Investigating the Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Employees' Productivity: An Exploratory Study in Amman's Five-Star Hotels

Abstract

Managers of hospitality organisations have long believed it is significant for their employees to work in a positive work environment. They recognise the important relationship between their employees' job satisfaction and their job performance. While everyone accepts this notion, there is little empirical support for this. Further, while many positive outcomes for both the individual and the organisation are claimed to be associated with job satisfaction, there is even less empirical data to support this belief within the hospitality industry. Despite the significant interest in the linkage between job satisfaction and job performance/productivity in social and organizational psychology literature, not many tourism and hospitality researchers have examined this relationship. This research investigates the relationship between job satisfaction and productivity among front-line employees in Amman's five-star hotels in order to help management develop better policies and practices that can help to keep employees satisfied in their jobs. Among 120 questionnaires distributed to employees, 89 questionnaires have been retrieved as valid ones with a retrieval rate of 74%. The study findings show a significant relationship exists between job satisfaction and employees’ productivity. This also suggests a positive association between job satisfaction and reduction in absenteeism and stress among the employees. This research moderately addressed this gap in the literature and has important implications for the advancement of theory regarding satisfaction- productivity relationship within the hospitality industry.

Key Words: Job Satisfaction, Productivity, Job Performance, Hotel Employees, Jordan.