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A Study of Job Satisfaction of Bank Officers

Raj Kamal Debashish Sengupta


The banking sector has undergone a sea-change over the years, which has put new pressures and realities in front of the bank employees. Bank Officers have perhaps felt the maximum heat. Bank Officers form a delicate link between the management and the clerical staff. The success of the bank to a large extent depends upon the coordination, synchronization and cooperation of the Bank Officers with these two very divergent entities. Through this research study an attempt has been made not only to ascertain the degree of overall job satisfaction prevailing among the Bank Officers but also to elicit officers views on the different factors contributing to their job satisfaction, in the light of current realities.

In this study 'Job' means the total relationship between the individual employee and his employer (organization) and with work for which he gets compensated. The term 'Satisfaction' refers to the simple feeling/state accompanying the attainment by an impulse of his/her objectives. The term 'Job Satisfaction therefore refers to the favourableness with which employees view their work and the term 'Job Dissatisfaction' to the unfavourableness with which they take their work. Various theories like Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory, Herzberg's MotivationHygiene Theory, and Vroom's Expectancy Model have been extended to describe the factors responsible for the Job Satisfaction of the employees in the organization. Broadly we can say that an employees 'Job Satisfaction' is related to a number of variables such as age, occupational level, size of the organization, organizational climate, educational qualifications, educational and economic background, size of the family, gender of the employee, etc. Bank Officers form a delicate link between the management and the clerical staff. The success of the bank depends upon the coordination, synchronization and cooperation of the Bank Officers with these two very divergent entities. Hence, the job satisfaction of the officers is of prime importance because only a satisfied and happy officer will be able to achieve such synergy in the bank. Therefore, this study assumes significance and relevance in the overall success of the bank.
Dr Raj Kamal is Senior Faculty Member, Department of Business Administration, M J P Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Dr Debashish Sengupta is Associate Professor, Alliance Business School, Bangaluru, Karnataka.

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Section I Objectives of the Study


The public sector as well as the private sector banks have undergone a sea-change over the years. The change is more evident in the case of public sector banks who are forced to match steps with private sector banks to cope up with the emerging competition. This has meant a total attitudinal change for the employees. This has not been simple and has put new pressures and realities in front of the bank employees iced with a huge pile of inconsistencies. Bank Officers have perhaps felt the maximum heat. On one side they are expected to monitor, administer and manage the clerical staff and on the other hand to be the spokesperson of the management. This paradox in the changed circumstances plus the challenge to counter their own problems has put them in an unenviable position. This research study was undertaken with the following three objectives : (a) To ascertain the degree of overall job satisfaction prevailing among the bank officers. (b) To elicit officer's views on the different factors of job satisfaction being identified as motivation/hygiene factors. (c) To study the impact of different variables such as the occupational level (clerks, cashiers or officers), age, education, organizational climate, economic background and gender, on the various factors affecting the overall job satisfaction.

Section II Research Methodology


Initially the zonal/regional offices of the bank were visited and discussions were held with the level of V & VI bank executives regarding the research. In their opinion till date no such study has been done related to the officers of their bank. In the training centre library no such published study was available. They also showed their desire that if possible they wanted to review such study and it will be in good faith of the bank itself as it will be helpful in the formulation of the future policies and plans. So after getting the green signal the study was carried out. The Research Design opted was descriptive in nature. The Sampling Technique used was Non-Probability, Convenience and Judgemental. The domain of the study included 28 branches of one of the old and leading nationalized banks. The branches were small to extra-large in size including regional and zonal offices. Due to constraints, the study was limited to UP, specifically western UP including capital Lucknow. The study was divided into pilot and final study. The sample size was 100 Officers (out of which 80 responded). The data type was primary and the data were primarily collected by the administration of questionnaire (close ended) and interview method.

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All the questionnaires were administered personally, and during the administration or after the administration, interactions with the respondents were made to facilitate the depth of interview. The data collected through questionnaire (close ended) were subject to computations in the form of table which made the calculations and analysis easy. Simultaneously, during interpretation of the collected data, the statements, observations or recommendations/suggestions made by the officers during personal interview were tried to match to get a single conclusion. The profile sample of 80 officers included newly-appointed officers with about 1 year experience ranging between 22-25 years of age to more than 35 years of experience aged between 55-58 years. Experience and age profile is as follows : Upto 5 years of experience (upto 30 years of age) : 17 Between 5-15 years of experience (30-40 years of age) : 28 Between 15-25 years of experience (40-50 years of age) : 23 More than 25 years of experience (above 50 years of age) : 12 As far as the education was concerned majority of the newly-appointed officers were post-graduates with some computer related qualification. But aged officers were mainly graduates though three were having doctorate degree. Upto 15 years of experience (45) Graduates Post-graduates : 21 PG with computer certificate : 9 Ph.D. (did during the service) : 2 More than 15 years of experience (35) Graduates PG Ph.D. : 23 :9 :3 : 13

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Section III Data Analysis and Interpretation


The data so obtained was subjected to analysis and interpretation and the findings drawn are as follows.

1. Effect of Relations with Subordinate Staff


Interpersonal relations among the officers and clerical staff plays a major role in the job satisfaction of both the categories. Cordial relations build up a favourable organizational climate and increase the employee's preference to come to workplace. In response to the above question 98.75 per cent (79) of the officers said that they had cordial relations with their subordinate staff. While only 1.25 per cent (1) felt otherwise. So we cannot generalize single person's opinion but we can say that officers appear to be satisfied with the interpersonal relationships.

No : 1.25%

No Yes

Yes : 98.75%

2. Role of Work-Related Training Facilities


Training and Development plays a significant role in improving the efficacy of the work-force which makes him feel better equipped for the job at hand. It also helps in the career planning of the employees. Both these aspects provide a sense of job satisfaction to the work-force as well as to the leader. In response to this query an overwhelming 96.25 per cent (77) of the officers felt that the banks lacked proper training facilities for the employees. While the balance 3.75 per cent refused to comment on the issue (a major concern in the area of accountability and transparency). Lack of proper T&D efforts in the organization leads to a greater degree of dissatisfaction with the job. This is also a caution to the bank as well.

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Yes No Comments

10 20 0 30 Yes No Comments 40 50 60 3. Effect of Cultural, Ethnic, Religious and 70 Behavioural Differences among Staff 80 In modern day organizations having people of different cultures, religious and 90 ethnic groups and with different behaviours is common happening. The differences can create dissatisfaction if the tools of cross-cultural management and behaviour modeling are not applied. In response to the above question only 26.25 per cent (21) felt that such differences were an impediment while a majority of 73.75 per cent (59) of the respondents felt that these differences did not come in the way of target achievement. But the more pertaining things is that although small but a portion of the employees were feeling that cultural, religious, ethnic and behavioural differences were coming in the way of smooth functioning and target achievement. This may create a degree of dissatisfaction with the job.

Yes : 26.25%

No Yes

No : 73.75%

4. Challenge of Changed Banking


Banking has changed both in its texture and process significantly in the last few years. This has transformed the customer's expectations from the banks. The orientation has changed from being product-oriented to being customer-oriented. While the external customers demands better and latest state-of-the-art banking,

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the internal customers (employees) are burdened with the same working environment and technology to cope up with the competition from the private and foreign sector banks. While responding to the above query 88.75 per cent (71) of the respondents felt that the changed banking is a real challenge to their administrative activities, only 11.25 per cent (9) of the respondents, have got different opinion. Such challenges if not met convincingly, it can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction among the employees with their job.

10 20 0 30 Yes No 40 5. Effect of Union's50 Interference 60 Union interference in70 banking activities does denote worker dissatisfaction the with the job. At the same time dysfunctional union activities give rise to multiple 80

problems like poor customer service. Besides, it does not help the cause of the employees too. This leads to greater dissatisfaction among employees of all strata. In response to this query 98.75 per cent (79) of the officers felt that the interference of the union is affecting the customer service adversely. Only a negligible 1.25 per cent (1) of the people felt that there is no effect on the banking activities. This is definitely not a good sign for the banks. Customer dissatisfaction may mean depleted customer level, meaning less business for the bank, translating into job dissatisfaction and even career threats for the employees.

10 2 00
Ye 30 s No

40 50 60 70 80 90

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When asked to respond to this query, as many as 97.5 per cent (78) of the respondents said that the work efficiency of the clerks have gone down, only a meagre 2.5 per cent (2) of the respondents have felt otherwise. We know that if subordinates do not work effectively with high efficiency, ultimately the superiors will become more worried and sometimes may get frustrated. This may also have an impact over the job satisfaction of the officers. Though it cannot be considered as generalized and direct but an indirect effect on the overall job satisfaction level of the officers.

7. Role of Devotion of Staff Members (Subordinates) Towards Duties


Devotion to duty is related to the level of organizational belongingness and commitment of the staff members. The latter are products of overall job satisfaction that an employee has in the organization. In response to the above query, majority of the officers said that the staff members (clerks/cashiers) are not devoted towards their work, which should be a worrying indicator for the bank management. A total of 76.25 per cent (61) of the officers felt that the clerical staff were not found to be devoted towards their work. While only 23.75 per cent (19) of the officers had a different view. Based on the above mentioned relation and fact, it can be again concluded and said that it is affecting the overall satisfaction of officers because devotion is directly related to work efficiency. This response definitely points towards a low level of job satisfaction of the staff members in general.

10 20 0 30 Yes No 40 50 8. Relation with Punctuality 60 Punctuality is based on the overall organizational culture. Tardiness or coming 70 late to work is nothing but temporary avoidance of work. It is a natural human tendency to avoid a thing, which he does not like or is not satisfied with.

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No : 33.75%

Yes : 66.25%

In response to the above query the views were a bit divided. While 66.25 per cent (53) of the officers said that the staff members were punctual, the rest 33.75 per cent (27) of the officers felt that the staff members did not come on time. This may also mean that whereas some of the staff members were indeed coming on time, some were not adhering to the reporting time. The habit of coming late is really a point of worry to the officers of any bank. In fact observations made-in here and in the above two (6 & 7) points are related with the fact that the overall work efficiency of subordinates affects the satisfaction of officers. (These observations were also highlighted during the interview of the officers).

10. Cooperation of Top Management


The non-cooperation of the top management becomes a stumbling block in the smooth functioning of any organization. This indifference and non-chalant behaviour makes the workplace less favoured and contributes to the dissatisfaction of the employees. Out of the total respondents 83.75 per cent (67) of the officers felt that the top management was non-cooperating. While 11.25 per cent (9) of the respondents felt otherwise, the rest 5 per cent (4) of the respondents refused to comment on the issue. This shows that there is a huge amount of dissatisfaction over the behaviour of top management among the officers.

10 20 0 30 40 50 60 70

Yes No No Comments

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11. Effect of Staffing-Level of Branch


Staffing is an important HR activity in any organization, which has an enormous implication on the functioning of the organization. Along with the need to select right kind of people it is also needed that the right number of people are also selected. Over-staffing and under-staffing, both are detrimental. Both lead to unproductivity the former due to 'more hands than work' and the latter due to 'more work than hands'. In this context 40 per cent (32) of the officers said that indeed there were less number of employees than required in their branch, whereas the rest 60 per cent (48) did not feel that their branch suffered from under-staffing. This indicator also showed that officers normally never think of workload and take it as a part of job. During the personal interview it was observed that officers having sufficient staff were found to be thankful to the bank management and felt satisfied. However, even in the case where there was less staff, the officers felt that in every branch there were 2-3 efficient and devoted subordinates and they compensated the vacuum created by less number of staff. Hence, the satisfaction of the officers did not get affected.

No

Yes

0 204060

12. Working Space and Personal Space


The working conditions that an organization offers to its employees also play a role in their overall job satisfaction. It is said that sometimes even a good chair can make huge difference to the satisfaction level of the employee. Among other things sufficient space provided to the employees for working also come under working conditions. Cramped-up space suffocates the worker, flout his privacy and suppress his creativity. Similarly, too much spaced offices face the problem of communication gap.

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In response to the above query, 82.5 per cent (66) of the officers said that they had sufficient space to carry-out the banking activities. However, the balance 17.5 per cent (14) of the officers felt that the space available for their working was not enough. Although the percentage of those who feel like this is small but it definitely brings into light that this criteria is being considered by the people, which in turn also means that some people in the organization are dissatisfied with their work space.

80 66 60

20 40
0 Y es No 14

Effect of Proper Space on Customer Service


Further, the respondents who felt that the space in the bank was not enough to carry-out banking activities (Sample Size = 14) were asked whether this limitation affected customer service. All 14 respondents answered in the affirmative. This not only contributes to the dissatisfaction of the employees (since they feel that their performance is suffering because of an external cause and without any of their fault) but also reduces the overall productivity and goodwill of the bank.

14

10 12 14 16

0 2 4 6 8

Yes

No

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13. Accessibility of Bank


Proximity of the bank's zone reduces the logistical problem of the staff. This saves cost as well as time and energy. Accessibility of the bank directly affects the number of customers opting for a bank or its particular branch. If the branch is having good number of accounts, incharge of that branch gets credit and appreciation from the management. So definitely it does contribute to the overall job satisfaction.

Yes : 47.50%

No : 52.50%

In response to the above question the opinion was a bit divided. While 47.5 per cent (38) of the respondents agreed that the bank's zone was indeed well away, the rest 52.5 per cent (42) of the respondents disagreed on this aspect. But what is worth noticing here is that almost half of the officers felt that the bank's zone was not in proximity. This in turn may mean that they are not satisfied with the locational aspect of the bank's zone.

14. Target Achievement by Branch


Fulfillment of the targets indicates a high performance work system. Such a system also indicates high level of commitment of the employees, which definitely emanates from a high degree of job satisfaction. When asked 53.75 per cent (43) of the officers responded in affirmative while the rest 45.25 per cent (37) of the officers felt that the branch was not achieving its targets. As highlighted in the 13th point target, achievement is also appreciated by the bank management and the satisfaction of the officers is also boosted. But on the other side, it will result into mental pressure, frustration, etc. and adversely affect the satisfaction level. This again is not a good sign that almost half of the officers were having a negative impression about the bank's efficiency. The resulting dissatisfaction of the officers can be sometimes very high.

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No

37

Yes

43

34 36 38 40 42 44

Reasons for Under-Achievement


Among the 37 respondents who said that the branch was not achieving targets, the reasons cited for the same was different. The major reasons felt by the employees regarding non-achievement of targets by the bank were Non-Cooperation of the Top Management [92 per cent (34) of the respondents felt it was one of the reasons and 8 per cent (3) felt not)], NonCooperation of the Subordinates [84 per cent (31) of the respondents felt it was one of the reasons and 16 per cent (6) felt it was not)] and Non-Appropriate Communication System [65 per cent (24) respondents felt it was one of the reasons whereas 35 per cent (13) of them felt it was not].

Yes No 10 15 20 0 25 N on -Co o p er at io n of N o n- Co o pe r at io n of N o n - A p p r o p r i a t e 5 30 To p M an ag em ent S ub or di nat es Co mmunicat i on Syst em 35 40 None felt that any political factor was responsible for below par performance. This leads us to believe that the major reasons for below par target achievement was a manifestation of non-cooperating behaviour and improper communication. Non-cooperation in behaviour is a way of avoidance of work and responsibility, which emanates from low job satisfaction.

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15. Effect of Frequent Transfers


Transfers involve dislocation of an individual as well as his family. There are a lot of adjustments that an employee and his family have to do to cope up with this change. However, if the transfers are frequent then the employee is surmounted by a plethora of problems, which range from adjustment disorders to himself and his family members, having to cope with the loss of access to relatives and friends, admission problems of his children, etc. Such a situation leads to high rate of job dissatisfaction.

No

18

Yes

62

0 20406080

As many as 77.5 per cent (62) of the respondents were facing the problem of frequent transfers. Only 22.5 per cent (18) of the respondents were not facing such a problem. This is definitely not a good sign since a large number of officers may be suffering from dislocation and adjustments disorders which not only affect job productivity but also reduce their job satisfaction levels.

16. Personal Attention to Customer's Complaints


The officers were asked about their preference to give personal attention to the complaints of the customers. Surprisingly 100 per cent (80) of the officers preferred to give personal attention to the complaints of the customers.
1 00 80

20 40 600 80
Ye s No

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It can be very well said that every officer used to give full weightage to their customers and they feel satisfaction in giving personalized attention and value to their customers. Though this indicator cannot be directly related to the level of job satisfaction of the officer but researchers thought it necessary to highlight this issue because this is like a golden feather in the bank's cap and it could be said that the bank is lucky enough to have such devoted and caring officers.

17. Satisfaction with Salary


There is a conflict among the behavioural scientists over whether money is a motivator or not. Although there are divergent views but two things can be said for sure in this regard : (a) Money is not the first and the biggest motivator. (b) Money is nevertheless important and plays some role in ascertaining job satisfaction. The officers were asked whether they were satisfied with the salary that they were receiving from the bank. About 66.25 per cent (53) of the respondents were satisfied with their salaries whereas the balance 33.75 per cent (27) of the respondents were not satisfied with their pay packets. Although majority of the officers were satisfied with their salaries, but the dissatisfied lot is also quite large, roughly 1/3rd of the total officers. This result may be a worrisome factor for the bank since inadequate salary or perception of being under-paid may lead to job dissatisfaction.

No : 33.75% Yes : 66.25%

18. Effect of Better Job Design


Better job design leads to breaking of monotony and creation of motivation at workplace. The officers were asked if they preferred job rotation or not. 70 per

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24

Yes No

This shows that the majority of the officers are not satisfied with the job design aspects of their organization.

Overall job satisfaction in the case of officers was not very high. Most of the officers were not highly satisfied but still seem to be satisfied in general. The data showed that a large majority of the respondents, i.e. 76.3 per cent (61) were just plainly satisfied, 10 per cent (8) were satisfied in some aspects, 7.5 per cent

More Satisfied 7.50% 10.00%

Satisfied in Some Aspects Plain Satisfied

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