Job satisfaction and organisational commitment: a comparative study between academic and support staff at a higher education institution in the Western Cape

Abstract

Research suggests that increasing employee commitment and satisfaction impacts on employee productivity and job performance, and has implications for job related behaviours such as absenteeism, turnover and tardiness. Moreover, literature also suggests that downsizing and cost-cutting negatively impacts on the satisfaction and commitment of employees and impacts on the effectiveness of organisations. The contention is that in order to reconcile the need to achieve high quality and organisational effectiveness in an environment of declining per capita resources and change, it will be necessary to secure a high level of commitment and satisfaction from all those employed in the higher education sector. This study therefore seeks to investigate the factors that produce commitment and satisfaction in academic and support staff respectively and to understand any important similarities and differences that may exist. The sample group consists of 111 support staff and 132 academic staff (N=243) at a higher education institution in the Western Cape. Two staff members did not indicate the category of staff they belonged to. A biographical questionnaire, the Job Descriptive Index (illI) questionnaire and the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) were administered to the respondents. Statistical analysis includes Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, multiple regression analysis and analysis of variance. The results of the study demonstrate no significant difference in organisational commitment between academic and support staff, although job satisfaction is higher in academic staff than in support staff. Furthermore, academic staff in the sample are relatively satisfied with the nature of the work that they perform, as well as with their co-workers and opportunities for promotion, but are less satisfied with the supervision and compensation they receive. Support staff in the sample are most satisfied with their co-workers, followed by their supervision and the nature of their jobs. They appear to be less satisfied with their opportunities for promotion and least satisfied with the compensation they receive. The results of this study also indicate that the demographic variables of age, gender, tenure and level of education appear to be better predictors of job satisfaction and organisational commitinent for the support staff than they are for the academic staff. This study argues that in order, to increase job satisfaction in staff, higher education institutions should improve supervision received by academic staff; improve compensation received for all staff and improve the opportunities for promotion for support staff members.