managers can create satisfied employees - final

Managers Can Create Satisfied Employees

A discussion on the Role and Significance of Genetics on Employee Satisfaction

Ahmed Habib L10-5447

Maria Mujeeb L10-5406

Tehreem Ijaz L10-5412


Table of Contents

Part I: Building the Framework

Introduction to the Issue 2

Personal Opinion (Tehreem Ijaz) 3

Personal Opinion (Maria Mujeeb) 8

Personal Opinion (Ahmed Habib) 12

Part II: Analysis and Hypothesis

Arguments and Explanations 16

Generalization of These Findings 23

Conclusion 24

Bibliography 25

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Introduction to the Issue:

The point of study presented to our groups for analysis and interpretation is a strong

example of the role of developmental psychology in real life situations, more specifically in

workplace environments where human psychology plays a more significant role that many

managers seem to realize.

The point presented for this discussion is an important sub-field of developmental

psychology called Nature versus Nurture, or nativism versus empiricism. An advocate of the

nativist belief would argue that many human traits are inherently hereditary and thus not

acquirable; an empiricist on the other hand would contend this point by emphasizing the

importance of learning and believing humans are capable of learning all kinds of traits. Although

the debate of natural traits versus nurtured traits is an old issue, current developmental

psychologists do not take extreme sides and try to prove their point. This is where evolutionary

developmental psychology comes into play and helps psychologists explore this relationship

between genes and environments.

The minutiae of the arguments presented from both side of this debate and conclusions

achieved detail the literature of this report. The first part of this report explains the nature of the

argument and importance of the factors associated with the possible conclusions of this report

done by Maria and Tehreem. The second part of this report covers an in-depth analysis of the

argument and all factors that relate genetics to human behavior, the significance of the role of

genetics and its consequential ethical considerations done by Ahmed.

Before going in to the depth of this discussion, there remains the point of the importance

of this issue. While determining the role of genetics in human behavior is a significant endeavor

on its own and provides much insight into understanding the complex link between genes and

environments, the importance of understanding behavior is of fundamental significance in

organizational behavior.

Understanding the behavior of employees can help understand what motivates them, what

drives them and how they behave and respond to different incentives and initiatives. This

information is of significant importance to managers who have to deal with a large number of

employees over their lifetimes and face many problems understanding them all.

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Personal Opinion (Tehreem Ijaz):

To be working in an organization, job satisfaction on the employees’ part is very crucial.

A person needs to be, if not completely but to some extent, satisfied with the job that they are

performing. That is the only way a person can perform at its best. The efficiency of one’s

performance measures with how happy a person is with what and how they perform an activity

or a service.

There are many which can determine whether a person is satisfied with their job or not.

Firstly, a person can observe the behavior of an employee. For example, what is their behavior

like at work, or how that person treats others? Secondly, observing whether the gossip runs

freely in the office. Thirdly, finding out whether employees are paying attention to work or

spending time playing games or using social websites. If these are the factors seen at a

workplace, they are bound to see employee that are very unhappy from their jobs. Unhappy

employees do not generally work for the production of a company. They have complete ideas of

what the goals and motives are of a company. However, because of their lack of interest, they do

not always contribute. It is obvious that if a person were satisfied from their job, they would stay

longer and grow a loyalty for their company. In addition, if employees feel that they belong to a

certain place, they would automatically come up with new and innovative ideas for the

betterment of that company, work hard and satisfy their customers.

To ensure maximum job satisfaction, there are evaluation surveys done in different

companies to know what is going wrong in the company that is causing the employees not to

work at their best.

Managers, as a whole, perform an enormous role in the employees’ job satisfaction.

Researches provide the evidences that managers can control four different areas on the behalf of

their employees’ satisfaction with their job. That includes,

Mentally challenging work

Equitable rewards

Supportive working conditions

Supportive colleagues

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We will discuss all these factors in detail below.

Mentally challenging work:

Generally, people opt for jobs in which use their skills and abilities to do various tasks

efficiently and excessively. If a person gets a job that requires very low skill work and a dull

follow-up of what their superiors have done, that person might soon lose interest in it or even be

unable to work at all. The most important thing in bring out the most of a person’s efficiency is

acknowledging that they are given a job that they like and are well adapt to. For example, if an

introverted person, good at numbers, got placement in a marketing field, he/she would probably

never work wholeheartedly. How managers can improve this state of misjudgment is by judging

which person is right for what type of job. If a person is good at numbers, assign him/her to a job

in which numbers are included so that they can use their skills and ability to perform more

efficiently and prove to be an asset for the company.

Furthermore, people work best if they receive a psychological feedback on appreciation;

receiving frequent appreciation for a job well done is an important factor for employees’ job

satisfaction. In this way, the job converts to a mentally rewarding one, and people look forward

to accomplish the targeted goals.

Equitable rewards:

Firstly, the necessity of doing a job is, to earn money. A proper amount of pay that a

person gets sets the standards for a job satisfaction. If a person is not getting the correct amount

of pay as compared to the amount of work that he/she does, the company is bound to have a very

unhappy and unsatisfied employee. Unsatisfied employees therefore make very inefficient

workers and hence, affect the company. Therefore, the basic thing one needs to understand here

is that job salary should be appropriate enough to match with the amount of work a person does.

Secondly, proper rewards to an employee for jobs well done can also improve the job

satisfaction. When an employee works at their best, they expect some sort of feedback from

their bosses. In the core of their mind, they have this expectation that if they work hard, their

company would get the profitability out of it. If the company would get the profitability, in return

they would get the amount of bonus that is set for the level of post that they work. Appreciation,

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along with the proper amount of bonuses and incentives can have, to some extent, very satisfied

employees.

Supportive working conditions:

People work their best if their surrounding is comfortable. A proper environment can be

the biggest factor. A person given the latest equipment to work with and the proper working

environment can get motivation out of it to work at their best. Managers can in turn create a very

healthy work environment in order to make the employees want to work at their best. Safety is

also a very essential ingredient in a working environment. If a person feels some sort of

insecurity regarding a place that they are working for, they would most defiantly worry about

their safety and not pay much attention to their work. What managers can provide in this regard

is a safer environment where people do not have to worry about anything other than their work.

They can create a very professional environment and a very safe one in turn for people to be

more comfortable, relaxed, and motivated to perform the tasks given to them.

Other thing that can be included in supportive working conditions is the fact that some

people like to work close to home. What managers can offer to these types of employees are

small low cost apartments that are situated close the workplace, so that for one, they can be

easily accessible. Second, they would have the sort of satisfaction that they have a good job and

working environment and it is close to home as well. For example, some companies have some

of their project in very remote areas. What they do is, create small colonies for their worker so

that they are close to work and can be called at any time.

Supportive colleagues:

The biggest thing that comes right after a good working environment is, a workplace

having friendly and supportive colleagues. For a person to work at their best, they need some sort

of motivation in the form of competition. Too much competition can also decrease a person’s

efficiency to work. In that case, they need motivation in the form of support from others. Having

very friendly and supportive people around can at times is very helpful in making efficient

workers working at their best.

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Research shows that there is more to a job then just earning money. Some people work

for their social interactions. For them, a job is a very good way to increase the interaction

between people. Furthermore, the work environment of an employee also majorly depends upon

the type of behavior of their boss. If a person were having a very uptight and rigid boss, the

employee would be under the stress of trying to perform the most efficient job and coming up

with the most effective suggestions. In turn, that leads to very lame decisions at time and can

cause a mind to work even less efficiently. In comparison, if a boss has a very friendly and open-

minded nature, is very adaptive, and listens to new ideas put forward by their employees, then

they would be having more efficiently working workers. The role of a manager here can be that

they form a friendly environment for employees and be open to different ideas.

Employee Retention:

Employee retention is a very necessary component for a company to establish itself.

Moreover, the main way to carry out employee retention is to ensure satisfaction of the

customers.

Taking acknowledgement from an article written by Susan M. Heathfield at About.com

Guide, Top 10 Ways to Retain Your Great Employees it explains there “Employee retention

matters.” This is very true. Of course, at the starting point of hiring, the selected employees are

the ones who are good assets for the job and can prove to be efficient in their work. If for some

reason, their needs and wants are not stratified, they tend to lose interest and work less

effectively, in turn giving less to the company than they can. The four points mentioned earlier

are a sort of guidelines for mangers on how to improve their employees’ job satisfaction. This

report only discusses a few of the ten points in the article.

Employee speaking his/her mind: Firstly, a person in lead should have a very

innovative and adaptive nature. They should be open-minded to new ideas and listen to

what their employees have to say. Sometimes, it happens that the employees at a lower

level come up with the most effective ideas. An uptight or rigid boss will never have

efficiently working employees. That might well lead to a turnover on their employees’

part and hence, cause the company to lose their valued worker. Therefore, employee

involvement is very necessary.

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Perception of fairness and equitable treatment: Secondly, the perception of fairness

and equitable treatment is very necessary. Favoritism or taking sides can lead other

people to believe that no matter what they do or come up with and no matter how hard

they will work, they would not get enough encouragement or reward as the boss’s

favorite employee. Therefore, it is crucial on the manager’s part that they treat their all

employees equally, have a fair treatment of rewards or punishments.

Not to threaten an employee’s job or income: No matter what the circumstance may

lead to a manager to be very critical, they should never threaten a person’s job or income.

That might lead to a very stiff behavior on the employee’s part and might lead to tense

work environment, not as much efficient working and finally, to a turnover. Therefore, it

is necessary for a manager to understand the fact that no matter what the circumstance

may lead to a person to do, they should never threaten their employees’ job or income.

Know well of your employee’s existence: A person can very easily lose interest in their

job if their employer does not know them. Managers are to create a friendly but firm

environment for their employees to work at their best. It is important for the employer to

know their employees by name and post. This leaves a very positive impact on the

employees’ mind and make them work extra hard to remain in their boss’s good books.

(Heathfield, 2010)

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Personal Opinion (Maria Mujeeb):

After study of the whole issue, I believe that environmental factors are the ones that have

more impact on employee satisfaction than genetics. This is because among all the traits and

behavioral aspects motivation is the most important and worthy one that employees bring with

them to work and this is the trait that is highly affected by environmental stimuli and conditions.

This is also visible from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. The five major needs mentioned

in it namely, physiology, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization highly depend on

environmental factors. If managers analyze employees based on this hierarchy, they can rightly

judge what should be done more and on what grounds to increase employee satisfaction and

motivation.

On the other hand discovering, renewing and boosting up this trait is one of the managers

most important and tricky jobs. All of the organizational balance depends on the correlation of

these factors. Employee motivation and satisfaction about work is the blend of rewarding the

employee's needs and prospects from work and the whole environment.

As the size of an organization increases, it becomes more difficult for the managers and

executives to handle communicate and interact effectively with the employees. Thus, dynamics

of employee satisfaction associated to manager’s change with the size of a certain organization.

There is a vast importance of manager’s relationship and communication with employees in

building and reinforcing satisfaction. The managers who display a strong emphasis on

employees, a firm commitment to ethical behavior and who keep employees informed about the

direction and motives of the company in which it is heading are the ones who build more highly

engaged workforces and outperform their competitors.

(Ismail, Haniff, Kim, Deros, & Makhtar, 2010)

In fact, whatever environment managers provide to increase employee satisfaction within

the domain of their areas of accountability, and even beyond, they will still face certain situations

and drawbacks. This is mainly because there are inevitable scenarios that are unmanageable in

addition to these factors.

Mentally challenging work:

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I believe that employees never want to remain indulged in a job where they have to

perform repetitive tasks repeatedly, even if there has to be repetition of some tasks in a job, some

area of the job should be in accordance to employee’s interest. It is a researched based analysis

and scientific notation that humans respond to external stimuli that challenges their abilities and

matches their abilities and talents. Therefore, it is natural for employees being humans to get

satisfaction from nature of work or job. For creativity and innovation, it is not wrong to ask for

autonomy and independence in decision-making and in how to move towards accomplishing

work and job by the employees. For that purpose, a manager should consider some important

aspects.

Employees should have a certain level of authority and independence to make decisions

and use their intuition while doing their job. This provision supplements from having regular

check and balance systems for them. To build up employee interest and skills in the job

managers should keep enhancing their work levels at different stages. To boost up employees

managers should give them authority under domains to raise their voice in decision-making

areas. Keeping employees in confidence and providing them with adequate information is very

essential. It is an observation that giving attention to employees also boosts their morale and

working capacity. Managers are responsible for addressing employee complaints and concerns

and even if they are not in position to solve it completely they should take notice of it and do

whatever is in their domain.

Equitable Rewards:

Critics believe that this factor is one of the strongest drivers for employee satisfaction. It

is a common practice by managers to relate or attach rewards with monetary values. True it is for

many cases but sometimes the workers and employee only want is a simple appreciation gesture

from the manager or even a thank you note. Managers that do visit and phrase well-performing

employees affect them very positively.

"But I like to think that a lot of managers and executives trying to solve problems miss the

forest for the trees by forgetting to look at their people -- not at how much more they can

get from their people or how they can more effectively manage their people. I think they

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need to look a little more closely at what it's like for their people to come to work there

every day."

(Gordon Bethune, Continental Airlines, Internet Sources)

Research has also proven that there is a strong correlation between reward,

reimbursement plans and employee satisfaction. A reward perceived to be fair and holding future

linkage of employee with the company profits is the strongest of all equitable rewards.

Supportive working conditions:

I think that this environmental condition is one of the most important ones. To begin with

all kind of employees are always eager to know about their as well as mutual performance of the

company. For the purpose, there should be an open communication channels in an organization

to build a smooth flow of information. When an employee is involved in decision making

processes of an organization it gives him feel of comfort and linkage that directly increases his

satisfaction level. The following elaborates this:

"The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they

think and do is important - and then get out of their way while they do it."

(Jack Welch, General Electric, Internet Sources)

Supportive colleagues:

I believe for some people only monetary values may matter but there are those people

who care about other substantial things such as learning and working in a friendly and healthy

environment. For some workers their interaction with their peers and even boss is more

important than bonuses to enhance their level of satisfaction. We all know that there might not be

a single person who does not like to get credit for something he\she has performed well. When

managers give employees chances to learn, grow and appreciate them for their performances, it

completely boosts up their moral and their satisfaction level increases greatly.

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“Bringing together the right information with the right people will dramatically improve

a company's ability to develop and act on strategic business opportunities.”

(Bill Gates, Microsoft, Internet Sources)

It is a common belief and even proven by research that an environment of mutual respect,

involvement and open communications increases employee satisfaction levels and their loyalty

to work.

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Personal Opinion (Ahmed Habib):

After having read the argument in question and done my fair share of research on the

issue, my personal opinion is that genetics play a very significant role in determining the level of

job satisfaction for employees.

The link between personality and gene structure is still a subject of intensive study; the

degree of stability of the results of genetic studies for use in matters outside the domains of

experimentation is questionable however. If a case of a purely genetics related scenario is

considered, where the subjects in a work environment will only differ on their gene structure, it

will be observed that the same level of work environment variables will have vastly varying

results on the performance of employees. This is because studies show that human genes are

accountable for at least 30% of their personality traits.

The best example of such studies is the extensive amount of genetic research on twins

and their behavioral patterns. All the studies indicated acutely peculiar behavioral attributes

common in the adult twins under study, both raised away from each other. This insight was one

of the first indicators of genetic influence on human behavior. Further studies of similar nature

have gone as far as to show that job satisfaction standards in such segregated twins were almost

strikingly similar.

The point of such studies is that they rule out the factors of similarity in environmental

influence on both twins since the twins were raised in very different environments in many

cases; the similarities were found in spite of the environmental differences and attributed to

genes.

In light of such experimentation, a conclusion presented says that genes attribute at least

30 percent of the differences in personalities between people. On that note, consider a

hypothetical work place scenario with nullified environmental factors of influence. In that

environment a manager, using incentives like appreciation, recognition, pay raise, and

positive/negative reinforcement will have absolutely no effect on employees who are genetically

disposed to be dissatisfied with their jobs. Even with environmental factors accounted for, a

manager’s influence on the job satisfaction of such employees will not be entirely effective, or as

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effective as for an employee with a more moderate attitude and more inclination towards being

satisfied.

The following excerpt gives a very interesting picture of the scenario related to genetics and job

satisfaction:

“Despite extensive evidence highlighting the influence of genetics in the business world, this

critical connection has been glossed over by corporate leaders and management gurus. Now, for

the first time, author Scott Shane explains why genes matter, and how an understanding of their

relationship to behavior is of vital importance to employers, employees, and policy makers. This

eye-opening resource begins with an incisive look at the basic function of genes and their effects

on organizational behavior, providing a real-world analysis of how genes influence numerous

aspects of our professional lives, from the jobs we choose, to how effectively we make decisions

and manage people. Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders also delves into role that genetics plays

in creativity and innovation, and focuses on how genes affect our tendency to start companies.”

(Shane, 2010)

There is another side to this scenario as well, however, one that explains the complexity

and thus unreliability of gene studies because of the sheer intricacy in genetic algorithms and the

very frequent rate of reaching no results. Even simple functions can be hard to attribute entirely

to genes, thus the factual association on personality traits and behavioral pattern are downright

impossible to attribute to genes alone. Joseph D. McInerney, director of the Foundation for

Genetic Education and Counseling, gives a very good explanation of this phenomenon:

“Traditional research strategies in behavioral genetics include studies of twins and adoptees,

techniques designed to sort biological from environmental influences. More recently,

investigators have added the search for pieces of DNA associated with particular behaviors, an

approach that has been most productive to date in identifying potential locations for genes

associated with major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Yet even here

there have been no major breakthroughs, no clearly identified genes that geneticists can tie to

disease. The search for genes associated with characteristics such as sexual preference and basic

personality traits has been even more frustrating.

“Such are the allure and misunderstanding of genetics among press and public, however, that

even preliminary findings of genetic influence provoke misleading statements about "genes for" a

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particular behavior, as if genetic causation had been established. In fact, genes can do nothing

by themselves. All of their actions and influence are mediated by proteins—gene products—and

until we understand something about the proteins involved in the myriad steps that produce a

given trait, and about the individual uniqueness to which they contribute, it is difficult to propose

a plausible biological explanation for the trait's expression. The uniqueness is compounded by

the non-linear nature of those myriad steps. Indeed, pervasive uniqueness suggests that there is

no fixed essence in human behavior, only variation, a concept central to all of biology and one

that Galton's famous cousin, Charles Darwin, used to build his revolutionary theory of evolution

by natural selection

“To this already complex calculus we must add the knowledge that biological processes that

combine to produce behaviors or any other complex traits cannot exist apart from the unique

experiences of the individual, perhaps dating as far back as experiences in the womb. An

accounting of those experiences and of their interactions with one's unique biological constitution

would confound our ability to make sound predictions about the occurrence of a given behavior,

even if we knew that predisposing genes were present.”

(McInerney, 1999)

This opinion however has changed much in light of recent studies as newer developments

help unravel the complex essence of the long debated ‘nature versus nurture’ dichotomy of

human behavioral explanation. The remaining report will show the effect of genes on behavior,

as seen in actual studies and experiments conducted by researchers working to explore the

intricacies of human genetics.

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Consensus:

Our group concedes to the fact that genetic involvement does indeed play a role in

determining the behavior of employees on some level, and these genetic afflictions can affect the

working abilities of employees. In addition to this agreement however, there is no contention in

the group about the acceptance of the fact that environmental factors, the ones termed ‘nurtured

traits’ in personalities, play a significant role in employee job satisfaction too.

A preliminary example of the balance created between both mediums is the following

hypothetical scenario:

Scenario:

An employer conducts intensive testing to evaluate employees, specifically selecting those

ambitious employees who prove to be genetically hardworking, have defined goals and are easily

motivated to achieve them, some even able to self-motivate for such purposes. The employer will

have assembled the perfect working team and the progress of those employees will be

outstanding for the initial duration of work. Over time, however, the manager may experience

employee dissatisfaction and turnover. If the manager made no mistakes in determining the

behavioral attributes of employees, how then did the genetically perfect team of most suitable

employees fail?

The answer to this dilemma lies in the work conditions maintained by the employer. Even with

the most suitable employees who fit the job-description in all ways, if the work environment does

not give the employees motivation to work and challenging work that they aspire to take on, other

employers will take advantage of the situation and take away an otherwise perfectly adapted

employee. The solution thus would be for the employer to maintain a work environment that

keeps employees motivated and interested in the work they do.

Before going into the details of the points that highlight this achieved harmony it would

be interesting to review the external factors and their effect on job satisfaction. The next section

starts with a simple model of human psychological behavior for reference and correlation to

personal satisfaction.

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Arguments and Explanations:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

Abraham Maslow, a professor of Psychology at Brandeis University and the founder of

humanistic psychology, created the famous hierarchy of needs, which he presented in his 1943

paper A Theory of Human Motivation1.

The theory describes five basic levels of human needs, which describe the behavior of

humans based on the significance and level of a need. The five basic levels from most to least

significant are:

1. Physiological needs

2. Safety and security need

3. Association, love and belonging needs

4. Esteem based needs

5. Self Actualization needs

The hierarchy model explains that on the most primal level of existence, the most

fundamental human needs are survival. Human behavior suggests that a person driven to an

extreme will think about his/her physiological well being first. With the physiological needs

secured, a person focuses on safety and security of self and those related to him/her. With the

securities and safety needs cared for, a person desires to be loved and associated with, which

makes the third level of needs. Most of the population of the world lies within these three levels.

After these levels are the needs to create esteem and self-imagery and lastly the need to excel and

grow beyond the norms and standards of a system.

The following graph shows Maslow’s Hierarchy in a pyramid structure, resembling the level

and importance of a need, the bottom most being the most essential for the structure and the top

most being the least important:

1 A Theory of Human Motivation, A.H. Maslow, Psychological Review 50(4) (1943):370-96

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Returning to the topic at hand, the four traits that affect employee job satisfaction as described in

the case are:

1. Mentally challenging work

2. Equitable rewards

3. Supportive working conditions

4. Supportive colleagues

Evaluation of each in a brighter light will show that almost all of the listed factors can fall on

any level on Maslow’s Hierarchy. On the surface, all these factors satiate the physiological

needs. Employees can continue their work and in turn earn enough to satisfy their fundamental

physiological needs.

A step above that, improving the environment of employees and increasing their

satisfaction with their job fulfills their security needs, most notably in the form of job stability

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and ability to take care of their dependent associates.

Going further up, supportive work conditions help employees associate and relate to their

work environment and peers. That again satisfies a need and increases overall satisfaction.

A step above that, providing employees with rewards and support will do wonders to

their esteem. The lack of esteem and recognition is an issue a lot of financially and physically

well off employees suffer from, the apparent emptiness and hollowness employees might feel

can be eradicated if employers can provide them with opportunities to increase their self-esteem

and make them feel special and wanted.

Lastly, the final thing improved work conditions can elevate an employee to the self-

actualization level – enabling them to associate the highest level of psychological comfort with

their jobs.

It takes little effort to relate to all scenarios and conclude that improved job conditions

can really help employees achieve higher levels of satisfaction and psychological comfort. The

actual story however does not remain as simple once the hereditary and behavioral effects of

genetics on personalities are included in the picture.

Accounting for Behavioral Genetics:

To begin this side of creating an employee who fits both sides of the nature/nurture

psychological satisfaction model, the first part is to explain the role of genetics in human

behavior:

“Way back in 1932, Harold Carter found statistical evidence that whether people want to become

doctors, commodities traders, ranchers, firemen, automobile salesmen, or any number of other

occupations, has a genetic component; identical twins are attracted to more similar jobs than

fraternal twins, even than same-sex fraternal twins. Subsequent research has shown that genes

affect fairly specific dimensions of job preferences. For instance, a study by University of

Minnesota psychologist Tom Bouchard and his colleagues showed that 21 percent of the

difference between people in their interest in law enforcement is genetic, while Deborah

Betsworth and Bouchard found that genes explain about 46 percent of the difference between

people in their interest in "academic comfort."

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“Although genetic effects exist for specific job preferences, they tend to be stronger for broader

categories that represent the major skills and activities involved in those positions. For instance,

a study by David Lykken and his colleagues showed that 32 percent of the difference between

people with respect to their responses about occupational interests—for instance, whether you

like carpentry, or buying and selling, or public speaking—are genetic. But 53 percent of

categories of interests, such as preference for adventurous work, intellectual work, or agrarian

work, is hereditary.” (Shane, The Genetics of Job Choice, 2010)

In the paper, Genetics of Human Behavior2 however, the main fact brought forward is

about positivism and reductionism concerning genetic behaviors. The paper explains

reductionism as the belief that genetics alone can satisfactorily explain the nature of human

behaviors. Reductionism thus is in effect a form of dogma that recommends application of

physical laws to human psychology. The paper contends that the actual complexity of human

nature and its relation to genetics however is much more complex. The main setback of genetic

research is the reception of all kinds of ideas without any serious scrutiny and the immediate

acceptance of such research. The hype created is over the research and resulting findings, a few

good examples are linkages of genes to diseases like schizophrenia and depression, and traits like

intelligence and alcoholism. What fails to happen however is the coverage of subsequent

criticism and often proven inconsistency of such claims in later times, resulting in the prevalence

of such dogmas.

The paper suggests against discrimination of people on grounds of genetic evidence alone

because human behavior is a very complex study that involves many complex factors like

external influences and social structures. Condemning a person’s attitude because of genetic

behavior is in effect disregarding the effect of society on creating that attitude, as presented by

Lewontin3.

In light of the two opposing sides of the picture, the point of interest is the following

statement presented in a book on understanding genetic behavior and its formation:

“Scientists realize that genes by themselves do not control behavior. Genes enable organisms to

respond to and use what is around them in their environments. At the same time, environments

2 Moncrieff, J. (1998) Genetics of Human Behavior, London: Institute of Psychiatry.3 Lewontin, R. C. (1993) the Doctrine of DNA, London: Penguin.

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influence the actions of genes.

“Unfortunately, the term “environment” often leads to confusion because it has a different

meaning in behavioral genetics than the one that ordinarily comes to mind. As an ecological

term, environment means the physical world. As a genetic term, environment means all influences

other than inherited factors. Here’s a short list of some typical environmental factors that to one

degree or another affect behavior: family and friends, home and workplace, and specific

experiences from everyday life. These are aspects of our external, social world. Other

environmental factors belong to the internal, biological world: nutrients, hormones, viruses,

bacteria, toxins, and other products that affect the body during prenatal development and

throughout life.

“People working in the field of behavioral genetics agree that genes and environments are both

essential and interdependent factors in behavior. Their field is called behavioral genetics, not

because they think genes are more important than environments but because they use gene-based

research tools to sort out the factors that contribute to the variation in behavior.” (Baker, 2003)

By now the complex two-sided picture of ‘nature versus nurture’ in terms of human

behavioral explanations seems to mold into a smoother more comprehensible structure that

enables understanding of the exact nature of human behaviors and the roles genetics and

environments play in determining these behaviors.

In light of the evidence presented, it is conclusive that while there are no clear indicators

describing the exact role of genetics in human behavior, there are also no evidential records

calling genes unrelated in determining it. Thus to make a complete picture of how genes and

environmental factors correlate to create distinct behaviors in humans it must be accepted that

genetics is relatively a young field and there remains much to be discovered before any ironclad

conclusions can be made. The evidence so far still suggests against neglecting the role of genes

in determining the possible behavior of a person.

Managers need to understand that genetic significance does play a role in employee

performance and behavior; it is truly unfair to disregard an employee for a job based on genes

alone. It is wise to note however, that if a successful method of determining genetic traits and job

fits emerges, finding employees who can better suit a job fit and then providing them with job

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motivation and improvement factors will have much greater results than doing the same for an

employee whose genetic disposition tends to mismatch the job description.

Some very simple examples are the case of a mathematician and a sales manager

applying for the same jobs. The parts of their behavior that attribute to genetic elements are the

logical and computational skills of the mathematician and the charisma and communication skills

of the sales manager. When both people apply for a job in a pricing department, where working

around numbers is essential for the job description, the mathematician will be at ease and even

be happy without motivation and encouragement from the employer. The sales manager however

will not be comfortable with the nature of the job, regardless of how much he/she wants to do

that job and the employer providing enough incentives to ensure success. On the other hand, the

opposite scenario occurs if the job is in a sales department. In both cases, the manager wastes

more effort and resources trying to satisfy an employee who is genetically indisposed to the kind

of work and gets lower results than an employee who needs little to no motivation and performs

much better.

As Scott Shane concludes in his article The Genetics of Job Choice:

“Of course, your genetic makeup doesn’t guarantee that you will prefer certain types of occupations, have high job satisfaction, change positions infrequently, or start companies. After all, genes don’t determine anything about your work-related behavior; they just influence it. You can easily prefer certain occupations, be satisfied with your job, have high job stability, or become an entrepreneur whether you have the relevant genetic predispositions or not. The odds are just greater for the genetically inclined than for the rest of us.” (Shane, The Genetics of JobChoice, 2010)

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Application of the Issue to OB Related Problems:

The previous part has successfully concluded that managers need to take care of both the

genetic disposition and the environmental affluence of employees to ensure they work

successfully and remain satisfied with their jobs.

This case is of significant importance to Organization Behavior and related issues

because one of the largest problems managers face is keeping employees satisfied and reducing

their rate of turnover. An insight into the factors that affect job satisfaction can help an otherwise

confused employer understand why his/her employees quit their jobs despite the employer’s best

efforts to provide the perfect working environment to employees.

A case of concern here is how to acquire an actual quantitative and qualitative evaluation

of an employee based on environmental and genetic indicators, which can show how compatible

the employee is with the job description. For a number of jobs this procedure can be simple as

the job description is simple enough and a few simple preliminary tests and interviews can filter

in most potential candidates. Jobs of this nature are mostly sales and networking related jobs

where employees employ and demonstrate rigorous repetition of their skills and abilities. The

results from such jobs are plain to see and employee attitude and motivation is easy to detect.

The case tends to get complicated in larger organizations however, where there is a

significantly reduced direct level interaction between managers and employees. Other scenarios

where this situation can be difficult to detect is in hierarchical organizations where the upper

command cannot or will not commune frankly with lower levels, e.g. the military, and places

where the nature of the job is complex and job interactions are rare, e.g. workers in a studio or

production crew members in a filming company. Employees in such jobs mostly face negligence

in personal interactions with employers and employers rely on classical methods to estimate

increases in job satisfaction.

In all such scenarios, a more evaluative system of selection of employees will help both

the employee and employer in maintaining higher levels of job satisfaction and increasing the

overall output.

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Generalization of These Findings:

Although this case points at a very critical factor in organization behavior related

problems and hypothetically links to a possible solution to a very large problem faced by

employers – the problem of job satisfaction and turnover - this case fails at providing a solid

picture of what employers and managers need to do in order to create satisfied employees.

The reason why the empirical evidence about the direct influence of genetics provided in

this case fails to fit into any generalization for use in real life problems is the complex nature of

human behavior and the severely intricate roles of genes and environmental factors in

influencing behavior. The study of genetics is a very young one and there are many intricate

factors involved when considering genetic generalizations. The role of genetics and behavior in

its entirety is a vast field and goes well beyond the scope of this study.

Current methods to discern genetic behaviors in humans are generally complex and

tedious; moreover, the results can often be frustrating, as years of a research may yield no

suitable findings. The case in concern is a very insightful one in terms of theorizing the possible

causes of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in employees however, the extent of resources it would

take to scientifically screen and evaluate whether employees can actually match a job description

genetically are far too ludicrous in terms of the investment of time and money in them.

In the future if simpler methods of detecting the genetic presence of satisfiers in a

person’s personality are discovered, it would be of significant advantage to employees and

employers in improving their work conditions and increasing output.

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Conclusion:

The conclusion to this case is the obvious understanding of the fact that both genes and

environmental factors play significant roles in determining how a person behaves. The important

point to note here is that genetic markers and environmental presences only indicate what the

behavior of a person could be.

There are no ironclad rules for and against using genetics and behavioral predictions to

evaluate an employee’s performance when the employee cannot get a chance to prove otherwise.

This case merely gives an insight into the involvement of genetics in determining behavior, and

in all of the references provided, the indication is that genetics play a role in determining

behavior however it is difficult to use it as an absolute indicator.

In addition to the uncertainty and inaccuracy of genetic screening and testing, one of the

most controversial issues is the ethical premise to this case. Some consider the right to screen

employees by employers productive to better work environments and performances while others

argue that such screening, in addition to being erroneous at times, is a violation of the privacy

and security of employees. The full scenario of the ethical standpoint on genetic screening is in

the paper Ethics and Genetics: Susceptibility Testing in the Workplace:

“Those in favor of genetic screening are probably justified in citing employee benefit, corporate

responsibility, and economics as reasons for using genetic testing to select against certain

employees while protecting those already employed who may be susceptible. Opponents to

screening also provide persuasive arguments for the need for concern about justice and

discrimination, scientific validity and privacy. There are further concerns, particularly in the

U.S., regarding risks to employees’ insurability (for both health care and life insurance) (Murray

et al., 2001). While we find the arguments against screening at this time are in general more

persuasive (given the rather low accuracy of testing, the low utility of risk information, and the

clear potential for injustice and discrimination), screening may be a viable option – both

technically and ethically – in certain specifiable situations either now or in the future. Obviously

the accuracy of testing methods must be improved but more importantly, testing must be

administered in a just and respectful manner.”

(MacDonald & William-Jones, 2002)

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Bibliography

[1]. Maslow, A. H. (1993) A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review: 370-96

[2]. Moncrieff, J. (1998) Genetics of Human Behavior, London: Institute of Psychiatry

[3]. Lewontin, R. C. (1993) the Doctrine of DNA, London: Penguin.

Baker, C. (2003). BEHAVIORAL GENETICS: An introduction to how genes and environments interact through development to shape differences in mood, personality, and intelligence. Washington D. C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science and The Hastings Center.

Shane, S. (2010). The Genetics of Job Choice. The Journal of the Americal Enterprise Institute.

Heathfield, S. M. (2010, November). Top Ten Ways To Retain Your Great Employees. Retrieved from About.com: Need. Know. Accomplish.: http://humanresources.about.com/od/retention/a/more_retention.htm

Ismail, A., Haniff, M., Kim, C., Deros, B., & Makhtar, N. (2010). A Survey on Environmental Factors and Job Satisfaction Among Operators in Automotive Industry. American Journal of Applied Sciences , 7 (4): 556-561.

MacDonald, C., & William-Jones, B. (2002). Ethics and Genetics: susceptibility Testing in the Workplace. Journal of Business Ethics , 35: 235-241.

Murray, William D., James C. Wimbush and Dan R. Dalton (2001) Genetic Screening in the Workplace: Legislative and Ethical Implications. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(4): 365-378

McInerney, J. D. (1999, November-December). Judicature: Genes and Behavior. Retrieved from Judicature Genes and Justice: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/publicat/judicature/article4.html

Shane, S. (2010). Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders. Oxford University Press.

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managers can create satisfied employees - final

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