Abstract:

The impact of Human Resources Management policies and practices on the firm’s performance is an important topic in the field of Human Resources management, Industrial Relations and Industrial Psychology. Arguments made in related research are that a firm’s current and potential human resources are important considerations in the development and execution of its strategic business plan (Huseflid, 1995). This proposed study is aimed at understanding what Employee Satisfaction is and what the major antecedents to Employee Satisfaction are. This study extends further from this note and investigates a possible relationship between Employee Satisfaction and Retention of employees. Several researches had been conducted and also ongoing, in the area of Employee Satisfaction, as to which are the major factors that satisfy employees.  Employee Satisfaction has been looked upon from various angles, such as the Job Characteristics, (Nature of the job), Employee Empowerment, Disposition of Temperament of the person, Cultural Differences between people, and Opportunities for Training and Development, and the Organization Mission Statement. (Brown & Yoshioka, 2003, Saari & Judge, 2004, Hurley & Estelami, 2007, Sarwar & Khalid, 2011, Antoncic & Antoncic, 2011).  There has also been considerable research going on to check whether Employee Performance would be a major antecedent to Employee Satisfaction but research has not been conclusive enough to establish a relationship between Employee Performance Management and Employee Satisfaction. (Zeffane & Ibrahim, 2008). Research in this area yields contradictory results over a period of time. Zeffane and Ibrahim, in their study explored a relationship between gender and Employee Satisfaction, which again was non-conclusive, as it tends to vary between different cultures across the world. Hence, this study aims to obtain more clarity on the aspect of Employee Satisfaction and what are the various antecedents to it and also finally how is it linked with Employee Retention. We perform this study on the Civil Aviation Industry in India and France. The main reason for choosing the Aviation Industry in India is as such because it is plagued with huge attrition rates, due to fierce competition and high operating costs. Moreover, it also has a threat from allied industries such as Hospitality, wherein employees try to switch over from Aviation, due to the lucrative offers from them. We intend to compare this phenomenon with the aviation sector in France and check the validity of the model outside India and also its level of variation between the two countries.