Problem
Case: Job Satisfaction Survey
Dr. Charles E. Michaels received his Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology in 1983 from the University of South Florida. He is currently an associate professor of management at the University of South Florida. As a professor, he divides his time among teaching, research, and consulting for local and national organizations. Dr. Michaels is an expert in job satisfaction, and much of his consulting and research is in this area. One consulting project was a job satisfaction survey done for a county fire department. What makes this project unusual is that Dr. Michaels was hired by the firefighters' union rather than by the management of the department. Although most I/O psychologists work for management, occasionally they work for unions as well. Union representatives approached Dr. Michaels to conduct a satisfaction survey because there was considerable unrest among the union's members. The combination of a new fire chief and a two-year wage freeze had led to widespread dissatisfaction among the firefighters. The union representatives were hopeful that a study would provide an impetus for change on the part of management. Dr. Michaels began this project by interviewing several groups of employees. From the interviews, he was able to develop a satisfaction questionnaire appropriate to the issues of the organization. He surveyed all the firefighters using the questionnaire and found that satisfaction was quite low. In particular, there was dissatisfaction with both pay and communication. The results of the study were compiled into a report that was given to the union representatives.
They used the report in a successful campaign for higher wages and improved communication. One year later Dr. Michaels repeated the survey and found that job satisfaction had significantly increased. Furthermore, the largest increases were in the facets of pay and communication satisfaction. This case illustrates that job satisfaction surveys can be used to improve the work conditions for employees.
Task
a) What sorts of things would you expect to raise the job satisfaction of firefighters?
b) Do you think the results of this project would have been different if Dr. Michaels had been hired by management? Justify your answer.