Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)

Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)Sự hài lòng và hiệu suất công việc của cán bộ, viên chức Trường Đại học Hùng Vương, Phú Thọ, Việt Nam Kế hoạch chiến lược phát triển đội ngũ. (LA tiến sĩ)

Republic of Philippines Socialist Republic of Vietnam

JOB SATISFACTION AND WORKING PERFORMANCE OF PERSONNEL

AT HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY, PHU THO, VIETNAM: A PROPOSED

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Advisor: Dr Apolonia A Espinosa

Name of Student: Nguyen Nhat Dang English Name: Michael

Date of Birth: 20-3-1959 Course: SLSU-DEd.M

Thai Nguyen, 2014

JOB SATISFACTION AND WORKING PERFORMANCE OF PERSONNEL

AT HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY, PHU THO, VIETNAM: A PROPOSED

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School

Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

In Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management

NGUYEN NHAT DANG (MICHAEL)

Thai Nguyen, 2014

ACKNOWLEDGMENT Grateful acknowledgement is hereby extended to the following individuals who have

provided the researcher much needed support in the completion of this work:

Dr Apolonia A Espinosa, his adviser, whose wisdom and knowledge, perseverance and patience, courage and optimism, constructive criticizing led to the final completion of this study;

Dr Cecilia N Gascon, and other professors of the panel of examiners, for their

valuable suggestions and recommendations;

Dr Teresita V dela Cruz, Dr Walberto A Macaraan, and other professors of the Southern Luzon State University and Thai Nguyen University for their valuable lectures

and advice;

The Director Board of ITC, Ms Nguyen Thi Thu Ha and the other teachers and

staff of ITC, for their enthusiastic support during the course;

Pr Dr Cao van, the Rector of Hung Vuong University and other members of the

Rector Board, for their encouragement and financial assistance;

The Monitor and other classmates, for their help and support;

The staff and teacher respondents, for their patience and generosity in answering

the questionnaires;

All members of my family and friends, for their advice and close concern;

This piece of work is humbly dedicated to these respectable persons, for without them this would not be possible

NND

DEED OF DECLARATION

I, Nguyen Nhat Dang (English name: Michael), hereby submit my thesis for oral examination, entitled “Job Satisfaction and Working Performance of Personnel at Hung

Vuong University, PhuTho, Vietnam: A Proposed Strategic Development Program”,

truthfully declare that the said paper is a product of my original research investigation

Signed this .f}.(/@ at Thai Nguyen University

NGUYEN NHAT DANG

DEdM Candidate

THTLE PAGPE QC SH» nen nen hen hy ACKNOWLEDGEMENT -Q cu nnn nen nen nhe TABLE OF CONTENTS - TQ n HT nh nhe

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study -c ch nh nky 1

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Chapter 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND STUDIES

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Chapter 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS_ 37

Chapter 5 SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CSE Core self-evaluations

NGUYEN NHAT DANG (MICHAEL) Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management

Southern Luzon State University and Thai Nguyen University

Dr Apolonia A Espinosa 2013-2014

This study intended to investigate the relationships of job satisfaction and working performance of Hung Vuong Personnel with an end view of proposing a strategic

development program It specifically sought to determine the level of job satisfaction of Hung

Vuong Personnel in terms of the nature of work, salary and benefits, professional growth/ promotion, quality of supervision, interpersonal relationship, self-actualization and fulfilment, working environment, and employee recognition It also sought to find out the working performance of the personnel in terms of productivity, knowledge and skills, communication, problem solving, attendance and punctuality, and teamwork In addition, it also pursued to determine whether the perceptions of the managers and staff differ from each other; ascertain which of the job satisfaction variables best predict the working performance of respondents;

and propose a strategic development program that could improve the working performance of the personnel The descriptive survey research was employed in this study There were three hundred and fifty eight (358) respondents to answer the questionnaire, among them, 296

respondents were ordinary staff and teachers and 62 respondents were managers The

measuring instruments utilized in this research were the frequency, percentage distribution, the weighted means, Regression and the One — way ANOVA

Based on the data gathered, it was found that the perception of both managers and

ordinary staff and teachers on job satisfaction and working performance falls in the "Good" category Salaries and benefits and employee recognition are the best to predict the employees' working performance There are also differences in working performance between the groups of respondents in terms of ages, gender and positions The findings are indicative that the employees' satisfaction and working performance still need further improvement since most of the difficulties identified were seen related to individuals of both managers and ordinary employees The proposed solutions generally are to adjust the school policies which

lead to the key to successful implementation of the employees’ performance evaluation and

job satisfaction and job performance improvement Management effort and initiatives must be required to efficiently implement the job satisfaction and job performance improvement Thus, it was recommended that the school's improvement on the employees' job satisfaction and working performance must be continuously given attention by all the managers, staffs and teachers of the school by producing a long term concrete and detailed plan to make the employees' job satisfaction and working performance get on well In order to increase the employees’ job satisfaction and working performance, the school must design and implement the strategic development program to help staffs improve their knowledge and skills, create fair opportunities for the staff and teachers on promotion etc, so that they would feel safe and happy at work Finally, the strategic development program must be carried out with the enthusiastic participation of all the teachers and staff

INTRODUCTION

The development oŸ an organization, an area or a country depends on many factors, and

conditions, but mainly on the human factor Therefore, more important than any other factors,

the human resource always occupies a central position and plays a key role in the development

of the organization, the area or the country Hence, for an organization or business to develop,

it has to focus much on human resource management (HRM) Among many factors of human resource management, job satisfaction and working performance of the personnel are the most

important issues that every manager has to give attention

Job satisfaction focuses on factors such as the nature of work, salary and benefits,

professional growth/promotion, quality of supervision, interpersonal relationship, self- actualization and fulfillment, working environment, and employee recognition The high level

of job satisfaction can help the employees feel safe and happy at work This would make the organization develop in a good way Meanwhile, working performance focuses on factors such as productivity, job knowledge and skills, communication, problem solving, attendance and punctuality, and teamwork The employees’ working performance always plays a decisive role in the successes of an organization Therefore, this issue is always one of the most important tasks of an organization

Job satisfaction and working performance of the personnel are closely related to each other Therefore, the improvement of these two issues can lead to the improvement of the HRM in particular and the development of the whole organization in general

For Vietnam in general and Phu Tho province in particular, exploiting and using the human resource effectively are very important matters The human resource must bring into play the diversity and richness of the eastern cultural tradition such as: fondness for learning,

respect to talents, knowledge, and science However, up to now, the important potentials have not been fully exploited because the human resource may not have been effectively used Nowadays as the world becomes a knowledgeable economy, the problem of high- qualified human resource is a very pressing one For a country like Vietnam, which has newly overcome the threshold of poverty, it is very important to take a short cut for the development

to fill the gap between the rich and the poor, the high land and the low land areas, and the

countryside and the cities to make Vietnam become a developed country This aim can only be

achieved if Vietnam has a high-qualified workforce In order to achieve this goal, Hung Vuong University (HVU) was established based on decision 81/2003 by the Vietnamese Prime Minister on April 29, 2003 with a mission of training the high qualified human resource and transferring new technology to serve the socio-economic development in Phu Tho and other Northern mountainous provinces

Phu Tho is a northern mountainous province in Vietnam It is located east of Vinh

Phuc, south east of Ha Noi, south of Hoa Binh, south west of Son La, and northwest of Yen

Bai and Tuyen Quang In terms of culture, Phu Tho is considered the birth place of Vietnam, where the first kingdom of Vietnamese people named Van Lang was established more than 4,000 years ago The two famous cultural heritages originating from Phu Tho, having been recognized by UNESCO, are Xoan folk song and ancestor worshipping that speak out the old cultural traditions in Vietnam in general and Phu Tho in particular

For a new university like Hung Vuong University, human resource management in general and job satisfaction and working performance in particular are among the most important issues that the school must pay attention to However, there haven't been any studies about these problems in Vietnam This is the reason which compelled the researcher to conduct his research on this field

Hung Vuong University is a disciplinary university It was established on the foundation of a College of Education located in Phu Tho province It has 432 staff and

roughly 7000 students

Like the other mountainous provinces in the north of Vietnam, Phu Tho is still a poor province and is meeting a lot of difficulties in comparison with the big cities and low land

provinces in terms of socio-economic conditions The investment on education is limited and

in general, the living standard of local people is still low Hence, Hung Vuong University is not an exception Because of the reasons of low salary, poor working conditions etc, some

part of HVU's employees do not really keep their minds on their work Apart from that, about

70% of the staff is young (under 35) therefore their knowledge, working skill, working experience, etc are still very limited Many of them need more time to improve themselves to

be able to do the two major duties of a university teacher, which are teaching and conducting

researches at university level

This fact has led to some problems of human resource management, especially the problems concerning job satisfaction and working performance Therefore, it is important to find solutions to those problems so that Hung Vuong University can attract the high-qualified employees to come and work permanently

Because of the practical situation of the University, it is believed that it was necessary

to conduct a study that would determine the level of the job satisfaction, find out working performance of personnel at Hung Vuong University, Phu Tho, Vietnam to serve as basis for

a proposed strategic development program to help the school solve the problems and soon achieve its goals

This study intended to investigate the relationships of job satisfaction and working performance of Hung Vuong Personnel during SY 2012 — 2013 with an end view of

proposing a strategic development program

Specifically, it aimed to meet the following objectives:

1 Determine the demographic profile of the respondents as to:

2 Determine the level of Job satisfaction of Hung Vuong Personnel in terms of

2.1 The nature of work;

2.2 Salary and benefits;

2.3 Professional growth/ promotion;

2.4 Quality of supervision;

2.5 Interpersonal relationship;

2.6 Self-actualization and fulfillment;

2.7 Working environment; and

4 Determine whether the perceptions of respondents differ from each other in reference to their demographic profile;

5 Identify which of the job satisfaction variables and demographic profile best predict the working performance of respondents; and

6 Propose a strategic development program that could improve the working performance of the personnel

Null Hypothesis

None of the job satisfaction variables predict working performance of the personnel of

Hung Vuong University

Significance of the Study

This study can bring benefits to the following people and organizations:

Phu Tho and other Provinces as well as organizations with the same concerns The results will help provide information on some basic situation of job satisfaction and working performance of employees in the educational area

Managers of Hung Vuong University The research gives the managers of Hung Vuong University some ideas on employees’ job satisfaction and working performance The results of the study can be used as bases for the board of rectors of HVU to set up plans to improve its employees' job satisfaction and working performance

Employees If the results of the study can be applied at HVU, its employees will be more motivated and satisfied with their jobs, which will lead to job involvement and later will result in organizational commitment

Researcher With the position as the Director of Personnel of HVU, the researcher can

apply the results of the study in making strategic plans to improve HVU's personnel's job satisfaction and working performance

Future Researchers The study may serve as reference for future researchers who will

do a study on a topic related to this one This could serve as a baseline information for more researches along this line in the future

Scope and Limitation

The study was conducted at Hung Vuong University in Phu Tho Province from

April 2013 to October 2013 It focused on the investigation of employees’ job

satisfaction and working performance at Hung Vuong University, including the main factors of job satisfaction such as (1) the Nature of work, (2) Salary and benefits, (3) professional growth/promotion, (4) Quality of supervision, (5) Interpersonal relationship, (6) Self-actualization and fulfillment, (7) Working environment, and (8) Employee recognition Main factors of working performance were also given attention: (1) Productivity, (2) Job

knowledge and skills, (3) Communication, (4) Problem solving, (5) Attendance and

punctuality, and (6) Teamwork

Measurement of the employees’ job satisfaction and working performance was limited

to the use of questionnaires, and the answers of 358 respondents who were the managers, teachers and staff of the school The study was conducted from April 2013 to October 2013

Definition of Terms

To ensure common understanding among the readers, the following terms are defined

conceptually and operationally:

Attendance and punctuality means being at the workplace every workday and on time

Age refers to the length of time of the person, from birth to dead In the company, age is the

length of time of the person that works in the company

Benefits are the things concerning personal living condition an organization offers its

employees, such as insurance, social and health care, travel allowance, gifts on special

occasions, worthy rewards to good employees, etc

Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information Communication

requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver needs

not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of

communication; thus communication can occur across vast distances in time and

space Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of

communicative commonality The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the message of the sender

Employee refers to the worker who has to carry out instructions from managers to complete

own tasks

Employee Recognition is essentially positive feedback that lets employees know they are

valued and appreciated by their coworkers and the organization To have the greatest impact in the workplace, recognition activities should also reinforce and encourage work that advances employees, departmental, and/or institutional goals and values Interpersonal relationship in a school is the interpersonal relationship in every area

concerning education between teachers and other staff, teachers and students, school and the students' parents, teachers and the supervisors, etc

Job satisfaction is the state of how content an individual is with his or her job at his/ her

work place It is the extent of pleasurable feelings individuals have about their jobs

Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something, which can include facts, information,

descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject It can be implicit (as with practical

skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); it can

be more or less formal or systematic

Nature of work refers to the job description, the type of things an individual will be doing at

a work place if hired

Occupation is a person's usual or principal work or business, especially as a means of earning

a living; vocation

Position refers to a social or official rank or status

Problem solving refers to the process of working through details of a problem to reach a

solution Problem solving may include mathematical or systematic operations and can

be a gauge of an individual's critical thinking skills

Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production It is a ratio of what is produced to

what is required to produce it Usually this ratio is in the form of an average,

expressing the total output divided by the total input It is a measure of output from a

production process, per unit of input

Professional growth/promotion refers to the equal opportunities of the employees to develop

their professional knowledge and skills as well as to stand a fair chance in promotion Quality of supervision refers to standards of the supervisors in the following fields:

professional knowledge and skills, management knowledge and _ skills, ethical

leadership (democracy, being fair, responsibility, enthusiasm, consideration to the inferiors, etc)

Skills are personal abilities and talents that help employees carry out work-related tasks Salary is a form of remuneration paid periodically by an employer to an employee, the

amount and frequency of which may be specified in an employment contract

Self-actualization and fulfillment refers to the employees’ commitment, motivation,

responsibility, dedication and pride for their jobs

Sex refers to a person’s biological sex whether male and female

Strategic development program is the program which aims at developing the organization's

employees and the business by dealing with critical problems The aim of the Strategic Development Program is to develop the employees while at the same time developing

the business by focusing on the critical problems that happen in its practical situations

Teamwork refers to the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to

achieve a goal

Working environment can be identified as the place that one works This refers to the factors

in the working environment, such as co-workers, air quality, ergonomic seating,

management (the boss), equipment, place of work, childcare, parking, and noise Working Performance refers to the job-related activities expected of a worker and how well

those activities were executed (de la Cruz, 2014)

Work unit is a division or department of an organization

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the relevant readings and related literature, which bear significance and similarities in this study This also includes the paradigm and the definition

of terms that could help the readers to fully understand the context of this study

Job Satisfaction

There have been many studies about job satisfaction in Vietnam and overseas, including studies by Schemerhon (1993), Spector (1997), Crossman and Bassem (2003), Bowling, Beehr, Wagner, & Libkuman (2005), Thompson and Phua (2012), Tran Thi Kim Dung (2005), Vũ Khắc Đạt (2009) and Nguyễn Trần Thanh Bình (2009), etc According to them, in general, job satisfaction is how content an individual is with his or her job at the workplace Scholars and human resource professionals generally make a distinction between affective job satisfaction and cognitive job satisfaction Affective job satisfaction is the extent

of pleasurable emotional feelings individuals have about their jobs overall, and is different to cognitive job satisfaction which is the extent of individuals’ satisfaction with particular facets

of their jobs, such as pay, pension arrangements, working hours, and numerous other aspects

of their jobs

At its most general level of conceptualization, job satisfaction is simply how content

an individual is with his or her job At the more specific levels of conceptualization used by academic researchers and human resources professionals, job satisfaction has varying definitions Affective job satisfaction is usually defined as a one-dimensional subjective construct representing an overall emotional feeling individuals have about their job as a whole Hence, affective job satisfaction for individuals reflects the degree of pleasure or happiness their job in general induces Cognitive job satisfaction is usually defined as being a more objective and logical evaluation of various facets of a job As such, cognitive job

satisfaction can be one-dimensional if it comprises evaluation of just one aspect of a job, such

as pay or maternity leave, or multidimensional if two or more facets of a job are simultaneously evaluated Cognitive job satisfaction does not assess the degree of pleasure or

happiness that arises from specific job facets, but rather gauges the extent to which those job

facets are judged by the jobholder to be satisfactory in comparison with objectives they themselves set or with other jobs While cognitive job satisfaction might help to bring about

affective job satisfaction, the two constructs are distinct, not necessarily directly related, and

have different antecedents and consequences

Job satisfaction can also be seen within the broader context of the range of issues,

which affect an individual's experience of work, or their quality of working life Job satisfaction can be understood in terms of its relationships with other key factors, such as

general well-being, stress at work, control at work, homework interface, and working

conditions

However, there is confusion and debate among Human resource professionals and managers on the topic of employee attitudes and job satisfaction—even at a time when employees are increasingly important for organizational success and competitiveness

According to Rynes, Colbert, & Brown (2002), it is important to find:

(1) the causes of employee attitudes,

(2) the results of positive or negative job satisfaction,

(3) how to measure and influence employee attitudes

One of the most important aspects of an individual’s work in a modern organization

concerns the management of communication demands that he or she encounters on the job Demands can be characterized as a communication load, which refers to “the rate and

complexity of communication inputs an individual must process in a particular time frame.”

Individuals in an organization can experience communication over-load and communication under-load which can affect their level of job satisfaction Communication overload can occur

when “an individual receives too many messages in a short period of time which can result in unprocessed information or when an individual faces more complex messages that are more

difficult to process Due to this process, “given an individual’s style of work and motivation

to complete a task, when more inputs exist than outputs, the individual perceives a condition

of overload which can be positively or negatively related to job satisfaction In comparison,

communication under load can occur when messages or inputs are sent below the individual’s ability to process them.” According to the ideas of communication over-load and under-load,

if an individual does not receive enough input on the job or is unsuccessful in processing these inputs, the individual is more likely to become dissatisfied, aggravated, and unhappy

with their work which leads to a low level of job satisfaction

If some job satisfaction surveys are to be believed then as many as a third of us are

considering a change of job Clearly many are finding it hard to get that feeling of satisfaction

from work

Job satisfaction is important not just because it boosts work performance but also because it increases our quality of life Many people spend so much time at work that when it becomes dissatisfying, the rest of their life soon follows

Everyone's job is different but here are 10 factors that psychologists regularly find are important in how satisfied people are with their jobs, including:

Little hassles If you ask doctors what is the worst part of their jobs, what do you think they say? Carrying out difficult, painful procedures? Telling people they've only got months

to live? No, it's something that might seem much less stressful: administration

We tend to downplay day-to-day irritations, thinking we've got bigger fish to fry But actually people's job satisfaction is surprisingly sensitive to daily hassles It might not seem like much but when it happens almost every day and it's beyond our control, it hits job satisfaction hard

This category is one of the easiest wins for boosting employee satisfaction Managers should find out about those little daily hassles and address them

Perception of fair pay Whatever your job, for you to be satisfied, the pay should be fair The bigger the difference between what you think you should earn and what you do earn, the less satisfied you'll be

The important point here is it's all about perception If you perceive that other people

doing a similar job get paid about the same as you then you're more likely to be satisfied with

your job than if you think they're getting more than you

Achievement People feel more satisfied with their job if they've achieved something

In some jobs achievements are obvious, but for others they're not As smaller cogs in larger machines it may be difficult to tell what we're contributing That is why the next factor can be

so important

Feedback There's nothing worse than not knowing whether or not you're doing a good job When it comes to job satisfaction, no news is bad news Getting negative feedback can be painful but at least it tells you where improvements can be made On the other hand positive feedback can make all the difference to how satisfied people feel

Complexity and variety People generally find jobs more satisfying if they are more complex and offer more variety People seem to like complex (but not impossible) jobs, perhaps because it pushes them more Too easy and people get bored

To be satisfied people need to be challenged a little and they need some variety in the tasks they carry out It sounds easy when put like that but many jobs offer neither complexity nor variety

Control You may have certain tasks you have to do, but how you do them should be

up to you The more control people perceive in how they carry out their job, the more satisfaction they experience

If people aren't given some control, they will attempt to retake it by cutting corners, stealing small amounts or finding other ways to undermine the system Psychologists have found that people who work in jobs where they have little latitude—at every level—find their work very stressful and consequently unsatisfying

Organizational support Workers want to know their organization cares about them: that they are getting something back for what they are putting in This is primarily

communicated through things like how bosses treat us, the kinds of fringe benefits we get and

other subtle messages If people perceive more organizational support, they experience higher job satisfaction

Remember: It's not just whether the organization is actually being supportive; it's whether it

appears that way The point being that appearances are really important here If people don't perceive it, then for them it might as well not exist That's why great managers need a

Honeymoons and hangovers Job honeymoons and hangovers are often forgotten by psychologists but well-known to employees People experience honeymoon periods after a month or two in a new job when their satisfaction shoots up But then it normally begins to tail off after six months or so

The honeymoon period at the start of a new job tends to be stronger when people were particularly dissatisfied with their previous job So, hangovers from the last job tend to produce more intense honeymoons in the next job

Easily pleased Some of us are more easily satisfied (or dissatisfied) than others, no matter how good (or bad) the job is To misquote a famous cliché: You can't satisfy all the people all the time

Still, some jobs do seem better suited to certain types of people A lot of work has been done on person-environment fit but because jobs vary so much it's difficult to summarize

One generalization that can be made, though, is that people get more satisfied with their jobs as they get older Perhaps this is because the older people are; the more likely they are to have found the right work for them There's little evidence for this but I'd certainly like

to think it was true

On the darker days, though, we tend to think it's because young people have sky-high expectations (which are soon dashed) and older people have learned to live with their lot, however uninspiring it is

Why can't we all be satisfied?

When you look at this list of what makes for a satisfying job, you might wonder why everyone can't have one With a little thought, most of the predictors of satisfaction can be provided

The answer is probably quite simple Organizations pay lip-service to keeping their employees satisfied, but many don't really believe it makes a difference What this research shows is that it can make a huge difference

If you're a manager looking to improve satisfaction at your workplace then start with point number 1: find out about people's little hassles and address them It might not look like much but people will really appreciate it

'Working Performance

Working performance (job performance) is a commonly used, yet poorly defined concept in industrial and organizational psychology, the branch of psychology that deals with the workplace It's also part of Human Resources Management It most commonly refers to whether a person performs their job well Despite the confusion over how it should be exactly defined, working performance is an extremely important criterion that relates to

organizational outcomes and success Many scientists have studied about working

performance, such as John P Campbell, BAI Xiaojun, ZHOU Fei, Waleed Ahmed Abdel — Razek and Tran Thi Kim Dung, etc

Among the most commonly accepted theories of job performance comes from the work of John P Campbell and colleagues Coming from a psychological perspective, Campbell (1990) describes job performance as an individual level variable That is,

performance is something a single person does This differentiates it from more encompassing

constructs such as organizational performance or national performance, which are higher- level variables

There are several key features to Campbell's conceptualization of job performance, which help clarify what job performance means

First, Campbell defines performance as behavior It is something done by the employee This concept differentiates performance from outcomes Outcomes are the result of

an individual's performance, but they are also the result of other influences In other words,

more factors determine outcomes than just an employee's behaviors and actions

Campbell allows for exceptions when defining performance as behavior For instance, he clarifies that performance does not have to be directly observable actions of an

individual It can consist of mental productions such as answers or decisions However,

performance needs to be under the individual's control, regardless of whether the performance

of interest is mental or behavioral

The difference between individual controlled action and outcomes is best conveyed through an example On a sales job, a favorable outcome is a certain level of revenue generated through the sale of something (merchandise, some service, insurance) Revenue can

be generated or not, depending on the behavior of employees When the employee performs

this sales job well, he is able to move more merchandise However, certain factors other than

employees’ behavior influence revenue generated For example, sales might slump due to economic conditions, changes in customer preferences, production bottlenecks, etc In these conditions, employee performance can be adequate, yet sales can still be low The first is performance and the second is the effectiveness of that performance These two can be decoupled because performance is not the same as effectiveness

Another closely related construct is productivity This can be thought of as a comparison of the amount of effectiveness that results from a certain level of cost associated

with that effectiveness In other words, effectiveness is the ratio of outputs to inputs—those

inputs being effort, monetary costs, resources, etc

Utility is another related construct, which is defined as the value of a particular level

of performance, effectiveness, or productivity Utilities of performance, effectiveness, and

productivity are value judgments

Despite the emphasis on defining and predicting job performance, it is not a single unified construct There are vastly many jobs each with different performance standards Therefore, job performance is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct consisting of more than one kind of behavior According to Campbell (1990) proposed eight-factor model

of performance, the behaviors of the employees are as follows:

The first factor is task specific behaviors, which include those behaviors that an

individual undertakes as part of a job They are the core substantive tasks that delineate one job from another

On the other hand, non-task specific behaviors, the second factor, are those

behaviors which an individual is required to undertake which do not pertain only to a particular job Returning to the sales person, an example of a task specific behavior would be

showing a product to a potential customer A non-task specific behavior of a sales person

might be training new staff members

Written and oral communication tasks refer to activities where the incumbent is

evaluated, not on the content of a message necessarily, but on the adeptness with which they

deliver the communication Employees need to make formal and informal oral and written presentations to various audiences in many different jobs in the work force

An individual's performance can also be assessed in terms of effort, either day to

day, or when there are extraordinary circumstances This factor reflects the degree to which people commit themselves to job tasks

The performance domain might also include an aspect of personal discipline

Individuals would be expected to be in good standing with the law, not abuse alcohol, etc

In jobs where people work closely or are interdependent, performance may include the degree to which a person helps the groups and his or her colleagues This might include acting as a good role model, coaching, giving advice or helping maintain group goals

Many jobs also have a supervisory or leadership component The individual will be relied upon to undertake many of the things delineated under the previous factor and in addition will be responsible for meeting out rewards and punishments These aspects of performance happen in a face-to-face manner

Managerial and administrative performance entails those aspects of a job, which serve the group or organization but do not involve direct supervision A managerial task would be setting an organizational goal or responding to external stimuli to assist a group in achieving its goals In addition, a manager might be responsible for monitoring group and individual progress towards goals and monitoring organizational resources

Another taxonomy of job performance was proposed and developed by Murphy (1994) This model is significantly broader and breaks performance into only four

dimensions, including:

- Task-oriented behaviors are similar to task-specific behaviors in Campbell's model

This dimension includes any major tasks relevant to someone's job

- Interpersonally oriented behaviors are represented by any interaction the focal

employee has with other employees These can be task related or non-task related This

dimension diverges from Campbell's taxonomy because it included behaviors (small talk, socializing, etc.) that are not targeting an organization's goal

- Downtime behaviors are behaviors that employees engage in during their free time

either at work or off-site Downtime behaviors that occur off-site are only considered job performance when they subsequently affect job performance (for example, outside behaviors that cause absenteeism)

- Destructive/hazardous behaviors

In addition to these models dividing performance into dimensions, others have identified different types of behaviors making up performance

Different types of performance

Another way to divide performance is in terms of task and contextual (citizenship and counterproductive) behaviors Whereas task performance describes obligatory behaviors, contextual behaviors are behaviors that do not fulfill specific aspects of the job's required role Citizenship behaviors are defined as behaviors, which contribute to the goals of the organization through their effect on the social and _ psychological conditions Counterproductive behaviors, on the other hand, are intentional actions by employees, which circumvent the aims of the organization

Many studies have examined the multidimensional and complex construct of "job performance" Among the most accepted theories is working performance which Campbell

(1990) describes as a performance variable individually Performance is what one person can make a distinguished performance and management Campbell, McHenry, and Wise (1990) have identified 8 major dimensions of performance:

(1) Specific tasks the job skills,

(2) Tasks nonspecific job skills,

(3) Tasks of writing and oral communication,

(4) Demonstrating effort;

(5) Maintaining personal discipline,

(6) Facilitation of pair and team performance,

(7) Supervision and

(8) Management and administration

In the literature, individual performance dimensions include production facilities,

quality of work, ownership, supervision and leadership skills, performance, lost time,

turnover, during training, promotion and satisfaction

A meta-analysis of selection methods in personnel psychology found that general mental ability was the best overall predictor of job performance and training performance

Campbell (1990) also suggested determinants of performance components Individual differences on performance are a function of three main determinants: declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and skill, and motivation

Declarative knowledge refers to knowledge about facts, principles, objects, etc It represents the knowledge of a given task's requirements For instance, declarative knowledge

includes knowledge of principles, facts, ideas, etc

If declarative knowledge knows what to do, procedural knowledge and skill knows how to do it For example, procedural knowledge and skill includes cognitive skill, perceptual

skill, interpersonal skill, etc.

The third predictor of performance is motivation, which refers to "a combined effect from three choice behaviors

Additionally, the impact of organizational justice perceptions on performance is believed to stem from Equity Theory This would suggest that when people perceive injustice they seek to restore justice One way that employees restore justice is by altering their level of performance Procedural justice affects performance because of its impact on employee

attitudes Distributive justice affects performance when efficiency and productivity are

involved Improving justice perceptions improves productivity and performance

Job performance is a consistent and important outcome of core self-evaluations (CSE) The concept of core self-evaluations was first examined by Judge, Locke, and Durham (1997) as a dispositional predictor of job satisfaction, and involves four personality

dimensions; locus of control, neuroticism, self-efficacy, and self-esteem

In the study “The employees’ performance management in view of psychological boundaries”, BAI Xiaojun, ZHOU Fei (2008) showed that as to performance management,

the management has always put the attention on the technical aspects such as performance, appraisal approaches as well as feedback This study discusses the relative factors affecting performance management from a new perspective, that is, psychological boundaries The paper firstly reviews literature, and then it defines psychological boundaries Finally, it analyses how psychological boundaries impact on the performance from the perspectives of individuals and groups, such as cognitive, self — efficacy, motivation and group norms In fact, the paper applies the theory of psychological boundary to solve the relative problems in performance management

In another study “Factors affecting the effectiveness of the job performance of the

specialists working in the Youth care at Helwan University” Waleed Ahmed Abdel — Razek

(2011) aimed at identifying the level of the factors affecting the effectiveness of the job

performance of the specialists working in the youth care at Helwan University, through identifying:

1 Organizational climate;

2 The effectiveness of job performance;

3 The extent of the relationship between the organizational climate axis and job

performance effectiveness level;

4 Obstacles that hinder the effectiveness of job performance and;

5 The extent of the relationship between the obstacles that affect performance and both the organizational climate and job performance effectiveness

The research sample consisted of 100 specialists working in the youth care, where 3

questionnaires designed by the researcher were used to measure the organizational climate, the effectiveness of job performance level and the obstacles that hinder the effectiveness of

job performance The research conclusions were as follows: the organizational climate effect level on the specialist’s job performance effectiveness was average; the specialist’s job

performance effectiveness level was average; there is a direct statistical significant relation between the job performance effectiveness and the organizational climate axis, as well as between the total degree of both performance and climate and there is an opposite statistical significant relation between the obstacles that hinder effectiveness of job performance and both the organizational climate and job performance effectiveness

The following evaluation of an employee's working performance has been completed

by his/her supervisor This evaluation was based on factors applicable to his/her duties and responsibilities More than one statement may be applicable in evaluation the factors in the left margin

meet minimum | make mistakes-barely generally | seldom needs | Exceptionall

excessive errors Occasiona | of high quality

Relationship in working with | in attitude and manner well with | effective in teamwork

with the other others U1 Has tendency to others dealing with and good

working with Oo Often from supervisor attitude associates others

supervisors, antagonizes Accepts | Li Exercises pts o

fellow other people constructi | discretion and | Exceptional

considered were | |! Needs to be O Tries to and

oO

Argumentative

3 Work habits | || Little interest | [| Gives up easily o (| Consistently | 0

Considered was | in work (Has some difficulty in | Generally | up to and Exceptional

your attitude E1 Does not following prescribed acceptable | somewhat work habits toward your follow work procedures work above work and attitude work, safe and prescribed work | [| Needs to show more standards toward job

may affect your

work and use of

time

knowledge and | of knowledge knowledge of duties adequate | knowledge of | understandin

skills 0 Very little U1 Understanding of job | knowledg | duties Well g of job

Considered was | understanding duties not sufficient e of duties | informed assignments

familiarity with | instruction instruction | direction Extremely

5 Attendance (1 Excessive (1 Lax in attendance and | 0 (1 Very good U Excellent

punctuality tardiness time acceptable | record attendance

Considered (Absent from | {] Improvement needed U Rarely tardy | record

observances of | [| Abuses lunch

lunch hour and | hours and work

break periods breaks

(Applicable for | overall qualities | recommended considere | responsibility | promotion

Permanent Staff | (| Unwilling to d for d without

Related studies

There have been many studies about job satisfaction and working performance, which bear close relevance to the study at hand

Weiss, Dawis, England and Lofquist (1967) designed the Minnesota Satisfaction

Questionnaire (MSQ) consisting of 20 items (20 factors) to measure job satisfaction on each

of its facets, including: (1) Ability Utilization; (2) Achievement; (3) Activity; (4) Advancement; (5) Authority; (6) Company Policies; (7) Compensation; (8) Co-workers (9) Creativity; (10) Independence; (11) Security; (12) Social Service; (13) Social Status; (14) Moral Values; (15) Recognition; (16) Responsibility; (17) Supervision Human Relations; (18) Supervision Technical; (19) Variety; and (20) Working conditions

The measure JDI (Job Descriptive Index) made by Smith et al in 1969 is one of the valuable and trusted one, which includes: (1) The nature of work, (2) Opportunity of

promotion, (3) Leadership, (4) Colleagues, and (5) Salary Later, Crossman and Bassem

(2003) added two more factors, which are welfare and working environment

In a study by Schemerhon (1993), he showed 8 elements concerning the employees' satisfaction, including: (1) Working position, (2) The superiors’ supervision, (3) The relation ship with the colleagues, (4) The nature of work, (5) The allowance, (6) Opportunity of promotion, (7) Working environment, (8) Organizational structure

Meanwhile, the model JSS (Job Satisfaction Survey) of Spector (1997) was made to evaluate the 9 elements concerning the employees’ satisfaction, including: (1) Salary, (2) Opportunity of promotion, (3) Working condition, (4) Supervision, (5) Colleagues, (6) The enjoyment of work, (7) Communication, (8) Rewards, (9) Welfare

In Vietnam, the model JDI is also used as basis to study the employees' job satisfaction by some researchers, such as the one conducted by Tran Thi Kim Dung (2005) in the study “The needs and the satisfaction of the employees in the level of relationship with the organization”

The study made by BAI Xiaojun, ZHOU Fei (2008) on the “The employees’ performance management in view of psychological boundaries” As to performance management, the management has always put the attention on the technical aspects such

as performance, appraisal approaches as well as feedback

Another study entitled “Factors affecting the effectiveness of the job performance of

the specialists working in the Youth care at Helwan University” made by Waleed Ahmed Abdel — Razek (2011) aimed to identify the level of the factors affecting the effectiveness of

the job performance of the specialists working in the youth care at Helwan University

In comparison with the related studies, there have been some similarities and

differences as follows:

The researcher studied the levels of Hung Vuong University's employees’ job satisfaction and working performance on most of the factors mentioned in the related studies

However, in his study, the researcher did not study the employees' job satisfaction and

working performance separately, but focused the attention on the levels of the Hung Vuong University employees' job satisfaction and the quality of their working performance, through which to find out the best predictor/s of the employees' working performance He also determined the differences between the different groups of respondents' perception on these two problems, and then setting up a proposed strategic development program for the school Conceptual and Theoretical framework

With the aim of determining the level of the job satisfaction and finding out working performance of personnel at Hung Vuong University, Phu Tho, Vietnam to serve as basis for

a proposed strategic development program to help the school solve the problems and soon achieve its goals, the researcher would like to find the relationship between the independent variables (the factors of Job Satisfaction and Demographic profile) and the dependent variables (the factors of Working Performance)

Proposed

Strategic Development

Figure 1 shows the relationship of the Independent Variables (the factors of Job Satisfaction and Demographic profile) of the respondents and the factors of dependent variables (Working Performance)

This research paradigm shows the relationship of Job Satisfaction and Demographic profile such as Nature of work, Salary and benefits, Professional growth/ promotion, Quality of supervision, Interpersonal relationship, Self-actualization and fulfillment,

Working environment, Employee recognition, Sex, age, work units, occupation and positions

(independent variables) and Productivity, Knowledge and skills, Communication, Problem

solving, Attendance and Punctuality and Teamwork (dependent variable)

The results of the study would help the researcher work out a proposed strategic program to improve the employees’ job satisfaction and working performance

Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter dealt with the locale of the study, research design, population and

sampling, data gathering procedures, and statistical treatment used in the study

Locale of the Study

The study was conducted in 23 work units at Hung Vuong University, which is located

in Phu Tho province in the north of Viet Nam Hung Vuong University (HVU) has two campuses: campus | is located in Viet Tri, the capital city of Phu Tho province Campus 2 is

located in Phu Tho town - the former capital town of Phu Tho province

Although it was established in 2003, Hung Vuong University has a history of 52 years since its former form was established in 1961 as a college of education Its mission then was

to train the teachers for the early childhood schools, the primary schools and the junior secondary schools in Phu Tho province For more than 50 years of construction and development, it has trained thousands of teachers and engineers for Phu Tho and other

provinces in the north of Vietnam At the moment, it has 23 work units, including: 10 faculties of academy, a medical station, 3 centers, and 9 departments of administration

Among the 432 staff, there are 351 full time staff and 81 part time staff

HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY

Khang 1 Head Quarters Building, Nong Trang Ward, Viet Tri City,

Phu Tho Province

In campus 1, where the Headquarters is located, there are 18 work units, including:

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanisms, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Faculty of

Mathematics and Technology, Faculty of Economics and Business administration, Faculty of

Agro-forestry, Department of Personnel, Department of Administration, Department of Equipment, Department of Construction, Department of Inspection, Examination and quality

assurance, Department of Research planning and International relations; Department of

Students' affairs, Department of Financial Planning and Accounting, Department of Academic

affairs, Medical Station, Center of Cooperative training, Center of Foreign languages and Computing, and Center of Information and Library

HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY

Fig 3

Campus 2, Hung Vuong Ward, Phu Tho town, Phu Tho Province

In campus 2, which is located in Phu Tho town, there are 5 work units, including Faculty of Natural sciences, Faculty of Pre-school and Primary Education, Faculty of Arts and Music; Faculty of Political studies, and Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy;

Research Design

This study used the descriptive correlation design in analyzing the investigated

variables It is designed to help determine the extent to which different variables are related to

each other in the population of interest and state that the critical distinguishing characteristics show relationship, as distinguished from simple description

Population and Sampling

Nearly 90% or 388 of 432 employees in the twenty three (23) units under the authority

of Hung Vuong University were requested to answer the questionnaires About 10% of teachers and staff of HVU were busy taking their Master’s and Doctorate courses at other universities inside and outside Vietnam

Table 3.1 Frequency and percentage distribution of the respondents

Education

Humanisms

Technology

administration

Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy | Campus 2, Phu Tho Town II 10 2.5

Examination and quality assurance Ganapas 1, View Ta sity

International Relations

Center of Cooperative training Campus 1, Viet Tri city 07 07 1:75 Center of Foreign languages and Campus 1, Viet Tri city 05 05 1.25 Computing

and Library