Emirates Airline’s High Employee Satisfaction Research Paper

Introduction

In the rapidly changing business environment, employees’ satisfaction has become one of the crucial issues predetermining the company’s competitive edge. It is defined as a positive state of mind that is caused by employees’ realization of their commitment to the company making a valuable contribution to its success that goes in hand with the achievement of personal goals (Guillon & Cezanne, 2014).

The company the paper at hand is going to analyze from this perspective is Emirates Airline. The issue of employees’ satisfaction and engagement is especially significant in relation to cabin crew as it plays a key role in ensuring high-quality service. The purpose of the research is to investigate the extent to which the crew motivation and engagement are predetermined by financial and non-financial incentives. This study is important as it will allow identifying how much employees’ loyalty depends on empowerment.

Literature Review

Job satisfaction is a highly complex phenomenon: according to Lee (2016), 43 aspects of it can be identified, 37 of which are connected with work motivation.

No matter how different organizations may seem, they still share a set of conditions that predetermine job satisfaction. Among the most common are the following: motivation, successful performance, relations with co-workers and the supervisor, salary, working environment, promotion, and status (Kazan & Gumus, 2013). However, some studies also name ability utilization, collaboration, independence, and creativity (Mafini & Pooe, 2013).

Respectful attitude, work safety, and financial compensation rate among the most influential components of job satisfaction, which means that working conditions are considered to be no less significant than salary and financial bonuses (Lee, 2016).

However, motivation factors are still specific for each particular industry or business (Yousaf, Latif, Aslam, & Saddiqui, 2014).

The survey conducted in Emirates Airline gave the following results (“Cabin crew’s job satisfaction,” 2015):

• 68,12% of the crew are satisfied with their job in the company;
• 37,68% like the working conditions whereas 62,32% called them unsatisfactory or withheld comments;
• 73,92% find their benefits (both financial and non-financial) satisfactory;
• 69,57% complained about overworking;
• 56,52% believe that they do not receive due acknowledgment while others remained neutral;
• 66,67% claim that the company does not communicate information in due time and manner;
• 49,27% report the lack of support from the leaders;
• 71,01% are afraid of voicing their opinion and showing initiative;
• 66,66% feel maltreated by the company;
• 81,16% take a real interest in working affairs;
• 85,51% feel proud to be employed by Emirates Airline;
• 72,45% are willing to assist the company in achieving its goals.

These results lead to the conclusion that the connection between empowerment and working conditions with job satisfaction is rather questionable. Despite the fact that most workers are disappointed with the way their leaders treat them (though finding benefits rather satisfactory), they still feel proud of working for Emirates Airlines and show loyalty to the company.

Primary Research

In order to obtain first-hand information and compare the results with those of the literature review, an interview with one of the company’s employees was conducted. The following results were received:

1. The employee is satisfied with the job he performs.
2. He does not find working conditions too much stress.
3. The employee refuses to give information about his salary and satisfaction with financial incentives.
4. He assures that their working environment encourages initiatives and creativity.
5. According to the respondent, the staff members have everything that they need to ensure high-quality service.
6. The employee claims that they are informed of everything that may affect their job in due time and manner.
7. The employee is able to use his skills and knowledge in the right field.
8. He states that no one is afraid of sharing ideas with managers and showing initiative;
9. Not all the information is shared – they receive only what they need to perform their job.
10. The employee is proud to work for the company and is certain that he can be promoted for a better job if he excels in his performance.

Discussion

As it is evident from the results of the interview, not all the aspects correspond to the data derived from the secondary sources. The first striking discrepancy is that the interviewed employee is totally satisfied with the working conditions while the survey from the secondary source shows that two-thirds of Emirate Airline’s employees find these conditions frustrating. More than half of them report the lack of acknowledgment and support from managers while the interviewee believes that his job is appreciated and support from the leaders is ensured when required. He also thinks that all the necessary information is reported timely (unlike app. 66% of those who complain about poor-quality communication). Finally, the employee believes that no one is afraid of coming up with new ideas (unlike app. 70% from the survey). Such discrepancies lead me to recommend enlarging the scale of the survey to get a more objective and holistic picture.

Conclusion

The study showed contradictory results. It is still unclear how much employees’ loyalty depends on empowerment. While the secondary research demonstrated that the connections are rather dubious (as the respondents were not satisfied with the whole number of factors but still showed commitment to the company), the primary research proved direct dependence of job satisfaction on the incentives received. This implies that more profound research is required to find out the real state of affairs.

References

Cabin crew’s job satisfaction in Emirates Airline – survey results. (2015). Web.

Guillon, O., & Cezanne, C. (2014). Employee loyalty and organizational performance: A critical survey. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 27(5), 839-850.

Kazan, H., & Gumus, S. (2013). Measurement of employees’ performance: A state bank application. International Review of Management and Business Research, 2(2), 429-441.

Lee, C. (2016). Employee job satisfaction: Revitalizing a changing workforce. Web.

Mafini, C., & Pooe, D. R. (2013). The relationship between employee satisfaction and organisational performance: Evidence from a South African government department. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 39(1), 1-9.

Yousaf, S., Latif, M., Aslam, S., & Saddiqui, A. (2014). Impact of financial and non-financial rewards on employee motivation. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 21(10), 1776-1786.