Determinants of Satisfaction of the Employees of Local Government Units

ABSTRACT. This article attempts to identify factors influencing the satisfaction of employees of the local government units on the basis of surveys conducted. To measure satisfaction of the Local Government Units (LGU) employee there are used 23 variables scaled using an ordinal five grade scale. In order to reduce and group the number of variables an exploratory factor analysis was used. Its use allowed us to isolate four factors, which were: cooperation in the provision of services, career development stability, relationships with superiors and material working conditions. Then there was checked the fitting of the hypothetical factor model to the covariance matrix of observable variables and estimate of the parameters of the factor model using the confirmatory factor analysis.Keywords: Employee satisfaction, local government units, factor analysis, Poland.IntroductionEmployee satisfaction is becoming an increasingly important issue for companies. It is an aid to construction and modification of the motivation system. Based on its level one can conclude the employee attitude towards the company and its clients as well as the relationships between co-workers and superiors. The problem of employee satisfaction has been present in the organization and management literature for several decades, the very beginnings of the employee satisfaction survey can be found in the work of the representatives of the classical school of management (e.g. F.W. Taylor), and school of human relations (E. Mayo and A. Maslow). Currently, it is used in the theories of motivation. The first author of this theory is considered to be F. Herzberg - author of the two-factor theory of motivation1. Comprehensive, rich achievements in the field of motivation have been grouped by E. McKenna and N. Beech (McKenna, Beech, 1997, pp. 188-192) in six main concepts of motivating together with their authors, namely:* economic man - F. Taylor,* human relations - E. Mayo,* hierarchy of needs - A. Maslow, F. Herzberg,* theory of expectations - L.W. Porter, E. Lawler, V.H. Vroom,* goal setting - G.P. Latham, E. A. Locke,* equity theory - J. S. Adams.Out of the above groups in terms of employee satisfaction most frequently mentioned in addition to the theory of Herzberg are: J. R. Hackman and G. R. Oldham's job characteristic theory, V. H. Vroom's theory of expectations and the theory of fairness by J. S. Adams.The concept of job satisfaction has been defined by A. Locke (Brief, Weiss, 2001, p. 282) as 'a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the perception by the individual of his/her job as implementing or giving the opportunity to realize significant values available in the work, provided that these values are consistent with his/her needs'. In the literature, also the other authors' definitions are cited, such as L. Levy-Garboua and others (2007), A. Togia and others (2004). Levy-Garboua et al. (Levy-Garboua, Montmarquette, Simonnet, 2007) defined employee satisfaction as 'an index of preference for the experienced job against outsider opportunities conditional on information available at time'. Togi et all. (2004) employee satisfaction reverse to the expectations of the employee about the workplace and his attitudes towards his job. Therefore, the term employee satisfaction can be variously defined, for instance as a set of beliefs and opinions about one's work, additionally taking into account the emotional component accompanying doing this work, as well as employee behaviour caused by a reaction to the circumstances of the work.Satisfaction measurement applies to both private and the public sector employees. Problem discussed in the literature includes comparing the satisfaction level of employees in both sectors. Results of analyses in this area do not give rise to a clear assertion of greater satisfaction of employees of one sector over another. You can find the results of studies showing lower satisfaction of public organizations employees, as well as the lack of difference. …