The influence of psychological needs and work climate on job satisfaction of employees in the hospitality industry

Abstract

Employee satisfaction is a key factor to achieving high work performance results and service provision efficiency, which directly contributes to the increase in organizational productivity. For the purpose of this paper, in addition to the theoretical postulates of self-determination theory, we analyzed the impact of social environment factors and basic psychological needs on job satisfaction. The sample included 150 employees in hotels in the Republic of Serbia. According to the research results, there is a statistically significant positive correlation between the work climate, i.e., the perceived autonomy support for employees, and extrinsic and intrinsic satisfaction, as well as overall job satisfaction. On the other hand, the results show that general job satisfaction (as well as extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction) is largely associated with the degree of psychological needs' satisfaction. From the aspect of the type and content of the job, it was determined that jobs which by their nature differ in terms of complexity and imply the freedom of choice and creativity in performing tasks, provide more possibilities for the fulfillment of basic psychological needs and job satisfaction. It is expected that the results of this research will contribute to better human resource management practices in the hospitality industry wherein employees are the key to success.