ABSTRACT

This study examined the effect of job design on job satisfaction. Data were collected from a sample size of 200 Registered Nurses and Doctors employed in 4 major medical centre in Nigeria. Results from Pearson correlation coefficient revealed that job design is associated with job satisfaction but does not correlate significantly. In addition the findings show that demographic variables such as age, duration, pay and interaction correlated significantly with job design. This implies that other factors, not necessarily job design may contribute to employee job satisfaction. Research and managerial implication of these findings are discussed.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

The concept of job design and how it affects employee job satisfaction is not a recent phenomenon as many researchers have conducted one or two research in this field. Jobs in any organization are designed following established procedures. These procedures were arranged or design by managers in the organization who are professionals or experts in any specific job type. The more any of these procedures saves time, effort and improve output quality, the better for the organization and their employees as it increases employee job satisfaction and reduces labour turnover in any organization including the medical field.

Statement of problem;

In various organizations, jobs are performed by following established procedures. The more these procedures saves time, the better. However, most organizations especially in Nigeria do not pay much attention to the design of jobs. This is because they do not realize the relevance of job design. As such they see job design as a means of creating convenience for employees (Job Satisfaction) as well as Stimulating profit through quality performance and high productivity. A tentative solution to these problems is what is needed. That is to prove it to an extent to show that a properly designed job determines a good performance and satisfaction. Without a comprehensive work – study, an organization is far from accomplishing or establishing the best way or ways of completing jobs. Also important are job enrichment, job enlargement, job rotation and team – based design.

A job that is poor in design will dissatisfy an employee and as such, there will be an increase in the level of feedback, fatigue, stress and excessive supervision.

In a nutshell, job design determines job satisfaction, which in turn affects labour turnover, absenteeism and performance. The sooner the organization in our society realizes this, the better.

Purposes and objective of the study;

This study is aimed at establishing a valid link between job design and job satisfaction among medical personnel in Nigeria in order to show that the former has significant effect on the latter.

This research also aims at providing the basis upon which management of organizations will establish job design policies to enhance satisfaction among employees. Available research on the problem, especially in Nigeria is scant and we mostly depend on findings of studies done abroad. There is however, lack of assurance on the validity of the construct used in those countries. The work environment and industrial relations in those countries differ from what is obtainable here in Nigeria.

This research will therefore fill the gap by providing an indigenous study (uniquely from the medical profession) on the research problems in this locality.

          Research questions

i         Is there any relationship between job design  and employee  job satisfaction?

ii.       Is there any relationship between job design and employee’s pay/ reward?

iii.      Is there any relationship between job design and professional status of employees?

iv.      Is there any relationship between job design and the duration of employees in an organization?

v.       is there any relationship between pay and professional status?

Research hypotheses;

Hypothesis 1

          There is no significant relationship between job design and employee job satisfaction.

Hypothesis 2

          There is no significant relationship between job design and professional status of employees

Hypothesis 3

          There is no significant relationship between job design and employees mode of interaction and cohesion.

Hypothesis 4

          There is no significant relationship between job design and the age of employees.

Hypothesis 5

          There is no significant relationship between job design and the duration of employees in an organization.

Hypothesis 6

          There is no significant relationship between employees pay and reward and the professional status of employees.

          Operational definition of terms

i.        Job Design; The division of an organization’s work among its employees.

ii.       Job satisfaction; A general attitude towards ones job; the difference between the amount of reward workers receive and the amount they believe they should receive.

iii.      Organic Organization; An organizational structure that is flat, uses cross – hierarchical and cross- functional teams, has low formalization, possessed a comprehensive information network, and relies on participative decision making.

iv       Mechanistic organization; An organizational structure that is characterized by extensive departmentalization, high formalization, a limited information network and centralization.

v.       Pay and Reward; Amount or incentives gotten for work done.

vi.     Professional Status; The rank or position of a person as a result of his or her educational background.

vii      Interaction / cohesion; The degree to which group members are attracted to each other and motivated to stay in the group.

xv.     Nurses;       person trained to look after injured people.

xvi.    Doctors;      person or persons qualified to give medical treatment.

Scope of the study

Although, this study may not have a very wide coverage, it however focuses on four medical centres in Lagos state. Specifically, study population falls within registered Nurses and Doctors of EKO HOSPITALS, NUSAMIN HOSPITALS, LAGOS UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL (LUTH) and MEZONEL HOSPITALS.

Issues studied are within the boundary of job design in relation to how these variables affect employee’s pay, interaction/cohesion, Administration and professional status.

Relevance of study.

This study is relevant in the sense that it brings about a new orientation in the issue of job design. It shows employers the need to take job design seriously and if necessary, work study and job designing should be considered regularly. The research adds to available knowledge on the issue of job design since it advances the frontier of knowledge of the subject.

Nurses, Doctors, Medical student and start –up entrepreneurs will find this work valuable as a source of knowledge since the findings of this research work emphasizes the effect of job design on job satisfaction among medical personnel’s. With the knowledge of this research, new businesses will design jobs in the best possible way and continue to redesign them to meet the dynamic nature of the working environment.

Lectures and students will also benefit from this research because it will serve as a research material for lectures on the subject as well as related subject.

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