1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Lion beverage and Food Company

Lion beverage and food is a company operating in both Australia and New Zealand to supply its customers with its products which include wine, spirits, yoghurt, cheese etc. company was formed in 2009 when Lion Nathan National foods merged with National foods to make the company. Lion Company employs about 7,000 people from both countries who are stationed in the different functions of the organization. The company ensures that its leaders are well-equipped by conducting leadership programs for its employees on areas such as decision-making, problem solving and also ethical behavior. It has initiatives that take into consideration the well-being of the employees ranging from flexible working condition to helping them cope with work and family at the same time. The company was chosen for this research because it is a well-established company with diverse workforce and which is determined to keep its employees at all cost. It is one of the Australian companies where high employee turnover is an issue for the management.

1.2 Research problem

Employee retention has in the recent past being an area of concern and interest for many human resource functions as well as the whole organization. When employees join the organization they acquire knowledge and experience which is very valuable to the firm. Organizations spend resources in terms of money time and other resources in ensuring that the right and the best employees are acquired, trained, motivated remunerated and given the best working conditions. Thus it is in the interest of every organization that its employees stay with them as long as possible because the cost of getting new employees is very high and time wasting. Employees leave organizations for many reasons one of which is lack of satisfaction in their jobs. This happens mostly due to wrong match between the job and the person that is wrong person for the right job or wrong person for the wrong job. If an employee is not satisfied with their jobs it implies that they strain and struggle to accomplish it and the chances of such an employee leaving the organization are very high. As much as job satisfaction is a factor which can influence employee turnover there is need to research on the role which it plays in the overall turnover. This research focuses on the employees of Lion beverage and food industry. The question here is what role does job satisfaction play on employee intention to leave the firm?

1.3 Focus of the study

1.3.1 Purpose of the study

This study is aimed at finding out what role job satisfaction play of employee’s turnover. It is obvious that it is one of the factors that determine whether employee stay or leave the organization but the research narrows down to finding out  how and to what extend employees leave their jobs because they are not satisfied with their jobs. How many employees are ready to leave their jobs because it does not satisfy all their needs according to Maslow’s theory of human needs? From the results of this research it will be easy to determine to what extend job satisfaction is an important consideration if at all companies like lion beverage and Food Company have to keep their workers. This information will help human resource managers to utilize all available resources in ensuring perfect job matching and other factors that affect job satisfaction. This will enable the function to ensure reduced turnover after realizing how much job satisfaction is important to any employee.

 

1.3.2 Research questions

1. Why is job satisfaction important for the well-being of the employees?
2. What is the relationship between job satisfaction and employee intention to leave?

• How does gender and age affect the relationship between job satisfaction and employee intention to leave?

1. What role does organizational culture play in job satisfaction and eventually employee turnover?
2. What if all the employees where satisfied in their jobs, can there still be high turnover?

1.3.3 Significance of the study

This study is important for human resource managers and other researchers because it is possible to reduce employee turnover in their organizations.

• HR professionals through this paper will be able to understand and control factors which directly or indirectly influence employee’s intention to leave.
• For the overall organization, the information from the research will enable the management come up with better strategies for matching jobs with employee qualification so as to ensure satisfaction. A workforce that is satisfied with their job is more productive as compared to those who feel less motivated by their jobs.
• Other researchers will be able to gain literature on issues related to job satisfaction and turnover from this research.

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Employee turnover and human resource management

Acquiring employees as well as retaining them is part of the human resource function responsibilities. Every HR function is focused at making sure that their employees stay with the organization as long as possible. When employees come and leave the organization at high rates it is assumed that the human resource function may not be giving their best as far motivation, remuneration, training and other employee related undertakings are concerned. One of the ways that the function is able to control employee turnover is job satisfaction among many others. Therefore in order to succeed human resource management in addition to getting the right people in the job ensure that people are properly matched with their jobs and hence satisfied.

2.2 Job satisfaction and employee turnover

According to King, Wei and Howe, many aspects of job satisfaction influence employee intention to leave (King, et al., 2013, p. 316). Some of these aspects include job match, remuneration, safety, motivation etc. In their study they point out at the importance of establishing job satisfaction among workers so as to keep them interested in their jobs and hence reduce their intentions to leave. This study is supported by another author who argues that the extent to which employees are satisfied with their work is a great influence on whether they are willing to leave the organization or not (Liu, et al., 2011, p. 259). These two studies suggest that indeed unsatisfied workers are more willing to quit their jobs as compared to the satisfied ones.

3.0 Research methodology

The study will use both action and case research methods where the role of job satisfaction on employee intention to leave. The elements of action oriented methodology will be driven towards finding out the relationship between the two variables while case related will be important in classifying this relationship.

3.1 Data Collection

Secondary information such as theoretical framework on job satisfaction and intention to leave will be obtained from business journals and books. On the other hand, primary data such as how employees feel about their jobs and how this feeling influence their stay in the organization will be collected through questionnaires which will be distributed to selected employees of Lion beverage and Food Company. The questions in these questionnaires will give answers relating to the connection between the two variables. This method of data collection is advantageous as employees can fill in the questions at their own time and hence no inconveniences. However, some questionnaires may never be filled or returned to the researcher.

3.2 Ethical considerations

This research is associated with no risk at all as it will be centered on the employees of the company and thus the chances of complication are very low. However some ethical considerations needs to be taken seriously during the research. First and foremost respondent’s consent should be sought before they are asked to give their answers, additionally, the information acquired from the respondents need to be treated in utmost secrecy. This implies that respondent’s names should not be quoted in the report at all cost. Again, the private lives of respondents should be left out of it which means that personal questions should be optional.

The schedule for completion of this research paper is as follows in the table below:

• WORK PLAN SCHEDULE

Study activities	July 2016	July 2016	August-September 2016	October 2016	November 2016
Selecting research topic  and proposal writing
Proposal presentation
Data collection
Data analysis
Project writing and  presentation
Final report submission

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.0 Bibliography

King, D., Wei, Z. & Howe, A., 2013. Work satisfaction and intention to leave among direct care workers in community and resdential aged care in Australia. Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 25(4), pp. 301-319.

Liu, C. et al., 2011. Job satisfaction and intention to leave:a questionnaire survey of hospital nurses in Shanghai of China. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21(1-2), pp. 255-263.