Influence of Workplace Flexibility on the Satisfaction of Employees: A Study of Selected Local Government Areas in Delta State, Nigeria

Influence of Workplace Flexibility on the Satisfaction of Employees: A Study of Selected Local Government Areas in Delta State, Nigeria

Okoh Ndubuisi, Aruoren, Emmanuel Ejiroghene

Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences,

Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.807087

Received: 13 June 2024; Revised: 25 June 2024; Accepted: 29 June 2024; Published: 05 August 2024

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the influence of workplace flexibility on the satisfaction of employees in selected Local Government Areas in Delta State of Nigeria.  The study employed the social exchange theory and identified two workplace flexibility dimensions (compressed work-weeks and job-sharing) so as to see their influence on employees’ satisfaction.  The survey design was used and one hundred and eighty (180) questionnaires were administered on employees of eight (8) local government areas’ headquarters in Delta State, Nigeria. The analysis of data entailed descriptive statistics (frequency counts, simple percentages, mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum values and Pearson correlation); diagnostic statistics (variance inflation factor and Breusch-Pagan and Cook-Weisberg) and inferential statistics (simple regression). The simple regression results revealed that workplace flexibility dimensions of job-sharing (F-value = 9.44; p-value = 0.0000) and compressed work-weeks (F-value = 14.01; p-value = 0.0000) had significant positive influence on the satisfaction of employees.  On the basis of the findings, it was recommended that management of local government areas should strive towards ensuring increased flexibility in the workplace; this can be realized by making sure that employees are accorded decreased work-weeks while at the same time, job role among the workforce should be adequately jointly or collective done.

INTRODUCTION

The notion of work flexibility has allowed employees to complete their work without the need to be physically present at the workplace or to even clock in for work.  Researchers (Vui-Yee & Kai-Ni, 2022; Prem, Kubicek, Uhlig, Baumgartner & Korunka, 2021; Davidescu, Apostu, Paul & Casuneanu, 2020; and Putri & Setianan, 2019) see workplace flexibility as suppleness or litheness in work locations, compressed-work-weeks, schedules, job-sharing, flex-place availability, flex-place use, and flex-time use.  By and large, workplace flexibility is assessed in the form of work-life policies such as offering supports to employees, particularly working parents by allowing them to schedule their own working-time (Sunaryo, Sawitri, Suyono, Wahyudi & Sarwoto, 2022; Arubayi & Odiri, 2023;Vyas & Butakhieo, 2021).  Thus, flexibility in the workplace is considered as one of the most predominant issues human resource (HR) managers strive to achieve in order to make employees satisfied and more comfortable in the workplace.

Vui-Yee and Kai-Ni (2022) asserted that organizations whose HR policies stress on workplace flexibility are able to acclimatize to the ever-dynamic environment of business because it would make employees to become adaptable in how they approach their job roles.  According to Hsiao-Ping, Chi-Ming, Meei -Ying and Han-Shen (2019); and Rubina, Tasmia, Rabiul and Ridoan 2019) employees are looking for more flexibility in how they balance their jobs with their personal lives, and how they advance their careers. Also, most organizations all over the world has rejoined the trend by affirming flexibility as the watchword in the workplace (Sunaryo, Sawitri, Suyono, Wahyudi & Sarwoto, 2022 &Arubayi, 2012).

Workplace flexibility is a formal/informal arrangement between the employer and employees to offer individual job-control over litheness in flexibility in scheduling (flextime, compressed workweek, flex shift-work/workday schedule, etc.), flexibility in location/place (remote work, telework, working from home), flexibility in amount of work/workload and hours (job-sharing and reduced workload/part-time work), and flexibility in leave periods and career continuity (Vyas & Butakhieo, 2021; Abilash & Siju, 2021; and Davidescu, Apostu, Paul & Casuneanu, 2020). Usually, workplace flexibility allow employees to complete their jobs without being physically present all the time at the workplace or the usual clock in practice obtainable in the Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.

Predominantly, workplace flexibility practice is assessed as work-life policies (like offering support to the workforce, particularly working parents by allowing them to reschedule their working-time (Yadav, Rangnekar & Bamel, 2016). Thus, prior studies looked into how work-life policies (e.g. work-family conflict) affect employees’ satisfaction, productivity, growth, job attitude, organizational citizenship behaviour and performance (Belzunegui-Eraso & Erro-Garcés, 2020; Arubayi & Ejeta, 2022;Chen & Fulmer, 2018; Kiran & Khurram, 2018; and Matthijs & Jansen, 2016). These studies inter-alia found mixed results; for instance, while some studies showed that workplace flexibility positively promotes employees’ satisfaction and thus leads to increased employer-employee relationship, other studies that found a negative relationship between workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction.

To date, workplace flexibility-employee satisfaction studies had overlooked two vital aspects: flexibility in scheduling (compressed work-weeks), and flexibility in the amount of work (job-sharing and reduced workload). In most organizations (Nigerian LGAs inclusive), there are numerous parents or employees with work-family conflict; hence they desire to have more flextime and reduced workload in order for them to balance their work and family. Studies (see Sunaryo, et al, 2022; Vui-Yee & Kai-Ni, 2022; Delanoeije & Verbruggen, 2020; Liu, Zhou & Che, 2019; and Way, Tracey, Fay, Wright, Snell, Chang & Gong, 2015) indicate that organisations with more flexible work time and amount of workload will have better advantages such as reduced turnover rates, increased employees’ satisfaction, commitment and organizational performance

Specifically, workplace flexibility increases employees’ satisfaction; thus, the implementation of suitable workplace flexibility practice (WFP) is an indispensable driver for employees’ satisfaction (Vui-Yee & Kai-Ni, 2022). Whilst we acknowledged a great deal of researches on the correlates of workplace flexibility with organizational citizenship behaviour, perceived fairness and core self-evaluation in both developed and developing countries, there are limited empirical studies that had assessed the link between workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction in LGAs in Delta State of Nigeria. Consequent upon this, this study investigated the influence of workplace flexibility on the satisfaction of employees in eight (8) LGAs in Delta State of Nigeria.

Statement of the Problem

In the HRM literature, workplace flexibility researches have had mixed findings/results and diverse outcomes for employers and employees. While most studies on workplace flexibility had taken organizational perspective in their investigation, there is limited number of studies that had assessed workplace flexibility-employee satisfaction link from employee viewpoint. Regardless of the mixed findings in the HRM literature, coupled with the modes (employee and employer perspectives) of viewing workplace flexibility-employees’ satisfaction relationship, we observed that employees in the Civil Service Commission (Local Government Areas inclusive) have had problems of striving to balance work and family.

Furthermore, when they are confronted with work-family conflict, they find it cumbersome to schedule their work-time and workloads as there may not be ample opportunity for flextime. To the researcher’s knowledge, studies in Nigeria have not assessed the role of workplace flexibility (in particular, flexibility in scheduling and amount of work/workload) as a driver of employees’ satisfaction in LGAs in Delta State. Thus, this study was carried out to expand theoretical mechanism essential for workplace flexibility-employees’ satisfaction relationship using the social exchange model. Social exchange model advocates that when employees get monetary and socio-emotional resources they consider beneficial to them, they feel gratified to contribute their best to organizational growth because of their level of satisfaction.  Hence, our study seeks to expand knowledge in this area and fill the gap in the HRM literature on what is understood about workplace flexibility-employees’ relationship in LGAs in Delta State, Nigeria.

Research Questions

In line with the specific objectives of the study, the following research questions were raised:

1. To what extent does job-sharing influence employees’ satisfaction in local government areas in Delta State of Nigeria?
2. To what extent does compressed work-weeks influence employees’ satisfaction in local government areas in Delta State of Nigeria?

Objectives of the Study       

The general objective of this study is to assess the influence of workplace flexibility on the satisfaction of employees in local government areas in Delta State of Nigeria.  The specific objectives are:

1. To determine the relationship between job-sharing and employees’ satisfaction in local government areas in Delta State of Nigeria.
2. To examine the link between compressed- work-weeks and employees’ satisfaction in local government areas in Delta State of Nigeria.

  Hypotheses of the Study                                 

Given the specific objectives of the study, the following research hypotheses were developed:

H_o1:     There is no significant relationship between job-sharing and employees’ satisfaction in local government areas.

H_o2:     There is no significant relationship between compressed work-weeks and employees’ satisfaction in local government areas.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This section dealt with the review of related literature, which encompassed the conceptual and theoretical frameworks, review of empirical studies as well as the gap of the study.

Conceptual Review

Workplace Flexibility and its Dimensions

The term ‘flexibility’ refers to the capability and/or readiness to effortlessly compromise or change. Sunaryo et al, (2022) see workplace flexibility as employees’ abilities and motivation to work in lesser hours, conduct fewer tasks, and adapt easily when performing multiple roles in an organization. Broadly speaking, translating flexibility to the workplace results in two (2) standpoints. First, workplace flexibility enables the employees to decrease workload and align their job with their personalities (Yadav, et al, 2016). Second, workplace flexibility entails the capability of the employees to carry out more tasks, more working hours and expand their job descriptions.

Workplace flexibility emanates from the notion of technological advancement resulting to the desire to adapt rapidly to the changing circumstances in the business environment. Workplace flexibility enables employees to adapt to their jobs and hence make them bend and accept changes as well as increasing work pressures as part of their working lives (Davidescu, Apostu, Paul & Casuneanu, 2020). From the human resource management perspective (HRM), workplace flexibility is not just an attribute of the employees, but can also be a trait of the job, workplace or organization (Vui-Yee & Kai-Ni, 2022).  Conceivably, the HRM perspective to flexibility has resulted to the use of the term in diverse ways such as organizational flexibility, flexible work arrangements, and flexibility in HRM (Kiran & Khurram, 2018; and Chen & Fulmer, 2018).

Prem, et al(2021) contended that employees’ satisfaction can be enhanced using flexible work arrangement; however, workplace flexibility lead to self-inflicted workload and decreased working hours. Contrarily, Abilash and Siju (2021) showed that employees that used flexible work practices were more probable to experience intense work; thus workplace flexibility is seemingly a paradox.  As far back of the 1990s, numerous streams of empirical researches had emerged on how organizations can become more flexible; these streams of researches used several dimensions of workplace flexibility which include flexible schedule, flexibility in location/place, flexibility in amount of work/workload and hours, and flexibility in leave periods and career continuity (Vyas & Butakhieo, 2021; and Davidescu, et al, 2020).

Overall, there have been manifolds of workplace flexibility conceptualizations, and these diverse conceptualizations may uncover how workplace flexibility manifests for employees.  In this study, two (2) dimensions of workplace flexibility were employed: compressed work-weeks and job-sharing; these dimensions of workplace flexibility are briefly discussed as follows:

Job-Sharing

Job-sharing is an arrangement that offers multiple employees to share responsibilities or tasks of a single full-time job on a part-time basis (Belzunegui-Eraso & Erro-Garcés, 2020). Related to reduced-load work, job-sharing offers employees the ability to maintain employment while also accommodating non-work demands, tasks or events.  This type of arrangement can be beneficial for organizations in that the entirety of the tasks or responsibilities for a full-time job may be kept intact while retaining experienced employees (Bick, et al, 2020)

Furthermore, one of the prime challenges of job-sharing is the need for employees who share tasks or responsibilities to carefully coordinate their tasks (Delanoeije & Verbruggen, 2020). There are additional challenges and benefits of job-sharing; first, it allows for long-term specialization. For instance, for a manager with a dozen direct reports, one job sharer could focus on financial tasks and the other on marketing tasks (Vyas & Butakhieo, 2021; and Liu, Zhou & Che, 2019)

Second, span of control is decreased such that a manager supervising twenty-four (24) employees in a full-time job now each has twelve (12) employees in a job-share increasing the ability to focus on and develop individual subordinates. According to Vyas and Butakhieo (2021), one of the major drawbacks for employees is that if one partner is seen as promotable and the other is not or if one partner turns over they must find a new partner to fit in the position.

Compressed Work Weeks

Compressed work-weeks condense a full-time work schedule, tasks or responsibilities into fewer days (Way, Tracey, Fay, Wright, Snell, Chang & Gong, 2015). Compressed work-weeks is often described as a 9/80 schedule; these type of arrangement provides employees more availability for non-work demands during what is traditionally work time (Matthijs & Jansen, 2016). Thus, compressed work-weeks allow employees to take care of non-work tasks or demands that they may not be able to attend to on weekends.

Organizations may find it cost-effective to use compressed work-weeks as they may save operating costs if employees are not at the main work site an extra day each week (Matthijs & Jansen, 2016).  According to Bick, et al (2020), an increasing number of agencies have begun using compressed work-week schedules to enhance effectiveness in the workplace such that the employees are allowed to work four 10-hour shifts per week or three 12-hour shifts. There are drawbacks of compressed work-weeks. According to Prem etal(2021) one of the drawback is related to 12-hour shifts, such as reduced alertness on the job compared to the traditional schedule; thus, this could increase errors at work.

Employee Satisfaction

Broadly speaking, employee satisfaction has been defined in the human resource management literature. For instance, Putri and Setianan (2019); and Bick, et al (2020) defined employee satisfaction as affirmative expression of feeling employees get from the job.  The affirmative expression of feeling on the job leads to positive impact on the employees’ family (Mahmood, 2019; and Bick, et al, 2020).  Basically, there are two forms of employee satisfaction; while one is intrinsic in nature (which results to self-fulfillment, meaningful work, etc.), the other is extrinsic in nature (which results to job safety, career development, etc) (Najameddin, Ali & Jamshed, 2021; and Bick, et al, 2020).

Prior studies (Najameddin, et al 2021; Bick, et al, 2020; Arubayi & Odiri, 2023;Arubayi, 2023a ;Mahmood, 2019; and Putri & Setianan, 2019) indicated that employees’ satisfaction leads to employees’ longevity, reduced levels of employees’ intention to leave, lowered absenteeism, and increased commitments to work.  Prem, et al (2021); and Bick, et al (2020) assessed the factors influencing employees’ satisfaction and found that workplace flexibility enhances employees’ satisfaction.  Thus, employees can be more satisfied when they perceive flexibility in the workplace.  Given the review of concepts, the following conceptual model was developed to guide the study:

Fig. 1: Conceptual Model of the Study

Source: Conceptualized by the Researcher (2024)

Theoretical Framework

The study was anchored on the social exchange and agent-system model.  According Liu, et al (2019), the social exchange model explained that the relationship between employees and employers is centred on reciprocity rule. For instance, when the workforce feels satisfied and appreciated by the management of their organizations, they become more engaged and committed to their work.  On the other hand, when the workforce is not unsatisfied and unappreciated, they lose interest in the job, hence their level of engagement and commitment is deterred.  The social exchange model is seen to be one of the most influential paradigms explaining workplace behaviour and employee-employer relationship (Mahmood, 2019)

The relevance of the social exchange model to the current study is that employees who value workplace flexibility demonstrate increased job satisfaction, engagement and hence, results in increased productivity and performance. Thus, the current study used social exchange model in explaining the relationship between workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction in the LGAs in Delta State, Nigeria.

Furthermore, we used the agent-system model to support our study. The agent-system model suggests that employees’ perception of justice in the workplace makes them exhibit positive attitudes and behaviours towards their work while those who perceive injustice exhibits negative attitudes and behaviours towards their work (Najameddin, Ali & Jamshed, 2021). Using the agent-system model, we can infer that when employees perceive justice from management they contribute their best to realization of the goals of the organization and those relating to them, which in turn leads to employee satisfaction, commitment, engagement, productivity, and performance

The agent-system model has been widely supported by prior studies (Najameddin, et al 2021; and Putri & Setianan, 2019); thus, interactional justice between employees and employers result to increased job satisfaction. The relevance of the agent-system model to this current study is that employees perception of fairness determines the relationship employee-employer relationship and that this interaction is further enhanced by workplace flexibility, which the social exchange model seeks to buttress as its underlying philosophy.

Empirical Studies

In the literature, we observed that there are limited number of studies that had assessed the direct relationship between workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction.  Most studies in this area had rather focused on how organizational citizenship behaviour, work-life balance mediate on the relationship between workplace flexibility and employees’ job satisfaction, performance, intention to quit and productivity of the workforce.  Given the lack of empirical studies in this area, we reviewed few empirical studies on workplace flexibility from 2016-2022.

Matthijs and Jansen (2016) examined workplace flexibility across the lifespan of employees using primary data (questionnaire). The study used regression estimation technique in the analysis of data obtained in the field survey.  Findings indicated that workplace flexibility had a positive and significant effect on the lifespan of employees.

Similarly, Yadav, et al (2016) studied if workplace flexibility dimensions serve as enablers of organizational citizenship behaviour using primary data (questionnaire). The regression result revealed among others that workplace flexibility (particularly time flexibility, and continuity flexibility) contributes positively and significantly to enhancing organizational citizenship behaviour.

Chen and Fulmer (2018) carried out a research on employees’ experience with flexible work arrangement and job attitudes. The study used descriptive survey design and questionnaire was the major instrument of data collection. The regression results indicated that employees’ experience with flexible work arrangements positively and significantly lead to enhanced job attitudes.

Similar to the study of Chen and Fulmer (2018), Kiran and Khurram (2018) examined the role of flextime and employee happiness at workplace in software houses using questionnaire.  The regression result revealed that flextime plays a major role in enhancing the happiness of employees.

Davidescu, et al (2020) evaluated the relationship between workplace flexibility, job satisfaction, and job performance using questionnaire.  The regression result showed that while workplace flexibility significantly affects job satisfaction; however, it was found via the structural equation modeling result that workplace flexibility moderates on the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance

Bick, et al (2020) examined the relationship between workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction using questionnaire.  The regression result indicated that workplace flexibility had a negative and significant relationship with employees’ satisfaction.

Abilash and Siju (2021) studied the relationship between job performance, job satisfaction, and employees’ commitment during the pandemic via questionnaire. The structural equation modeling results indicated that job performance moderates on the relationship between job satisfaction and employees’ commitment; however, the relationship was found to be negative and insignificant due to the pandemic.

Prem, et al (2021) explored the effect of workplace flexibility on job performance and employees’ satisfaction using structured questionnaire.  Data obtained in the study were analyzed using the structural equation modeling and findings indicated that workplace flexibility moderates on the relationship between job performance and employees satisfaction.

Sunaryo, et al (2022) assessed how flexible work arrangement affects work-related outcomes during the pandemic.  Data were obtained via questionnaire and the regression estimation model was used in the analysis of data.  Findings indicated that flexible work arrangement negatively and insignificantly affects work-related outcomes such as employees’ satisfaction, employees’ and organizational performance.

Vui-Yee and Kai-Ni (2022) evaluated the mediating role of engagement and moderating role of perceived fairness on the relationship between workplace flexibility and organizational citizenship behaviour.  Data were obtained using questionnaire and multivariate regression and structural equation modeling were used in analyses of data. Multivariate regression result showed that perceived fairness moderates on the relationship between workplace flexibility and organizational citizenship behaviour while the structural equation modeling result showed that engagement mediates on the link between workplace flexibility and organizational citizenship behaviour.

Given the review of related literature, several gaps were identified in this study.  First, in the HRM literature, researches on workplace flexibility-employees satisfaction relationship have had mixed findings. Second, studies on workplace flexibility looked at it from the viewpoint of the organization, thus, there is limited studies that had assessed workplace flexibility-employee satisfaction link from the employees’ viewpoint. Third, we observed that employees in the LGAs in Nigeria have had problems of striving to balance work and family due to the confrontations they experience from work-family conflict, making it cumbersome for them to schedule their work-time, workloads, compressed work-weeks, and job-sharing. Finally, we found that studies in Nigeria have not assessed the role of workplace flexibility (in particular, flexibility in compressed work-weeks and job-sharing) in influencing employees’ satisfaction in LGAs in Delta State; these are the lacuna this study seeks to fill.

METHODOLOGY

In this study, the survey research design was used since the study is concerned with obtaining the perceptions of individuals on workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction. In view of this, the study used questionnaire in obtaining the views of individuals on the research theme.

The study population comprised of all the employees of eight (8) LGAs headquarters in Delta State, namely Aniocha North, Aniocha South, Ika North-East, Ika South, Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West, Oshimili North and Oshimili South. As of December 31, 2022, there were about forty-nine (49) employees in LGA headquarters in Aniocha North, thirty-seven (37) in Aniocha South, forty (40) in Ika North-East, forty (40) in Ika South, forty-two(42) in Ndokwa East, forty-five (45) in Ndokwa West, sixty (60) in Oshimili North, and fifty-five (55) in Oshimili South. Thus, the total study’s population amounts to three hundred and sixty-eight(368) employees in the eight (8) LGAs in Delta State of Nigeria. Furthermore, Taro-Yamane (1964) sample size determination formula was used in obtaining the sample size of the study which was 192. Furthermore, proportionate sampling was adopted in allocating the sample size of one hundred and ninety-two (192) respondents The major instrument of data collection was the structured questionnaire, which was designed on 4-point scale of ‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘disagree’ and ‘strongly disagree’ and presented in a precise way to minimize respondents times on answering the question. The questionnaire was designed to elicit respondents’ perceptions on workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction. The instrument was adapted from the works of Prem, et al, (2021); and Bick, et al (2020) on workplace flexibility while employees’ satisfaction scale was adapted from the works of Dost and Zia-ur-Rehman (2012).  The questionnaire was based on two (2) dimensions of workplace flexibility: compressed work-weeks and job-sharing. The questionnaire was designed into two sections – bio-data of the respondents and themes relating to workplace flexibility and employees satisfaction.  The choice of using questionnaire is based on the fact that the study was designed to assess the views of individuals on the effect of workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction. The Cronbach Alpha reliability technique was employed in ascertaining the reliability of the research instrument.  Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficients of 0.84 (compressed work-weeks), 0.80 (job-sharing), and 0.73 (employees’ satisfaction) were obtained.  This implies that the research instruments are deemed reliable, since the Cronach Alpha coefficient is greater than 0.5.  The study used several techniques to analyse the data: first, descriptive statistics (frequency counts, simple percentages, mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum values and Karl Pearson correlation); second, post-estimation statistics(variance inflation factor and Breusch-Pagan and Cook-Weisberg), and third, inferential statistics (simple regression model) which was done to determine the influence of workplace flexibility dimensions on employees’ satisfaction. The f-value(simple regression model) was used in testing the relevant hypotheses of the study.  The decision rule is that if f-prob. is < than the level of significance (0.05%), the null hypothesis is rejected while the alternate hypothesis is accepted vice-versa.

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

In this study, one hundred and ninety-two (192) questionnaires were administered on the employees of the selected LGAs in Delta State of Nigeria; however, one hundred and eighty (180) were fully completed and returned.  Thus, the analysis of data were based on the 180 completed and returned questionnaire.

Table 1: Bio-Data of Respondents on Workplace Flexibility and Employees’ Satisfaction

Source: Field Survey, 2024

From Table 1, 103(57.2%) of the respondents are males while 77(42.8%) are females.  Also, it was revealed that 95(52.8%) and 57(31.7%) of the respondents are married and single respectively while 8(4.4%), 10(5.6%), 5(2.7%), and 5(2.7%) are unmarried but living with spouse, divorced, separated and widowed respectively. On the educational qualification of the respondents, it was shown that 42(23.3%) and 118(65.6%) of the respondents are holders of OND/NCE and B.Sc./HND degrees respectively while 20(11.1%) had M.Sc./MBA degrees. The educational qualification reveals that majority of the respondents are well educated and perhaps may be able to adequately provide answers to the questionnaire items. This clearly indicates and depicts a good spread of the respondents among the selected LGAs in Delta State.

Table 2: Descriptive Results of Workplace Flexibility and Employees’ Satisfaction

Source: Field Survey, 2024

Presented in Table 2, is the descriptive results of workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction of the selected LGAs in Delta State of Nigeria. It was found that employee satisfaction (Emsat) had a mean score of 2.7315 with a standard deviation of 0.4536 while the dimensions of workplace flexibility had mean scores and corresponding standard deviation values of 2.6290(0.4251 – CwK), and 2.7140(0.4421 – JoS) respectively. The descriptive results (standard deviation) indicated that the perceptions on the respondents on workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction in the selected LGAs are not far from each other.

Furthermore, the mean scores are clear indications that the respondents supported all the items in the research instrument as good indicators for assessing the relationship between workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction. Furthermore, the relationship between workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction of the selected LGAs were further done and presented in Table 3:

Table 3: Correlation Results for Workplace Flexibility and Employees’ Satisfaction

Source: Field Survey, 2024

In Table 3, Karl Pearson correlation results revealed that the workplace flexibility dimensions (CwK and JoS) are positively correlated with employees’ satisfaction (Emsat). Also, Pearson correlation coefficients showed that no two independent variables were perfectly correlated; thus none of the correlation coefficients exceeded 0.8 as recommended by Gujarati (2003).

Post-Estimation Analysis

Table 4: VIF Results for Workplace Flexibility and Employees’ Satisfaction

Source: Field Survey, 2024

Table 4 showed whether multicollinearity exists among the pairs of the independent variables in the estimated model of workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction. The mean VIF = 1.07, which is not greater than the accepted VIF of 10.0, suggesting that there is absence of multicollinearity in the model of workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction the study.

Table 5: Breusch-Pagan/Cook-Weisberg Result for Workplace Flexibility and Employees’ Satisfaction

Source: Field Survey, 2024

The Breusch-Pagan/Cook-Weisberg result in Table 5 revealed that workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction variables fit-well in the model (Chi2=54.70), since it is statistically significant at 5% level. This implies absence of heteroskedasticity problem in the model of workplace flexibility and employee’s satisfaction.

Test of Research Hypotheses

H_o1:     There is no significant relationship between job-sharing and employees’ satisfaction in local government areas.

Table 6: Regression Result for Job-Sharing (JoS) and Employees’ Satisfaction

In Table 6, the simple regression result revealed that R-squared is 0.8486, indicating that workplace flexibility (job-sharing) explained about 84.9% of the systematic variation in employees’ satisfaction (Emsat).  The f-statistics (df=1, 178, f-value = 9.44) with a p-value of 0.0000 showed that the relationship between workplace flexibility (job-sharing) and employee’s satisfaction is significant at 5% level.

Consequent upon the above, the null hypothesis was rejected while the alternate hypothesis was accepted; this means that there is significant relationship between job-sharing and employees’ satisfaction. More so, the coefficient showed that an increase in job-sharing will lead to 12.3% increase in employees’ satisfaction in the selected LGAs in Delta State of Nigeria.

H_o2:     There is no significant relationship between compressed work-weeks and employees’ satisfaction in local government areas.

Table 7: Regression Result for Compressed Work-Weeks and Employees’ Satisfaction

In Table 7, the regression result showed that R-squared is 0.8577, indicating that workplace flexibility (compressed work-weeks) explained 85.8% of the systematic variation in employees’ satisfaction.  The f-statistics (df=1, 178, f-value = 14.01) with a p-value of 0.0000 revealed that the relationship between compressed work-weeks and employees’ satisfaction is significant at 5% level.

Consequent upon the above, the null hypothesis was rejected while the alternate hypothesis was accepted; this means that there is significant relationship between compressed work-weeks and employees’ satisfaction. Also, the coefficient showed that an increase in amount of work/overload flexibility will lead to 12.8% increase in employees’ satisfaction in the selected LGAs in Delta State of Nigeria.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In recent times, the need for flexibility in the workplace has attracted much academic debates among human resource management (HRM) practitioners, management and researchers alike. This debate stems from the fact that HRM role has shifted from hiring, benefits and wages of the employees to strategic human resource management where the focus has been on how the workplace can be made flexible so as to ensure satisfactory levels of employees’ satisfaction (Sunaryo, et al, 2022; Bick, et al, 2020; and Davidescu, et al, 2020).  Prior studies in other countries had shown that workplace flexibility influence employees’ satisfaction; however, studies are yet to establish if workplace flexibility dimensions of compressed work-weeks and job-sharing (particularly as it concerns LGAs in Delta State, Nigeria) influence employee’ satisfaction.

Given the above, this study was carried out to with the view to assessing the influence of workplace flexibility dimensions (compressed work-weeks and job-sharing) and employees’ satisfaction among selected LGAs in Delta State, Nigeria.  Specifically, the simple regression results revealed the following:

1. That there is significant relationship between job-sharing and employees’ satisfaction in local government areas.
2. That there is significant relationship between compressed work-weeks and employees’ satisfaction in local government areas.

Consequent upon the above results, the study concluded that when LGAs are able to ensure flexibility in the workplace, it would lead to increased employees’ satisfaction. The study’s findings agree with the results of Matthijs and Jansen (2016); Yadav, et al (2016); Chen and Fulmer (2018); and Sunaryo, et al (2022) who found positive and significant relationship between workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction.  On the other hand, the study disagrees with the results of Bick, et al (2020); and Abilash and Siju (2021) who found a negative significant relationship between workplace flexibility and employees’ satisfaction.

Recommendations

The results call for some policy recommendations; first, that management of LGAas should strive towards ensuring increased flexibility in the work environment; this can be realized by making sure that employees are accorded decreased work-weeks while job roles are shared among the workforce. Also, employees’ development initiatives and constant management of flexibility in the workplace should be made more viable as well as a part of LGAs’ policy for all cadre of staff.

This study contributes to knowledge by using hybrid theories (agent-system and social exchange models) in explaining the influence of workplace flexibility on employees’ satisfaction in Nigeria. More study, this study contributes to knowledge by filling the literature gap on what is known about workplace flexibility-employees’ satisfaction relationship, particularly as it concerns LGAs in Delta State of Nigeria. In addition, the study contributes to knowledge by showing that job-sharing and compressed work-weeks positively and significantly affect employees’ satisfaction of LGAs in Delta State of Nigeria.

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APPENDIX

Questionnaire

Department of Business Administration,

Faculty of Management Sciences,

Delta State University,

Abraka.

February, 2023

Dear Respondent,

I am Postgraduate student of the above named Department and conducting a research work on “Influence of Workplace Flexibility on the Satisfaction of Employees: A Study of Selected Local Government Areas in Delta State, Nigeria” which is in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) in Management.

In this regard, your responses towards this questionnaire will go a long way towards ensuring the success of this research work. I promise that your responses will be treated with confidentiality and will only be used for the purpose of research.

Receive my highest regard as I anticipate your cooperation.

Thank you.

Yours Truly,

Researcher

SECTION A:

Bio-Data of Respondents

INSTRUCTION: Please tick [   ] inside the box in front of the answer you have chosen and

fill the spaces where necessary.

1. Gender: Male                                        [   ]

            Female                                    [   ]

2. What is your Marital Status?

(a) Married                                                      [   ]

(b) Single                                                        [   ]

(c) Unmarried but living with a spouse          [   ]

(d) Divorced                                                   [   ]

(e) Separated                                                   [   ]

(f) Widowed                                                   [   ]

3. What is your highest educational qualification?

(a) OND/NCE                                                 [   ]

(b) B.Sc./HND                                                [   ]

(c) M.Sc./MBA.                                              [   ]

SECTION B:

Questionnaire on Workplace Flexibility (Job-Sharing and Compressed Work-Weeks) and Employees’ Satisfaction

Key: Strongly Agree (4); Agree (3); Strongly Disagree (2); Disagree (1)

Thank you for filling the questionnaire.