Factors Contributing to Job Satisfaction and their impact on

Employee Performance
Raashid Mahmood Awan
27958
(MS Accounting & Finance)
Riphah International University
G-7 Islamabad
Spring 2019
Email: rashidawan36@gmail.com

Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of job satisfaction and how job
satisfaction affects employee performance in the organization.

Design/methodology/approach: For the above reasons, data is collected from primary and
secondary sources. 400 questionnaire surveys were conducted on respondents, and 357
questionnaires were successfully collected as the basis for research analysis. Ordinary least
squares regression is a statistical tool used to analyze data. In addition, personal interviews
and general observations are part of the source of information for this study.

Findings:The research findings revealed that there is a linear relationship between job
satisfaction (nature of job, job reward and job security) and employee’s performance.

Research limitations/implications: The conclusion drawn in the explanation is that

employees are not satisfied with the working conditions of the organization, which is obvious
in their answers. It is recommended that company management should provide employees
with good working conditions to improve their morale.

Originality/value: Even as employees become more important to organizational success and

competitiveness, there is confusion and controversy about employee attitudes and job
satisfaction. Our research shows the importance and relationship of job satisfaction and
employee performance

Keywords: Job Satisfaction, employee performance, nature of job, reward, promotion, job
security.

1
 1. Introduction
Highly prioritized organizational goals are also to achieve high levels of performance through
productivity and efficiency. In other ways, achieving this goal requires an organization's high
level of performance improvement. Satisfied workers will bring more and more work
performance. This is why every organization tries to create a favorable and satisfactory
workforce to operate the well-being of the organization. “The higher the employee’s
satisfaction, the higher the return on the organization.” Various research, scholars, scholars,
writers and leaders are aware of this.

In the literature of organizational behavior and organizational psychology, job satisfaction is

considered the most extensively researched area (Keung-Fai, 1996; George and Jones, 2008).
In addition, employee performance depends to a large extent on perceptions, values and
attitudes, and it seems that there are many variables that affect job performance that are
almost incomprehensible. Performance is defined as a function of individual abilities, skills
and efforts in specific situations. In the short run, employees' skills and abilities are relatively
stable. Therefore, for research purposes, researchers define performance based on efforts to
expand into employee work. Effort is the inner strength of a person. When employees are
satisfied with their work and meet their needs, they will work voluntarily, they will develop
attachment to work, or we say that they try to do better, but strive to increase The result is
better performance. Achieving high levels of performance through productivity and
efficiency has always been a high priority for the organization. In order to do this, a highly
satisfied workforce is absolutely necessary, but when employees are dissatisfied with the
nature of the work they are doing, their level of commitment may be deliberately reduced,
and since employees are the engine room of the organization, they are This is not satisfactory.
The nature of the work they are doing may pose a threat to the overall performance of the
organization. An unsatisfied employee tends to have low morale at work, and their
performance may be affected when their morale is low. In addition, some researchers in
developed and developing countries (Alamdar, Muhammad, Muhammad and Wasim, 2011
and Pushpakumari, MD 2008) studied the impact of job satisfaction on employee
performance, but the beer company conducted only a small amount of research. It is in this
regard that the researchers intend to study the impact of job satisfaction on employee
performance, a study of the Nigerian brewery PlcKakuri in Kaduna State. The main purpose
of the study was to examine the impact of job satisfaction on employee performance

2. Literature review
2.1 Job Satisfaction
There are so many definitions of job satisfaction among different scholars. However, the
most commonly used definition is the definition of Locke (2002), who defines job
satisfaction as a positive emotional state because of an evaluation of a person's work or work
experience. Job satisfaction is the result of employees' perceptions of how work is being
provided as an important issue. Job satisfaction is widely recognized in the field of
organizational behavior as the most important and often studied attitude (Mitchell and Lasan,

2
1987). Ayeni and Popoola (2007) point out that Luthan (1998) believes that job satisfaction
has three important aspects:

- Job satisfaction is an emotional response to work. Therefore, it cannot be seen that it can
only be inferred.

 - Job satisfaction usually depends on how the results meet or exceed expectations. For
example, if an organization participant thinks their work is harder than others in the
department, but receives fewer rewards, they will have a negative attitude toward work,
bosses, and/or colleagues. On the other hand, if they feel that they are well treated and paid
fairly, they may have a positive attitude towards the job.

 - Job satisfaction represents several related attitudes that are the most important
characteristics of people's effective response to work. These for Luthans are: work itself,
salary, promotion opportunities, supervision and colleagues.

2.2 Employee Performance

According to Nmadu (2013), employee’s performance is a degree of accomplishment of
task(s) that make up an employee’s job. This definition was in line with the definition given
by business dictionary (2010), that employees performance is the accomplishment of a given
task measured against pre-set standards of accuracy, completeness, cost and speed. Managers
at workplace must ensure that employee’s activities and output contribute to the organization
goals. This process requires knowledge of what activities and outputs are designed, observing
whether they occur and providing feedback to help improve employees morale and to meet
expectation (Nmadu, 2013). However, employees performance is associated with
productivity which translates to quantity of output, quality of output, timeliness of output,
presence or attendance on the job, morale at work, efficiency of the work completed and
effectiveness of work completed (Mathis, Fredrick and Kenneth 2009). It is the standard to
which someone does something such as a job or examination (Macmillan English Dictionary
for Advanced Learners 2007). Employee’s performance if it is recognized by managers or
superiors within the organization is often rewarded by financial and other benefits.
Performance is a major although not the only prerequisite for future career development and
success in the labour market. Although there might be exceptions, high performers get
promoted more easily within an organization and generally have better career opportunities
than low performers (Nmadu 2013). Gibson (2012), employee performance is a measure of
the morale of employee, effective and efficient completion of mutually agreed tasks by the
employee, as set out by the employer. According to Nmadu (2013), performance is measured
in terms of productivity, job satisfaction, turnover and absenteeism.”Moreover, authors
agreed that when conceptualizing employees performance one has to differentiate between an
action (i.e., behavioural) aspect and an outcome aspect of employees performance (Richard,
2009).

3
2.3 Factors Responsible for Employees Job Satisfaction
Rewards/ pay: It is sometimes the main cause of job satisfaction, and when employees spend
most of their waking hours in the workplace, they want to reward and motivate them through
rewards.

Job security: Organizations can provide a sense of security and long-term viability for the
company through honest communication and transparency. If you have to go to work every
day and want to know if your work is safe, you know it will cause a lot of anxiety

Nature of workThe work itself is positively related to the employee's satisfaction. The
employee likes to work with the ability and the mental stimulation.

3. Theoretical Framework and Hypothesis Development

The previous literature review supports the following theoretical framework, as shown in
Figure 1. We have four separate variables, including work, job rewards, promotion, and job
security. These factors help to improve job satisfaction and ultimately have a positive impact
on employee performance, and employee performance is our dependent variable

Reward

Job Security
Job Satisfaction Employee Performance

Nature of
work

Fig.1 Theoretical Framework

H1: a) Reward has positive impact on job satisfaction.

4
 b) Reward has positive impact on employees’ performance.
H2: a) Job security has positive impact on job satisfaction.
b) Job security has positive impact on employees’ performance.

H3: a) Nature of work has positive impact on job satisfaction.

b) Nature of work has positive effects on employees’ performance.
H4: The job satisfaction has positive impact on employee performance.
H5: Job satisfaction has a mediating role betweennature of job, job reward,
promotion, job security and employee performance.

4. Methodology
This study utilized a survey study design. The use of research and design design can of
course allow researchers to make more reliable conclusions about job satisfaction and its
impact on employee performance. Due to the demographic characteristics and the
representativeness of the sample population, the research and design adopted is becoming
imperative.

The population for the purposes of this study used employees working in government and
private organizations in AJK. Therefore, the estimated population of the study was 3,195.

Using stratified random sampling techniques, respondents are grouped into different levels,
and samples are randomly sampled from each level because it provides the same choice
opportunity for each member of the sample. 400 questionnaire surveys were conducted on
respondents, and 357 questionnaires were successfully collected as the basis for research
analysis.

The prepared questionnaire is used for the reasons for this research work to obtain all the
important information needed to carry out the work effectively and to obtain opinions and
opinions from the respondents. The description method of data analysis has been
supplemented with some statistical tools such as tables, simple percentages and regressions.
Regression is one of the most popular and widely used methods of analyzing data. However,
this is often used to determine if a variable depends on another variable or a combination of
other variables and is used to test the hypothesis of the study. The model developed is:

EP=α+ ßINJ+ß2JR+ß3JS+µ

Where

EP = Employees Performance
α = Intercept

5
 ßI = Independent variable
µ= Error term
NJ= Nature of Job
JR= Job Reward
JS= Job Security

However, all analyses were done using the E-View Statistics package, which was used to
analyze statistical tests.

4.1. Data Presentation

Table 1: Educational Qualification of Respondents

Qualification Frequency Percentage
(%)
O’ Level 179 50.14
OND 132 36.97
B.sc/B.Eng/HND 35 9.81
M.sc/ M.Eng/MBA 7 1.96
PhD 4 1.12
Total 357 100
Source: Field Survey, 2016.

Table 1 shows the eligibility of the respondents. As can be seen from the above table, the
majority of respondents (179 of which accounted for 50.14% of the total number of
respondents) were O' Level certificate holders, and 132 respondents (36.97%) were OND
certificate holders. 35 respondents (9.81%) were B.sc/B.Eng/HND certificate holders, and 7
representatives representing 1.96% of respondents were M.sc/M.Eng/MBA certificate
holders, while 4 respondents were doctoral certificate holders which is 1.12% of the total
number of respondents. This shows that most employees are O-level and OND certificate
holders, most of them are junior workers and are not skilled.

Table 2: Duration of Service of Respondents’

Working experience Frequency Percentage
(%)
Less than 2 years 38 11
Between 2 & 7 years 85 24
Between 7 & 15 years 112 31
Above 15 years 122 34
Total 357 100
Source: Field Survey, 2016.

Table 2 shows that 122 of the majority of respondents (34% of the total respondents) worked
with the company for more than fifteen (15) years, and 112 respondents (31%) worked with
the company for 7 to 15 years, 85 respondents represented 24% of respondents working in the
company for 2 to 7 years, while 38 respondents (11% of the total respondents) worked with

6
the company for less than 2 years. This shows that most of the company’s employees have
witnessed more conflicts and how the company manages conflicts.

Table 3: Does the Organization Promote Staff as at When Due?

Response Frequency Percentage
(%)
Yes 30 8.41
No 327 91.59
Total 357 100
Source: Field Survey, 2016.

Table 3 shows that 327 of the majority of respondents accounted for 91.59% of the total
respondents, they disagreed with the organization's promotion of employees at the time of
expiration, while 30 respondents indicated that 8.41% of the total respondents agreed to the
organization to promote employees when their service expire. This suggests that most
respondents disagreed with the organization's promotion of employees when their service
expired.

Table 4: Does the Nature of Employees Job Commensurate With their Pay?

Response Frequency Percentage

(%)
Yes 124 28.75
No 233 71.25
Total 357 100
Source: Field Survey, 2016.

Table 4 shows that 233 representatives of 71.25% of the majority of respondents disagreed
that the nature of the employee's work is commensurate with their salary, while the
representative of 28.75% of the 124 respondents agreed that the nature of the employee's
work is commensurate with his salary. This suggests that the majority of respondents
disagreed that the nature of their work is commensurate with their wages.
Table 5: Employees are dissatisfied with the Working Conditions of the Organization

Response Frequency Percentage

(%)
Strongly Agree 38 11
Agree 54 15
Undecided 72 20
Disagree 107 30
Strongly Disagree 86 24
Total 357 100
Source: Field Survey, 2016.

7
Table 5 shows that a total of 92 representatives represent 26% of respondents agree that
employees are not satisfied with the working conditions of the organization, of which 72
represent 20% of the respondents have not yet decided, while 107 and 86 represent 30% and
24% Respondents disagreed and strongly disagreed. This indicates that most respondents
disagree that employees are not satisfied with the organization's working conditions.

Table 6: Employees are rewarded when their Performance Improves?

Response Frequency Percentage

(%)
Yes 79 28.75
No 248 71.25
Total 357 100
Source: Field Survey, 2016.

Table 6 shows that the majority of respondents were 248, accounting for 71.25%. They
disagreed with employees' rewards when performance improved, while 79 delegates
accounted for 28.75% of respondents agree that employees receive rewards when
performance improves. This suggests that most respondents disagree with employees getting
rewards when performance improves.

Table 7: Employees Performance in the Organization has Improved Overtime?

Response Frequency Percentage
(%)
Yes 19 5.32
No 338 94.68
Total 357 100
Source: Field Survey, 2016.

Table 7 shows that 338 of the majority of respondents accounted for 94.68% of the total
number of respondents. They disagreed with the morale of employees in the organization to
increase overtime hours, while 5.32% of the respondents on behalf of the respondents
considered employee morale. Increased overtime hours. This suggests that most employees
disagree with the improvement in employee morale overtime.

4.2 Analysis Hypothesis Testing

E-view OLS Regression Result

EP= α+ ßINJ+ß2JR+ß3JS+µ
EP = Employees Performance
NJ= Nature of Job
JS= Job Security
JR= Job Reward
Dependent Variable: EP
Method: Least Squares Date: 04/06/19 Time: 02:34 Sample: 1 5,

8
 Included observations: 5
Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.
NJ 1.063118 0.430207 2.471175 0.2448
JR 0.287130 0.520773 0.551355 0.6792
JS 0.102346 0.118325 0.864958 0.5460
R-squared 0.981995 Mean dependent var 71.40000
Adjusted R-squared 0.927982 S.D. dependent var 21.03093
S.E. of regression 5.643908 Akaike info criterion 6.289593
Sum squared resid 31.85370 Schwarz criterion 5.977143
Log likelihood -11.72398 Hannan-Quinn criter. 5.451009
F-statistic 18.18048 Durbin-Watson stat 2.435211
Prob(F-statistic) 0.170331
Source: data output using e-view, 2016

The analysis shows that the nature of work (NJ) and job reward (JR) in improving job
satisfaction is positive for improving employee performance. This means that improving job
satisfaction in the form of work nature (NJ) and job security (JS) can lead to employee
performance in high employee performance.
The t-statistic of 2.47 is greater than the standard error value of 0.43. The t-statistic of the p-
statistic of 0.24 as the work property (JR) of job satisfaction and work remuneration (JR) is
0.55, which is greater than the standard error value of 0.52 and the p-statistic of 0.67. The t-
statistic of job safety (JS) is (0.86), less than the standard error value (0.10) and less than the
p-statistic of 0.54.
The f-statistic of 18.18 is significant at P = 0.17, which provides evidence of a linear
relationship between job satisfaction (work nature, job rewards and job security) and
employee performance. R2 = 0.98 indicates that only 98% of job satisfaction (work nature,
job rewards, and job security) in the organization contributes significantly to employee
morale, but 2% can be explained by other factors not noticed in the regression model. Called
the wrong term. Therefore, we accept another assumption that there is a significant
relationship between job satisfaction and employee performance.

5. Findings
The results of the test hypothesis indicate that there is evidence that there is a linear
relationship between job satisfaction (the nature of work, job rewards and job security) and
employee performance. This is why we accept another assumption that there is a significant
relationship between job satisfaction and employee morale.

Table 5 shows that most respondents disagreed that employees were not satisfied with the
organization's working conditions. Table 6 shows that most respondents disagreed that
employees were rewarded for performance improvements. Table 7 shows that most

9
employees disagree with the morale of employees in the organization to increase overtime
hours.

6. Conclusions
Employees are dissatisfied with the organization's working conditions; this is evident in their
responses. In addition, employees meet their needs for work and the surrounding
environment, and their answers are satisfactory. Most employees in the organization are
rewarded for their performance and motivate them. The performance of employees in the
organization has increased overtime; it is also evident in their responses. The coefficient
relationship between job satisfaction and employee performance is positive, and the
assumptions indicate that job satisfaction (work nature, job rewards, and job security) has a
significant impact on employee performance. This means that the nature of the work given to
employees, the organization's reward system and job security will continue to determine
employee performance. In addition, from the employee's reaction, the relationship between
job satisfaction and employee commitment has a positive relationship, which means that the
employees who work hard depend to a large extent on job satisfaction. When employees are
satisfied with the work they do, they are more committed to their work.

7. Recommendations
Therefore, based on the results and conclusions of this study, the following
recommendations are made in this paper;
• It is recommended that management provide employees with good working conditions
to improve employee performance.
• It is also recommended that management prioritize employee morale as morale
employees will be more committed to their work.
• It is also recommended that management review its reward system to facilitate
employees who are diligent and committed to their work.

8. References
Ayeni C.O. and Popoola S.O. (2007). Work Motivation, Job satisfaction and
Organizational Commitment of Library Personnel in Academic and Research Libraries in
Oyo State, Nigeria. Library Philosophy and Practice, 2007, ISSN 1522-0222.
Gibson, E.B. (2012), Introduction to job satisfaction and employees performance in the west
indies.
Locke, R.M. (2002), Job satisfaction among urban secondary-school teachers in Namibia.
South Afr. J. Educ., 28: 135- 154.
Luthans F. (1998) Organizational Behaviour. 8th edition. Boston: Irwin Mc-Graw Hill.

10
Mitchel, T.R. and Lason , J.R (1987). People in Organizational Psychologies.41(4), 160-170.
Nmadu, G. (2013), Employees performance and its effects on their job performance in
workplace. Pil, T.D. &Leana, B.T. (2000), Employee empowerment in a technology
advanced work Environment. Ind. Manage. Data Sys., 110(1): 24-42
Pushpakumari, M.D (2008), Impact of Job Satisfaction on Employees Performance. Arabian
Journal of Business and Management Vol. 7(8) ISSN 1993-8435
Richard, R. (2009), The impact of job satisfaction on turnover intent: a test of structural
measurement model using a national sample of workers. Soc. Sci. J., 38: 233-51.
Agho, J.R., Mueller, S.T. and Price, G.O. (2011), Determinants of job satisfaction of
municipal government employees. State Local Gov. Rev., 33(3): 173-84.

Cooper, W.T. (2004), Equity-based compensation for employees. Job satisfaction and
determinants. J. Finan. Res. 27(1): 31-54.

Cranny, E.R., Smith, I.I. and Stone, T.U. (2014), Determinants of job satisfaction among
police officers. Int. R. Modern Sociol. 24(1): 109-16.

Franek, A.Z. and Vecera, F.Y. (2008), The effects of pay level on organization based
self-esteem and performance. A field study. J. Occup. Organ.Psychol.,77: 307–322.

Gibson, E.B. (2012), Introduction to job satisfaction and employees performance in the west
indies. George, A.S. and Jones, A.T. (2005), Job satisfaction among urban secondary-school
teachers in Namibia. South Afr. J. Educ., 28: 135-154.

Greenberg, R.U. and Baron, I.F. (2008), Pay enough or don’t pay at all. Q. J.Econ.,15:91–
810.

Schermerhorn, W.P. Hunt, G.T. & Osborn, T.I. (2003), Let’s use job security as a
productivity builder.Personnel Adm., 29(1): 38-44.

Smith, F.J., Kendall, Z.W. and Hulin, E.M. (2007), Job Satisfaction of Professional and
Paraprofessional Library Staff at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
Smith, H.U. (2009), Hours of work, job satisfaction and productivity. Public Productivity
Rev., 2. (3): 46-56.

Saucer, E.R. & York, T.I. (2013), Personal characteristics as predictors of job
satisfaction. An exploratory study of IT managers in a developing economy. nform. Technol.
People, 17(3): 327-338.

Weiss, R.W. (2012), Job satisfaction of vocational teachers in Puerto Rico. The Ohio State
University.Wright, E.R. & Cropanzano, D.Z. (2000) The determinants of job satisfaction
among United States Air Force’s security police. Rev. Public Personnel Adm., 19(3): 5- 18.
Yamane, T. (1967), Applied business research. Quantitative & qualitative. Australia.John
Willey and Sons.

11
 Appendix
Scale: Responses to each item are measured on a five-point scale with the anchors labeled: (1)
strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) neither disagree nor agree, (4) agree, (5) strongly agree. An “(R)”
denotes a negatively phrased and reverse-scored item.

Section A
Job Satisfaction
1. Working hours at our organization is satisfactory. 1 2 3 4 5
2. Employees get Appreciation and rewards if the desired work / targets are 1 2 3 4 5
accomplished.
3. Your work is according to your qualification and skills. 1 2 3 4 5
4. Your company recognize and acknowledge your work. 1 2 3 4 5
5. Company provides satisfactory Salary according to the Work. 1 2 3 4 5
6. Welfare facilities provided to the employees by the organization are 1 2 3 4 5
satisfactory.
7. Top management involves employees in the management decisions. 1 2 3 4 5
8. Company has good career prospect for its employees. 1 2 3 4 5
9. Organization organizes counseling programs for the employees regularly. 1 2 3 4 5
10. Employees in our organization share experience to help each other. 1 2 3 4 5

Section B
Employee Performance
1. Employee willingly accepts new tasks. 1 2 3 4 5
2. Employee effectively adjusts his/ her work to account for changing 1 2 3 4 5
circumstances.
3. He/ she communicates effectively with peers and supervisors. 1 2 3 4 5
4. He/ she thinks ahead to plan how to account for changing circumstances at 1 2 3 4 5
work.
5. He/ she shows enthusiasm about new challenges and ideas. 1 2 3 4 5
6. He/ she is attentive when on the clock. 1 2 3 4 5
7. Employee meets his/ her deadlines. 1 2 3 4 5

DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS
Please Circle the Appropriate Answer.
1. Gender:
A. Male B. Female
2. Marital Status:
A. Single B. Married
3. Age:

12
A. 18-25 B. 26-40 C. 41-60 D. Over 60
4. Work Status:
A. Full Time B. Part Time
5. Position:
A. Supervisor/Management B. Maintenance C. Customer Service D. Clerical
6. Years of job experience with current Organization:
A. 0-5 B. 6-10 C. 11-20 D. 21-30 E. Over 30

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Reward Job security Employee

Job Satisfaction
Nature of work Performance

13