Work Environment as A Predictor of Job Satisfaction Among Doh Deployed Human Resources for Health

Work Environment as A Predictor of Job Satisfaction Among DOH Deployed Human Resources for Health

Novellie R. Pimentel, Larry C. Bercilla

Masters in Public Administration, University of Mindanao-Tagum College, Philippines

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.7494

 Received: 03 April 2023;  Accepted: 20 April 2023; Published: 16 May 2023

ABSTRACT:

Job Satisfaction is one of the complex areas that concerns managers in the organization with regards to managing their employees and remains a challenge to most managers. The effects of low job satisfaction can be extensive and a big issue in organizations. The study aimed to discover the significant relationship of work environment and job satisfaction and what domain of work environment significantly predicts the job satisfaction of the deployed Human Resources for Health (HRH) in Davao de Oro. The researcher used the quantitative non-experimental utilizing causal-effect technique with regression analysis in research and utilized the adapted and modified questionnaires. It was found out that the work environment and job satisfaction was very much felt among the HRH deployed in Davao de Oro. It was determined that there is a significant relationship between work environment and job satisfaction. It was also found out that the relationship of work environment towards job satisfaction is significant to all the indicators specifically on training and development, relationship with co-workers, supervision, salary and benefits and work conditions. The study revealed that Salary and Benefits and Supervision are the domains that significantly predicts employee job satisfaction. Furthermore, recommendations were made based on the results.

Keywords: MPA, HRH, work environment, job satisfaction, Province of Davao de Oro

INTRODUCTION:

            In a competitive organization, job satisfaction plays an important role in the overall success of every operation because they are demanding for bigger work outcomes.  An employee that is satisfied with the job will not be just a retained employee but will be an ambassador of the organization internally and externally (Zaren Bathena, 2018). In the Health Care Sector, Human Resources for Health (HRH) are crucial in achieving one of the goals of the Department of Health (DOH) with the Universal Health Care (UHC) that provide quality access to health services especially to the poor (DOH,2019). It means that there is an increasing demand of health professionals who will cater the needs of the community. With decreasing number of health care workers and more opportunities overseas, the government needs to sustain the career needs of the health professionals who work for the rural areas to make the job competitive. ^[1-2]

            A positive work environment increases employees’ job satisfaction, reduce turnover rates, and maximize the performance of the employees (Salunke, 2015). It has a great impact on quality, effectiveness and work efficiency (Dragana, 2008). The strength of the health system depends in the performance of the health workers (Verulava et. Al,2017).  Hence, Job satisfaction of employees is critically linked to job work environment. Work environment has countless properties that may influence physical and mental well-being of the employees (Agbozo et. Al., 2017).  ^[3-6]

It only shows that present study shall make specific contribution and generate new knowledge on understanding the work environment and job satisfaction of HRH. Further, the researcher sought to find out how work environment greatly predicts the level of job satisfaction of HRH.

Related Literature

Work environment is attributed to the work conditions of an employee within the organization which may either encourage or discourage the employees to report to their respective work (Shravasti and Bhola, 2015). It is attributed to the physical conditions of the workplace and it is related to work processes and the procedures of doing the job. In the simplest definition, it can be defined as settings, situations, conditions and circumstances under which people work (Oludeyi, 2015). If employees are working in a comfortable working environment that suites their physical and mental ability, the correct fit between the person and work task is accomplished (Nanzushi, 2015). ^[7-9]

Job Satisfaction is one of the variables that was studied most frequently in organizational research because employers want to know how to avoid labor turnover and reward their best worker (Savickas and Savickas, 2017). Researches also suggest that job satisfaction influences behavior, membership-related behavior, loyalty and tendency of the employee to leave the organization (Bowling, 2010, Wright and Davis, 2003; Tsai and Huang, 2008 as cited in Bojadjiev et. al, 2015).  ^[10-11]

Theoretical Framework 

The study has been anchored on the two-factor theory of Frederick Herzberg also known as Herzberg Motivation-Hygiene Theory. The theory states that there are several factors in the workplace that were considered as work environment. Job satisfaction and Job dissatisfaction acts independently on each other as they are caused by the factors of work environment. These factors are distinguished between the Motivation and Hygiene Factors. Motivation factors includes promotion, growth opportunities, recognition, responsibility and achievement while Hygiene factors includes quality of supervision, pay, company policies, physical working condition, relation with others and job security (Herzberg et. Al, 1959 as cited Kuijk, A. 2018).  ^[12]

This idea has been supported by the study of Bojadjiev et. Al, 2015 which stated that perceived work environment and its components significantly predicts job satisfaction among employees. Managers should pay more attention to the professional advancement opportunities. It will allow the employees to work with full autonomy (Bojadjiev et. Al, 2015). ^[11]

      On the other hand, job satisfaction or the lack of it holds a productive execution of relationships between the staff and management. The success of the organization depends on the employees who enjoy their jobs and rewarded for their efforts. Accordingly, satisfied and happy employees are more likely to produce more with fewer days off and stay true to the organization. The degree of organizational loyalty will have a parallel increase with the job satisfaction (Javed et. Al, 2014). ^[13]           

Conceptual Framework

The independent variable of the study is work environment in terms of training and development; relationship with co-workers; supervision; salary and benefits; work conditions (Bojadjiev et. al, 2015). The dependent variable of the study is the job satisfaction in terms of Job loyalty; Job performance; turnover intention (Javed et. Al, 2014). ^[11,13]

METHODOLOGY

        This study will employ quantitative, non-experimental research design, specifically the causal effect technique will be used. Quantitative research design is appropriate for the study since it emphasizes objective measurements through observation in terms of statistical, mathematical and numerical data analysis (Babbie, 2010). The researcher will employ the survey strategy for the study. Descriptive survey design allows researcher to gather large volumes of data that can be analyzed for frequencies, averages and patterns (McCombes,2019). A validated downloaded Questionnaire will be used in data gathering. ^[14-15]

The respondents of the study will be the DOH deployed Human Resources for Health (HRH) in Davao de Oro. All the HRH deployed in the Rural Health Units (RHU) of each municipality will be the respondents of this study. This will come up to 194 individuals as research respondents. All HRH in Davao de Oro will be given the questionnaires to avoid bias and ensure that the results are reliable enough to be generalized.

RESULTS AND FINDINGS

Presented in Table 1 is the Level of Work Environment of DOH Deployed Human Resources for Health in Davao de Oro. It can be seen in the table that the overall mean is 4.51 with a standard deviation of 0.54 with a descriptive equivalent of very high. This means that work environment is very much felt. Among the five indicators, the salary and benefit have the highest mean of 4.69, described as very high and followed by relationship with co-workers with a mean of 4.68, also told as very high. The least mean of 4.21, also described as very high is Training and Development. The indicator with the highest Standard Deviation of 0.68 is the Training and Development, followed by the Supervision and Work conditions with the same standard deviation of 0.57. All the indicators training and development, relationship with co-workers, supervision, salary and benefits and work conditions have very high as descriptive equivalent, which means that the work environment is very much felt.

Table 1. Level of Work Environment

Presented in Table 2 is the Level of Job Satisfaction of DOH Deployed Human Resources for Health in Davao de Oro. It can be seen in the table that the overall mean is 4.55 with a standard deviation of 0.55 with a descriptive equivalent of very high. This means that employee job satisfaction is very much felt. Among the three indicators, the Job Loyalty has the highest mean of 4.70, described as very high and followed by Turnover Intention with a mean of 4.57, also told as very high. The least mean of 4.38, also described as very high was Job Performance. The indicator with the highest Standard Deviation of 0.66 is the Turnover Intention, followed by the Job Performance with the standard deviation of 0.56 and the Job Loyalty has a standard deviation of 0.42. All the indicators Job Loyalty, Job Performance and Turnover Intention have very high as descriptive equivalent, which means that the Job Satisfaction is very much felt.

Table 2. Level of Job Satisfaction

Table 3 presents the five indicators that show the significant relationships between Work Environment and Job Satisfaction among the DOH deployed Human Resources for Health in Davao de Oro. The r- value of the Training and Development and Job Satisfaction is 0.179 with a p-value of 0.007 that shows a positive correlation of 3.2%. At the same time, the r- value of Relationship with co-workers and the Job Satisfaction is 0.394 with a p-value of 0.001, which shows a positive correlation of 15.5%. The r- value of Supervision and the Job Satisfaction is 0.370 that shows a positive correlation of 13.7% with a p-value of 0.001. The r- value of Salary and Benefits and the Job Satisfaction is 0.395 that shows a positive correlation of 15.6% with a p-value of 0.001. And lastly, the r- value of Work Conditions and the Job Satisfaction is 0.340 still shows a positive correlation of 11.6% with a p-value of 0.001. Since the table shows that the domain Training and Development have the probability of 0.007, and the domains Relationship with co-workers, Supervision, Salary and Benefits and Work Conditions have the probability level of 0.001, which is less than the significance level at 0.05, the null hypothesis states that “there is no significant relationship between Work Environment and Job Satisfaction” is rejected. Therefore, there is a significant relationship between employee commitment and employee performance. The r-squared shows that Salary and Benefits has a more substantial relationship of 15.6% to the Job Satisfaction while the Relationship with co-workers, Supervision, Work Conditions and Training and Development has 15.5%, 13.7%, 11.6% and 3.2% respectively. The strong interdependence of the variables shows that Work Environment have a significant relationship with Job Satisfaction among the DOH deployed Human Resources for Health in Davao de Oro.

Table 3 Significant relationship between Work Environment and Job Satisfaction

   *p<0.05

The domain of Work Environment that that has been found to influence the Job Satisfaction of the DOH Deployed Human Resources for Health is the Salary and Benefits and Supervision. As presented in Table 4, The result shows that Salary and Benefits has a beta of 0.219 and a corresponding p-value of 0.016, which is lesser than the level of significance of 0.05. This means that Salary and Benefits as a domain of Work environment significantly predicts Job Satisfaction. It is followed by the domain Supervision with a second highest beta coefficient of 0.196 and a corresponding p-value of 0.034

Table 4  Regression Analysis on the influence of Work Environment and Job Satisfaction

Dependent Variable: Job Satisfaction

R-value: 0.465

R Square: 0.216

F-ratio: 10.239

P-value: 0.001

   *p<0.05

RECOMMENDATION

The overall level of Work Environment of DOH Deployed Human resources for Health predicting Job Satisfaction was very high.  Work environment has a significant relationship to job satisfaction of DOH Deployed Human Resources for Health in Davao de Oro. The indicators of work environment in terms of training and development, relationship with co-workers, supervision, salary and benefits and work conditions reveal their ties to job satisfaction in terms Job Loyalty, Job Performance and Turnover Intention. To address the results of the study the following recommendations were suggested.

In terms of salary and benefits, the organization must sustain the competitive salary and benefit packages such as the Republic Act 7305 or the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers which provides additional benefits for Health Care Workers and sustain the provision of additional allowances during health emergencies such as the Republic Act No. 11712 Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers. ^[16]

In terms of supervision, the organization must keep the effective supervision to the HRH and crafting of coaching and mentoring tools that can be used by the supervisors to inspire and empower the HRH.

In terms of training and development, the organization should have a consistent adherence to Administrative Order No. 2021-0007 stating the Guidelines on the Learning and Development Management System of the Department of Health and provide trainings to the Human Resources for Health. The organization should conduct face-to-face workshops with hands on activities for course updates that enhance their skills and should be made available for all the human resources for health. The trainings should be in line with their roles and responsibilities in the Barangays specifically in the Provision of Health Services. ^[17]

In terms of job performance, the organization should evaluate the CSC MC No. 01, s. 2001 Program on awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) by giving recognition to those employees who goes the extra mile in performing extraordinary service and also to encourage creativity, innovativeness, efficiency, integrity and productivity in public service by recognizing and rewarding their exemplary work. The Human Resource for Health should be included in the PRAISE awarding during the Year End Recognition of the Organization. ^[18]

Future studies may also be initiated to contribute to the existing body of knowledge particularly on work environment and job satisfaction.

REFERENCES

1. Zaren, B. (2018). Why Job Satisfaction is an important Phenomenon of the Vicious Circle?. Retrieved from entrepreneur.com/article/310608.
2. RA 11223. Universal Health Care (2019) from https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2019/02/20/republic-act-no-11223/
3. Salunke, G. (2015). Work environment and Its effect on Job Satisfaction in Cooperative Sugar Factories in Maharashtra, India. Abhinav International Monthly refreed Journal of research in Management & Technology Volume 4, Issue 5 Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/.
4. Dragana, N, et. Al, (2008). Job Satisfaction Health Care Workers. Acta Medica Medianae47(4). CC BY 4.0.
5. Verulava et. Al. (2017). Role of Primary Health Care in Re-Hospitalization of Patients with Heart Failure. PubMed.gov. PMID: 28480866
6. Agbozo, et. al. (2017). The effect of Working Environment on Job Satisfaction Evidence from the banking Sector in Ghana. Journal of Human resource Management . ISSN: 2331-0715 (Online)
7. Shravasti, R. and Bhola, S. (2015). Study on Working Environment and Job Satisfaction of Employees in Respect to Service Sector: An Analysis. Review of research Journal Vol 4. ISSN No. 2249-894X
8. Oludeyi, O. (2015). A review of Literature on Work Environment and Work Commitment: Implication for Future Research in Citadels of Learning. P32
9. Nanzushi, C. (2015) The effect of Workplace environment on employee Performance in the mobile telecommunication firms in Nairobi. University of Nairobi D61/71117/2014
10. Savickas, M. and Savickas, S. (2017). Job Satisfaction. Retrieved from Science Direct.com
11. Bojadjiev, M. et. Al. April 2015. Perceived Work environment and Job satisfaction among Public Administration Employee. The European Journal of Applied Economics. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276440699_Perceived_work_environment_and_job_satisfaction_among_public_administration_employees
12. Herzberg, F. (1959) . Herzberg Two Factor Theory of Job Satisfaction. As cited in Kuijk, A. (2018). Herzberg Two Factor Theory of Motivation. Retrieved from Toolshero: https://www.toolshero.com/psychology/two-factor-theory-herzberg/
13. Javed, M. et. Al. 2014. Determinants of Job Satisfaction and its impact on Employee Performance and Turnover Intentions. International Journal of Learning & Development Vol. 4 No. 2. Retrieved from http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/ijld/article/viewFile/6094/4951
14. Babbie, Earl R. The Practice of Social Research. 12th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage, 2010; Muijs, Daniel. Doing Quantitative Research in Education with SPSS. 2nd edition. London: SAGE Publications, 2010.
15. McCombes, S. (2019, August 20). Survey Research | Definition, Examples & Methods. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/survey-research/
16. RA 7305 Magna Carta for Public Health Workers. Retrieved from https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1992/03/26/republic-act-no-7305-s-1992/
17. RA 11712 Mandatory continuing benefits and allowances to public and private health care workers during the covid-19 pandemic and other future public health emergencies Retrieve from https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2022/04/27/republic-act-no-11712/
18. CSC MC 01, S. 2001: PROGRAM ON AWARDS AND INCENTIVES FOR SERVICE Excellence (PRAISE) Retrieved from https://www.csguide.org/items/show/436