Examining Navigators' Job Satisfaction in RoyalMalaysian Air Force through the Lenses of Herzberg's

Motivation- Hygiene Theory

Nurrnazilah Mahzan, University Malaya

Ali Zaini, Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAFJ

Abstract- Many studies investigate job satisfaction andmotivation in the workplace using Herzberg'smotivation-hygiene factor theory; however, no Ill' spccifirallyrelate these factors to Navigators in the Royal Malaysian AirForce in which limited promotion is available, This studvinvestigated the factors attecring job satisfaction for :\ayigato,:sin thc Royal Malaysian Air Force, 54 respondents from variousoperational squadrons and units completed thc survey, Thefactors adapted from Herzberg's Motivatiun-Hygiene Theorywere tested, The motivation factors achievement, recognition,growth, work itself and promotion were found to be significanceand dominance in this study whereas policies, flight safety andrelationship with leaders wen the significant hygiene luctors. ;\multiple regression is also conducted and from result found thatcareer growth is the most significant factor that influence thcjob satisfaction of Navigators in the Royal Malaysian AirForce,

Index Terms- Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory,Navigator's job satisfaction, Royal Malaysian Air Force ..

1. INTRODUCTION

Job satisfaction plays a vital role in achieving an ernplovcecareer goals and is equally as important for organisation thatworks In a team-based environment like Royal Malaysian AirForce (RMAF) or in a workplace comprised of employeeswho work independently [1]. The best and highly motivatedperformers of an organisation consistently provide highquality work; maintam a high level ofproductivity and able toovercome obstacles or challenges Helping all employeesmaintam a high level of job satisfaction can help keepemployees committed to working hard and contributing asmuch value as possible to the organisation [14].

The organisation could use a variety of strategies toImprove Job satisfaction. Leaders and managers who serveWithin the organisation could help deliver the right messagesto engage employees and help them gro\~ wulun theirposiuons Job satisfaction could be augmented wrthincentives, feedback, rewards programs and ensunng that theworkplace meets basic needs and requirements for eachemployee. Common types of motivational tactics includeevents that raise employee morale: tramrng and education tohelp employees [earn new skills and grow witlun theirpositions: recognition programs to hrghl rght hard work and

- (}v.

reinforcing positive messages dunng company or teammeetings [[4]

A. Navigator's career path in RMAF

Navigators are employed in the operational squadronsonce they have completed their basic Navigator's trainingwhether overseas or locally Their stay would last a rmrumumof [5-20 years depending on their progress In the field andtheir abil ity to maintain the required operational standard andmed real status

Their career path 111 the squadron would start from juniorNavigator With up to 5 years' expertence as a navigator, themore experience Navigators then advanced to become seniorNavigator which has the experience between 5 to 10 years, atthis stage the Navigators are proficient and qualified toundertake any tasks and missions. The best Navigators thenwill be selected to undergo an airborne instructionaltechnique in preparation to become a Qualified NavigatorInstructor (QNI) They will be employed In various squadronsand a selected few will be posted to become NavigatorInstructor In Navigators school.

A few top performers from QN! wrll be selected asStandard Checkers and Navigator Examiner r23]. In manycircumstances, not all Navigators would be given theopportunuy or have the ability to assume all the aboveappointments AI[ the progressions are merely Within asquadron or a cross squadron progression. The maximumrank for all these appointments IS Major

Even though Navigators have performed and progressedwell In various squadrons, they still need to be transferred orto be employed to other departments to give way to juniorNavigators to progress III the squadron The juniors need toprogress and the seniors need to be relocated due to the natureof the establ ishrnent and appointments 111 the squadron

l. nhke other officers In the RMAF, Navigators are notbeing considered to be promoted as a Commander or higherPOSition in the squadron or unit One of the reasons IS theestablishment of the orgaruzanon Itself: [24], Theestablishments and the appointments In the organisationalchan were formulated not favourable to the rninonty like. Navigator, [24] In the RMAF, Navigators are the rmnontywhom are employed In most of the operation squadrons tocarr, out their specific duties In squadron level, theirappointments are limited to subordinate commander which

will not assume a higher responsibility as compared to othertraits, (24]. The highest rank for these responsibilities areMajor and the rest ofthe Nav igutors in the same departmentsare equal or below the rank or Major

The "cxpcnenccd' Navigators have to be relocated to otherdepartments in the RMAF as staffofficers and it IS inevitableThey have to endure and perform diverse job specificationswhich are completely unrelated to their expertise, On theother word, they have to re-master Majority of them whoplunged into this group are the senior Major ranks that havealready served more than 20 years 111 the RMAF. They aretechnically and proficiently el igible for lateral or verticalpromotion In the orgarusat Ion but, their progressions art' vcr ,limited [21] As the Navigators become more expcncnce IIItheir job In the organisation, they turn out to be more vigilantin their job. Their awareness on f ight safety heightens as theygrow older In many Circumstances, military tlying operationswould involve a very high risk mission that need to beperformed without fail. The failure means "no return". Forthose who had experienced a bad fl ight or accident would bedernotivated and their morale would also be affected Thesephenomena contributed to fewer Navigators remain acuve In

flying squadron They made their way out from active flymgby val-IOUSreasons. At this rank (Major), despite devoting alltheir effort and commitment to the service, only a few couldbe considered for higher rank promotion and progressionThis is a major dilemma and the most challenging tank as J

Navigator 111 the RMAF. Majonty will remain at this rankuntil their retirement age.

In the workplace, some Navigators feel that the) art:devalued and unrecognised They normally don't ask forrecognition but they're human which will surely appreciaterecognition. Unfortunately, at certain point as Navigatorbecomes more skilled and competent, the air goes out of theirmotivational sails and boredom, stress and negativity creep in.They still do their job but productivity flattens and likelydecreases The Navigators may start rm: sing work, arrivinglate, complauung more, making mistakes. becoming accidentprone, anc! even becoming ill. A number or them resignedprematurely from the service to pursue other jobs [221 Ingeneral, the RMAF loses some of the top talents,conscientious and hardworking employees that wouldprobably drive the organisation to the next level

II IITrRATllRE RF\,II-W

(13] in his study on motivation wrote a very famous theorycalled "The Motivation to Work" This theory of rnouvation isknown as a motivation-hygiene theory and it IS based upon thenotion that motivation can be split into hygiene factors andmotivation factors Herzberg proposed that 111 order todetermine what motivates workers, one must discover whatfactors satisfy and dissatisfy them Herzberg describes andmeasures job satisfaction 111 terms of t\\O distll1cl Sl,S ofv,lfIables, h) glene and motlvatlon<ll fudors 11\'\!'lenecomprise of factor that Intluence the worl-- and organ'II;I~onalenvironment such as poliCies ,relationship 'WIth othersworking conditions, relationship with peers , pay, worksecurity and 111 this research we expanded the work secufltyfal:tor to include tl ight safety Herzberg asselted that thes'e

factors do not lead to higher levels of motivation but Withoutthem there IS dissatisfactionThe second component in ilerzberg' s motivation theoryInvolves what people actually do on the job and should beengineered Into the Jobs, employees do 111 order to developininnsrc motivation With the workforce. The motivators areachievement [101. [81, recognition [I I], career growth oradvancement (12], (15], nature of work itself and promotionopportunities [25], (4]

11. Hygiene factors

There are many prior research that examine partially or allthe h\ giene factors proposed by Herzberg's. For example [21SLlI-'C\ sun sccuruy contractor Job sausfacuon by looking atthe pohcrcs of the organization Level o' ay or salary ISanother hygiene factor being previously studied (5]examine the effects of locally competitive salarysupplements and the turnover rate in all North Carolinaschool drstricts The hygiene factor salary was found to bethe most important reason for teachers to leave theirposiuons [5J

In Royal Malaysian Air Force, a tel', studies were conductedon Job satisfaction (27] conducted a study on the Jobsatisfacnon of the personnel in the Air Traffic Control Thecross sectional study was conducted to gauge the level ofjob satisfaction and to Identify the main factor thatcontribute to satisfaction of Air Traffic Controllers 111 theRMAF. It was concluded that economic rewards andrelationship with peers were the sigruficant factorscontributed to the overall satisfaction of personnel of AirTraffic Controller

In the other study conducted by (28], his study on AirDefence Operators focusing on factors from Herzberg'smotivation-hygiene theory and personal characteristics TheAir Defence Operators in the RMAF valued salary morethan any other factors. The other factors that contributed tothe overall sausfacuon for them were achievement andresponsibrht', HIS study on Air Defence Operators showsthat salary IS the key factor in keeping them motivated andsatisfied.

Other than organizational policy, working conditions,relationship with peers and salary ,( 17] found anotherimportant hygiene factor that influence job satisfaction,which is Job security. In their study on employees of theTherapy Centre for Dependent Individuals In Greece, theyround that the employees are very concern about the jobsecurity

Further, [26J explore the hygiene factor regardingrelationship With leaders and peers. In [26] the validity ofHerzberg's Two-Factor Theory or Motivation was testedempirically on foodservice soldiers and logistics officersTim study compares Job satisfaction between soldier andofficer groups and assesses the effect of Herzberg'Smotllators anu hygiene IlH:tors on job satlslactlon It wasshown that hygiene l~lctors were more powerful predictorsof Job satisfaction than motivators Motivators had a moresigl1lficant associatIOn With logistics officer's satisfactionthan hyglem: tactors For soluiers, "human superVision" and"Illdependence" factors were ranked first and second for

their Impact on job satisfaction In contrast, "achievement"and "working conditions" factors were the two 1110stimportant motivation factors for logistics officers' Jobsatisfaction [26]. Working condition is indeed (In importanthygiene factor that influence job satisfaction In [7) whichinvestigates the relationship between shift work, which IS acrucial element of working conditions, and Job satisfactionof shi It work, the researcher found that rotating shi It haddetrimental effects on certain personal, social, andorganizational variables such as psychological well-be mg,quality of family life, burnout, and Job satisfaction.

Tnterestingly, there is another factor related to workingcondition that is salient to the tlight navigators' job which isflight safety Airline accident investigations by the FederalAviation Administration (FAA), the NationalTransportation Safety Board (NTSB), and researchconducted by National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA) mvestigators suggest that "crew orpilot error" has been a critical factor In more than '65% ofU.S airline mishaps. [IS} in their study describevanoustypes of confl ict, operational context, phase of tl ight,operator states, and situations conducive to communicationconflicts, risk perception differences and Inappropriateresolution strategies in aviation industry. [20] providescomprehensive empirical data on the intricate relationsamong aging, tl ight cxperience, and safety performance

The resul ts md icated that fl ight safety, as measured by ratesof crashes per million pilot flight hours, does not changesignificantly as pilot's age from their late forties to their latefifties. Flight experience, as measured by total tlight time, isa more important determinant of crash risk than aging. Sincenavigators are concern about safety, this study include flightsafety as one of the factors to be tested on its impact to jobsatisfaction '

B. Motivation FactorsWhilst hygiene factors address the dissatisfaction that affectemployees, motivation factors explore those aspects thatmake them happy Herzberg theory identified those factorsas achievement, recognition, growth or advancement, workitself and promotion opporturutiesSeveral studies examined these factors III various differentcontext For example [19] studied the mouvauon ofphysicians and confirmed that achievement, recognition,characrerisucs of the work, responsibiluy , and careergrowth affect their job satisfaction The study by [3] shows aconsistent findings. An online cross-sectional survey wasconducted on tenured nurse faculties nationwide to explorereasons why nurse faculty leave or stay as academia Theanalysis revealed that the most significant factor influencingretention was professional satisfaction with faculty identity,including the ability to shape nursing practice Flynn [8]argued that rewards and recogruuon programs keep highspirits among employees, boosts up their morale and createa linkage between performance and motivation of theemployees. HR policies and practices that enhance personalgrowth and motivate the workforce would secure a durableemployee-employer relationship via social exchangeprocess, which brings a win-win situation that benefits bothparties In the long run Foong-rnmg 19]Promotion opportunities IS also ,1 crucial t~lctlor thatinfluence rnouvauon. [251 asserts that promotions create the

opporturuty tor personal growth, increased levels ofresponsib.Iir- and an IIlCre3Se on SOCial standmg

C Job satisfaction In Royal Malaysian Air-forceThere are limited studies conducted on job satisfactionrelated to air force III particular the Malaysia Royal AirForce. [I] described job satisfaction as the degree to whichpeople Iike the job They examined the relationshipbetween Job satisfaction and stress level among air forcemilitary pilots In another earlier study by [6},performance pay scheme failed to motivate revenueemployees In performing their job The syst WdS said tobe corrupted and unfair by the employees causing manyworkers disgruntled which is an mdication of jobdissatisfaction

In a Malaysian scenano, [16] studied the relationshipbctv.ecu job satisfaction and absenteeism In the RoyalMaiaysian Air Force He studied why personnel III theRMAF Involved In absenteeism and he found a few factorscontributing to this negative behaviour The Inclination togo absent IS directly correlated withjob satisfaction of thepersonnel, In this situation; the low motivated personnelare at higher risk of going absent as compared to the highmotivated ones.

III STUDY OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCHQUESTIONS

Despite several studies mentioned above, none look at thenavigators' Job satisfaction in the air force which is facingIssues on limited Job progression opportuniues (RMAF,HRD, Officer's promotion, 20 I0) hence many of them remainin the rank of sergeant major until their retirement age.Therefore, the objective of this research IS to identity thehygiene and motivational factors suggested b) Herzberg onJob satisfaction of Navigators 111 the RMAF and which of thefactors that have the highest Impact. Based on the diSCUSSIOnabove, there are three research questions (RQ) tor this paperwhich are, RQ 1 Which motivation factors that have a highimpact on Navigators Job satisfaction') RQ 2 Which hygienefactors that have a high impact on Navigators job satisfaction')RQ 3 Which l lerzbergs motivation-hygiene factors thathave the highest impact on Navigators job satisfaction')

IV. RESULTS

A. DemographiCSThe data was collected through surveys of 56 samples whichwere distributed to navigators in all RMAF bases Ademograph.c analysis was conducted and found that majorityof respondents arc holding the rank of Major, 41-50 years anddiploma holders Navigators III the RMAF are still dominatedby male that have served more than 21 years. Table I showsthe detail respondents' demographic

TABLE " RLSPONDlN'1 SDLMOC;RAPIIICS

Gender'vlulc

f-f::m,lle9/l t-,

! (COIICol ,I '\'.'.d..l'~\' q_U_l\lilil'lll.iOI1,_ _. '_~' __ . ~t ~II'M L 2 ) 7% II-D'PI~m" =--=-=+- _ 40_= :=7410/:-.:

Degree/Master 11 E ~~_ J'- -=-- 'l---=!-- ---) ears uf servlce I

f "10-- _,. III I~i',

10·1::' I' ~ .. :':\1"

(,,2f) 13 " I'.r "'21 I', 2'1t,uur., - _

B, Herzberg 's mot/ration factorsTable 2 presents the correlation matrix of job satisfaction

and Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory, There wassignificant positive correlation between job satisfaction to allfive of Herzberg's motivation factors achievement (1'= 477),recognition (r= ,531), growth (r= 581). work itself (r= 525)and promotion (r =-l33) at the 0 0 I level.

C. Herzberg's hygiene [actors

The correlation matrix of the job satisfaction andHerzberg's hygiene factors illustrate shows that policv(r =494), relationship with leaderstr =552). and fhght safetyir =,531) were Significantly correlated With job satisfaction at the001 level. while rclatronsrup with peers (r = 099). wor],condltlons(r=266) and paytr= 172) were not s.gmficantl ,correlated to Job satisfacuon at the 00 I level. Worksecurityrr= -,101) Vias small negatively correlated and notsignificance to job satisfaction, Cohen (1988, pp 79-81)suggests that r = 10 - ,29 small, r = ,30 - 49 medium and r =,50 _ 1,0 strong correlation

D, Multiple regressionThe results suggested that 409% (adjusted R squared 409)

of the variance In Job satisfaction III the RMAF could beexplained by Herzberg's motivation-hygiene thcory TheF-ratio of40,51 (p = 000) indicated that the regression modclof job satisfaction on the variables assessed was statisucallysignificant To assess whether the regression analysissuffersfrom multi-col linearity, the variance rnflatron factor (VIP)was calculated, As rndrcated In Table 4. all vir values are lessthan 5, Indicating there IS no multi-collillcafity problcm In lhemodel. rhe results tn table 3 revenled that one of the twelvevaflables was found to be Significant 111 aVlgatol' contextThe analysis demonstrated that the most significant predictorsfor job satisfaction is career growth (8 = 401, P =r 006)

indicating that Navigator m the RMAF value most the careergrowth The evidence concludes that career growth IS themost anucrpated factor for Navigators.

rAI3L1: 2 CORRIIIlTIONS 111T\\rtN JOfl SIIrISFACTION IINIl HI R7.nr'R(;'S1\10 1'~lIOR IlllOJ(Y

Ach Rec Grow Work Pol Peer Sec Lead Cond Prom Pay Fit

i Jobsans m" 531 " 581 " 525' 494" 099 522" 266 m" In 53'"

101I 1613"1 ilb"l 658" 7~~" li6~ I 047 r~8" no' 152" 2IJXI 62V", ,"chlel crncm i

rI 5"(>" 536" 1.686": 187

11Recogrnuon ,I 621 " 105 590" j~O"

II

1,035 136

Growth I ~II" 484" ! .087 442" 153 379" 086 377"003

Ilork 578": 1

642"

154 568" 009 512"

- ,..--J---t 029 269'--I Poiil'l I 11 R2 735" 343' 660" 229 720",

I 090

Rei _pws 111 258 072 152 131

034

work _secunt) 019 332' 083 283' ,075

Rei leaders .360" 691** 174 584**

II ork _\'tnl I I , I237 271 ' JOI'

PrornononI I I 334' 60A"I

p~) i 286'

TABLE 3 REGRESSION RESULT rUR HERZBERG'S 'v10TIVIlTION-HYGIENETI tron Y liN D JOfl SATlsr IICTION

'" i I

"' \ IF

'I. x, .

v CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The results revealed that all the five tested factors fromHerzberg's motivation factors are found to be sigruficant Inthe context of Navigator in Royal Malaysian Air Force.Achievement, promotion recognition, growth and work Itselfare strong and positively correlated to Herzberg's motivationfactors with job satisfaction. On the other hand ,Navigatorsfeel that only 3 Herzberg's hygiene factors can enhance theirJob satisfaction which are policy, relationship with leadersand flrght safety while relationship with peers, work security,work condition and pay were not sigruficantly relevant to theirto Job satisfaction Among all the mouvanon and hygienefactors, career growth emerged as the most signi ficant factorthat influence job satisfaction.

The survey results indicated that these Navigators who aremainly holding the rank of Major with an average age of 45,the most experience and talented Navigators in the RMAFTherefore it IS recommended that the orgarusationformulation or a well-defined and transparent career growthpolicy for the Navigators It is to enable personnel to developtheir full potential as well as maxurusing resource efficiencyof the organisation

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