Case study on services are rendered by them in a timely manner

In recent research, it has been determined that employees with performance level tend to be more effective and efficient in performing their specific duties. Their work is embraced by them and services are rendered by them in a timely manner. However, this shows that both their extrinsic and intrinsic values have been met by the bank. It is not simple for the department of human resource to be effective in this regard. However, an increased level of employee satisfaction will decrease the turnover of employees; increase the performance of organization and job, while contributing to creating and maintaining a positive organizational image.

The authors have also explained that employees must be considered most important in the process of decision making because they have a critical role to play in making the organization achieve its objectives and goals. It is significant to consider fairness whenever it comes to problems related to recognition, pay, promotion, and some other important factors. This way, employees will always remain satisfied and motivated, and it will increase the level of productivity. At present, in practice, the satisfaction of employees is quite simple and it is concerned with how satisfied or content workers are with their work. For all banks, the high satisfaction level of workers is quite important in ensuring that they remain a valuable resource. Banking management should develop strategies for keeping their workers motivated and engaged with their work. It helps the organization in meeting the expectations and producing exceptional outcomes (Sageer, Rafat, & Agarwal, 2012).

If employee satisfaction is to be improved, it is important to ensure that the ground reality is determined. Because of its multi-faceted nature, different organizational cultures, countries, and organizations, the evaluation of satisfaction of employees along with its factors seem to vary a lot. Thus, it can be said that for two different countries, evaluation of employee satisfaction would not be the same. Actually, some organizations prefer to conduct surveys about the satisfaction of employees and using that method, they determine whether their workers are feeling satisfied with their work or not. If the survey indicates that employees are dissatisfied with their work then they implement different strategies for improving the satisfaction of workers. After these strategies have been implemented, they again conduct the survey about employee satisfaction and determine whether improvements have occurred or not.

Increasing demands are being faced by businesses in raising their efficiency and responsiveness to employees and consumers. On the issue of job satisfaction and work-life balance, significant research and numerous studies have already been conducted, just not in the context of Omani banking sector. Developing nations have also begun to pay attention to this issue of job satisfaction. Meanwhile in Oman, there is no substantial information available on this topic, especially in the banking sector. Just as it has been explained in the literature review, job satisfaction is concerned with some psychological factors. Employees are not able to perform their work exceptionally when they are feeling stress or any other issue.

For instance, if there is a worker who has been leaving late and is unable to spend time with this family, he will be stressed about it. After reaching the office, he will not be able to concentrate on his work because of the stress that he would be feeling. He would be thinking about this social issue and it would not let him focus on his work. Thus, he will not be able to perform his utmost and might not even meet the expectations of the manager. For organizations to ensure that each and every employee is exceeding his limits, they should focus on implementing flexible working programs. These programs have been determined to be effective in increasing the efficiency of workers.

In several countries including Japan and the US, there is a number of work-life balance programs for workers being incorporated by banks and these initiatives include telecommunicating, parental leave-on-site, job sharing, and flexible working hours. It is suggested by studies that when work-life balance is absent, dissatisfaction of employees increases. But it is determined that when the need of employees are met by banks through different flexible working programs, they tend to show higher organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Topolosky, 2014).

According to the authors, employees in different organizations are not able to perform exceptionally when they are stressed and worried because of the inflexibility of organizations. Most of the public organizations don’t provide employees with the opportunity to work according to their will and flexible working is not allowed. Due to it, most of the employees in public organizations seem to exhibit dissatisfaction with their organizations.

Generally, the satisfaction of job at the middle level of workers seems to decrease when stress and work-life conflict increases. The satisfaction of job at the lower employee level seems to have an inverse correlation with family and stress to work interference and it has a positive relationship with the autonomy of job.

There is actually a direct correlation between flexible working time and satisfaction at job. Just as it has been explained above, not only males but females are also working in the Omani banking sector. In studies which are focused upon the working life of females, it has been highlighted significantly and that most of the women who are married tend to feel stress at work and they are unable to meet the expectations of the manager (Huang, Li, Meschke, & Guthrie, 2015).

Upon further exploration, it has been determined that they have both work and social responsibilities and they are unable to achieve a balance between the two. For instance, most of the women have children and they are responsible for preparing them for school, making dinner for them after leaving the office, and sometimes teaching them as well. When they have so many duties to fulfill, they cannot create a balance between their work life and their social life.

Similarly, most of the senior employees are married and they have a responsibility other than working at a bank. If they are unable to fulfill this responsibility before reaching office, they will not be able to focus on their work. Flexible working hours increase the efficiency and satisfaction of employees because a worker gets an opportunity to do what he wants without having to sacrifice one for the sake of the other. For instance, a flexible working strategy is that workers only have to meet the weekly target and whether they delay their target or accomplish it earlier is up to them. If they succeed in accomplishing the target before the end of the week then they will get the free time they need to spend with their family or do whatever they want.

This way, as soon as they complete their work, they are free and have the opportunity to spend their time as they like. Similarly, monthly targets can be set and an employee can be given an opportunity to reach the target earlier and spend the remaining time how he prefers.

In a study, the authors analyzed job satisfaction and work-life balance among employees and exposed an adverse relationship between job satisfaction and work-life issues. It was suggested by the study that if organizations provide different facilities for reducing work-life issues, it will lead to enhancement and improvement in the job satisfaction of employees. It was also suggested by authors that employees should be constantly appraised for the work they do because it plays an important role in keeping them committed and loyal to the organization. In the banking sector of Oman, management seriously lacks this attribute and it results in low employee satisfaction. In order to improve the satisfaction of workers, it is important for the management to make sure that employees are not facing issues in their social life because when workers are disturbed, they tend to underperform. When something is occupying their minds, they are unable to work and tasks related to banking are mentally exhausting (Hill & Alexander, 2017).

The flexible working hours seem to include job sharing, shift work, long-term leaves, overtime, and part time opportunities. It has also been determined that flexible work seems to refer to the degree of diversity, negotiation structure, gender equality, and flexibility of the working time.  But it is important to note that all the staff must be present at the workplace within a specific time frame. Thus, through the implementation of this system, workers might choose a suitable for arriving at the workplace and leaving it. This way, they can spend time with their family or resolve social issues while maintaining their work as well.

They can check whether they are meeting the weekly requirements of time or not and can change their schedule accordingly. In the banking sector of Oman, the number of female employees is increasing. With time, more females are being employed and most of them are married. It seems to place a substantial burden on them to reach the office on time and give attention to their family as well. Creating a flexible system will benefit female employees and will give them an opportunity and a reason to be more productive than before (Kabungaidze, Mahlatshana, & Ngirande, 2013).

 CHAPTER 5: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

The current chapter is related to the discussion of the results about the topic, under study, which is “Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector: A Case of Muscat Bank, Oman”. All the interpretations for the results are based on the secondary data which is already mentioned in the methodology part. This secondary data is extracted from the outcomes of the previous research work. Based on already existing data the objectives and the research questions of the current study are well-evaluated. This discussion is beneficial due to the fact that the results for the employee’s job satisfaction in the banking sector are determined to a possible extent.

The main purpose behind the discussion for the results is to determine the existence of the association between the research objectives and the outcomes of the secondary data. The interpretations for the results made in this chapter are based on the information available in the previous four chapters. These chapters contain the data about thee research objectives, research questions, literature review and the methodology of the current research work.

5.2 Results and Discussions of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

The current study objectives are all about the job satisfaction of the employees in the bank of Muscat. These objectives are as given: the employee’s job satisfaction is to be evaluated from the existing literature specially in the context of Banking sector, the evaluation for the factors that serve as the key determinants for the employee’s job satisfaction in the Banking Sector, an investigation regarding the existing strategies that better motivate the employees in the Banking sector is desirable, and recommendations are required that help to motivate the employees in the Muscat Bank which will ultimately lead the banks to achieve the competitive advantage in the market place.

The research questions for the current study include as given: the identification of the major factors that serve as the key determinants for the employee’s job satisfaction as well as the evaluation of their performance in the context of banking sector of Oman, the identification of the factors to impact the employee’s job performance and the job satisfaction, an investigation of the existing strategies along with their influence on the employee’s job satisfaction, and  identification of the major motivational factors to have an impact on the employees satisfaction with their job in order to lead the bank of Muscat to achieve the competitive advantage.

For any organization, the employees are considered as the significant assets. They are the ones who can either make the company to earn the huge profits or bear the continuous losses. Also, they make the company to earn the increased market share and the increased count of the customers. The organizational performance is based on the employees for the purpose of the social, economic and cultural developments. They tend to outperform only if they are satisfied from their job based on the fact that their satisfaction from the job is the key determinant for their performance. The key determinant for the employee’s job satisfaction is their attitude. The other parameters include the salary & wages, the opportunities for the promotion, leadership styles of the colleagues & the supervisors, working environment, perceived organizational support, and other job benefits (Abdolshah, 2018).

The researcher also found that the important parameters to motivate the employees include the perceived organizational support, compensations and benefits as well as the working conditions. For the Bank of Muscat, the managers are required to pay more attention to these determinants in order to make the employees satisfied from their jobs.

The employee’s performance depends on how satisfied they are from their jobs. It can be evaluated based on the employee’s views & the opinions regarding their organization (Uyargil, 2010). The current research work also intends to measure the employee’s job satisfaction along with their view regarding the Bank and the perceived organizational support. It is the employee’s feelings & their attitudes which determine whether the employees are satisfied from their jobs or not. The more the employee’s attitudes are positive towards their organization, the more they outperform. It indirectly means that they are satisfied from their job. In case the employees show unfavorable and the negative attitudes towards the job, it means they are not satisfied form their job (Armstrong, 2006).

According to the findings, the employee’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction could be determined by two main factors; behavior and attitude. In the Bank of Muscat, the same strategy is if well-implemented then it can help the organization in the determination of the job satisfaction or the dissatisfaction. Based on the said factor, the bank’s performance can also be evaluated.

For a workplace, the most significant factor related to the employees is their satisfaction from the job. There exist different theories in this regard. One of the important theories is about the Hierarchy of needs which was proposed by Maslow. It actually examines factors, which play their part in job satisfaction. This theory has suggested a hierarchy with five levels to depict hierarchy of needs. The other important theory to be reviewed in this research is Job Characteristics Model. The primary focus of this theory is to look at motivational job characteristics, which are encouraged by the work environment. This theory has identified five major job characteristics to talk about which includes as given: physiological needs (food, water, rest and warmth), safety needs (safety & security), Belongingness & love needs (intimate friends & relationships), esteem needs (feelings of achievement & accomplishment) and Self-actualization (achievement of the full potential along with the creativity to the activities). (Sowmya, 2011).

The present study results show that in the Bank of Muscat the employees tend to perform with full potential only if they full secure regarding their perceptions. They have the increased liability for the organizational goals and objectives only if they know that their company takes into consideration their well-being.

Another study by (Jalagat, 2017) shows that for job satisfaction employee’s job stress is also taken into consideration in a given work environment. This study was conducted to understand that what kind of jobs stress variables play their part in affecting employee performance. The main aim of the study was to find a relationship between employee performance and job stress. The study was conducted in Oman’s Petroleum Development. The study outcomes reveal work overload as well as skills’ underutilization is dominating variables in increasing job stress. So, company should turn its focus to develop the skills of employees so that job stress elements can be mitigated. The results of the current study also support the same thing that the job stress needs to be minimized only then the employees in the Bank of Muscat can feel satisfied regarding their jobs.

The bank’s structure is also an important factor to have the impact on the employee’s perceptions regarding their jobs. It can be seen that in some of the banks that are located in Oman their organizational structure is perfect and also ideal in the private sectors. But it can be seen that in public sector banks the organizational structure is not too much suitable for the employees. If the organizational structure is good so there will be a positive impact on job satisfaction that can be seen on the performance of the employees. Some employees who are working in the banks at a lower level they are provided with few vacations as compared to those employees that are working at a higher level in the banks. Due to this reason, the job satisfaction of the lower level employees will be decreased (Ahmed Imran Hunjra, 2010). The current study regarding the Oman banking sector reveals that the bank’s structure needs to be flexible. The main purpose behind it is to increase the level of job satisfaction for the lower level employees.

The more the employees are satisfied from their job, the more they are productive. It means that employee performance and productivity is certainly impacted by the level of job satisfaction. Some of the significant factors to have impact on the employee’s job performance include working hours, work load, training & development programs, system of performance appraisal as well as salary of the employees. It means that if these factors will dominate in an organization, then there are more chances of increased job satisfaction of employees (Aarti, Chahal, Chowdhary, & Chahal, 2013). So as is the case with the current study findings.

5.3 Summary of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

By taking into consideration the work being done in the previous chapters, the results and the discussions are drawn in the current chapter of this research. It is evaluated that the employee’s job performance can better be determined by various factors which needs to be considered critically for meeting up their job perceptions in the Bank of Muscat. The employees are more motivated with the salaries and wages, perceived organizational support, bonuses and compensations as well as comfortable working environment etc. The next chapter is about the conclusion & recommendations regarding the current study topic.

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

The main purpose behind conducting this study is to determine the employee satisfaction in Banking Sector: A Case of Bank of Muscat, Oman. The current research work is entirely based on the research work published in different journals and the previously conducted researches. Different factors are better determined that helped to examine their effects on the employee’s level of job satisfaction. The results and the discussion for the topic is provided in the previous chapter.

The current chapter is about the summary of the results & the discussions, theoretical and the practical implications of the study along with the suggestions and the recommendations. The limitations & the future directions are given in the current chapter. For future researches, it will help the researchers to conduct the research work in future. It is basically aimed at enhancing the investigation level.

6.2 Summary of the Results of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

The security of the job is the name of assurance of an employee, which employees will keep in the current job. The job security factor will provide the confidence to the employee that his job is secured now as well as provide him the confidence to perform his job in an effective manner. The workers who possessive about their jobs a level of high job security has a low likelihood of losing their jobs. The job security has owned by the particular opportunities of employment or the particular profession rather than other ones. The job security is also influenced by the performance of the employee. Some element is also involved in this category, such as the facility of transferring, leaves as well as the accessible target or reasonable. The conditions related to work are another influential factor in employee satisfaction. The significant motivation is felt by the workers whenever the employee work in the lenient working conditions since they offer both of things like the safety as well as comfort. Temporarily, the workers are impacted by the inefficient conditions adverse working. The risk of underperformance is also posed by it. When conditions of working are comfortable, the worker will be more productive. Some of elements are added in the specific category consisting of neat and clean workplace, decent and high class working methodologies as well as the good ventilation along with some specific tools and the equipment.

Another influential factor is here, which is very effective at the workplace for employee satisfaction, and due to this factor the employee will go to the actual serenity phase during the job at the workplace. The factor is relationship with the company manager. In general, the employee should build a stronger relationship with the manager. The strong relation with manager will give surety to worker that his job is in the safe zone as well as he will feel more comfortable at the workplace by having working relationships with company management. It is significant because an employee needs his constructive criticism, genera feedback as well as the professional input at a primitive stage. Some components are highlighted which have the communication between the employees as well as the senior management, the relationship with the supervisor as well as the treatment to the employees.

The styles of the leadership are telling about how it is influential and beneficial for the employee as well as the employee will feel more comfortable. During the job, the level of satisfaction may also be recognized by using a different kind of leadership styles such as respect, warmth as well as the friendships are also sponsored by the leaders democratically in relationships with the employees. Most of the employees that are performing their job duties under the authoritarian as well as under the dictatorial leaders seem to have very low level of the satisfaction because they cannot openly express their feeling within the workplace as well as cannot express their personal thoughts, norms, and ideas at the workplace. The main components of the influential factor are the amiable relationship, respectful as well as compassionate relations.

Some other variables and factors have been recognized for influencing the satisfaction of the workers. The factors of that other factor are included the feedback and encouragement, utilization of the internet as well as the group outgoing.

Some influences job satisfaction is also discussed here. The first influencing factor is named as productivity which satisfied the workers as well as makes them more productive while performing the job work in the banks. In the Muscat bank, some specific workers are floundering just because they are not satisfied along with their hob just because of the above-mentioned factors. It is indicated by evidence from Pakistan, which the workers exhibit productivity whenever they are satisfied.

The absenteeism is that when the workers are comfortable with their job for skipping the work less than those particular workers that are feeling dissatisfaction with the job. On the other side, employee turnover is high when the satisfaction level is also high as well as those workers have no major reason to leave their job. Therefore, this thing will also remain in the dissatisfied workers. Some of the companies commonly incline for retaining the high-level performer because those workers can give benefits to other businesses through meeting the goals which are defined by the company. The satisfied workers provide better customer services as well as they are considered friendlier and more responsive in the banking sector. This kind of employees is considered more valuable for the company. But on the other side, dissatisfied workers reduce customer satisfaction because if an employee is not feeling satisfied with his job, he cannot perform their jobs in a better way, or they will not perform their work in an effective manner. Due to this reason, the company will face the failure to produce the quality products as well as the customer never want to have the bad quality products so the dissatisfaction level, in this case, will be so high on the customer side.

Some improvements are also mentioned here for your convenience because the company wants the high performance of the workers to produce high-quality products to make the customer satisfied. So for this purpose, the company should bring some improvements to the workplace by training them. Some extra classes and sessions should be conducted by the company to train the customers. Every worker should be required to perform their prior tasks and must have work and job-related skills. The company should organize some events for employee empowerment as well as some kind of bonuses, and incentives should be offered to the employee because this kind of benefits will build the interests in the employees to do work hard for the company, and every employee will also become loyal with the company. The company should have to offer some opportunities in the form of promotions that is very effective way to build confidence in the employee, and the employee will work in the company by his heart.

6.3 Contributions of the Study of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

6.3.1 Theoretical Implications of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

The current study is conducted for finding out the factors that significantly have the impact on the employees’ satisfaction in banking sector of Oman. It has been determined that approximately 25% of revenue is decreased in the annual revenue of an organization due to lack of employee satisfaction. A high level of satisfaction from the job makes the employees to work more effectively. It makes the organization to achieve increased profits, good and the increased customer count. As a part of theoretical contributions, the future researchers can make use of the current research work. Based on the limited data available on Omani banks, this research work can better serve as the basis for the future work of the researchers. The current research will serve as the best fit where the researchers are more concerned about finding out the factors to have the impact on the employee’s job satisfaction (Naseem, Sheikh, & Malik, 2011).

In the existing base of studies, there are not many researches which are aimed at studying the concept of employee satisfaction in the context of Muscat Bank. Even though there are several studies which study the effect of employee satisfaction on their work performance and effectiveness, there is a lack of studies which focus on the influence of employee satisfaction on work performance and effectiveness in the context of Muscat Bank. Therefore, this study will determine whether satisfaction can increase the efficiency of employees in Omani banking sector or not.

6.3.2 Practical Contributions of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

The employee’s job performance is well determined by the organizational policies which are formulated to make the employees more satisfied. The current research can help the managers of the banks and other organizations to formulate the policies which determine the level of employee’s job satisfaction. The factors which are identified in the current research need to be focused more while formulating the company’s policies. These factors will help the employees to work with more determination and the enthusiasm. They will make significant contributions to achieve the company’s goals and objectives.

6.4 Limitations of the study of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

The current study has some limitations. These include the follows:

●       There is not enough information available on the topic of employee satisfaction in the Omani banking sector which could be seen as a limitation to this study.

●       The nature of the study is qualitative. The results can vary for the quantitative nature of the study.

●       The current study is limited to the banking sector only. It can be conducted for other industry.

●       The data gathered and interpreted by the questionnaires may provide the accurate results.

●       The extended time span can provide the more reliable results.

●       The factors identified in the current research work are not the hard and the fast determinants for the job satisfaction. There may exist some other valuable factors.

6.5 Suggestions & Recommendations of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

Due to cultural differences, one feels easy to work at one time and it may vary for other. This time flexibility helps to either increase or decrease employees’ productivity along with the job satisfaction related to the rewards and compensations. To consider this factor for work efficiency, there is a need to conduct this research on an extensive level. It is suggested to consider the respondents for the current study. Also, the same research model can be used for other companies or the cities. As any organization’s good will totally depend on how its employees perform. The variations for in work time may include coming to work early and leaving for home early. The other way round is coming to office late and leaving for home late. Having extended time for lunch, other than normal time is also a variation for flexible working hours. In order to adopt any of the above said variations, there is a need to first consider this parameter in organizational strategies. It will make the employees equally responsible for their work, after performing whole job along with achievement of organizational goals. This is the way that the employees’ satisfaction with their job can better be increased, for example; providing them the flexible working environment.

6.6 Conclusion of Employee Satisfaction in Banking Sector of Muscat Bank in Oman

For the banking sector of Oman, the employees need to be provided with the comfortable working environment along with the flexible working hours. The other important factors that better determine the employee’s job performance include the wages, salaries, bonuses, compensations, perceived organizational support, organizational learning culture etc. These factors are a must to be considered to make the employees more satisfied from their work. Also, the banking sector of Oman needs to effectively implement the existing strategies for making the employees more satisfied from their work. In case these strategies lack somewhere, the new effective strategies need to be formulated.