Teacher job satisfaction

 

Job satisfaction of teachers at private colleges

By Fung Lan Yong, Norizan Tan and Feona Albert

 

Published in “Borneo Post Sabah” on May 31, 2021, page 7

 

Teachers with high job satisfaction experience a positive emotional state resulting from a personal appreciation of their own job vocation.  Job satisfaction influences the performance of teachers at private colleges; teachers with high levels of job satisfaction tend to be more effective in producing successful students than those with low levels.  Most private colleges strive to enhance teacher satisfaction; however, to attain this goal, they need to be knowledgeable of the factors that increase teacher satisfaction and how they can be incorporated into the overall picture.  According to college administrators Chu Wen Tyng and Stephanie Yen, keeping teachers engaged and fulfilled involves more than just providing favourable remuneration and fringe benefits as their job satisfaction is influenced by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

 

Organisational fairness, trust and rewards

Teacher job satisfaction is often associated with the teachers’ perception of fairness in the workplace. This sense of fairness which is also known as organisational fairness leads to teachers as major stakeholders, needing to have the surety that their college is fair to them. Those who realise that they are getting less for their contributions will eventually start to perceive the college as being unfair. Organisational fairness that promotes teacher job satisfaction are both interactional and informational.  Interactional fairness is related to favourable interpersonal behaviour whereby they are treated with respect, politeness and dignity.

 

Having experienced this, teachers will have the sense of meaningfulness and belongingness, which will not only be how they perceive the work itself but towards the organisation as well. This goes without saying, will be rewarding for both parties, if not all which includes, the teachers, the organisation and most importantly, our future generation, the students.  On the other hand, informational fairness refers to the extent information is provided regarding methods and procedures to staff.  Teachers treated with organisational fairness tend to exhibit a positive attitude towards their college, demonstrating great enthusiasm and commitment in their work. This one part of organisational fairness plays a crucial part of organisational psychology as it will inevitably create the overall structure and behaviour within the organisation itself. The more transparent and clear the management is with the staff, the better the outcome from the staff. Some important and familiar areas to look into on being fair in an organisation would include work allocation, appraisal, compensation and benefit and resource allocation. As always, although being fair is a sensitive and rather abstract and dare we say, subjective matter to attend to, both management and teachers must openly communicate to ensure the effectiveness of such culture and to see a more positive outcome as well as a change of behaviour in any given organisation.

 

Successful teaching characterised by high job satisfaction relies heavily on teamwork; one of the most important criteria of leading a college team is creating an environment of trust.  Fostering a culture of trust is a powerful incentive for professional and personal growth with job satisfaction as a natural by-product.  Therefore, colleges must create a culture where teachers can depend on the strength and abilities of those they work with and believe in their management’s vision and mission. Of course, the list to achieve this is vast but perhaps the first few vital steps is to have supervisors who are capable and reflecting the value itself, trustworthy.

 

Being a person with charisma, qualified - may it be in terms of qualification and experience (most preferable both), approachable and able to deliver will definitely instil trust among the teachers. Someone who is able to connect and understand the management and teachers’ vision and align the expectation would be most desirable. Additionally, trust encourages teachers to excel, knowing that their efforts are appreciated.  They are more willing to face challenges and break barriers when the management trusts them, and vice versa. They tend to go beyond the purview of their job to obtain better results when they trust that their work has both intrinsic and extrinsic value. In brief, private colleges can only attain their goals with staff who possess trust, a human factor required for profitability and sustainability in global organisations.

 

Private colleges are always determining ways to increase teacher productivity without affecting their commitment; however, this is only feasible if they give appropriate rewards and incentives to staff.  One of the best ways to increase motivation and job satisfaction of teachers is to determine the salary and wage rate solely based on long-term organisational productivity. Adequately paid teachers tend to exbibit greater employee motivation, satisfaction and performance than those who are hired on contract basis.  Giving rewards and incentives, such as stock shares and compensation plans, to senior lecturers often resolve many principal-agent issues as they will start to serve with greater dedication and loyalty. Clearly this would motivate the teachers further and ultimately drives them to perform better. Not to mention, that such act would fuel their desire to improve themselves professionally as they see the potential and future with the organisation.

 

One of the greater aspects of having motivated and driven teachers is job security. Greater job security encourages them to perform to their fullest potential while displaying a positive attitude toward the workplace.  This positive attitude is crucial to the expansion of a private college because, as a part of the service industry, it must continue to attract and serve stakeholders with positivity.  When teachers fear or are uncertain of their future at the organisation, dissatisfaction would be reflected by poor teaching, and resentment towards the management and colleagues. Job security makes every teacher feel useful, as being part of the team for the college in one way or the other, thus increasing their job pride and satisfaction. The outcome would be the sense of accountability not only for the self but also for the students and organisation.

 

Mark Twain once said that he could live for two months on a good compliment.   Since personal recognition in the form of praise or appreciation is instrumental in enhancing teacher job satisfaction, the management should think of creative ways to reward top performing teachers other than just paying a bonus. Internal motivation must never be seen as a small matter. For some, words of affirmation would work wonders and as a result would improve teachers’ performance and overall attitudes towards the organisation. An encouraging remark, a pat on the shoulder, a personal note or some other simple gesture is much more impactful than cash, while small, informal gatherings can bring much more camaraderie and personal satisfaction than a grand year-end event. A cash bonus would not mean very much to dedicated teachers; however, they will always cherish that elated feeling when they receive a letter of recognition or thank-you card.

 

Challenging tasks, positive relationships, upskilling and continuous appraisal

Job satisfaction results when teachers are provided with academic tasks that are challenging yet interesting; hence, the management should keep on updating and redesigning job duties to increase staff interest and satisfaction.  Teachers feel satisfied with their job when they realise that their work is meaningful and that their efforts have a favourable impact on stakeholders. Nothing makes a teacher feel better than to competently perform a challenging task to create a desired outcome. Success breeds success; hence, teachers who are pushed or who push themselves to excel tend to possess greater self-confidence and self-esteem which are important psychological elements of job satisfaction. The only trick is that the management must identify such tasks that would suit, interest and challenge the teachers. Not as easy as it seems but with good and open communication and of course support from the management, both parties can sit to discuss what works best.

 

Teachers are in charge of their relationship with the management while also being aware that the quality of the relationship affects their professional goals and job satisfaction.  While the management has the information and power that teachers need to succeed, they still need the latter’s cooperation to effectively perform their executive duties. Teachers and the management share a critical interdependence; those who successfully accomplish their work make the management shine for their overall effectiveness in running the college. Nevertheless, to enjoy progress and job satisfaction, teachers must be equipped with the information, perspective and support of the management.  They also need the freedom to negotiate deliverables and outcomes with the management.

 

Providing resources and support for staff development is an aspect the management must not overlook.  In-service training and development seminars are effective in enhancing teacher job satisfaction.  They enable teachers to develop new skills and potential, besides making them more productive and innovative.  Upskilling and appraisal should be practised throughout their employment tenure to encourage lifelong learning and advancement.  Each teacher should receive an individualised prescription on areas that need reviewing, along with the necessary resources.  Adequately trained teachers are more capable and willing to assume more control over their jobs because they need less supervision, which in turn frees the management for other tasks.  Since they become more capable to answer questions from students and parents, they can help establish better college-community relationships. Such in-service training and development must be selected and provided abundantly to the staff; however, the suitability must be agreeable and beneficial to both parties.

 

In order to increase work satisfaction is to appraise the teachers regularly or perhaps annually.  Regular appraisal is another factor of job satisfaction because it gives teachers the competitive advantage. It allows them to assess their progress and determine what needs improving. This evaluative process enables the management to determine the attitudes, morale and motivation of the staff, allowing them to identify problem areas and design an improvement plan.  The real competitive edge of a college is not just its state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, but also the teachers who are willing to enhance their personal and professional attributes in order to better contribute their expertise, energy and vitality toward the college’s ranking and student enrolment. This can be a slippery slope though - to reap positive outcome of such practice, there must be open communication, objective and fair expectation prior to the appraisal. This would include, among others fair duration or deadline to complete the task, a clear communicated expectation, fair form of measurement and teachers are given all the necessary information to what is expected of or from them. Having said this – or some of these, would keep the teachers focused on their goals which in turn would benefit the organisation.

 

 

Respect

Loyalty, trust and respect go both ways, and most importantly these are earned. A teacher’s job does not start and end in the classroom. In most, it involves planning outside of class time. This does not involve, administrative work. To enhance teacher job satisfaction, colleges need to create respectful relationships with staff and recognise them for the great work they do.  Teachers want to be seen and recognised, not just be treated like a mere cog in the machine.  They want to be treated as valuable assets, not being regarded as any less than the whole.  While college administrators demand stellar teacher performance to make decisions that influence growth, they should also thank those teachers for their contributions or empower them to make the decisions themselves.  They should never assume that, if compensation and benefits rank high enough on the list, teachers will tolerate disrespect. 

 

A college’s best and brightest will eventually leave if they feel disrespected. Disrespectful relationships are so toxic that they often stifle communication and create bottlenecks as the management is unable to gather relevant information on the actual scenario. They also create a stressful environment that drains staff energy, making them feel disillusioned and emotionally drenched.  In contrast, respectful relationships are an advantage for every staff; the rate at which a private college expands its business is equivalent to the time that its management invests in developing respectful relationships.  In brief, respect is a psychosocial dividend; increasing it ensures that everything is accomplished at a faster rate and lower cost.

 

Finally, it is important for private colleges to enhance teacher job satisfaction as it is very costly to hire and train new staff.  No college wants to waste its limited resources and time to hire new teachers every now and then.  Teachers are an invaluable asset for any college that strives to derive maximum benefit from its human capital.  They can only excel if they are truly satisfied with the college, which only happens when they receive a fair amount of both tangible and intangible rewards.

 

 

 

About the authors

 

Fung Lan Yong received her PhD in Special Education (Gifted and Talented) from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL USA. 

 

Norizan Tan received her Master in TESOL from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak (SUTS).  She is Lecturer at SUTS and can be contacted at ntan@swinburne.edu.my.

 

Feona Albert received her Bachelor of Education in TESL from University Teknologi MARA, Sarawak. She is a Language Teacher at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and can be contacted at aafeona@unimas.my.