Measuring of job satisfaction: the use of quality of work life factors

Banking industry forms a part of financial services that has emerged itself as the most important source for India’s economic growth. Job satisfaction of employees is one of the important pre-requisites to ensure smooth functioning of banks. The purpose of this paper is to explore the association of job satisfaction with the quality of work life factors of bank employees (n=300), followed by the essential influential relationship of these concepts with socio-demographic characteristics, thereby, proving its own distinct contribution to the subsist body of literature.

This study has considered five private sector banks in India and has used the technique of multi-stage sampling to collect primary data. The respondents from different cadres, namely, executive, associate and manager involved in customer-oriented interactions participated in this survey. The analysis has been conducted by applying descriptive statistics, regression analysis (impact of the quality of work life factors on job satisfaction) and χ² statistics (association of the quality of work life and job satisfaction with socio-demographic variables). The results have been compared with the Herzberg Theory of Job Satisfaction.

The results of the study show the presence of variance (R² 61.40 percent) in job satisfaction as explained by the quality of work life constructs. The unconducive work environment has confirmed negative association with job satisfaction. The study foresees to contribute useful information to the top management level in the organizations to enhance employees’ overall job satisfaction.

The opaqueness with which the Indian banking industry has its roots and existence in India, the present study clearly has limits: the small size of the sample and the study considered only private sector banks.

A planned approach at organizational and individual level is highly recommended. The bank management must realize the importance of their devoted staff by giving them quality work environment. The initiatives like regular exercise routines can be adopted to reduce stress. Some respondents expressed the need for intercity branch associations, which can help them to solve common problems, better learning opportunities with an informal atmosphere along with other training sessions organized formally.

The paper gives a theoretical explanation of the quality of work life and job satisfaction factors in the Indian private banks falling under the umbrella of Indian banking industry with respect to the employees of private sector banks.