Abstract

The study set out to investigate the relationship between job design and employee/ job satisfaction in credit unions in the Buea municipality. It was guided by three objectives which were all transformed to research questions and hypotheses namely; There is a significant relationship between job enrichment and employee//job satisfaction in credit  unions in the Buea municipality;

There is a significant relationship between job enlargement and employee/job satisfaction in credit unions in the Buea municipality and; There is a significant  relationship between job rotation and employee/job satisfaction in credit unions in  the Buea municipality. The study was a quantitative survey that involved 33 employees (Managers, Accountants and Cashiers) in eleven credit unions in the Buea Municipality.

The study was guided by three theories namely; Herzberg’s Two factor Theory, Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the Job Characteristics Model. Findings from objective one revealed that job enrichment has a strong, significant and positive effect on employee job satisfaction (R-value 590**, p-value 0.000< 0.05). Thus the hypothesis that states there is a significant relationship between job enrichment and employee//job satisfaction in credit unions in the Buea municipality was accepted.

Findings from objective two revealed that that job enlargement has a moderate, significant and positive effect on employee job satisfaction. Therefore, the hypothesis that states there is a significant relationship between job enlargement and employee/job satisfaction in credit unions in the Buea municipality was accepted.

Findings from objective three revealed that that job rotation has a strong, significant and positive effect on employee job satisfaction. Thus the hypothesis that states there is a significant relationship between job rotation and employee/job satisfaction in credit unions in   the Buea municipality was accepted. Recommendations included the use of combined tasks, job rotations, employee feedback, increased autonomy and more, to enhance job satisfaction.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Historically, Onimole, (2015) asserts that the evolvement of jobs in the past was not planned. The practice was for the supervisor or foreman to assign workers to tasks and to randomly group tasks into jobs. For example, like carpentry, iron bending, electrical work, etc the content of each trade evolved through tradition and by initiation.

However, psychological literature on employee motivation contains claims that the design of work, its content and structure, affect both productivity and employee motivation and morale. There have therefore been many approaches and theories to the design of works. An early reaction to the scientific management philosophy of fitting men to machines was the Endeavour of human relations advocates to meet workers’ social needs in the work environment, while doing little about the nature of the work itself.

However, with the increasing recognition of the complexity of human motivation, many modern theorists have argued that specialized and simplified work, leads to monotony, boredom and general dissatisfaction, which as a consequence, manifest themselves in various forms of undesirable work behavior in terms of absenteeism, lateness and frequent job changes.

The application of these theories to the design of work has produced a number of measures concerned with altering the content of work and its organization, thus reversing the job specialization trend by adding more varied tasks and broader responsibilities (Hepworth 1982). However, in an attempt to reduce boredom and therefore increase satisfaction (and it is also assumed that higher productivity will follow), some techniques of work design have been generated. These techniques include: Job Enlargement, Job Rotation, Job Enrichment etc.

The history of job satisfaction stems back to the early 1900’s with the situationist perspective on job satisfaction. This perspective states that satisfaction is determined by certain characteristics of the job and characteristics of the job environment itself. This view has been present in the literature since the first studies by Hauser, Taylor and the various projects at the Western Electric plants in Hawthorne (Cranny et al., 1992).

These studies follow the assumption that when a certain set of job conditions are present a certain level of job satisfaction will follow. The Hawthorne Studies are considered to be the most important investigation of the human dimensions of industrial relations in the early 20th century. They were done at the Bell Telephone Western Electric manufacturing plant in Chicago beginning in 1924 through the early years of the Depression.

The Hawthorne plant created an Industrial Research Division in the early 1920’s. Personnel managers developed experiments to explore the effects of various conditions of work on morale and productivity (Brannigan & Zwerman, 2001). “Today, reference to the “Hawthorne Effect” denotes a situation in which the introduction of experimental conditions designed to identify salient aspects of behavior has the consequence of changing the behavior it is designed to identify.

The initial Hawthorne effect referred to the observation that the productivity of the workers increased over time with every variation in the work conditions introduced by the experiments” (Brannigan & Zwerman, 2001). Simply stated when people realize that their behavior is being watched they change how they act. The development of the Hawthorne studies also denotes the beginning of applied psychology, as we know it today. These early studies mark the birth of research on job satisfaction relating to ergonomics, design and productivity.

With regard to job design, interest in the question of what makes good work was largely initiated during the industrial revolution, when machine-operated work in large factories replaced smaller, craft-based industries. In 1776, Adam Smith popularized the concept of division of labor in his book The Wealth of Nations, which states that dividing production processes into different stages would enable workers to focus on specific tasks, increasing overall productivity. This idea was further developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the late 19th century with his highly influential theory of scientific management (sometimes referred to as Taylorism).

Taylor argued that jobs should be broken down into the smallest possible parts and managers should specify the one best way that these tasks should be carried out. Additionally, Taylor believed that maximum efficiency could only be achieved when managers were responsible for planning work while workers were responsible for performing tasks.

Scientific management became highly influential during the early 20th century, as the narrow tasks reduced training times and allowed less skilled and therefore cheaper labor to be employed. In 1910, Henry Ford took the ideas of scientific management further, introducing the idea of the automotive assembly line. In Ford’s assembly lines, each worker was assigned a specific set of tasks, standing stationary while a mechanical conveyor belt brought the assemblies to the worker. While the assembly line made it possible to manufacture complex products at a fast rate, the jobs were extremely repetitive and workers were almost tied to the line.

Researchers began to observe that simplified jobs were negatively affecting employees’ mental and physical health, while other negative consequences for organizations such as turnover, strikes, and absenteeism began to be documented. Over time, a field of research within industrial and organizational psychology known as job design, and more recently work design, emerged.

Empirical work in the field flourished from the 1960s, and has become ever more relevant with modern technological developments that have changed the fundamental nature of work, such as automation, artificial intelligence and remote work. These two concepts are critical in the success of any organization.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Employees are one of an Organization’s greatest assets and so organizations must ensure employee or job satisfaction. Employees possess knowledge, talents, skills, and abilities that are vital to the Organization’s operations. Having a satisfied and happy workforce strengthens the Organization by lowering employee turnover, increasing employee productivity, increasing customer satisfaction and promoting loyalty (https://www.laccd.edu).

Keeping employees satisfied and engaged has become more complex as many employees are no longer motivated by just good pay and great benefits. Employees are also interested in jobs which provide a healthy environment, provide a career path for them, ensure rewards and recognition and jobs that make them feel challenged among others (Armstrong, 2006).

In some business organizations like the credit unions in the Buea municipality, even when the pay package seems good, some employees who are talented and experienced, who have enhanced the organization’s productivity and who have been the favourites of some clients as a result of their performance, suddenly leave the job for other opportunities. This usually affects the organization negatively.

One factor that may account for this trend is the job design. Job design includes developing new jobs or adding responsibilities to existing jobs using strategies such as job enrichments, job enlargements and job rotations amongst others to ensure that the job is mentally challenging but not physically and mentally exhausting and monotonous.

Parvin (2011) stated that the purpose of job design is to increase the level of job satisfaction which shall ultimately cause good performance of the employee. Thus the study intends to investigate the relationship between job design and job or employee satisfaction in some organizations in the Buea Municipality.

1.3 Research Questions

1.3.1 Main Research Question

What is the relationship between job design and employee/ job satisfaction in credit unions in the Buea municipality?

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions

1. What is the relationship between job enrichment and employee//job satisfaction in credit unions in the Buea municipality?
2. What is the relationship between job enlargement and employee/job satisfaction in credit unions in the Buea municipality?
3. What is the relationship between job rotation and employee/job satisfaction in credit unions in the Buea municipality?

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