Determinants of job satisfaction in a transport company: a Polish case study

Abstract

Research background: This article concerns job satisfaction considered as an important impulse affecting employee behavior, with particular emphasis on the analysis of the significance of the factors that shape it. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this paper is to analyze and evaluate environmental factors shaping job satisfaction in a company from the TSL industry. This article addresses the problem of job satisfaction, considered as an important impulse influencing employee behavior, with particular emphasis on the analysis of the importance of the factors that underlie it. The search for an answer to the question of what determines the satisfaction of the employee and whether the employees are diversified based on their preferences in this area, relied on own research carried out among employees of a transportation company. Methods: First of all, for each factor indicated in the questionnaire a measure was calculated — weighted average number of points. Using the criterion of decreasing value of this measure, a ranking of the importance of factors shaping job satisfaction in the surveyed company was prepared. Secondly, in order to supplement the analyses, the correlation between general job satisfaction and particular factors of job satisfaction was examined. The values of Spearman's rank correlation coefficients and Kendall's tau coefficients (τ-Kendall) were calculated. The correlation analysis allowed us to examine the strength and direction of the influence of 20 factors on the overall job satisfaction. Findings & Value added: The conducted research shows that the two most important factors necessary to achieve job satisfaction are access to information necessary for proper performance of work and independence in performing the entrusted tasks. The correlation analysis confirmed that in the surveyed company job satisfaction is shaped primarily by factors that influence the employees' needs related to affiliation. On the other hand, the correlation coefficients between general satisfaction and factors shaping the need for respect and recognition and self-fulfillment turned out to be statistically insignificant. Building job satisfaction requires identification of its sources and recognition of the nature of the relationship between general satisfaction and its determinants. Without knowledge of these factors and the extent to which they are responsible for employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction, actions taken by employers may turn out to be misguided and become only a source of costs and not the expected benefits. In conditions of limited resources, employers should optimize activities aimed at building employee satisfaction and focus their efforts on those attributes of the working environment, the modification of which will have the most desirable consequences.