Determinants of employee job satisfaction at a national department in KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Employee work fulfilment is a key aspect that contributes towards the satisfaction of employees in public and private organisations. This study was conducted to explore the determinants of employee satisfaction at the SASSA Regional office of Pietermaritzburg. The intention of this study is to recommend strategies and mechanisms that can improve employee satisfaction and support their performance aspects at the SASSA. This study used the two-factor theory of Herzberg to understand the motivating issues that might determine the fulfilment and discontentment of workers in their work environment. The case of the SASSA is by no means used to generalise the findings to other SASSA offices nationally.

The researcher adopted a case study design, and data was collected and analysed using a mixed research methodology that is comprised of both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The researcher collected data using semi-structured interviews and administered questionnaires, while the analysis of primary data was done using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. The literature indicated that job satisfaction can be determined by intrinsic and external factors. A purposive sample size of an aggregate of 90 employees was drawn from a population of 200 diverse workers in as far as races, gender and grade levels. Permission and access were granted to the researcher, and the study was ethically cleared by the university ethics committee of the faculty of Accounting and Informatics. The researcher considered ethical aspects such as protection of the participants against harm, privacy and identity protection, honesty and truth during data collection and analysis. The literature that was surveyed indicated that job satisfaction can be determined by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. It was derived from the findings that SASSA as an institution is affected by political and socio-economic factors that also limit the organisation to provide a viable and healthy working environment to its employees. As noted by the respondents, the environmental factors do not stimulate the work environment in order to stimulate public servants to perform better so that they can add value to their organisational units as factors that are both internal and external. Findings of the study revealed that poor communication between management and staff, opposing relationships between colleagues, poor leadership

styles and unfair on-going processes of recruitment and selection were negatively compromising the quality of service delivery and the performance of the employees at SASSA. The study further revealed that the associated factors like promotion, recognition and training and development are the other main factors that make SASSA employees unhappy. Therefore, the outcomes of such a study could produce particularly inspiring conclusions and might also significantly impact the delivery of meaningful results to the management of SASSA. It could also give focus on addressing the needs of the employees within the organisation.