The Job Satisfaction Of Administrative Staff In Karadeniz Technical University

Abstract

Work satisfaction is the feeling of pleasure that personnel have in their job. This study aims to analyze whether personnel feel satisfied with the job they have. The study consists of 250 personnel working as administrative staff at Karadeniz Technical University. In the study, it is examined whether there is a meaningful difference between work satisfaction and demographic variables, and it was found out that the work satisfaction of the administrative staff did not differ according to the demographic characteristics. It was seen that the personnel were satisfied with 84% of the working units, 55% of the social facilities provided by the institution and 54% of the institution managers. The attention of the management to the staff will be an indication that their opinions are valued in making their decisions and thus the level of satisfaction will increase even more.

Keywords: Jobpersonnelsatisfaction theorieswork satisfaction

Introduction

Work, a concept that emerged with the existence of human beings, has acquired different qualities with the development of humanity. This is why we use the word work to express all our activities. “Work is an activity that an individual makes using his/her physical and mental powers, that is to say, his/her effort in order to produce something or obtain a result” (Köksal, 2010). From the view point of personnel, work means the fulfillment of the given duties by making an effort in order to produce goods and services and get a charge in return for the service (Kar, 2008). On the one hand, organizational management is meant to improve the quality of its service, but on the other hand it is meant to increase work satisfaction of its personnel, for the success of organizations depends on these two factors. Work satisfaction is defined as an emotional reaction that personnel form through the evaluation of their work and working environment and the interaction between an individual’s needs and experience, and working environment reveals work satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The attitudes of an individual towards their work or organizations are set through the accumulation of their knowledge and emotions, such as their joys and sadness that they experience and undergo during their work life (Şengül, 2008).

Such personal demographic variables as age, gender, educational status and marital status also affect work satisfaction. The ages, behaviour and attitudes of individuals play an important role in their decisions. For this reason, age has something to do with the thoughts and attitudes of personnel on work.

Herzberg states that the correlation between work satisfaction and age is U-shaped. Work satisfaction is high at young age and then it descends to the lowest level in middle age time. Afterwards, it increases with age (Durukan, 2013).

The gender of personnel may have a different effect on the determination of their behavior against the work they do because women and men have different points of view on events. Thus, they may have different expectations in evaluating events. This can be seen as a result of gender disparity. Men are mostly interested in the results of events, whereas women are interested in their process (Bayram, 2014).

The fact that individuals are married or single is considered as a factor that may affect work satisfaction in terms of taking responsibility in different areas of life and at different levels apart from work (Aykaç, 2010).

The level of education changes people's points of view and perceptions of the world as well as their knowledge and skills. Some studies have shown that the personnel with higher levels of education have higher work satisfaction than those with lower levels of education. However, in some cases, it is seen that the level of education increases as the level of dissatisfaction increases (Erken, 2013).

Universities are an institution where many personnel from various cultures and different fields work together. For this reason, the work satisfaction of the personnel working at Karadeniz Technical University Administrative Office is the subject of this study.

Problem Statement

Research Questions

Does the administrative staff of the Karadeniz Technical Unıversty have job satisfaction?

Purpose of the Study

The aim of this research is to measure the institutional satisfaction of the administrative staff by conducting research on the concepts of staff satisfaction or dissatisfaction, which have gained an important place in the literature in recent years. Karadeniz Technical University the job satisfaction levels of the staff working in the administrative staff will be tried to be examined.

Research Methods

In this research, firstly domestic and foreign literature searches were conducted in order to evaluate basic concepts, factors affecting job satisfaction, satisfaction theories and job satisfaction results in terms of employee and organization. In the study, the job satisfaction status of the administrative staff was examined and a questionnaire was applied with permission from the RDA Office to determine the satisfaction level of the employees.

Findings

When the demographic distribution chart is examined, 70.4% of the personnel working on the KTU center camp are male and 29.6% are female. It is seen that 51.6% of the personnel are in the age range of 36-50 years. It is seen that 31.6% of them are high school graduates, but about 30.8% of them are undergraduates. 82.4% of the personnel are married, while the others are single.

According to the table below, 70.4% of the personnel working on the KTU center camp are male and 29.6% are female. Considering the total work satisfaction levels (p=0,984>α=0,05), there is no significant difference between women and men. When the age variable is examined, the personnel who are in the age range of 36-50 with a rate of 51.6% are middle-aged and over, and there is a significant difference between their levels of total work satisfaction according to this variable (p=0,114>α=0,05). When the educational status of the personnel is examined, it is seen that the number of the high school graduates are high with 31.6%, while the undergraduates are 30.8%, and the lowest education level is primary and secondary school graduates with 8% and the post-graduates with 6.8%. There is also no significant difference between their levels of total work satisfaction according to this variable (p=0,054>α=0, 05). Considering the marital status variable, 82,4 % of the personnel are married and the others are single and there is no significant difference between their levels of total work satisfaction (p=0,515>α=0,05).

As a result of the analyses, it is understood that the personnel working as administrative staff at KTU have work satisfaction and there exists no difference in the level of work satisfaction according to the demographic characteristics.

Discussion

In today's society, human beings have become the most important factor in every area that changes and develops. For this reason, work satisfaction has an effect on people's physical and mental developments. These effects may differ from society to society and fro culture to culture. The social and political situation of the country where people live, its economy, the changes in the management field, and even the religious beliefs of the people can affect the satisfaction levels. In this study, it is determined that there exists work satisfaction and the demographic variables have no influence on work satisfaction. Similarly, the studies by Koç, Yazıcıoğlu, & Hatipoğlu (2009) indicate that such variables as gender, age and marital status do not affect work satisfaction. Unlike these, the studies conducted by Şahin, Bacak, & Güler (2015) point out that there is a difference between the years of seniority and work satisfaction, and that the higher years of seniority they have, the higher work satisfaction they have.In the study by Bayram (2014), it is stated that the personnel are most satisfied with their colleagues, and their charge satisfaction is above the average. The study carried out by Bozkurt & Bozkurt (2008) show that personnel seek to find satisfaction in their work by using spiritual elements rather than material elements, and also new recruits have higher work satisfaction.

Conclusion

Work satisfaction is formed by the integration of personnel with organizations. In the same working environment, both personnel can be influenced by the organization and the organization can be influenced by personnel. The work satisfaction of personnel can be determined according to the conditions arising from individuals themselves and the organization. It is found that 84.8% of the personnel of the administrative office at KTU were satisfied with their work in the units, whereas 15.2% were not satisfied. In the study, whether the demographic variables affect work satisfaction is examined and it is understood that the satisfaction level of men is slightly higher than that of women, but there is no significant difference between them. In today's conditions, the fact that the duty assigned to women is higher than that of men can lead to the reduction in women's work satisfaction. The fact that women are satisfied with their work or they are dissatisfied and that they have responsibilities for home and their families may bring women into conflict. Men are luckier than women in terms of that.

Given the age variable, it is seen that personnel who are 51 and over are more satisfied than other age groups, but there is no significant difference between them. First, the increase in work satisfaction depends on age is due to the increase in such opportunities as rewards, wages and promotion. Second, personnel keep their expectations from the organization at a reasonable level and adapt to their jobs, which makes them happier and more satisfied in the following years (Durukan, 2013).

The personnel are mostly high school graduates and undergraduates. However, associate graduates are found to have higher work satisfaction and there is no significant difference between them. The level of education changes people's points of view and perceptions of the world as well as their knowledge and skills. Some studies shows that the personnel with higher levels of education have higher work satisfaction than those with lower levels of education, yet in some cases, it is seen that the level of education increases as the level of dissatisfaction increases (Erken, 2013).

It is seen that most of the personnel are married and the married ones have higher work satisfaction compared to the single ones. There is no significant difference in terms of the marital status of the personnel.

The fact that the married personnel have different point of view from the single ones and they have regular lifestyles influence their work, so the married ones have higher work satisfaction.

The personnel of the administrative office at KTU have work satisfaction, but the demographic variables have no effect on the work satisfaction levels of the personnel. It is suggested that the institution should investigate why the young personnel are dissatisfied compared to the middle-aged and older personnel, and the institution should determine the aims and targets of the young personnel and should increase their work satisfaction levels by providing appropriate working conditions. In addition, for the personnel with the low level of work satisfaction due to the social facilities offered by the institution, the social facilities should be improved in order to increase their level of work satisfaction. Besides that, the level of work satisfaction can be increased through the fact that the communication of personnel in the organization is good, that they have good working conditions and promotion opportunities, and that they develop themselves through in-service training or self-training.

The fact that the personnel whose performance rises will satisfy both themselves and the institution should not be ignored.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all the Karadeniz Technical University administrators and administrative staff for carrying out this research.

References

1. Aykaç, A. (2010). The Impact of Job Satisfaction on Organizational Commitment, (Master Thesis) Gazi University Social Sciences Institute, Ankara.
2. Bayram, H. (2014). Job Satisfaction in Employees (Perfusionists Example), (Master Thesis). İstanbul: Beykent University, Social Sciences Institute,.
3. Bozkurt, Ö., & Bozkurt İ. (2008). A Field Survey on the Evaluation of Internal Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction in Terms of Education Sector, Dogus University Journal, 9 (1), 1-18.
4. Durukan, E. (2013). Job Satisfaction and Performance Perception: Ankara Traffic Supervision Branch Office Employee Example, (Master Thesis). Ankara: Police Academy Security Science Institute.
5. Erken, M. (2013) A Research in Health Sector on Employee Satisfaction, (Master Thesis). İstanbul: Marmara University Social Sciences Institute.
6. Kar, B. (2008). Judicial Supervision on Cause-Based Terminations Caused by the Needs of Business, Workplace and Work. Journal of Labor and Society Economics and Law, 17 (2), 101-129.
7. Koç, H., Yazıcıoğlu, İ., & Hatipoğlu, H. (2009). Öğretmenlerin iş doyum algıları ile performansları arasındaki ilişkinin belirlenmesine yönelik bir araştırma. Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 28(1), 13-22.
8. Köksal, M. (2010). Human Resources Management, Avcı Ofset, Istanbul.Özaydın, M. &. Ömer Ö. (2014) Effects of Employee's Individual Characteristics on Job Satisfaction: An Example of a Public Bank, Journal of Business Research, 6 (1), 251-281.
9. Özsoy, E., Uslu, O., Karakiraz, A., & Aras, M. (2014). İş tatmininin ölçümünde ölçek kullanımı: Lisansüstü tezleri üzerinden bir inceleme. İşletme Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6(1), 232-250.
10. Öztürk, H. (2015). Job Satisfaction Levels of Nurses Working in a University Hospital. Journal of Anatolian Nursing and Health Sciences,1, 18-19.
11. Şahin, L., Bacak, B., & Güler, M. (2015). Çalişan memnuniyetinin sağlanmasinda temel dinamikler: dişsal faktörlerin çalişanlarin memnuniyet algilari üzerindeki etkilerine yönelik bir alan araştirmasi. The Journal of Industrial Relations & Human Resources, 17(2),28-44
12. Şengül, A. (2008). A Study on the Effects of Physicians' Job Satisfaction on Patient Satisfaction in Job Satisfaction and Consumer Satisfaction Related Public and Private Sector Health Services, (Doctorate Thesis). Manisa: Celal Bayar University Institute of Social Sciences.
13. Weiss, D. J., Dawis, R. V., & England, G. W. (1967). Manual for the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Minnesota: Minnesota studies in vocational rehabilitation.