The Impact of Employee Contentment and Company Appreciation in Maintaining a Low Staff Turnover

Job satisfaction and organizational commitment are both important when it comes to employee retention. Job satisfaction is the level of contentment employees feel about their work. Individuals with high levels of job satisfaction would have healthier physical and psychological records that very likely result in higher productivity and effectiveness in their job performance and will staying longer in organization. (Lee, Gerhart, Weller, and Trevor). Organizational commitment is the psychological link between employees and the company that reduces the chances of employees voluntarily leaving their job. The difference is that high organizational commitment is associated with lower turnover and absence, but there is no clear link to performance. (Strong and Harder) Still, these two things are necessary because employee turnover can hurt companies. It costs money to hire and train replacements. New employees may not offer than same quality of performance. According to the Society for Human Resources Management, employee replacement can cost almost half as much as the annual salary of an employee. MARTA increases it’s employee retention rate by having a benefit program that is available to full time and part time employees. This creates organizational commitment because the company is taking care of employees by offering medical, dental, life insurance, a retirement plan, and more. Employees will feel more obligated to return that quality of care to their company. (MARTA)

MARTA increased job satisfaction and organizational commitment by making a management overhaul in 2015. Before General Manager Keith Parker arrived, the company was dealing with revenue lost by the millions. (Canada) Employee morale was at an all-time low, the budget hadn’t been balanced for over a decade, and raises for personnel had been virtually absent for six years. Many people were preparing to leave the company and the union was in an uproar. Keith Parker came in and changed the practices and procedures causing an increase in moral. New management began negotiations with the union and raises for employees. (Canada) Organizational commitment and job satisfaction are both important for MARTA employees but organizational commitment may be a little more strongly related to performance. This is because MARTA works hard to take care of its employees and to foster a diverse work environment. This is important because Atlanta is becoming one of the most diverse cities in the country so MARTA employees are likely to share the same values as the company, even if they don’t always enjoy the job. (MARTA)

Both job satification and organizational commitment require a high level of motivation. (Strong) Motivation is defined as the process of influencing behavior based on psychological knowledge of what makes humans do what they do. Something that is motivational in nature is competition. MARTA has a competitive salary and is a great economic driver for all of Atlanta. (Canada) They are one of the top 10 transportation agencies in the countries, so growth is eminent. Employees are motivated by this information because it shows them that there are opportunities for upward mobility within the company. MARTA has many different job positions, ranging from driving, to engineering, to human resource and clerical work. (MARTA) In order to be motivated, one must feel like they have something to gain from the company by performing well and MARTA offers something to gain.