The Influence of Grievance Handling on Employee Job Satisfaction in Private Secondary Schools in Thika West District

Abstract

The great majority of employees are quite enthusiastic when they start a new job, but in most organisations, employee morale sharply decline after their first few months and continue to deteriorate afterwards. According to Armstrong (2006), it is an interesting fact that when people are asked directly if they are satisfied with their job, most of them (seventy to ninety percent) will say they are. This is regardless of the work being done, and often in spite of strongly held grievances. Pearson and Robinson, (1997) argues that the fault lies squarely at the feet of management in the policies employed in managing their work force and in the relationships that individual managers establish with their workforce. Chaykowski and Slotsve, (1992); Tan, (1994) state that constructive grievance handling largely depends on ability of managers and supervisors to recognise, diagnose, and correct the causes of potential employee dissatisfaction before they become formal grievances. Yahya et al(2011) states that the style of handling grievances affects the employee satisfaction. Private secondary schools have their of share management issue just like any other business entities in terms of grievance handling. Roche (2002), underscores the importance of open and sincere relationships between the school management and teachers. A well-managed and motivated human resource could help solve many if not all of the problems experienced in schools. It is important that teachers feel important and satisfied with their jobs for them to be willing to give their best to the education of the students. Many times if a teacher feels unappreciated or lacks job satisfaction his/her performance is poor, and in fact can lead to a high teacher turnover rate.