Job satisfaction in the operations department at capital South Africa - poplar branch.

Abstract

Job satisfaction and motivation are the fundamental requirements for ensuring that employees are kept satisfied in their jobs and engaged in strategic organisational goals. Human capital is one of the most important assets an organisation possesses, which in turn provides the business with a competitive advantage over its competitors. Unfortunately, a large percentage of organisations do not invest adequately in upskilling and updating their employees’ skills, which ultimately results in employees becoming bored and unhappy in their jobs. To this end, employees’ performance decreases which eventually reflects poorly on the performance of the business as a whole. There have been numerous studies on the topic of job satisfaction and motivation including employee engagement; unfortunately, however, these studies have been limited to sectors of the economy other than the Temporary Employment Services (TES) sector with the focus specifically on the permanent employees of the TES rather than the assignees placed. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of job satisfaction currently experienced by the operations staff at Capital South Africa-Poplar branch and their level of engagement in decisions impacting the operations department. The study further aimed to establish the impact that job satisfaction and employee engagement have on performance and customer service levels. A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst all the levels within the operations department at Capital South Africa-Poplar branch employing the use of an electronic questionnaire. The survey was distributed to 44 employees of whom 40 responded. The data collected indicated that the respondents felt they are not adequately engaged in decisions that affect their jobs. However, respondents were satisfied with the job itself, the supervision they receive and the sense of achievement they experience in doing their jobs. Respondents were found to be extremely dissatisfied with the company’s policy and administration, the possibility of growth and status, the rewards and incentive scheme and salary disparities. The study also established that there is a lack of formal education amongst the respondents which hampers growth. The findings eventually culminated in recommendations to increase the level of job satisfaction and employee engagement – these key findings are presented in the final chapter. However, the study did not identify a link between job satisfaction and a dropping Customer Service Index (CSI), and therefore further investigation into the cause was recommended.