The Impact of Personal Variables on Job Satisfaction: A Study of Public Sector Bank Employees in India

(ProQuest: denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionJob satisfaction is the result of organizational operation and perceived job experience that reveals the complex nature of the interactions. Job satisfaction represents a combination of positive or negative feelings that workers have towards their work. Various factors which influence job satisfaction are remuneration, working relationships, status and job security. Hygiene factors in themselves promote job satisfaction and serve primarily to prevent job dissatisfaction (Porter, 1963; Taskina, 2009; and Kaplan, 2009) Motivators contribute to job satisfaction and include achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement and growth. Spector (1997) referred to job satisfaction as "a cluster of evaluative feelings about the job" and identified nine facets of job satisfaction that are measured by job satisfaction: Pay: amount and fairness or equity of salary; Promotion: opportunities and fairness of promotions; Supervision: fairness and competence at managerial tasks by one's supervisor; Benefits: insurance, vacation and other fringe benefits; Contingent rewards: sense of respect, recognition and appreciation; Operating procedures: policies, procedures, rules, perceived red tape; Co workers: perceived competence and pleasantness of one's colleagues;  enjoyment of the actual tasks themselves; and Communication: sharing of information within the organization. Job satisfaction is basically a worker's sense of achievement and directly linked to productivity and personal wellbeing. It implies enthusiasm and happiness with one's work. It is the key ingredient that leads to recognition, income, promotion and the achievement of other goals that lead to a feeling of fulfillment (Kaliski, 2007) Vroom (1964) stated that job satisfaction is negatively related to discrepancy between what the worker needs and the extent to which those needs are met. Herzberg (1966) theorized that motivation factors intrinsic to the job are achievement, recognition for achievement, responsibility, growth for advancement, status, security and interpersonal relations with peers, which are perceived to be the major determinants of overall satisfaction.This study aims at investigating the relationship between personal variables and job satisfaction. Government workers are working in a unique environment, which is very different from those working in the private organizations, as government employees often find themselves working in a large, bureaucratic organization in which service delivery standards tend to be prescribed by rigid rules and oriented towards standardized service and prevention of employee fraud (Lawler' and Porter, 1967) Employees often expect to spend their entire working lives in one organization. Salary increases and promotions are based on seniority or measured by absence of mistakes instead of high productivity or outstanding customer service. As a result, public sector jobs tend to be monotonous and boring. What makes it worse is that most positions provide adequate pay, good benefits and high job security. So, it is worthwhile to conduct an independent research to find out the effect of selected personal variables on job satisfaction for public employees. Job satisfaction will contribute to the economic development and enhance the quality of service provided, which will lead to greater public satisfaction.Literature ReviewJob satisfaction is one of the widely discussed topics of employees' behaviors at work in public sectors and it depends on institutional scenario, facilities, salaries, work family facilitation, standard of the employees and jobs with much opportunity to use one's skills and abilities (Chakraborty, 2004) Job dissatisfaction appears to be related to their withdrawal behaviors, including lateness, unionization, grievances, drug abuse, family conflict, decision to retire and jobs with little opportunity to use one's skills and abilities (Wayne and Fleeson, 2004)