wherein there can be different sets or group
who would deal in particular set of customer problems. These groups can be shuffled to add to
everyones experience and understanding.

A special position of experts can be created. These would be the people from within the team
only who would have the clear understanding of intricacies of the customers problem and
they will help in sending right person to the customers door. This will eradicate confusions
and will add to satisfaction.

sal for Reward to motivate employees

Propo

The importance of rewards and recognition as a source of motivation has been very well discussed
in human resource theories like Adams Equity Theory. Hezbergs Motivation hygiene theory
and Expectancy theory.Lack or absence of any reward and recognition might lead to dissatisfaction
and demotivation of employees. So in order to motivate employees it is important to have a reward
system in place. Proposed below is a cash reward system and implementation that can help in
motivating employees:

The cash reward can be given in the form of Incentive which will be calculated as a
percentage to the salary

It will be a monthly process and every second month it will be credited to the account.

Employee

Performance Evaluation Criteria

collection of information about customer

satisfaction

Billing Representative

1.02 % of salary

Every Successful completion of 20 calls

Order Processor

Plumber Assistant/Plumber

Reward

1.015% of Salary

No Complains, Promptness to handle job

Real satisfaction Expressed by customer

1.03% of Salary

1.05% of SalaryEvery repeat visit of customer will ensure a small bonus for the set of employees
who had served the previous request
Studies have shown that money motivates almost everyone, the degree and extent might vary which
can be moderate for many and most for some (Personnel Systems Associates n.d.). Its not the
money alone that brings motivation its also the value and importance that is shown by the
organization to the employees by offering them rewards in the form of cash that motivates
However, using financial incentives as a reward has its own shortcomings and drawbacks:

Cash incentives can have direct impact on the cost as it can incur cost for the company. A
proper calculation of cost and benefit ratio is needed before initiating such incentives. For a
company like DrainFlow where there is already a chance that revenue might shrink and cost
incurring strategy or plan may not prove to be a very prudent decision.

Cash Incentives may have a tax implication on them, so, when compared to other form of
incentive it may not add to the expected value (ehow 2012)

Survey have shown that there is no lasting association of cash as a source of motivation. Its
value disappears in pocket of recipient once it is spent.

There is a guilt factor which is seen to be associated with cash reward if they are no utilized
in basic needs such as hunger, sleep etc.

The appeal of cash rewards is quite non-emotional and abstract and hence has no lasting
impact(White Paper 2011)

If money is given to achieve customer satisfaction goal, it may happen that vague or unclear
representation of customer satisfaction is presented in order to maximize incentives.
Cash as incentive might also pave a way for unhealthy competition and jealousy within the
team.Since there are different ways through which cash incentives are presented and in case where
one employee is getting it again and again, it might lead to internal conflicts within the team itself.
Other types of Incentives that can be considered are:

Employee of the month can be selected based on the performance and they can be given
awards and trophies

Performers can be made member of hall of fame

A specialized t-shirt, cap, mug to the performer can be impactful

A lunch, dinner coupon, holiday trip or a free parking space would also give a very exciting
and lasting experience to the employee.

assess the working of reward system:

Plan to

Assessing the effectiveness of reward system can be a three step process:

Starting with Surveys and Benchmarking:- Industry benchmark surveys similar to what was used by
outsourcing company can be used here also to assess how effective the reward program is. An
interpretation can also come on the basis participation rate for example a low participation rate which
can mean low interest in the reward or low understanding of the rewards which not a good
sign(legacy bowes group 2012)
Linking the reward component with the business Strategies- This will help in mapping the
components of the reward to each strategy of the business. If the strategy is aimed towards
motivation of employees and increase in customer satisfaction, the same should come through.

Impact analysis: Direct impact should come in the revenue of the company. If the program is
working, it will have a positive impact on the employees motivation level. This will lead to increased
productivity of employee and hence enhanced customer satisfaction level which will reflect in the
revenue of the company. There will be reduction in customer complaints number and a time to time
survey with the customer can even give a better idea.
The dependent variables that would change if the reward system works are- customer satisfaction
level, employees motivation level, number of customer complaints and revenue of the company. The
same can be measured with the help of survey and random interviews. Increased revenue will
automatically reflect in the P& L of the company.

Hiring
Recommendations Based on Personality Traits for Customer Service Responsibility and
Emotional Labor:
As far as the hiring of customer service is concerned it should focus on combination of right attitude
with right experience and excellent presence of mind. The same can be judged through a series of
process:

A psychometric test to see the inclination of the mind of the candidate

A writing test to check their knowledge of the subject

Role Play to check the presence of mind and confidence

Personal interview to see his empathy, intelligence, creativity and how good he/she can fit in
the corporate culture

All
employees who are hired should be given a formal and structures training to develop their
knowledge and skills.
Based on Five Factor Model of Personality, there are traits that can looked into a candidate while
him/her for the Customer Service responsibility and Emotional Labor

Neuroticism This is also known as emotional stability. A candidate of this profile should
have a higher level of emotional stability. With respect to the erratic behavior of customers, a
customer service representative should be emotionally stable so that he doesnt react
negatively to stressful situation. A person who is low on emotional stability might get carried
away and this may impact he personal life as well.

Extraversion The candidate should be energetic and outgoing so that he give enthusiastic
signals to the customers(ehow 2012)

Agreeableness A friendly and kind reflection should come out. He/she has to be a good
listener in order to understand customer and take first in building positive rapport with
him/her.

Conscientiousness This refers to the degree to which individuals or candidates are

motivated,dedicated, committed to achieve the goals, keeping the promise or to reach to a
goal impresses the customers (Psychlopedian.d.)

Openness to Experience: This refers to the degree to which the individuals are open to
appreciate emotions, ideas, novel actions and feelings. Higher the trait, better is the
candidate for the profile.

Conclu
sion
With respect to job satisfaction and its impact on productivity and customer satisfaction, the present
report has proposed the job designing possibilities with the context of DrainFlow along with reward
plan that can help in motivating and increasing job satisfaction of employees. It also proposes the
way to measure the effectiveness of the reward plan and sets forth the hiring recommendations and
discusses required personality traits. The entire plan is proposed with the motive of increasing
customer satisfaction.