Overt and Covert Manifestations of Employee Dissatisfaction and the Management of the Different Types of Employee Action

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Developing high quality work is also a factor that plays a part in reducing precursors associated with overt forms of employee action e.g. strikes (Barling & Kelloway, 2003). A study conducted by Barling and Kelloway (2003) attempted to establish the link between high quality work, and job satisfaction, with occupational injuries. Through carrying out a research review, it was significantly found that high quality work consisting of extensive training, task variety and autonomy, was positively linked to greater job satisfaction and a reduction in occupational accident rates. As noted by the ABS (2009), health and safety issues are one of the prime reasons for strikes in recent years. In facilitating high quality work for employees, employers can ensure there is less risk of workplace accidents, and furthermore prevent strikes and pickets from occurring (Barling & Kelloway, 2003).

Group based activities can be essential for managing conflict in organizations. According to Behfar and Peterson (2008) group based activities can open up the opportunity for discussion of a certain issue. In doing this, communication can be improved, and employee emotions that are stored can be released. In addition to this, teamwork can assist in developing the abilities of employees, and increase the level of individual involvement of a given issue. This can result in enabling employee’s greater opportunity and confidence to solve problems and disputes and furthermore this can reduce the risks associated with individuals becoming insular and uncooperative (Behfar & Peterson, 2008).

Absenteeism according to Morehead et al (1997) has been defined as ‘the proportion of employees on an average day, who were away from work or sick leave without being approved in advance’. It is one of the most common forms resembling unrest within an industry where it is estimated it carries a cost of 2.6 billion dollars per year as of 1998 (Morehead, 1997). Absenteeism can become a common occurrence due to a number of reasons ranging from the employment relationship, absence culture, role ambiguity, work design differentiation, inequitable treatment, wage deficiencies as well as differences in personality, communication, control and perception and furthermore have major consequences on an organization if left unresolved (Bray & Waring, 2011). According to Rosse and Miller (1984), absenteeism can be an early predictor of voluntary turnover through progressive withdrawal. This has been seen through an attempt made by employees to engage in an ordered sequence of withdrawal where employees use it as an escape valve’ to take a break from the organization.

According to Drago and Wooden (1995), there are many approaches and strategies managers can use to reduce the occurrence and impact of workplace absenteeism. It is first of all recommended by Drago and Wooden (1995) that managers involve the employees in the decision making process within the organization. In enabling decision-making participation, precursors (including role ambiguity and role conflict) linked to job related strain, absenteeism frequency and turnover intention can be reduced (Jackson & Guion, 1983). Another strategy to reduce absenteeism is through allowing for flexibility and discretion in managing absenteeism (Drago & Wooden, 1995). A study was carried out by Dalton and Mesch (1990) to explore the effect of implementing a flexible scheduling program on attendance rates. Through applying this program over a period of two years it was found that absenteeism was significantly reduced as attendance rates returned to base rate levels. Job enlargement and multi-skilling are also strategies that can be used to reduce the absenteeism rate (Drago & Wooden, 1995). It was found that by increasing employee responsibility and the range of duties and tasks required, employees perceived their work as more valued to the organization and furthermore were more motivated to attend work (Steers & Rhodes, 1978).

Voluntary Labor turnover is another covert action taken by employees in response to industrial conflict. Along with its many definitions, labor turnover can be defined as ‘permanent withdrawal from the organization’ or ‘the rate at which an employer loses employees’ (Ton & Huckman, 2008). Voluntary turnover however is the rate at which employees resign from their employment (Maltarich & Nyberg, 2010). High turnover rates, according to Ton and Huckman (2008) can have various consequences both to the company and it’s employees. Firstly it may have a direct impact on the profitability and revenue of the company. This can be directly due to expenses associated with hiring, training labor as well as costs associated with a loss in productivity and sales (Ton & Huckman, 2008). Having a high labor turnover can also harm employee morale. This can be due to the overload of roles and responsibilities of existing employees, and pressure associated with learning new job duties and procedures (Ton & Huckman, 2008). Lastly high turnover can deteriorate product or service quality. This can be due to having low levels of experienced employees and high levels of employees that lack the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to carry out a task (Ton & Huckman, 2008). Therefore it is essential that costs and consequences are eliminated to reduce the costs and consequences associated with labor turnover.

In order to make attempts to reduce labor turnover, it is first of all essential for managers to consider the factors affecting turnover. These factors determine the extent by which employees resign and seek opportunities elsewhere. According to psychological variables can lead to employee dissatisfaction, low levels of commitment, and other contextual issues (Maltarich & Nyberg, 2010. This can be a major predictor of an employee’s unwillingness to remain in the job (Maltarich & Nyberg, 2010). Other factors including the state of the labor market, availability of alternative jobs, presence of trade unions and perceived ‘ease’ of movement also play a part in determining voluntary turnover rates (Lee & Huang, 2012). Therefore employers must be aware of employee characteristics as well as the external environment in determining the degree and influences impacting on the employee’s willingness to resign.

As employees are increasingly moving between organizations within the competitive global workplace, more emphasis is being placed on managing employee turnover, to reduce its’ occurrence (Bray & Waring, 2011). According to Bray and Waring (2011), the most effective way to reduce voluntary labor turnover is through increasing the level of organizational commitment by promoting employee involvement in decision making and improving the social and working relationship

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