Investigating the relationship between job characteristics and job satisfaction in the steel manufacturing industry
Abstract
Employees can be seen as the most valuable asset of a company, as no company
can operate without them. Therefore, it is important to keep them satisfied . The
primary objective of this study is to investigate job characteristics and employee's job
satisfaction with a specific focus on employees working in the steel manufacturing
industry. The specific objectives were to determine the relationship between job
characteristics and job satisfaction, to establish whether job resources and job
demands, as independent variables, are significant predictors of intrinsic job
satisfaction. A further objective was to determine whether job resources and job
demands as independent variables are significant predictors of extrinsic job
satisfaction. The research study, therefore, aims to gain valuable insight as to what
the employees regard as important job characteristics to foster job satisfaction . This
insight may be valuable for both management and organisation as a whole, in order
to foster job satisfaction.
In this study, a qualitative research approach was followed by using a crosssectional
field survey, to include the wide range of age groups of the employees
within the steel manufacturing industry. In this study, the participants consist of
employees working in the steel manufacturing industry of South Africa.
Questionnaires were distributed in Gauteng - 600 hard copies, as well as an
electronic version, were distributed to various steel manufacturing companies and
CEOs of these companies. A total of n=278 responses were received.
The finding of this study has shown that organisational support, growth opportunities
and relationship with co-workers Uob resources) are all positively related to extrinsic
motivation, while being negatively related to overload Uob demand) and job
insecurity (small effect)