The Literature Transactional Leadership

Job satisfaction and motivation in the workplace can be considered two halve faces of the same coin; not exactly alike, yet both existing in tandem when placed within the scope of measuring employee efficiency and turnover within the workplace. Kuhlen (1963) defines job satisfaction in terms of one’s perception of the occupation’s ability to match their individual needs, whereas Price (2001) states that job satisfaction is determined by an individual’s feelings towards their job and workplace. Extrapolating from these definitions, it can be said that the cornerstone of job satisfaction lies within the employee’s interpretation of their position in the workplace – whether the occupation can satisfy the individual’s needs and wants.

The greater the capability of the job to meet these wants and needs, the higher the job satisfaction would be if it were to be measured. Every individual is different; therefore, it is seldom possible to gain the same result from two persons within the same occupation as wants and needs may vary. Any research into this aspect would require a large enough sample size to be considered representative of the population. Williams (2004) and Omme et al. (2009) found that job satisfaction is heavily determined by the extent of an employee’s feelings, both positive and negative, towards the various facets of their job. These include the work conditions, timing of the job, organizational structure as well as that of their tasks and responsibilities, in addition to workplace relationships.

These influences represent only a few of the factors taken into consideration by employees when determining the extent of their satisfaction with their job. While job satisfaction can be deemed as an extrinsic influence, motivation is an intrinsic factor. Motivation is influenced by one’s needs and is often emotionally driven. When defining motivation, “drives” refer to internal forces pushing one to pursue specific goals. Malik (2010) states that an improvement in employee performance is seen when an employee is adequately motivated, thus positively developing the organization. Inadequate motivation can result in underutilization of an employee’s skillset, thereby decreasing the levels of productivity and lowering efficiency at the workplace.

Wholly measuring motivation can be difficult due to its intangibility, thus approaches to deduce employee motivation include rating scales to base their feelings regarding various factors such as attending work on mornings, desire to change occupations, level of absenteeism, to name a few. Within the field of teaching, the most noteworthy factor influencing employee motivation is the salary or wage. Many teachers view themselves to be inadequately compensated for their services together with their personal acquired level of education. In surveys conducted, Alam and Farid (2011) widely observed that many teachers were dissatisfied with their wages, stating that it was barely enough for them to obtain the necessities of live or live comfortably which they found to be unacceptable. Only twenty-four percent of teachers surveyed believed that they had a reasonable salary, whereas thirty percent agreed that their salaries were received on time.

Fewer (ten percent) stated their living necessities were available to them, while a high figure of ninety percent reported the need for improvement in their economic status. Furthermore, eighty percent of teachers agreed that they received less salary as compared to their work. Sixty-four percent of teachers were under the belief that their teaching was affected by low salaries and highlighted the need to increase their pay. These pieces of evidence further support the claim that salaries can be a pivotal force of motivation or result in a demotivated and unsatisfied teaching force.

Another factor that is often overlooked though it greatly affects the motivation and job satisfaction of teachers is examination stress. While the general public may view it as a paltry task of compiling questions for a paper, it is in fact a much more thorough duty requiring teachers to formulate a comprehensive paper encompassing all areas of a subject that has been taught, whilst being approved by respective heads of departments. In addition to this, teachers are also tasked with marking a vast number of examination scripts within a limited timeframe. This strenuous task coupled with poor working conditions and the feeling of inadequate compensation for the quantity of work being executed results in a heavily demotivated workforce.

Nbina (2010) found that in secondary school teachers, demotivation occurs as a result of low salaries, poor facilities, and absence of developmental programs within the school. Apart from low salaries, failure to receive support and feedback by leadership also adversely effects teacher motivation, leaving them with a lonesome feeling to solely support themselves as their superiors fail to do so. Rewards and recognition, moreover meaningful recognition, play another important role in teacher motivation and decreases its importance. Weinstein (1997) postulates that creating an enjoyable atmosphere when presenting reward or recognition can create a more positive response from the recipient. This means to say that public displays of awarding prizes for achievements goes a long way in boosting morale for many reasons. It illustrates that concerted efforts on the part of the employee in fact result in rewards, and that their hard work and labor does not go unrecognized, thereby creating a sense of accomplishment within employees which is most important as there is no stronger type of motivation than self-motivation.

Additionally, it develops a competitive atmosphere within the workplace. When this competitiveness is applied to schools, teachers are now driven to continuously put forth their best efforts which not only further expound their capabilities, but ultimately generates a positive result for the entire school. Ali and Ahmed (2009) determined that strong positive effects on job motivation and satisfaction arise from rewards and recognition. However, a lack of recognition and rewards or the improper method of dissemination can be just as detrimental as not having it at all. It becomes of vital importance to avoid the perception of bias when engaging in such an endeavor as this can foster resentment between leadership and staff as well as amongst staff themselves. This may inevitably lead to a degradation of efficiency within the school due to reductions in motivation and job satisfaction, resulting in a decline of the level of education provided.

The type of leadership and supervision present within the school also play an important role in influencing job satisfaction and motivation. The role of leaders at any level is to guide and provide a structure than can be depended on by those below them. Structure creates a sense of safety and allows freedom to fully tap into one’s full potential, but when the structure is unstable and volatile it creates a sense of unease and anxiety which can easily tip over into frustration and reluctance, hence the need for attention in this area. Teachers rely on this guidance to help navigate tenuous relationships amongst themselves as well as expecting the leaders to look out for their best interest. Aydin et al. (2013) outlined three leadership styles as Transformation; Transactional; and Laissez-Faire. Each has its own approach that sets them apart.

According to Çelik (2003), transformation leadership is a type where leaders support the intellectual development of teachers while balancing it with a sense of excitement in order to create a feeling of enthusiasm towards the transformation. This style could be considered the most interactive of the three as the leader takes an active role and interest in the development of the teachers. This can likely result in the teachers themselves feeling more inclined push themselves further to advance in their career. A balance must be maintained though to take into consideration the various teacher personality types which may not all necessary thrive under this leadership style. Transactional leadership focusses more on the tasks than the workers themselves.

In a school setting, if this leadership style is applied, it can be said that the school leaders would be more concerned with getting positive results out of the classrooms for examinations than the welfare and concerns of the teachers themselves. Hoy and Miskel (2010) highlighted under transactional leadership, rewards and punishments are utilized to aid in the achievement of organizational goals. Whilst this style ensures that tasks and goals are clearly defined, and expected results properly enforced whether through reward or punishment, within a school environment it can result in alienation between leadership and workers. The final style mentioned, Laissez-Faire, is based on a fully withdrawn type of authority that is almost non-existent. Bass (1990) describes as an organization with no leadership due to the absence of interaction between the leader and subordinates. Little to no effort is made by leaders to involve themselves in the development and functioning of staff, nor in meeting their needs.

In a school setting, this leadership style can contribute to the lack of motivation which teachers face as disenfranchised leaders fail to hear the concerns of their staff, such as wages or standard of facilities. Rowold and Scholtz (2009) conducted an empirical study on rewards, recognition, and employee motivation and satisfaction. Their findings revealed that the laissez-faire leadership style negatively impacts job satisfaction, employee performance, and workplace motivation. Thus, it can be deduced that this leadership style is the most detrimental to employee motivation due to the distance and disinterest of the leaders in the organization, thereby demotivating employees to take interest in carrying out their duties or general interest in the organization itself.

Conclusively, a plethora of intrinsic and extrinsic factors play a role in affecting teacher motivation and job satisfaction. Low salaries and wages top the reasons why teachers lack motivation to perform their job, along with poor facilities at the workplace, lack of developmental programs, feelings of inadequacy, lack of support from superiors, and poor leadership. Rewards and recognition can be coupled with adequate compensation or benefits to address demotivation and increase job satisfaction, as well as refining leadership style to not only meet the organization’s needs, but also the needs of the workers.

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