JOB SATISFACTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN ENUGU STATE

ABSTRACT

This research is on job satisfaction and organizational commitment among secondary school teachers in Enugu State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study aimed to pursue the following objectives: determine the effect of employee  job perception  on turnover  intentions  among  secondary  school  teachers in Enugu,  analyze  the  relationship  between  pay  and  job  attitudes  in  secondary  schools  in  Enugu, ascertain the applicability of the Equity theory of job satisfaction among secondary school teachers in Enugu, analyze the relationship between job security and employee motivation in secondary schools in Enugu; and investigate the extent to which the work environment affects job responsibility among secondary school teachers in Enugu. In this work, the survey research method was adopted, making use of interview guide and set of questionnaire as instruments of data collection. The source of data was mainly from  primary sources.  The study had a population  of 3,094 and a sample size of 418 which was obtained using Cochran (1963) sample size determination formula. Data were presented with tables while the hypotheses were tested with Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Z-test. The findings indicate that employee job perception had a significant effect (p = 0.0001 <

0.05)  on turnover  intentions  among  secondary  school  teachers  in Enugu;  there was a  significant

relationship (r = 0.875; p = 0.0001 < 0.05) between pay and job attitudes in secondary schools in

Enugu; equity theory of job satisfaction was applicable to secondary school teachers in Enugu (p =

0.0000 < 0.05); the relationship between job security and employee motivation in secondary schools in Enugu was significant  (r = 0.889; p = 0.0001 < 0.05); work environment  to a low extent (p =

0.0531  > 0.05) affected  job responsibility  among  secondary  school  teachers  in Enugu.  The  study therefore concludes that job satisfaction had a significant effect on organizational commitment. In the light  of the forgoing  therefore,  it was  recommended  that: job  responsibility  of secondary  school teachers should be based on qualification  and merit instead of favouritism;  compensation  methods applied  should be fair and relevant  to the personal  life  of the employee;  in respect of the equity theory, work environment should be made attractive to teachers to dissuade them from considering alternative employment or organizations; training and development  should be enhanced to improve teaching skills which may increase their chances of staying put; and there should be transparency in management to ensure a climate of mutual trust and cooperation. Employee must be given a sense of belonging that the organization is fair and reliable.

1.1      Background to the Study

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Organizational commitment and job satisfaction are widely studied factors in  management literature (Bodla and Danish, 2009; Bodla and Naeem, 2009a; Bodla and  Naeem, 2009b; Samad,  2007;  Okpara,  2004)  which  are  the  precursors  of  employee’s  performance.  In agreement,  Robinson  (2002)  is  of  the  view  that   organizational  commitment  and  job satisfaction   are   job-related   attitudes   that   have   received   considerable   attention   from researchers  worldwide.  This  study  is  another  effort  which  aimed  at  investigating  the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment among employees in the public sector; Nigerian secondary schools to be precise.

Output in terms of performance in any given organization is a function of many variables of which job satisfaction is one of them. Job satisfaction has been an important topic over the years (Akpofrre, 2006) in the management field. It is a major area of interest in the study of industrial   relations   and   organizational   psychology   because   of  the   linkages   between satisfaction  and  other  mainstream  concepts  like  performance,  productivity  and  reward system. The assessment  of job satisfaction through employee  anonymous  surveys became commonplace in the 1930s. According to Latham and  Budworth (2007), prior to that time with the beginning of interest in employee  attitudes, there were only a handful of studies published. Uhrbrock (1934) was one of the first psychologists to use the newly developed attitude measurement techniques to  assess factory worker attitudes. Subsequently Hoppock (1935) conducted a study that focused explicitly on job satisfaction that is affected by both the nature of the job and relationships with coworkers and supervisors.

To understand the critical importance of job satisfaction, one must appreciate that the human element and the organization are synonymous. This symbiotic relationship  implies that the performance  of  corporate  organizations,   be  it  financial,  health,   business  or  academic organizations;   which  determines   its  sustainability,   depends   to   a  large  extent  on  the productivity  of  its workforce.  In today’s  turbulent  environment  and  intense  competition, firms are forced to seek ways to be more flexible, adaptive and competitive as they are faced with competition pressures and rapidly changing markets. David (2005) echoes this assertion with the view that firms are  discovering that people really are the most important assets. People identify themselves by their profession, such as engineering, pharmacy, medicine, law

or teaching and the level of job satisfaction they have in an organization depends on what they value at work and realities of the work they have to offer. These values may stem from their participation in decision-making and in setting organizational objectives, they can also be viewed in terms of their needs (Robbins and Judge, 2007).

Job satisfaction is an interesting phenomenon in understanding the psychology of secondary school  teachers.  Teachers,  no  doubt,  play  a  pivotal  role  in  determining  the  efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the nation’s workforce. Hence, their job satisfaction should be of great  importance  and concern to any sector of the economy.  The growing  need to strengthen  the education  sector  performance  in Nigeria  towards  meeting  the Millennium Development  Goals (MDGs) is anchored on properly trained  and motivated  workforce  of which  secondary  school teachers  constitute  a part.  According  to  the  Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Factbook (2010), almost 75% of the world’s 775 million illiterate adults are concentrated  in 10 countries  which  comprise in descending  order India, China,  Pakistan, Bangladesh,  Nigeria,  Ethiopia,  Egypt,  Brazil,  Indonesia  and  the Democratic  Republic  of Congo.

The educational system in Nigeria has undergone different periods of transition ranging from operations  of  the  system  by British  administrators  to ownership  of  schools  by  religious bodies. At these two periods, teachers were held at a very high esteem; they were regularly paid, promoted,  sent  on training  and  retired  with dignity.  This period  also  saw teachers conceived  as role models  in relation  to  the  state of the  nation  which  was then  seen as backward, antiquated and primitive. Schools were few, pupils were few and teachers were equally few; thus management  was easier. Equally, the  missionary had direct sponsorship from their mother country, therefore provision of infrastructural facilities and maintenance of teachers were adequate.

Thereafter,  there  were  agitations  which  led  to  the  call  for  indigenous  ownership  and management of schools, thereby taking away schools from missionaries as was witnessed in Eastern Nigeria. This move intensified  after the Nigerian civil war and  since most of the missionaries  have gone, the government of the day naturally took  over the ownership and management of schools. They adduced this to the need for  harmonizing the operation and curriculum to achieve set goals. At the end of Nigeria civil war, there was an increase in the awareness of the need for education. More children went to school which led to the increase

in the number  of schools  and  the  number  of teachers  but with paucity of resources  for provision of infrastructural facilities and general maintenance of schools and teachers. It was difficult  to  keep  schools  to  the  standard  they  were  during  the  missionaries  since  the management  of  small  unit  can  never  be  compared  to  that  of  a  larger   unit.  School administration thus became more complex and difficult leading to inadequate maintenance of teachers.

This state was further buttressed by Graham (2005) who identifies factors such as teacher’s low salaries and low status, growing class sizes and changes in education system as causes of the endemic dissatisfaction within the profession. This explains Adeyeme’s (2004) argument that dissatisfaction among employees is related to such withdrawal behaviours as tardiness, absenteeism  and  staff  turnover.  Committed  and  satisfied  employees  are  normally  high performers  that  contribute  towards  organizational  productivity  (Robinson,  2002)  and  the success of an organization in attaining its set goals depend mainly on how the organization stimulates commitment. Thus, it is of utmost importance for employers to know the factors that can affect their employees’ job satisfaction level since it may affect the performance of the organization as well (Awang, Ahmad & Zin, 2010).

Research has shown that commitment to the organization and job satisfaction are important contributors to employee retention and reduced intent to quit. Organizational commitment has been defined as a psychological link between the employee and the employing organization that makes it less likely that the employee will voluntarily leave the organization (Freeman and Gilbert, 2004). Employee turnover is also costly to any organization. Taking into account both the direct and indirect costs of employee turnover, the minimum costs equate to 1 year’s pay and benefits (Ramlall, 2004). There is a continuing need to study the factors associated with employee commitment to the organization (Kutilek, 2000). The study therefore, looked to  analyze  the  effect  of  job  satisfaction  on  organizational  commitment  among  Nigerian secondary school teachers.

1.2      Statement of the Problem

There  are  several  notions  that  exist about  job  satisfaction.  One  of such  is that a  happy employee  is  a  committed  employee  (Freeman  and  Gilbert,  2004).  To  the  best  of  the researcher’s  knowledge,  research  has  offered  little  support  to  this  view  as  it  relates  to Nigerian secondary school teachers. An individual can have a high level of job satisfaction

due to his love for the job alone but he may as well be affected by certain influences in the work environment that lowers his commitment to the organization and increases his desire to go elsewhere and continue doing the same job he loves. A real life illustration comes to mind. During the 2012/2013 English Premier League season, Queens Park Rangers were relegated. The manager, Harry Redknapp, alluded this failure to the number of foreign players signed by the club on large salaries who were extremely satisfied with their jobs but definitely not committed to the cause. This implies that his employees were just happy to play football with little interest in whether the team wins, draws or loses as long as they collect their pay they are satisfied.

This analogy shows that the link between job satisfaction and organization commitment is not cast in stone especially as it affects secondary school teachers in Nigeria.  Therefore, it is important for administrators to study the relationship between these two variables because it would become clear as to how important and worthy it would be to retain their most satisfied employees   considering   the   grievous   consequences   that   may   stem   from   employee dissatisfaction and/or low commitment. Analyzing this relationship is particularly crucial, as people often do not work at the same organization or job throughout their lifetime. The CIA Factbook on Nigerian  literacy level is  worrying.  One wonders the nature of the interplay between job satisfaction and  organizational commitment as it contributes to this statistics. Pertinent  to  the  above  the  study  sought  to  investigate  the  effect  of  job  satisfaction  on organizational commitment among secondary school teachers in Enugu State.

Empirical  evidence  shows  that  there  is  scarcity  and  paucity  of  documented  empirical evidence with respect to the effect of Equity theory of job satisfaction on job  satisfaction reality of Nigerian secondary school teachers. Also, there is not  enough evidence of any comparative study on work environment and job  responsibility among public and private secondary school teachers in Enugu, which should give one an idea in terms of combating Nigeria’s poor literacy level. This  assertion is limited to the researcher’s best knowledge. The significance of this vacuum can be found in the Nigerian situation where the number of teachers who share work  hours with business and trading of foodstuffs such as crayfish, shoes, clothes and  jewelries is overwhelming.  Considering contribution of teachers to the economy  and  loss  of  man  hours  towards  alienating  Nigeria’s  poor  literacy  record,  the significance of this vacuum cannot be overemphasized. This study is therefore an attempt to fill this research gap.

1.3      Objectives of the Study

The purpose of this study is to determine  the effect of job satisfaction on  organizational commitment among public and private secondary school teachers in Enugu State. The study shall attempt to achieve the specific objectives which were to:

I.     determine the effect of employee job perception on turnover intentions among public and private secondary school teachers in Enugu

II.      analyze the relationship  between employee compensation and job attitude in  public and private secondary schools in Enugu.

III.      ascertain the applicability of the Equity Theory of job satisfaction among secondary school teachers in Enugu.

IV.      analyze the relationship between job security and employee motivation in secondary schools in Enugu

V.      investigate the extent to which the work environment affects job responsibility among public and private secondary school teachers in Enugu.

1.4      Research Questions

For this study to accomplish the stated objectives, some research questions which reflect on the objectives of the study are posed as follows:

I.     What is the effect of employee job perception on turnover intentions among public and private secondary school teachers in Enugu?

II.      What is the relationship between employee compensation and job attitude in public and private secondary schools in Enugu?

III.      How applicable  is the Equity Theory of job satisfaction to job satisfaction  reality among public and private secondary schools in Enugu?

IV.      What is the relationship between job security and employee motivation in secondary schools in Enugu State?

V.      To what extent does work environment  affect job responsibility among public  and private secondary school teachers in Enugu State?

1.5      Research Hypotheses

Based on the research objectives, the following research hypotheses were formulated for the study:

H1:      There is significant relationship between employee compensation and job attitude in public and private secondary schools in Enugu.

H2:      Equity Theory of job satisfaction is significantly applicable to job satisfaction reality among secondary school teachers in the study area.

H3:      There  is significant  relationship  between  job security and employee motivation  in secondary schools in Enugu State.

1.6      Significance of the Study

The  significance  of  any research  lies  in the  applicability  of its findings  for  operational purposes. It is believed that this study will be of immense importance because it provides information  on the  relationship  between  job  satisfaction  and  organizational  commitment which will be of benefit to the officials of the Ministry of Education and Teachers. It will be of  significance  to  them  in  terms  of  managing  issues  in  the  education  sector,  industrial conflicts and boosting the productivity of affected teachers towards attaining the objectives of the ministry. Further, it would provide valuable information to the ministry in understanding the factors that affect job satisfaction.

Findings of this study will be equally be useful to the government in planning and budgeting for the education sector. It will also create awareness which would  undoubtedly stimulate government and private schools proprietors to make policies that will enhance the standard of education in Enugu State in particular and Nigeria in general. Lastly, researcher hopes that this study would  further  contribute  to the body  of  knowledge  and be a useful source of information including for future research regarding this subject matter and a framework for future researchers to carry out further studies.

1.7      Scope of the Study

The study is on job satisfaction  and  organization  commitment  among public and  private secondary school teachers in Enugu. The study will cover selected public secondary schools in Enugu. The basis of selection was by location highlighting secondary schools in Enugu

urban. The following job satisfaction variables will be examined  as they affect  secondary school  teachers  in  Enugu  namely:   salaries,   work  conditions,   job   security,   employee recognition, personal and professional development opportunities and years of service. The study will also focus on job satisfaction theories, dimensions of job satisfaction, determinants of job satisfaction, job satisfaction predictors, organizational commitment, types of employee commitment and antecedents of organizational commitment.

1.8      Definitions of Key Terms

It is important to provide operational definitions to some important terms that readers will come across in this work. The following definitions are primarily for working purpose of this research:

Job Satisfaction: The term job satisfaction in this study refers to the attitude and  feelings people  have  about  their  work  whereby  favorable  attitudes  towards  the  job  indicate  job satisfaction and negative attitudes towards the job indicate job  dissatisfaction (Armstrong,

2006).

Labour  Turnover:  This  is  the  movement  of  workers  out  of  the  employment  of  an organization, perhaps as a result of job related frustration of organization operations. Motivation: This is the forces within a person that affects his or her direction, intensity and persistence of voluntary behaviour.

Organizational  Commitment: This is the degree to which an employee  identifies  with a particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization (Hunt & Morgan, 1994).

Organizational  Change:  This  refers  to  the  deliberate  design  and  implementation  of  a structural innovation, a new policy or goal.

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