Organizational Justice and Leadership Behavior Orientation as Predictors of Employees Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Croatia

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to examine the role of organizational justice and leadership behavior orientation in predicting job satisfaction by focusing on three organizational justice dimensions (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) and two leadership behavior orientations (task and relations-oriented behaviors). The empirical research was conducted in Croatia, during 2019. The research sample included 298 participants. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to empirically test proposed hypotheses focusing on organizational justice and leadership behavior orientation as predictors of employees’ job satisfaction. Research results showed that interactional justice, distributive justice and relations-oriented leadership behavior have an almost equally powerful impact on job satisfaction. Those variables are based on social relations, which revealed the importance of connections among people and social interactions for job satisfaction development. Additionally, findings suggested that procedural justice and task-oriented leadership behavior did not affect employees’ job satisfaction. These results additionally bring social interactions in the focus of job satisfaction development. A better and more in-depth understanding of these links allows management to be efficient in rapidly changing organizational circumstances to stimulate employees to work effectively. Therefore, in order to enhance employees’ job satisfaction, managers need to create a working environment that is friendly, honest, and encouraging. They have to pay attention to relationships with their employees, providing them the perception of justice, respect, and trust, as well as motivation in everyday activities. Upcoming lines of research should put effort into further exploration of this cognition, by exploring some other social relations variables and their mediational impact on job satisfaction.