Job satisfaction and job performance during the implementation of a performance management system : the case of a Namibian municipality

Abstract

The primary objective of the current study was to conduct a survey on the job satisfaction of line managers in the City of Windhoek (CoW) Municipality. The identifying of such variables could empower the CoW Municipality to develop programmes and policies that are designed to improve their job satisfaction levels. The literature review confirmed the impact of motivation on the job satisfaction of employees, and, in turn, its impact on employee productivity, and, ultimately, on organisational performance. The level of job satisfaction experienced by an individual describes how content he or she is with his or her job. The purpose of this study was to measure the job satisfaction facets (supervision, relationship with co-workers, present pay notch, nature of work, and opportunities for promotion) among line managers in the CoW, and how such facets affected their overall job satisfaction. The non-probability sampling technique was adopted to collect data from 102 respondents from nine different departments by means of a structured questionnaire, resulting in a response rate of (N = 76), 75%. The study was, however, limited to the line managers in the CoW Municipality. Following on which the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to determine the internal consistency or average correlation of items in the survey instrument. The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (Spearman’s rho) analysis was used to analyse the data with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 16. In addition, the independent-samples t-test and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to empirically test the relationships between the employees’ job satisfaction and their gender and age. The findings showed a significant linear relationship between the existing levels of job satisfaction and job performance. Furthermore, the findings suggested that the employees were significantly satisfied with certain aspects of their jobs (the nature of the work, and their salary, supervision and co-workers), but not with the one aspect of their job (opportunity for promotion). They were, however, significantly satisfied with their jobs in general, with there being no significant difference between the male and female employees’ levels of job satisfaction. The analysis showed that promotion has a modest and positive effect on job satisfaction. The study concluded that the line managers were, in general, satisfied with their jobs. Thus, the results cannot be generalised to other departments and Local Authorities. The study needs to be replicated in other departments and Local Authorities, using the same method.