Antecedents and consequences of job satisfaction of government employees in India

Abstract

The motivation of Government employees is the key to increasing overall productivity of India. Employee motives represent what employees want and expect from their jobs, while Job Satisfaction reflects the employees reactions to what they receive. In this research, an attempt is made to measure Job Satisfaction, personality traits, organizational perceptions, Affective Commitment and organizational Citizenship Behaviour of Government employees in India. Statistical analysis is used to find out the correlations among antecedent factors, Job Satisfaction factors and consequence factors. The analysis finds that individual personality factors are not significant predictors of Job Satisfaction but three organizational factors - Distributive Justice, Procedural Justice and Organizational Politics are strong predictors of Job Satisfaction. The study also suggests that higher Job Satisfaction can lead to better Affective Commitment, but not better Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. Significant difference is found between Job Satisfaction of central and State Government employees and Male and Female employees, however there is no significant difference between Job Satisfaction of officers and staff. When asked to rank factors of motivation, the Government employees voted in favour in Job Allocation as the most important and Better Communication as the second most important factor for their motivation, even bypassing factors such as pay, contingent rewards etc. The two factors which came lowest in ranking are Clarity of Organizational Objectives and connection of their job with the process of achieving organizational objectives. The following specific suggestions are given for improvement in the job satisfaction of Government employees. Replacing the existing system of performance evaluation by a quantitatively measurable system of performance evaluation. Making conscious attempts by heads of offices and supervisors to be fair in job allocation and watching the performance of poor workers as well. Use of psychic rewards for appreciating good work and judicious punishment for non-workers. Changing the structure of the Government with less number of class 3 and class 4 posts and in more number of officers.