工作环境和工作满意度外文翻译.docx

工作环境和工作满意度外文翻译.docx

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工作环境和工作满意度外文翻译

外文翻译

原文：

WORKENVIRONMENTANDJOBSATISFACTION

AbdulmonemH.Alzalabani

Intoduction:

Workenvironmenthasbeenapopularresearchsubject.Thispopularitymainlyresultsfromitsimportantrelationshipswithhumanbehaviourinorganization.Iftheworkenvironmentandarrangementhelpanemployeetobesatisfiedwithhiswork,itwillaffecthisperformanceandhisownlife.

Theworkenvironmentcontainstwocomponents:

jobcharacteristicsandworkcontext.ThesetwocomponentsaccordingtoWrightandDavis（2003）representthefactorsexternaltotheemployeeandcanbeinfluencedeasilybytheorganizationtoshapeemployeejobsatisfaction.TremblayandRoger（2004）believethatsomeofjobcharacteristicscanaffecttheattitudesofemployeestowardstheirwork.Therefore,WrightandDavis（2003）suggestthatorganizationsshouldtakeintoconsiderationhowtheworkenvironmentmayaffecttheiremployees’perceptions,attitudesandexperiencesonthejob,iftheseorganizationswanttoimprovetheemployees’jobsatisfaction.Theauthor’sstudyabouttheinfluenceoftheworkenvironmentonpublicemployeefeelingsofjobsatisfaction,indicatethatthespecificjobcharacteristicsandworkcontextnormallyassociatedwiththepublicsectorsignificantlyinfluenceemployeejobsatisfaction.

Lee（2003）definesintrinsicjobcharacteristicsas“thetypeofjobcontent,theamountofdecisionmaking,andthedegreeofroleoverloadandambiguity.”Moreover,jobcharacteristicstheoryanticipatesthat,“asjobcontrolincreases,employeeswillfindtheirworkmoreandmoreintrinsicallyrewarding,sustainingincreasedlevelsofjobsatisfactionandmotivation”（Kiffin-PetersonandCordery,2003）.

Thus,availabilityofclearandaccuratejobdescriptionsisveryimportantintheorganizationinordertomakeemployeesunderstandclearlywhatisexpectedofthemintheirjobsandtoavoidanytensionassociatedwithroleambiguity.

Thepurposeofthisstudyistoexploresomeaspectsofworkenvironmentandjobcharacteristicsofaveryimportantjob,namelyoperativeinOilandPetrochemicalindustry.Italsoaimstoexaminetheimpactofsuchjobcharacteristicsontheemployeefeelingofjobsatisfaction.

2-DefinitionofanOperative:

Operatives,keyworkersineverymanufacturingindustry,areoftenitslargestsinglegroupofemployees.Anoperativeisusuallyoneofashiftofadozenpersonsorfewerwho,betweenthem,maycontrola‘plant’worthalotofmoney.

TheDepartmentofEmployment（1971）definesoperativesasthose:

“Peopledirectlyconcernedwithproductionorservice…possessingvaryingdegreesofskillandknowledgewhichisusuallyofanarrowerrangeandcapableofalesserdegreeofadaptationthanthatofacraftsman”（Kenneyetal.,1979:

126）.

TheIndustrialTrainingBoard[GlossaryofTrainingTerms]（1972:

25）agreeswiththeabovedefinition.Itdefinesan“operative-manualworkerassomeonewith,usually,anarrowerrangeofskillsandadaptabilitythanthecraftsman.”Moreover,theIronandSteelIndustryTrainingBoard（1972a:

4）statesthat“Anoperativeisamaleorfemaleemployeeintheindustryengagedtoundertakeworkprimarilyinvolvingtheoperationofequipmentorplant.”Itexpandsthetermtoincludethoseengagedinlabouring,semi-skilledworkinmaintenanceorservicedepartments,suchasdrivers;productionworkersincludingmachineoperatives;warehousingandinspection.Inaddition,maintenancecraftsmenortechnicalgradesaresometimesidentifiedasothercategoriesofoperative.

TheIronandSteelIndustryTrainingBoard（1972a）usestheterm‘junioroperatives’toidentifyindividualsundereighteenwhoserecruitmentandtrainingusuallyfallsintotwogroups.Thefirstconsistsofthosewhoarerecruitedtoreceivebroad-basedtrainingandeducationinpreparationforfuture,moreresponsiblejobsinproductionorservicedepartments.TheUKIronandSteelIndustryTrainingBoard（1972b）givethemthetitleof‘productionapprentices’toemphasisthein-depthnatureoftheirtraining.Theyareusuallyschoolleaversandaregenerallyrecruitedasagroup.Thesecondgroupisthosewhoarerecruitedtofillimmediatevacanciesafteralimitedamountoftraining.Thesearecalled‘directentrants‘andtendtovaryinageandexperience;fromschoolleaverstothosewhohaveworkedbeforeinsimilarindustries.

Fromtheabovedefinitionsitisobviousthatalmostalloftheauthorsagreeaboutthatanoperativeisasemi-skilledworker（Thursfield,1999a/b;Gibbons-Wood,1999）.Barber（1968:

326）confirmsthisdefinitionwithsomereservation,sincehestatesthat“Inmanycontinuousprocessindustries,theoperatoroften（thoughnotinvariably）hasbeenregardedasasemi-skilledworker.Inthefuture,hemaywellneedtobecomeatechnician.”Thus,thereisanotionofsomepotentialforanoperative’sjobtobemoresignificantand,ofcourse,thereisadifferencebetweenthetraditionalmanualoperativeandtheprocessoperative.

Inmodernindustry,itisimportantforoperatives“tobeswiftandaccurateindiagnosisandequallyswiftintakingcorrectiveaction”（Barber,1968:

328）.Accordingly,Barbersuggestshavingtwokindsofoperative.Oneistheprocessoperativemechanic,whowouldalwaysbeinapositiontokeephimselfmentallyintunebyinstrumentmaintenancework.Becauseofthisworkhewouldbemoreabletodealeffectivelywithacontingencywhichmightotherwisecauseanemergency.Thesecondisasitemonitoringoperativewhocould,butmightnotnecessarily,acquiresomeofatechnician’sexpertise.Thisnotionofendingtheoccupationaldivisionbetweencrafttechnicianandprocessoperativeappearsintwoforms.Firstly,asThursfield（1999a）remarks,thereisashifttowardsflexibleworkingpracticesthroughtheintroductionofmulti-skillingbetweencraftmaintenanceworkersandprocessoperatives.Secondly,apolicyhasbeenintroducedofrecruitingonlyqualifiedcraftsmentoprocessoperativeposts（Thursfield,1999a）.However,thislatterfacessomecriticisms,suchasthefactthatthosecraftsmenwouldfindthejobboring,which,inturn,wouldleadtotheirmakingmoremistakesthanlessqualifiedworkers（Thursfield,1999b）.Moreover,itisimportanttorecognisethatselectionofthoseworkersisnotamatterofpickingthe‘best’applicantsbutofchoosingthosepeoplemostsuitableforaparticularjob.”

3-CharacteristicsofOperativeJobs:

Jobcharacteristicscanbedefinedas“whatapersondoesatworkthatisthenatureofthejoborthecollectionoftasksthatcomprisethejob”（WrightandDavis,2003）.Thissectionprovidesaliteraturereviewoftheoperativejobdescription.

Kenneyetal.,（1979）listsixcommoncharacteristicsofoperativejobs:

1-Shortlearningtimes.Generallyspeaking,toproduceanoperativetakeslesstrainingtimethanisthecasewithotherjobsbecauseoperativesnormallyconcentrateonaspecificareaortask,enablingahighdegreeofskillinalimitedaretobeacquired,inalimitedperiodoftime.

2-StandardTrainingProgrammes.Theyareusuallyclearlyspecified,whichmeansthereislittlevariationinthewaysimilarworkisperformedbydifferentoperatives.Accordingly,operativetrainingprogrammescanbestandardisedandthesametrainingmanualscanbeusedrepeatedly.

3-LimitedKnowledgeContent.Operativejobstendtorequirearestrictedrangeoftechnicalknowledgebecausetheydependmainlyontheuseofmanualskills.However,Robinson（1988:

173）arguesthatthenatureofmanyoperativetasksischanging.Hestatesthat“Automationhaseliminatedsomeandsubstitutedotherswhichinvolvecontrollingandmonitoringprocessesratherthanmanualones.”Barber（1968）claimsthattheoperative’sjobhasbecomeeasierduetomoderntechnology.However,Berg（1987:

115）disagreesandstatesthattheoperativefunctionisexpectedtobeupgradedduetoautomation.“Incontrollingthecomplextotalofaproductionprocessinanadvancedplantoperatorsrequireknowledgeoftherelationsbetweenthevariousmachinesandmachinepartsandthetechnologicalmeaningoftheproductionphases”（p.115）.Kiffin-PetersonandCordery（2003）concludethattheskilllevelrequiredbytheplantoperativeshasgreatlyincreased.Inaddition,SingerandMacDonald（1970:

18）notethat:

“Theprocessoperatorrequiresmoreknowledge;hisjobisprimarilyoneofmonitoringtheprocess;hehasbecometoalargeextenttheeyesandearsofthemaintenancemanandneedstodevelopacloseworkingrelationshipwithmaintenancestaff.Therefore,inthiscase,theoperativeneedstobewellinformedabouttheoperation.”

4-SignificantManualSkillContent.Operativejobsusuallyrequireconsiderablemanualskill.However,withregardtotheprocessoperative,Berg（1987）arguesthatmanualskillsarebecominglessandlessimportantinoperatingadvancedproductionprocesses.Headdsthatoperativesinsuchplantsneed,instead,cognitiveknowledgetomakepredictionsaboutthedirectionoftheprocess,besidesknowledgeofhowtointerpretinformationfrommetersandindicators.

5-MinimalEducation.Kenneyetal.,（1979）arguethatmostoperativejobsrequirephysicalratherthanmentalskills.Thus,academicqualificationsareunnecessary.However,theyadmitthataprocessplantoperativeshouldhaveahighgeneralstandardofeducation,inordertoacquireaworkingknowledgeoftheprocessheiscontrolling.AccordingtoBerg（1987）themajorityofmanagersinterviewedfeltthattheoperativeneedsahigherlevelofeducationbecauseofautomation.

6-OnandOff-the-JobTraining:

OperativetrainingschemesvaryfromOn-the-JobtoOff-the-Jobtraining.OJTiswherethenewcomeristrainedunderactualworkconditions.Barber（1968）statestha