Job satisfaction in a chemical industry production unit

Abstract

The subject area for the study was that of job satisfaction in a chemical industry production unit and the various dimensions by which it is constituted. The study will focus on the dimensions which are found to have the biggest impact on the job satisfaction of employees at the production unit. As job satisfaction creates confidence in personnel which ultimately leads to improved quality in the output of the employees, it is a crucial task of management to instil job satisfaction within their employees (Tietjen & Myers, 1998:226). The challenge lies therein as to how management should go about to realize the job satisfaction of the staff, as it is "not the simple result of an incentive program" (Tietjen & Myers, 1998:226). Qualitative research by means of structured interviews was implemented in the study. The sample consisted of 8 Production Foremen and 51 Production Process personnel who were interviewed during four focus group sessions, and a former Production Area Manager from the unit who was interviewed separately. Quotations from transcribed tape recordings of the interviews were sorted or categorized according to the themes (or dimensions) they represented before being analysed. As a measure to ensure the validity of the research, the questions of the interviews were structured in such a way that the data of some of the questions had to either correspond, or not, to show the validity thereof. Current research found that several studies have attempted to identify the determinants for job satisfaction, but there is no agreed consensus as to the exact dimensions (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2008:170; Vieira, 2005). The findings of this research showed that job satisfaction is a conglomeration of MANY dimensions, with no absolutes, which need to be present in the correct mix in order for an employee to be happy or satisfied. Thus focusing on only one dimension will provide little success. It is proposed that an integrated strategy with the most common dimensions (in this instance: teamwork, leadership traits, and working conditions) are followed to establish a working environment that is conducive to satisfied employees, not forgetting that one of the most important dimensions is that of the employees themselves.