Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction of Public Sector Employees in Debre Markos

DETERMINANTS OF EMPLOYEES’ JOB SATISFACTION:
THE CASE OF DEBRE MARKOS TOWN ADMINISTRATION
PUBLIC SECTOR
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSTY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT OF
MANAGEMENT IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION (MBA)
BY: GETACHEW BEYENE
SEPTEMBER, 2020
DEBRE MARKOS, ETHIOPIA

Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in case of Debre Markos town public sectors Page i
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own work and has not been presented for a
degree in any other university and that all sources of materials used for the proposal have been
indicated and acknowledged as complete references.
Declared by:
Name: Getachew Beyene Signature: ________________Date:___________________

Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in case of Debre Markos town public sectors Page ii
Certification
The thesis entitled “Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction: the case of Debre Markos town
administration public sectors submitted to the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Business Administration to the College of Business and Economics, Debre
Markos University; through the Department of Management, done by Getachew Beyene Id No
GSE/641/11.
Name Signature Date
Advisor _______________________ ____________ _______________

Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in case of Debre Markos town public sectors Page iii
Thesis approval
The thesis entitled “Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction: the case of Debre Markos town
administration public sector” Submitted by Getachew Beyene for Master of Business
Administration (MBA).
Board of Examiners
Name Signature Date
Advisor __________________________ ____________ ___________
Internal examiner ___________________ ____________ ___________
External examiner __________________ ____________ ___________
Department head __________________ __________ __________

Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in case of Debre Markos town public sectors Page iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Above all I would like to express my endless love and gratitude to GOD and His mother St.
Mary for helping.
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my advisor Dr. Andargachew Baylie for his
unreserved support guidance, suggestions and constructive comments for completion of this
thesis.
The successful completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the support,
encouragement and cooperation from many individuals who assist me in diverse ways from the
beginning to the end.
Finally, I would like to thanks the employees of Debre Markos town administration public sector
for their willingness to participate in the survey.

Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in case of Debre Markos town public sectors Page v
Table of Contents
Contents Page Number
DECLARATION............................................................................................................................I
CERTIFICATION....................................................................................................................... II
THESIS APPROVAL.................................................................................................................III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..........................................................................................................IV
ACRONYMS................................................................................................................................ X
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................XI
CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................... 1
1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY............................................................................................ 1
1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.......................................................................................... 3
1.4. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY................................................................................................. 5
1.4.1. General Objectives of the study ............................................................................... 5
1.4.2. Specific Objectives of the study ............................................................................... 5
1.5. SCOPE OF THE STUDY......................................................................................................... 5
1.6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY............................................................................................ 6
1.7 ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPER .......................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 7
2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ............................................................................. 7
2.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 7
2.2. EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION.......................................................................................... 7
2.3. DETERMINANT FACTORS OF JOB SATISFACTION.............................................................. 9
CHAPTER THREE.................................................................................................................... 16
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................... 16
3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 16

Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in case of Debre Markos town public sectors Page vi
3.2 STUDY AREA...................................................................................................................... 16
3.3. RESEARCH DESIGN .......................................................................................................... 17
3.4. RESEARCH APPROACH..................................................................................................... 17
3.5. POPULATION OF THE STUDY............................................................................................ 17
3.5. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE ................................................................................................... 17
3.6. SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION ...................................................................................... 18
3.7. INSTRUMENT AND MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES ........................................................ 20
3.8. METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS........................................................................................ 21
3.9. MODEL FORMULATION AND SPECIFICATION ................................................................. 21
3.10. INSTRUMENT VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY................................................................... 21
3.11. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................................... 23
3.12. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................... 23
CHAPTER FOUR....................................................................................................................... 24
4. DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION....................................................................... 24
4.1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 24
4.2 RESPONSE RATE ............................................................................................................... 24
4.3. DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION OF RESPONDENTS........................................................... 25
4.4. THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDANT VARIABLES....... 26
4.5. EFFECT OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES ON DEPENDENT VARIABLES....................... 28
4.6. DIAGNOSIS TESTS/ASSUMPTIONS.................................................................................... 28
4.7. Hypothesis Testing: Regression Analysis Results ...................................................... 33
4.8. Discussion of the Results ............................................................................................... 37
5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................ 40
5.1. SUMMARY OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS.............................................................................. 40
5.2 CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................... 41
5.3. RECOMMENDATION......................................................................................................... 42
5.3.1. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ..................................................................... 43
BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 44

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APPENDIX1. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PUBLIC SECTORS EMPLOYEES (ENGLISH
VERSION)................................................................................................................................... 51
APPENDIX2 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PUBLIC SECTORS EMPLOYEES (AMHARIC
VERSION)................................................................................................................................... 55

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List of table
Table 3. 1: The sample distribution of each public sector ............................................................ 19
Table 3. 2: Reliability Statistics of the whole data ....................................................................... 23
Table 4. 1: Response Rate............................................................................................................. 24
Table 4. 2: Demographic information of Respondents................................................................. 25
Table 4. 3: Correlation matrix between Independent & Dependent variables.............................. 27
Table 4. 4: Multicolinearity test.................................................................................................. 32
Table 4. 5: Autocorrelations ......................................................................................................... 33
Table 4. 6: Regression analysis Model Summary......................................................................... 34
Table 4. 7: ANOVA Results......................................................................................................... 35
Table 4. 8; Regression Coefficient table....................................................................................... 36

Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in case of Debre Markos town public sectors Page ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Research framework -----------------------------------------------------------15
Figure 4.1 Normality Tests of Residual ---------------------------------------------------29
Figure 4.2 Test of Linearity ------------------------------------------------------------------30
Figure 4.3 Scatter plot for testing homoscedasticity--------------------------------------31

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ACRONYMS
 JSS job satisfaction survey
 JDI Job Descriptive Index
 BIAJS Brief Index of Affective Job Satisfaction
 ANOVA Analysis Of Variance
 SPSS Statistical Package for Social Science
 VIF Variance Inflation Factor

Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in case of Debre Markos town public sectors Page xi
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to investigate the determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in Debre Markos
town administration public sectors. Data were collected through 34 structured close ended
questionnaires from the samples of 270 permanent employees through stratified and simple
randomly selected from eighteen Debre Markos town administration public sectors. Data were
analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Packages for
Social Scientists (SPSS) version 23.0. Multiple regression analysis technique was used to explain
the nature of the relationship between employees’ job satisfaction and (working environment,
payment, promotion opportunity, supervision, nature of job) that affect it. The reliability
coefficient of 0.877 was computed using Cronbach Alpha formula to measure the internal
consistency of the questionnaire items. The result suggest that there is significant relationship
with working environment, payment, Promotion opportunities, supervision and nature of job with
employees’ job satisfaction and regression analysis result indicated that 53% of the variation on
the employees’ job satisfaction can be explained by the composite measure of working
environment, payment, Promotion opportunities, supervision and nature of job. The study
recommended that for the incensement of employees’ job satisfaction in Debre Markos town
public sectors should effectively implement the determinants such as work environment,
payment, promotion opportunity, supervision, and nature of job.
Keywords: Job satisfaction, working environment, payment, promotion opportunity, supervision,
nature of job.

Determinants of employees’ job satisfaction in case of Debre Markos town public sectors Page 1
CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the study
Employee Job satisfaction refers to those job related activities expected of an employee and how
well employees deliver on them (Yusuph, 2015). Dugguh and Ayaga (2014) further simplify
employee job satisfaction as simply the record of an employee’s accomplishment. Mone and
London (2014) noted that it’s important for human resource managers to assess their employee’s
job satisfaction periodically in order to help them identify areas for improvement. Armstrong &
Taylor (2014) noted that when employees are able to align their skills, competences and abilities
the organizations objectives this improves job satisfaction and the overall performance of the
organization. The drive to understand and explain job satisfaction has been motivated by
utilitarian reasons (e.g., to increase productivity and organizational commitment, lower
absenteeism and turnover, and ultimately, increase organizational effectiveness) as well as
humanitarian interests (i.e., the notion that employees deserve to be treated with respect and have
their psychological and physical well-being maximized) (Logsdon, 2001).
Employee job satisfaction is associated with how people perceive, think, and feel their jobs
(Spector, 1997). According to Ekechukwu et al. (2016) almost any job related factor can
influence a person’s level of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction and there are a number of factors
that influence job satisfaction. The major ones can be summarized by recalling the dimensions of
job satisfaction and they are pay, the work itself, promotions, supervision, workgroup, and
working conditions. Job satisfaction is a single summary construct to capture employees’
perceptions of how they are treated by their organization (Jung, 2017). According to Fred
Luthans (2011) job satisfaction has little to do with good pay; it has a lot to do with employee
himself or herself accepting that the job is desirable. He further contributed that in order for jobs
to be satisfying there should be some fun in it. He suggested that employees should be given the
opportunity to express themselves without fear but take their work seriously.
Employees are the most satisfied and highly productive when their job offers them security from
economic strain, recognition of their effort, opportunity to contribute ideas and suggestions,

participation in decision making and managing the affairs, clear definitions of duties and
responsibilities and opportunities for promotion, fringe benefits, sound payment structure,
incentive plans and profit sharing activities, health and safety measures, social security,
compensation Kuria (2011) cited by (Dorcas et al., 2016). Human resource is considered as one
of the most important assets in any organization which serves as an engine in the organization for
providing a sustainable source of energy and service delivery (Wajidi, 2013). Most researches
are focused on outcomes of employees such as employee performance, employee commitment,
organizational performance and customers satisfaction due to the changing business
environment and organizations are moving towards seeing employees as a valuable asset in
which the knowledge, skill and abilities of employees is sources of competitive advantages.
Job satisfaction is the result of both motivation and hygiene factors. Achievement, advancement,
interpersonal relations, working conditions, policy, and personal life are taken as motivational
factors by public sector employees (Azash et al., 2011). Demerouti and Cropanzano (2010)
observed that when organizations ignore the working environment within their organization, this
results to negative effects on employees’ job satisfaction. According to them, working
environment consists of safe and secure working environment, good relations with the
supervisors and co-workers, job security, employer recognition for employees’ good
performance, employee involvement in decision making process of the firm. Safe and healthy
working environment includes the physical and psychological environment.
Prasanta Kumar and Jasmine Bhuyan (2015) noted that a workforce with high job satisfaction
leads to an improvement in work quality and productivity, and leads to satisfied loyal customers.
It is a worker's sense of achievement and success and is generally perceived to be directly linked
to productivity as well as to personal wellbeing. The happier people are happy workers. Job
satisfaction can be influenced by a variety of factors, e.g., the quality of one's relationship with
their supervisor, the quality of the physical environment in which they work, degree of
fulfillment in their work, etc. Job satisfaction further implies enthusiasm and happiness with
one's work. The most common way of measurement is the use of rating scales where employees
report their reactions to their jobs. Questions related to rate of pay, work responsibilities, variety
of tasks, promotional opportunities the work itself and co-workers. For the organization, job
satisfaction of its workers means a work force that is motivated and committed to high quality

performance. Increased productivity the quantity and quality of output per hour worked seems to
be a byproduct of job satisfaction (Prasanta Kumar and Jasmine Bhuyan, 2015).
In this research the researcher tried to find out determinants of employee job satisfaction in
Debre Markos town administration public sectors.
1.2. Statement of the problem
The main problem as viewed from the researcher’s angle is that a lack of job satisfaction among
these employees means that they do not conduct themselves in a productive manner. Identifying
the factors that determine this will therefore go a long way in improving the quality of service
provided to the town.
There are a variety of factors that can influence a person’s level of job satisfaction. Some of
these factors include the level of pay and benefits, the perceived fairness of the promotion system
within a company, the quality of the working conditions, leadership and social relationships, the
job itself (the variety of tasks involved, the interest and challenge the job generates, and the
clarity of the job description/requirements) (Geeta and Pandey, 2011). Job satisfaction involves
complex number of variables, conditions, feelings and behavioral tendencies (Jain, 2013). The
major challenges that affect employees level of satisfaction and performance include poor and
delayed payment of employees’ salaries and allowances, poor top down communication, lack of
motivation, recognition and incentives, inadequate working space in their respective offices as
well as inadequate working tools and resources like stationary, computers, internet and other
office equipment (Robbins, 2001). Other challenges included; lack of training especially on-job
training to improve employees’ skills and career development opportunities, tribalism, delayed
promotions, political interference, shortage of employees, corruption and job insecurity (Dorcas
et al., 2016). Job satisfaction is the critical factor for high performance and efficiency of an
organization through ensuring high employee morale and commitment and avoiding factors like
absenteeism and turnover. Thus, job satisfaction is one of the major criteria for establishing a
healthy organizational environment in an organization (Premanandam, 2017). It is no more
surprising that today, most of the research journal on management contains at least one study that
pertains to job satisfaction (James Abugre & Shagufta Sarwar, 2012), and it has become a
universal reality in the human capital studies, that satisfaction and productivity are significantly
related. Job satisfaction represents a collection of attitudes that workers have about their jobs.

There are a number of issues that affect job satisfaction such as salaries, benefits, allowance,
pension fund, working hours and how they respects on their jobs. Many Human resource
departments of companies face the problems of job satisfaction every day (Zhu1, 2014). Lack of
job satisfaction brings negative consequences like, job stress, poor overall morals, lack of
productivity, high employee turnover, tardiness and high absenteeism (Singh and Pandey, 2013).
Specific employee attitude relating to job satisfaction is of major interest in the field of
organizational behavior and the practice of human resources management now (Fazul et al.,
2012). The interest steamed from the belief that the satisfied employees are more productive than
dissatisfied employees are (Spector, 1997). However, most of the studies had been conducted in
the organizations operating in developed and developing countries in America ,Europe and
Asian e.g. (Bajpai 2004, Wajidi 2013, Fazlul and Abdulla 2012, Abdulla, et al. 2011). A little
number of researches ware conducted in Ethiopian organizations such as hospitals, banks and
university e.g. (Premanandam 2017 and Mulugeta and Ayele 2015). It is undeniable that the
characteristics of the environment where the organizations operate vary from country to country;
especially they vary significantly from developed to underdeveloped countries. In addition, the
characteristics of members of those organizations in developed countries vary significantly from
those of developing countries due to difference in cultures, norms, values and other issues.
According to Lai Wan (2007) cited by Masooma et al. (2014) satisfaction is an essential aim
for any organization to reach their objective. When the satisfaction level of employees increases,
then this will result in more returns to the organization. The dissatisfaction of the employees has
adverse effects on efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. Therefore, studying of the job
satisfaction of those who work in public sectors is very crucial as their activities highly affect the
economy and of a given country and also as their satisfaction determine their service quality and
performance. Thus this study is designed to fill the problem of what factors can determine the
satisfaction of employees in Debre Markos town administration public sectors.

1.3. Research questions
The following research questions guided this study.
1. What is the effect work environment has on employee’s job satisfaction?
2. What effect does payment has on employee’s job satisfaction?
3. What effect does promotion opportunities has on employee’s job satisfaction?
4. What effect does supervision has on employee’s job satisfaction?
5. What effect does nature of job has on employee’s job satisfaction?
1.4. Objective of the study
1.4.1. General Objectives of the study
This study aimed to investigate the determinants of employee’s job Satisfaction in Debre Markos
town administration public sectors.
1.4.2. Specific Objectives of the study
1. To examine the effect of work environment on job satisfaction.
2. To investigate the effect of payment on job satisfaction.
3. To determine the effect of promotion opportunities on job satisfaction.
4. To assess the effect of supervision on job satisfaction
5. To examine the effect of nature of job on job satisfaction.
1.5. Scope of the study
This paper addresses the determinants of employees’ job satisfaction limited to public sectors at
Debre Markos Town. The conceptual boundary is limited to the variables working environment,
payment, promotion opportunity, supervision and nature of job. However, because of the
subsequent requirements of financial, material and time resources the researcher delimited to
Debre Markos town administration public sectors. Debre Markos town administration has 18
public sectors governed by the regulation of civil service; the study covered all these sectors. The

participant of this study those employees with at least one year of working experience and non
manager employees.
1.6. Significance of the study
This study has the following significances:
The findings will be help to Debre Markos Town public sectors management by providing them
with information on how, working environment, payment, promotion opportunity, supervision
and nature of job affect job satisfaction of their employees and the study helps the public sectors
management and decision makers to increase job satisfaction of their employees by focusing on
the factors that lead to job satisfaction. In addition, it may help on the improvement of employee
performance by ensuring job satisfaction as satisfied employees will sustain organizational
effectiveness and induce long-term success for any organization. The research findings suggest
recommendations for future studies that would be of importance to scholars and researchers.
1.7 Organization of the Paper
The study is composed of five chapters. The first chapter is introduction which includes
background of the study, statement of the problem, research questions, and objectives of the
study, research hypothesis, and scope of the study, significance of the study and organization of
the paper. The second chapter devotes to the review of related literature of the study. It also
conveys conceptual frame work. Chapter three includes research methodology introduction,
research design and approach, target population, sampling procedure and sample size
determination, data collection, variable description and expectation, model formulation and
specification, data processing and analysis ethical consideration. Chapter four cover about data
presentation, analysis and interpretations. The last, chapter five deals with summary of the
finding, conclusion and recommendation.

CHAPTER TWO
2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. Introduction
This chapter deals with review of related literature on determinants of job satisfaction. This
chapter contains literature reviewed related to this research and empirical findings on
determinants of job satisfaction. This chapter serves as to the foundation for the development of
this study.
2.2. Employee job satisfaction
“Job satisfaction is collection of feelings and beliefs that people have about their current jobs.
People’s levels or degrees of job satisfaction can range from extreme satisfaction to extreme
dissatisfaction. In addition to having attitudes about their jobs as a whole, people also can have
attitude about various aspects of their jobs such as the kind of work they do, their coworkers,
Supervisors, subordinates, and their pay” (George, 2008). The most widely used meaning of job
satisfaction is the coined by Spector (1997) which states that job satisfaction centers mostly on
the feelings on individuals about their entire job, which emphasizes on the level to which
individuals like or hate their jobs. Therefore job satisfaction serves as a benchmark on how
employees either feel positive or negative about their job and that is the main reason why job
satisfaction and dissatisfaction are always present at certain point and situation (Davis, Nostrum
1985). Definitions of job satisfaction evolved from time to time, but the most common thinking
that is job satisfaction is a job (work) related positive emotional feeling. Traditional theories had
focused on a single end to end scale (satisfaction and dissatisfaction) and the later theories
focused on two factors (presence or absence of certain intrinsic and extrinsic job factors).
Negative and unfavorable attitudes towards the job indicate job dissatisfaction (Armstrong
(2003) as cited in Dugguh et al., (2014). The above mentioned definitions of job satisfaction
indicate that it is a physical sate of individual positive feeling to work, worker emotional
orientation to job, a pleasurable action of an employee, satisfying emotion of an individual, and
end state of feeling which can be a response of an employee (Armstrong, 2003 as cited in
Dugguh et al., (2014). Locke (1976) defined job satisfaction as a pleasurable or positive

emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experience. This Locke (1976)
comprehensive definition is used widely to define job satisfaction but creates a question in mind
that how one’s job is appraised. “Job satisfaction is collection of feelings and beliefs that people
have about their current jobs. People’s levels or degrees of job satisfaction can range from
extreme satisfaction to extreme dissatisfaction. According to Robbins (2009) the term job
satisfaction refers to an individual’s general attitude toward his or her job. The most prominent
job characteristics eliciting an affective response from a worker include: the job itself (extent to
which work provides interesting tasks, opportunities for learning), pay (amount and perception of
equitable remuneration), opportunities for promotion (degree to which job provides professional
advancement), supervision (technical and emotional support from supervisors), and co-workers
(degree to which fellow coworkers are technically proficient and socially supportive)
(Canavan and Swai, 2008). Employee satisfaction is the measure that tells about employee’s
general emotion about its workplace and job. It measures his approach towards the job and the
extent to which the job is pleasing the employee’s needs (Masooma javed et al., 2014).
According to Locke’s value theory (Locke, 1976) the impact of the various factors of job
satisfaction can be determined. In this aspect, if an organization knows the value placed on each
factor, the greater the shift in satisfaction changes that will be produced. This theory also
advocates that if too much value is placed on a particular factor, stronger feelings of
dissatisfaction will occur. The most widely used meaning of job satisfaction is the coined by
Spector (1997) which states that job satisfaction centers mostly on the feelings on individuals
about their entire job, which emphasizes on the level to which individuals like or hate their jobs.
Therefore job satisfaction serves as a benchmark on how employee either feels positive or
negative about their job and that is the main reason why job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are
always present at certain point and situation (Davis and Nestrom 1985). Employee job
satisfaction is known as assemble that has often been described, discussed and researched. There
are many presumptions regarding the causal relationship between motives, behavior and
proceeds. Employee satisfaction is the measure that tells about employee’s general emotion
about its workplace and job. It measures his approach towards the job and the extent to which the
job is pleasing the employee’s needs (Masooma javed et al, 2014).

2.3. Determinant factors of Job Satisfaction
Across the academic context, frequently studied constructs as determinants of job satisfaction
are compensation, work-setting, counterpart, promotion, supervision, and motivation
(Sokoya, 2000). According to Two-factor theory or Herzberg’s (1959) as cited by (Ezeanyim et
al, 2019) motivation-hygiene theory that was developed by Frederick Herzberg introduced the
two factors that influence job satisfaction namely “Motivators” and “Hygiene. Motivators
include factors such as recognition, possibility of growth, advancement, achievement,
responsibility, and the work itself. On the other hand, hygiene factors include monetary salary,
interpersonal relations at work, job security, company policies and administration, supervision,
working conditions, factors in personal life and status (Myers, 1998). According to Herzberg, the
presence of motivators brings job satisfaction and the absence of hygiene factors results in job
dissatisfaction. “Job satisfaction is collection of feelings and beliefs that people have about their
current jobs. People’s levels or degrees of job satisfaction can range from extreme satisfaction to
extreme dissatisfaction. In addition to having attitudes about their jobs as a whole, people also
can have attitude about various aspects of their jobs such as the kind of work they do, their
coworkers, Supervisors, subordinates, and their pay” (George, 2008).
George and Jones (2008) stated four factors that affect the level of job satisfaction a person
experiences: personality, values, the work situation and social influence. In addition George and
Jones (2008) stated that the work situation includes the work itself, co-workers, supervisors and
subordinates, physical working condition, working hours, pay and job security. According to
George and Jones (2008) work itself is the most important factor and source of job satisfaction.
An extensive review of the literature indicates that the more important factors conducive to job
satisfaction are mentally challenging work, equitable rewards, supportive working condition and
supportive colleagues (Robbins, 2009). Robbins (2009) includes pay and promotion in equitable
reward and did not state about supervisor as factor while George and Jones (2008), Luthans
(2005) and Opkara (2004) states supervision as one factor.
Work Environment
The working environment of an employee is one of the important indexes of measuring their
working comfort and their satisfaction. Since it is a fact that employees spend most of their time
in an organization, it is very important for these organizations to introduce and maintain proper

working environment. An organization should provide its employee’s with all the necessary
resources and make it possible for the employee to do a job. This will help employees
to accomplish tasks successfully and which indeed contribute to job satisfaction
(Kawada & Otsuka, 2011).
The employee will lose their interests on the job, thus he will not enjoy the assignments if the
working environment is inferior and not work friendly. The working environment satisfaction
briefly includes the following four dimensions: Firstly, it is the working places natural
environment that includes moisture, brightness, noise, smells and the other environmental
factors. Secondly, it is the working places equipment’s environment that is whether the employee
can conveniently obtain and use required tools and facilities. Thirdly it is the working hours and
amount of working overtime. Finally, it is about the safety protection in the working place
(Kawada & Otssuka, 2011). Robbins (2001) advocates that working conditions will influence
job satisfaction, as employees are concerned with a comfortable physical work environment,
work instruments, the work itself, organization policy, and organizational rules. In turn this will
render a more positive level of job satisfaction.
Studies demonstrate that employees prefer physical surroundings that are not dangerous or
uncomfortable. In addition, most employees prefer working relatively close to home, in clean
and relatively modern facilities, and with adequate tools and equipment (Locke 1976).
In the view of Raziq and Maulabakhsh (2015) a safe and healthy working environment is key in
enhancing efficient service delivery. Raziq and Maulabakhsh (2015) noted that in the modern
era, organizations are facing challenges due to the changing environment. In a qualitative study
by Demerouti and Cropanzano (2010) it was observed that when businesses ignore the working
environment within their organization this results to negative effects on the Job satisfaction of
their employees. Based on the above, therefore, it is hypothesized that:
H1: Working environment has positive significant effect on job satisfaction.

Payment
Pay refers to amount and fairness or equity of salary according to the qualification. Lambert,
Hogan and Barton (2001) have identified salary as an important factors that influence job
satisfaction. According to Benjamin (2010) worker’s compensation package is an important part
of the employee job satisfaction and it cannot be ignored. A meta-analysis of the literature on the
relationship between pay and job satisfaction conducted by Judge et al. (2010) revealed that pay
is a significant determinant of Job Satisfaction for employees at any workplaces. Findings from
several studies underline pay as one of the most important factors in conducted by Lawler (1971)
and Robbins (2009) also stated that when pay is seen as fair based on job demands, individual
skill level, and community pay standards, satisfaction is likely to result.
Job satisfaction is a function of how fairly an individual is treated at work. Employees want pay
system and promotion policies that they perceive just, unambiguous, and in line with their
expectations. Their perceived fairness of pay and promotion were found significantly correlated
with job satisfaction Witt and Nye (1992) as cited by (Fazlul et al., 2012). Lambert et al. (2001)
have identified salary as an important factor that influences job satisfaction. According to
Benjamin (2010), worker’s compensation package is an important part of the employee job
satisfaction and it cannot be ignored. Luthans (1995) who notes that “wages and salaries are
recognized to be a significant, but complex, multidimensional predictor of job satisfaction.” Lai
(2011) described that pay is one of those satisfying variables which if hindered reduces the
dissatisfaction level of employees.
According to Dessler (2012) indicated that employee pay includes all compensation factors
which are given to him against his work. Heery and Noon (2001) defined pay through a number
of components like basic salary, benefits, bonuses, pay for doing extra work and incentives”. Pay
is therefore what an employee receives against his work after fulfilling his assigned duty. This
usually includes all types of financial and non financial rewards. Robbins (2001) described that
Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory tells that salary is one of those hygiene factors which
eliminate job dissatisfaction. Salary is a factor which leads employees from dissatisfaction to no
dissatisfaction. Therefore, it is hypothesized that:
H2: Pay has positive significant effect on job satisfaction

Promotion opportunities
According to Friday (2003) satisfaction with promotion assesses employees’ attitudes toward the
organization’s promotion policies and practices. In addition to this, (Bajpai, 2004) postulate that
promotion provides employees with opportunities for personal growth, more responsibilities and
also increased social status. If organizations are not giving promotions to their employees then it
is very likely that employees will be dissatisfied and their turnover rate will be high (Yaseen,
2013). This can be interpreted as the opportunities for progression and development in their
present workplace or providing better chances to look out for alternative employment. It is
assumed that the level of job satisfaction will go down if people think that they have less career
advancement opportunities. McCormick (2008) mentioned that job satisfaction among
employees with promotional opportunities will rely on the promotions equity. According to
Parvin and Kabir (2011), promotion can be defined as “getting high status in the workplace by
doing effective work, generally increase the status, position and remuneration of the employee in
the organization”. Promotion can therefore be simplified as going towards upward positions in
the organization..
Research indicates that employees who perceive that promotion decisions are made in a fair and
just manner are most likely to experience job satisfaction. According to Robbins (2009)
promotions provide opportunities for personal growth, more responsibilities, and increased social
status. Individuals who perceive that promotion decisions are made in a fair and just manner are
likely to experience satisfaction from their jobs. Promotion plays a significant role that is also a
key indicator of employee job satisfaction (Lambert et al., 2001). Therefore, it is hypothesized
that:
H3: Promotion Opportunities has positive significant effect on job satisfaction.

Supervision
Supervision is another major determinant of job satisfaction. Studies generally found that
employee satisfaction is increased when the immediate supervisor understands and friendly,
listen to employees’ opinions and shows personal interest in them, and offers praise and
recognition for good performance Locke (1976) as cited by ( Fazlul et al., 2012).
According to Trempe et al. (1985) cited by Hettiarachchi, (2014) employees who receive respect
and consideration from their seniors are more satisfied than employees who experience
otherwise. Apart from that employees such as technical teams would expect technical
supervision of their work; continuous basis technical supervision and support could generate
satisfaction especially among knowledge workers in different types of organizations. For the
context of this study, supervision can be defined as how the supervisor treats the employee in
terms of praise, the employee’s good work, seeking the advice from the employee, understanding
the nature of the employee's work as well as giving the employee enough supervision and at the
same time portraying good an example to the workers. Therefore the supervision dimension
under job satisfaction variable was tested using the indicators of supervision of human relations
and supervision of technical relations. An effective supervisor provides assistance to staff
employees in meeting their personal and professional goals within the environment of the
division and the institution. This will generate employee satisfaction and result in high
performance (Ezeanyim et al., 2019).
According to Robbins (2009,) promotions provide opportunities for personal growth, more
responsibilities, and increased social status. Individuals who perceive that promotion decisions
are made in a fair and just manner are likely to experience satisfaction from their jobs.
Organizations offer responsibilities for immediate supervisors to co-ordinate, facilitate and
evaluate performances of individual members in each group (Gebeyehu, 2013). Therefore, it is
hypothesized that:
H4: Supervision has positive significant effect on job satisfaction.

The nature of job
According to Robbins et al. (2003) the nature of work as the extent to which the job provides the
individual with stimulating tasks, opportunities for learning and personal growth, and the chance
to be responsible and accountable for results. Employees prefer jobs that matched with their
competencies and are mentally liked. According to Luthans F. (1995) the content of the work
performed by employees is a major predictor of job satisfaction. Employees tend to prefer jobs
which afford them the opportunity to apply their skills and abilities, offer them variety and
freedom as well as jobs where they get constant feedback on how well they are doing Robbins,
(2005). Hence, it is important for managers to take innovative steps to make work more
interesting in order to increase the levels of job satisfaction of employees. Furthermore, if a job is
highly motivating, employees are likely to be satisfied with the job content and deliver higher
quality work, which in turn could lead to lower rates of absenteeism.
Many years of research in different organizations and jobs have shown that nature of job itself
becomes a dominant factor of job satisfaction when employees assess different aspects of their
work, like supervision, growth opportunities, salaries, and colleagues and so on. When the job
performed by an employee is perceived to be important, this will increase satisfaction level.
Work challenges let employees utilize their skills, knowledge and intelligence to deal with
complexities involved in their job, as researched by Yoav Ganzach (1998). There is a negative
association between intelligence and job satisfaction when complications in jobs are persistent
because most of the jobs are not challenging or interesting, hence if the job lacks the perceived
element of interest it may cause dissatisfaction among intelligent employees (Mehmood et al.,
2012). According to Kinicki and Kreitner (2008), researchers recommend using job enlargement
where more variety is included into an employee’s job by combining specialized tasks of
comparable difficulty. Variety plays a crucial role in the work environment. Stimulating human
minds through diversity of challenges will engage the employee’s creative instincts and improve
their performance. Job rotation moves employees between two or more jobs in a planned manner
where employees are exposed to different experiences and a wider variety of skills to enhance
job satisfaction and to cross-train. Conversely, highly repetitive operations have no value,
provide little stimulation and lead to psychological fatigue or boredom. Therefore, it is
hypothesized that:
H5: The nature of job has positive significant effect on job satisfaction

2.4. Conceptual frame work
Figure 2.1 represents the research framework showing the relationship between the research
Variables. This research framework was taken from the reviewed literatures about determinants
of job satisfaction and supports the conceptualization of objectives and research questions of this
study. The conceptual frame work states that work environment, pay, promotional opportunities,
nature of job and supervision are determinant factors that affect employee job satisfaction.
Figure 2.1 Research framework
Source: (Wajidi, 2013)
Pay To measure
Promotional
Opportunities
Supervision
Nature of job
Job satisfaction
Work
environment

CHAPTER THREE
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This section is concerned with the conceptual structure within which the research conducted.
This includes the study area, research design and approach, target population, sampling
technique, sample size determination, method of data collection, data analysis method
,instrument validity and reliability test, ethical consideration and research limitations.
3.2 Study area
Debre Markos, the capital city of East Gojjam Administrative Zone is located in the north west
of the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa at a distance of 300kms and 265 kms to the capital
city of Amhara National Regional State, Bahir Dar. Specifically, it is located in the Amhara
Regional State, East Gojjam Zone. Its geographical coordinate is 10o
21’N latitude and 37o
40’
E
longitude, and an elevation of 2,446 meters. Until 1995, Debre Markos was the capital city of the
province of Gojjam and currently the town served as the capital city of East Gojjam Zone. The
city is named as Debre Markos after its principal church, which was constructed in 1869 E.C and
is devoted to Saint Mark (Debeli & Endegena, 2019).
According to Debre Markos city administration mayor office in 2018 G.C, Debre Markos has a
total population of 125,634 (67,121 females and 58,513 males). The town is divided in to eleven
administrative kebeles. Majority of inhabitants 97.03% practice Ethiopian orthodox Christianity,
while, 1.7% are Muslim and 1.1% are Protestants. As the 1994 nation censes reported, ethnic
group in Debre Markos town, 97.12% were Amhara, 1.29% Tigray and 0.67% Oromo and all
other ethnic groups 0.92%.

3.3. Research Design
A research design is a general plan of how to address the unknown/the research question.
Generally, research design can be of quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods and hence the
selection from either of these methods must be in line to the nature of the research (Moorhead
and Griffin, 1990). Accordingly, to achieve these objectives an explanatory type of research
design was employed in analyzing the collected data. This method was also favorable to
determine the relationship and effects occurring between the variables. The explanatory research
deals with the explanations of observed behaviors in attempt to “connect the dots” in research, by
identifying causal factors and outcomes of the target phenomenon (Moorhead and Griffin, 1990).
So, this method is found to be appropriate because of its suitability for describing and analyzing
existing situations in the selected study area.
3.4. Research approach
The research design which was used for this study was Quantitative in Nature. Creswell (2005)
asserted, quantitative research is a type of research in which the researcher decides what to study,
asks specific narrow questions, collects numeric (numbered) data from participants and analyzes
these numbers using statistics, and conducts the inquiry in an unbiased, objective manner.
3.5. Population of the study
The target populations for this particular study comprise of 18 public sectors at Debre Markos
town administration with total number of 945 employees. This number reflects the sampling
frame as list of target population from which representative samples were drown from public
sectors at Debre Markos town administration.
3.5. Sampling Technique
The total population of the study was 945 employees who are working in 18 public sectors in
Debre Markos town administration. For selecting sample from each public sector stratified
random sampling was used. The study population was segmented on the basis of sectors in
Debre Markos town administration and this comprised of: Civil service office, Education office,
Health office, Urban agriculture and environmental protection, Urban development and houses
construction , Building management, Mayor office, House of speaker, Technical and vocational

enterprise, Trade and industry, Women children and youth office, Justice, Finance and
economic development, Cultural tourism and sport, Administrative and security, Police office,
Urban land record and information office and Investment office. The main purpose of
stratification is to reduce sampling error, in order to increase efficiency. It involves the division
or stratification of a population by partitioning the sampling frame in to non-overlapping and
relatively homogeneous groups.
3.6. Sample Size Determination
A sample is a segment of the population selected to represent the population as a whole. Ideally,
the sample should be representative and allow the researcher to make accurate estimates of the
characteristic and behavior of the larger population. A number of factors determine the
appropriate sample size that sufficiently represents the population. Some of these factors are:
homogeneity of the population, analytical methods to employed and available resource such as
time, finance and management (Alan, 2004). If sample size is too small, the objectives of our
analysis may not be addressed precisely. So that appropriate sample size has to be applied in
order to get good representative data. The total population of the study is 945 employees in
Debre Markos town public sectors. For this study the researcher used Yamane (1967) formula
with 95% level of confidence and 5% acceptable error to determine sample size as shown below.
n=N/ (1+Ne2
)
Where n=the total sample size
N= total population
e= acceptable error
n= 945/ (1+945*0.052
)
n= 281
sample from each strata
ni= Ni/N*n
where ni= sample size from ith
strata
Ni= total population of ith
strata
N= total population
n= the total sample size

The following table summarizes the total population in each sector and the corresponding
Sample taken from each sector.
Table 3. 1: The sample distribution of each public sector
Source: Debre Markos town civil service office report (November 2012 E.C
Sector Population/strata Sample
Civil service office 32 10
Education office 163 48
Health office 231 69
Urban agriculture and environmental protection 61 18
Urban development and houses construction 112 33
Building management 11 3
Mayor office 27 8
House of speaker 5 2
Technical and vocational enterprise 89 26
Trade and industry 34 10
Women ,children and youth office 28 8
Justice 9 3
Finance and economic development 44 13
Cultural, tourism and sport 39 12
Administrative and security 13 4
Police office 7 2
Urban land record and information office 21 6
Investment office 19 6
Total 945 281

3.7. Instrument and Measurement of Variables
The questionnaire was used to gather the primary data from the employees of Debre Markos
town administration public sector, which distributed by the researcher to the respondents.
According to Geeta and Pandey (2011) the most common way of measurement is the use of
rating scales where employees report their reactions to their jobs. Questions relate to rate of pay,
work responsibilities, variety of tasks, promotional opportunities, the work itself and co-workers.
Several measures which can be used to measure employee job satisfaction. However, these
measures are different in terms of their concepts and how they affect job satisfaction. Some
researchers may prefer using brief index of affective job satisfaction (BIAJS) method and others
support the use of job descriptive index (JDI). BIAJS is a four item which measures the overall
affective of job satisfaction using items like internal consistency, temporal stability, job level and
job type. JDI measures cognitive job satisfaction such as: pay, promotion and promotion
opportunities, coworkers, supervision, and the work itself (Dugguh & Ayaga, 2014).
In this study, Likert scale type 34 closed ended questionnaires ranging from 1(strongly disagree)
to 5(strongly agree) were used Hagos (2015). The questionnaire was used to gather the primary
data from the employees of the Debre Markos town public sectors, which was distributed by the
researcher to the respondents. For the purpose of this study, close-ended items were used to
measure dependent and independent variable. There were five multiple choice options for each
question, representing five levels Likert-type scale method used to range of responses: strongly
disagree, disagree, Neutral, Agree, and strongly agree, with a numeric value of 1-5, respectively
Hagos (2015). The study used primary data sources to collect required data. The primary data
was collected mainly from respondents through the use of close ended structured questionnaire.
The questionnaire having 7 parts, the first part of the questionnaire was regarding background
information such as; sex, age group, working experience, level of education. The second part
contained 7 questions that were used to assess work environment. The third part contained 6
questions that were used to assess pay. The fourth part contained 5 questions that were used to
assess promotional opportunities. The fifth part had 5 questions that were used to examine
supervision. The sixth part contained 5 questions about nature of job. The seventh part of the
questionnaire was related to job satisfaction contained 6 questions. Job satisfaction, Work
environment, Pay, Promotion opportunity, supervision and Nature of job are measure by
statements adopted and modified from Spector (1997) and Vandenabeele (2009), cited by Inuwa

(2016). The questionnaire was prepared in English and Amharic languages. The English
language questionnaire was submitted to employees who are middle level supervisors,
professionals and the Amharic version of the questionnaire was distributed to clerical and other
non-clerical employees.
3.8. Methods of Data Analysis
The collected data were analyzed using, tables, charts, correlation and multiple regression
analysis. To do this the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 was used.
3.9. Model Formulation and Specification
The researcher used multiple linear regression models to analyze employee’s job satisfaction of
Debre Markos town administration public sector. The independent variables are: working
environment, payment, promotion opportunity, supervision, and nature of job whereas the
dependent variable is employee’s job satisfaction. Therefore, the equation of multiple regression
models is:
Model as 𝑌 = 𝛽0 +𝛽1WE +𝛽2P +𝛽3PO+ 𝛽4SUP +𝛽5NOJ +𝜀
Where 𝑌=job satisfaction, 𝛽0 =Constant term, 𝛽1=Coefficient Variable work environment,
𝛽2=Coefficient Variable payment, 𝛽3=Coefficient Variable promotion opportunity, 𝛽4=
Coefficient Variable supervision, 𝛽5= Coefficient Variable nature of job, WE= work
environment, P = payment, POP= promotion opportunity, SUP= supervision, NOJ= nature of job
supervision and e is the error term
3.10. Instrument Validity and Reliability
3.10.1 Validity
Validity refers to whether the measuring instrument measures what it is supposed to (Bless &
Higson-Smith, 1995), or whether the measure reflects the phenomenon the researcher claims to
be investigating. Content validity of a measuring instrument reflects the extent to which the
items measure the content they were intended to measure (Cooper & Schindler, 2003). It must
therefore provide adequate coverage of the questions guiding the research.

The JSS measures job satisfaction, using different subscales and it is considered to have content
validity. In general, the JSS was used for the present study as it has been proven to be a reliable
and valid instrument (Spector, 1997). Koeske, Kirk, Koeske and Rauktis (1994) as quoted by
Egan and Kadushan (2004) also indicate that the JSS has been examined for construct validity
and reliability with good results in previous researches. The items in the JSS are also relatively
easy to understand. It was therefore considered appropriate for the present study as the education
levels of the participants were relatively low.
.A pilot study helps to test the validity and the reliability of the research instrument and identify
areas that may require adjustments (Davies & Hughes, 2014). For this study, a pilot test was
carried out with 28 respondents who were not to take part in the main study and the reliability of
the questionnaire was pre tested.
3.10.2. Reliability
In order to measure the reliability for a set of two or more constructs, Cronbach alpha is a
commonly used method where alpha coefficient values range between 0 and 1 with higher values
indicating higher reliability among the indicators (Hair et al., 2010). According to Spector
(1997), “the widely accepted minimum standard for internal consistency is .70.” The reliability
test (Cronbach’s Alpha) for this study was analyzed as follow:

Table 3. 2: Reliability Statistics of the whole data
No Variables No of items Cronbach’s alpha
1 Work environment 7 0.789
2 Payment 6 0.834
3 promotional opportunities 5 0.837
4 Supervision 5 0.908
5 Nature of job 5 0.726
6 Job satisfaction 6 0.825
(Source: Own survey, 2020)
3.11. Ethical Considerations
In this research study, issues relating to the ethical conduct of research such as informed consent,
confidentiality, privacy and anonymity will be withheld. Participants and respondents will be
given full information on the purpose and objectives of the study in order for them to make
informed decisions as to whether to partake or not. Moreover, all information concerning the
identity and personality of respondents will be treated with utmost confidentiality. Additionally,
all information gathered will be used for the sole purpose of this research study.
3.12. Limitation of the Study
The respondents had busy working schedules in their designations which threatened to laggard
the process of data collection. The researcher tackled this limitation by emphasizing to the
respondents that the data was needed urgently in order to meet the academic deadline.
The data is collected from a particular group of people so that it might not be representative for
other public organizations.
The findings of the study may not have all the countryside full representation since the study is
focused on the public sectors located in, Debre Markos town.

CHAPTER FOUR
4. DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION
4.1. Introduction
This section provided the analysis and presentation of data as collected using the research
instrument. A summary of the demographic information, including gender, age, level of
education and number of years served was provided. Tables and figures were used to summarize
responses for further analysis and facilitate comparison. This generated quantitative reports
through tabulations, percentages, and measure of central tendency. In addition, to quantify the
strength of the relationship between the variables, the researcher conducted a multiple linear
regression analysis.
4.2 Response Rate
The study targeted a total of 281 questionnaires were administered to respondents selected from
Debre Markos town administration public sectors. However, only 270 participants participated
and filled correctly and returned the questionnaires. 6 participants did not fill the questionnaires
correctly & these questionnaires were not used for analysis. Additionally, 5 participants did not
return the questionnaires. This Result makes the response rate 96.09% which was sufficient for
analysis and reporting.
Table 4. 1: Response Rate
Response Frequency Percentage
Responded 270 96.09

4.3. Demographic information of respondents
The demographic factors used in this research were Sex, age, educational background and work
experience were analyzed and discussed.
Table 4. 2: Demographic information of Respondents
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Sex
Male 140 51.9 51.9 51.9
Female 130 48.1 48.1 100.0
Age
18-30 47 17.4 17.4 17.4
31-40 87 32.2 32.2 49.6
41-50 96 35.6 35.6 85.2
>50 40 14.8 14.8 100.0
Education
10 or 12
complete
2 .7 .7 .7
Certificate 16 5.9 5.9 6.7
Diploma 79 29.3 29.3 35.9
BSC/BA 153 56.7 56.7 92.6
MASTER 20 7.4 7.4 100.0
Work
experience
1-2 20 7.4 7.4 7.4
3-5 71 26.3 26.3 33.7
6-10 96 35.6 35.6 69.3
>10 83 30.7 30.7 100.0
Total 270 100.0 100.0
As shown by table 4.2 above, sex composition of respondents described with frequency and
percent. The result shows that out of 270 respondents 140 (51.9%) of the respondents were male
and 130 (48.1%) of the respondents were female. This shows that males and females have all

most the same levels of employment in public sectors. When we see the second age information
of respondents, out of 270 sampled employee respondents 47(17.4%) respondents were in the
age category of 18-30 years, 87(32.2%) respondents were with the age category of 31-40 years,
96(35.6%) respondents were with the age category of 41-50 years and 40(14.8%) respondents
were with the age category of above 50 years. The analyzed data indicated that more numbers of
respondents were with the age of category of 41-50 years this implies most work positions are
operated by the employees’ whom categorized adult age class.
As result shown in the above table 4.2 educational backgrounds of the respondents 2(0.7%) of
the respondents has a 10 and 12 complete, 16(5.9%) of the respondents has a certificate, 79(29.3)
of the respondents has a diploma, 153(56.7%) of the respondents have a bachelor’s art degree
and 20(7.4%) of the respondents have masters degree. The result indicates that public sectors are
mostly run by employees with first degree holders. As shown in table 4.2 work experience of the
respondents there is 20(7.4%) respondents served 1-2 years in the sector, 71(26.3%) respondents
serve 3-5 years in the sector, 96(35.6%) respondents are served 6-10 years in the sector and
83(30.7%) respondents are served above 10 years in the sector. This indicates that majority of
the respondents have experienced in the sector and capable skill about the operation and also
imperative in our study.
4.4. The Relationships between the Independent and Dependant
variables
The correlation analysis enables to show the relationships of dependent and independent
variables as well as the independent variables relationship with other independent variables in
the study.
To understand and gauge the direction of relationships among variables, the guide set by Cohen
(1988) was used. According to Cohen (1988) r value of .10 has a small effect size, .30 has a
medium effect size and .50 has a large effect size. Inferring from the table below and Cohen’s
(1988) analysis guide, the relationship between predictor variables with outcome variable is
presented below.
Pearson correlation coefficient is used to specify the strength and the direction of the relationship
between the independent variable (Work environment, payment, Promotion, supervision, Nature

of job) and the dependent variable job satisfaction. This correlation matrix under SPSS version
23 software model shown on the following Pearson correlation matrix table below:
Table 4. 3: Correlation matrix between Independent & Dependent variables
Table 4.3 indicate the above Pearson correlation matrix table, all independent variables are
positive and significant correlated with dependent variables. This shows the increase or decrease
of independent variable also increase or decrease of dependent variable. Notice that the cells in
the upper right to lower left diagonal show coefficients of 1.00. This is because they show the
relationship of each variable correlated with it. The results of the correlation analysis indicated
that there is a positive correlation between independent variable (working environment, pay,
promotional opportunities, supervision, and nature of job) and job satisfaction. Results of the
bivariate correlations table shows that working environment has a weak correlation with Job
satisfaction, r=0.175, p < 0.01, payment has also a moderate correlation and significant
relationship with Job satisfaction, r=0.247, p < 0.01, promotional opportunities has a strong and
significant correlation with job satisfaction, r=0.617, p < 0.01, supervision has a strong and
significant correlation with job satisfaction, r=0.553, p < 0.01, and nature of job has a moderate
and significant correlation with Job satisfaction,, r=0.184, p < 0.01. As all the signs of
Correlations
Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6
Work
environment
1
Payment -.032 1
Promotion .065 .434**
1
Supervision .111 -.105 .465**
1
Nature of job .072 -.222**
-.151*
.227**
1
Job satisfaction .175**
.247**
.617**
.553**
.184**
1
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

coefficients are positive, this shows there is a positive correlation between variables (working
environment, pay, promotional opportunities, supervision and nature of job) and job satisfaction
4.5. Effect of the Independent variables on Dependent variables
Regression analysis was used in order to estimate or predict the impact of independent variables
on dependent variable. A multiple regression was conducted to determine if predictor variables
(working environment, pay, promotional opportunities, supervision and nature of job)
significantly predict job satisfaction. Different kind of assumptions used for multiple regression
analysis such as normality of distribution, linear relationship, homoscedasticity (equal variance),
independent of residuals and multi co-linearity.
4.6. Diagnosis Tests/Assumptions
When there was more than one independent variable in the study, the researcher has to make use
of multiple regression models Lind et al., (2008). Multiple linear regression analysis especially
standard beta values and P- value is employed to examine the effects of working environment,
payment, promotion opportunity, supervision, and nature of job on employee job satisfaction
and used to test the developed hypothesis.
Assumption 1: Test of Normality
Normality can be seen on the data distribution when the curve does not pass through either the
left or the right (Ghozali, 2006). It shows that the data output is normally distributed. In order to
test normality of the data, kurtosis and skewness value was checked using SPSS 23. Skewness
measures the degree to which cases are clustered towards one end of an asymmetry distribution.
In general, the further the value of skewness is from zero, the more likely it is that the data are
not normally distributed (Field, 2000). Kurtosis measure the level of peak in a histogram. High
peak have positive kurtosis, while flatter distribution have negative kurtosis. A histogram is
simply a graph that plots a frequency distribution of data for a variable. The values of the
variable go along the X-axis while the number of data points with that value (the frequency) is
plotted on the Y-axis. Histograms are a great way to check whether or not your data is normally
distributed. A normal distribution is a distribution of data that clusters around the mean.

Figure 4.1: Normality Tests of Residuals
According to George and Mallery (2003) cited by Rahman et al. (2017) suggested that skewness
and kurtosis values for the variables should be between -2 and +2 for the acceptability as normal
distribution. Scores of Work environment, payment, promotion opportunity, supervision, nature
of job and job satisfaction were normally distributed as their score was well in the range -2 to +2.
When presented on a histogram the graph has a peak and a 'bell' shaped appearance According to
our study since the residuals are normally distributed, the histogram chart above is bell-shaped
and the mean is zero it fulfills the assumption of normality. Therefore in the population, the data

on the dependent variable are normally distributed for each of the possible combinations of the
level of the independent variables; each of the variables is normally distributed.
Assumption 2: Test of Linearity
In the normal probability plot the points lied in a reasonably straight diagonal line from bottom
left to top right. Therefore, it shows linearity. An underlying assumption of regression analysis is
that the relationship between the variables is linear, meaning that the points in the diagonal line
plot must form a pattern that can be approximated with a straight line.
Figure 4.2: Test of linearity
The plots in the above figure show strong linear relationships.

Assumption 3. Homoscedasticity
Homoscedasticity is the extent to which the data values for the dependent and independent
variables have equal variances (Field 2009). At each level of the predictor variables, the variance
of the residual terms should be constant. This just means that the residuals at each level of the
predictors should have the same variance, therefore checking for this assumption is helpful for
the fitness of the regression model. In this regard, to plot the homoscedasticity analysis, as
suggests by Field (2009), the researcher plot the standardized residuals, or errors (ZRESID) on
the Y axis and the standardized predicted values of the dependent variable based on the model
(ZPRED) on the X axis and the result is presented as follows.
Figure 4.3: Scatter plot for testing homoscedasticity

Assumption 4: Multicolinearity Test
According to Hair, (2006) no multi-co linearity test analysis through SPSS model VIF value, if
the VIF value lies between1-10; there is no Multi-co linearity problem and if the VIF value <1 or
>10 there is Multi-co linearity problem. Multi co linearity of the regression analysis refers to
how strong interrelated the independent variables in a model are. Therefore, in this study, the
table below shows that, the Variance Inflation Factors (VIF) and tolerance fall within the
acceptance range (VIF = 1 - 10, tolerance = 0.1 – 1.0). Therefore, there is no multi-co linearity
problem in the regression model used for this study. According to Hair et al. (2010) cited by
Ramesh Tharu, (2019) the tolerance values should be higher than 0.1 and the VIF should be
lower than 4.0 to avoid multi-co linearity. As it can be seen from the table 4.4 below, the co
linearity statistics indicate that all tolerance values are greater than the benchmark indicated in
the literature, showing that the five independent variables are not influenced by each other and
ensuring the appropriateness of executing the regression analysis. Consequently, the multi-
colinearity of the regression model is also examined by Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) with the
rule of thumb lower than 4.0.
Table 4. 4: Multicolinearity test
a. Dependent Variable: job satisfaction
Model Collinearity Statistics
Tolerance VIF
1
(Constant)
Work environment .983 1.017
Payment .689 1.451
Promotion .519 1.925
Supervision .607 1.648
Nature of job .860 1.163

Assumption 5: Independence of residual (Autocorrelations)
The value of the Durbin-Watson statistic ranges from 0 to 4. As a general rule, the residuals are
independent (not correlated) if the Durbin-Watson statistic is approximately 2, and an acceptable
range is 1.50 - 2.50 (Babatunde, 2014). In this study, Durbin-Watson is 2.010 and this is within
the acceptable range. The result indicates that the variable fulfils independence of residuals.
Table 4. 5: Autocorrelations
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
Durbin-Watson
1 .727a
.530 .520 .626 2.010
a. Predictors: (Constant), nature of job, work environment, payment, supervision, promotion
b. Dependent Variable: job satisfaction
Source: own survey, 2020
4.7. Hypothesis Testing: Regression Analysis Results
Multiple regression analysis was used to examine whether independent variables contribute or
affect on employee’s job satisfaction, in this multiple regression analysis, the coefficient of
determination which is the contribution of independent variables on the dependent variable, the
significance of the model, and the regression coefficients result analysis were presented and
interpreted as follows.

Table 4. 6: Regression analysis Model Summary
Linear regression analysis includes a regression model to test the variables. Five extracted
dimensions were taken as independent variables against employees’ job satisfaction as dependent
variable in a multiple regression model. For all the variables of the study above test the sample
was used at 95% confidence interval. The coefficient of determination is a measure of how well
a statistical model is likely to predict future outcomes.
The value of R2
is 0.53 indicates that a strong relationship between employees job satisfaction
and its determinants. The results indicate that all independent variables contribute about 53% to
employee’s job satisfaction while 47% of employee’s job satisfaction is explained by other
variables. This indicates that there are other variables which contribute to the employee’s job
satisfaction which are not considered in this study. According to Hair et al. (2010) cited by
Ramesh Tharu (2019) the value of adjusted R square is higher than the benchmark of 0.5 which
is sufficiently explainable enough for the regression model.
Model R
R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .725a
.530 .520 .626
a. Predictors: (Constant), nature of job, work environment, payment, supervision, promotion
b. Dependent Variable: job satisfaction

Table 4. 7: ANOVA Results
The above ANOVA table 4.7 demonstrates the overall model significance, and this board help
us to make sure the above model (on model summary table) is statistically significant predictor
of the outcome i.e. employees job satisfaction and it is evidenced that the model is statistically
predictor of employees’ job satisfaction for the reason that the p value is less than .05 therefore, a
significant amount of employees’ job satisfaction is influenced by Working environment, pay,
promotion opportunity, supervision and nature of job. Furthermore, it can be concluded as, the
overall regression model is significant, F= 61.963, p < .05, R2
= .53 (i.e., the regression model is
a good fit of the data).
ANOVAs
Model Sum of
Squares
Df Mean
Square
F Sig.
1 Regression
Residual
Total
119.712
106.260
225.972
5
275
280
23.942
.386
23.942 61.9
63
.000b
b. Predictors: (Constant), nature of job, work environment, payment, supervision, promotion

Table 4. 8; Regression Coefficient table
Table 4.8 shows the individual beta values of each independent variable. The beta value shows
the effect of each independent variable on the dependent variable. The beta value of Working
environment is (β = 0.122) which shows that by keeping other factors constant, 1 unit change in
Working environment will lead to increase in employee job satisfaction by 12.2%. And it was
statistically significant at p < 0.01. The beta value of payment is (β = 0.149) which shows that
by keeping other factors constant, 1 unit change in payment will cause to 14.9% positive
change in employee job satisfaction. And it is statistically significant at p < 0.05. The beta value
of promotion opportunity is (β = 0.433) and it is statistically significant at p < 0.01, which shows
that by keeping other factors constant, 1 unit change in promotion opportunity will cause to
43.3% positive change in employee job satisfaction. The beta value of supervision is (β =
0.269) and it is statistically significant at p < 0.01, which shows that by keeping other factors
constant, 1 unit change in supervision will cause a 26.9% positive change in employee
satisfaction. And the beta value of nature of job is (β = 0.224) and it is statistically significant at
Coefficients a
Model Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
T Sig. Colinearity
Statistics
B Std.
Error
Beta Toleran
ce
VIF
1 (Constant) -.400 .279 -1.432 .153
Work
environment
.122 .051 .102 2.401 .017 .983 1.017
Payment .149 .056 .137 2.689 .008 .689 1.451
Promotion .433 .058 .441 7.521 .000 .519 1.925
Supervision .269 .048 .304 5.616 .000 .607 1.648
Nature of job .224 .050 .204 4.475 .000 .860 1.163

p < 0.01, which shows that by keeping other factors constant, 1 unit change in nature of job will
lead to 22.4% change in employee job satisfaction.
Depending on table 4.8 the following regression model was stated as follows:
Y=𝛽0 +𝛽1WE +𝛽2P +𝛽3POP+ 𝛽4SUP +𝛽5NOJ +𝜀
Y= - 0.400+ (0.122WE+ 0.149P+ 0.433POP+ 0.269SUP+ 0.224NOJ+ 𝜀
Where Y= job satisfaction
𝛽0=Constant term
𝛽1=Coefficient Variable work environment
𝛽2=Coefficient Variable payment
𝛽3=Coefficient Variable promotion opportunity
𝛽4=Coefficient Variable nature of job
𝛽5=Coefficient Variable supervision
WE = work environment
P = payment
POP = promotion opportunity
SUP = supervision and e is the error term
NOJ = nature of job
4.8. Discussion of the Results
This section presents the results indicted by regression analysis and discusses the contribution of
independent variables.

Effect of working environment on Job satisfaction
The results of multiple regressions, as presented in Table 4.8 above, revealed that working
environment had a positive and significant effect on employees job satisfaction with values
(β= 0.122, t = 2.401, p < 0 .05). Thus, the proposed hypothesis was accepted. The result is
consistence with Mafini and Dlodo (2014) who conducted a similar study in public health
institutions comprising 287 professionals. The results showed a strong and positive association
between working environment and employee satisfaction with correlation (r = 0.569, β = 0.064).
Likewise the finding of Tharu, (2019) conducted study in cooperative organization working
environment had a positive and significant effect on employees job satisfaction with value 𝛽 =
0.158, t value = 2.699 with (P <0.05).
Effect of Pay on job satisfaction
The results of multiple regressions, as presented in Table 4.8 above, revealed that pay had a
significant effect on the job satisfaction with values (β = 0.149, t = 2.689, p < 0.01). Hence, H2
was accepted. The findings support the theory/concepts of the development of employee
satisfaction, and that a meta-analytic study carried out by Judge et al. (2010) showed that the
most important influences on a person’s job satisfaction experience to emanate from payments.
In addition the finding was consistent with Luthans (1995) notes that “wages and salaries are
recognized to be a significant, but complex, multidimensional predictor of job satisfaction.
Effect of Promotion opportunity on job satisfaction
The results of multiple regressions, as presented in Table 4.8 above, revealed that Promotion
opportunity had a significant effect on the job satisfaction with values (β = 0.433, t = 7.521, p <
0.01). The value of beta showed 1unit changes in Promotion opportunity will bring 0.433 unit
changes in job satisfactions. The result consistent with research by Islam et al. (2011) confirmed
that employees in general will be satisfied when organization provides opportunity for growth
and promotion. which shows that promotion had positive impact on the job satisfaction as stated
earlier by (Locke, 1976), advocates that the aspiration to be promoted emanates from the desire
for social status psychological growth, the desire for justice .Thus management should remember
that promotion furnishes a positive motivating tool in certifying that the employee conquers

goals at a higher level. The value of beta shows 1unit changes in promotion will bring 0.433 unit
changes in job satisfactions. Hence, H3 accepted
Effect of Supervision on job satisfaction
The results of multiple regressions, as presented in Table 4.8 above, revealed that Supervision
had a significant effect on the job satisfaction with values (β = 0.269, t = 5.616, p < 0.01. The
value of beta showed 1 unit changes in supervision will bring 0.269 unit changes in job
satisfactions. Hence, H3 accepted. Which showed that Supervisor had positive impact on the job
satisfaction as indicated by (Luthans, 1992) the quality of the supervisor-subordinate relationship
will have a significant, positive influence on the employee’s overall level of job satisfaction.
Trempe et al (1985) cited by Hettiarachchi (2014) descried that employees who receive respect
and consideration from their seniors are more satisfied than employees who experience
otherwise. Apart from that employees such as technical teams would expect technical
supervision of their work; continuous basis technical supervision and support could generate
satisfaction especially among knowledge workers in different types of organizations.
Effect of Nature of job on job satisfaction
The results of multiple regressions, as presented in Table 4.8 above, revealed that nature of job
had a significant effect on the job satisfaction with values (β = 0.224, t = 4.475, p < 0.01. which
revealed that nature of job have positive significant effect on job satisfaction. The value of beta
showed 1unit changes in nature of job will bring 0.233 unit changes in job satisfaction. The
result consistent with Luthans (1995) described that the content of the work performed by
employees is a major predictor of job satisfaction. The other empirical findings from Dilina,
(2018) study indicate that employees at the public health institution in the Western Cape, where
the research was conducted, are most satisfied with their co-workers, followed by the nature of
the work itself and the supervision they receive.

CHAPTER FIVE
5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1. Summary of the Major Findings
The major objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of determinants on the
employees’ job satisfaction in Debre Markos town public sectors. The study depends on 270
sample size for analyzing the data. In order to test the hypotheses, cross sectional survey research
design with quantitative approach was used. For data analysis descriptive statistics & inferential
statistics were used. Descriptive statistics table, frequencies, and percentage were used to
analyzed the background information such as; sex, age interval, level of education, working
experience of the respondents.
 Based on previous theories and researches regarding determinants of employee’s job
satisfaction, this study shows that the entire independent variables i.e. working
environment, payment, promotion opportunities, supervision, nature of job has a
significant impact on employee job satisfaction.
 The results of the study indicated that employee satisfaction and the determining
variables have a positive correlation. Among all the variables recognition has the major
effect on the satisfaction of employees.
 The regression analysis result indicated that 53% of the variation on the employees’ job
satisfaction can be explained by the composite measure of working environment,
payment, Promotion opportunities, supervision and nature of job. The remaining 47%
were explained by other variables that are not included in this study.

5.2 Conclusion
Satisfied employees are more committed to their job than that of dissatisfied. This is because a
person with high level of job satisfaction holds a positive attitude towards the job, while a
person who is dissatisfied with his or her job holds negative attitude about the job (Robins,
2003). This paper focuses on determinants of job satisfaction in Debre Markos town public
sectors perspective. It offers key contributions in the human resource management literature of
Debre Markos town public sectors by suggesting the key considering factors to attain job
satisfaction of Debre Markos town public sectors employees.
In order to attain the job satisfaction of the employees, the human resource managers of Debre
Markos town public sectors should concentrate on promotion opportunity, supervision,
nature of job, payment and working environment.
To be more specific, this paper emphasize the most on promotion opportunity as the key
determining factor for attaining job satisfaction determining factor for attaining employees job
satisfaction in Debre Markos town public sectors. Organizations should always try to attain job
satisfaction of their employees in order to improve their productivity and attain desired result by
focusing on these determinants of employees job satisfactions.
With respect to the objective which is placed to examine the contribution of each determinant
variables of job satisfaction on table 4.9, it may be deduced from the R Square value of 0.53 that
53% of the variance in employee’s job satisfaction can be accounted for by these five
independent variables. It should be noted that the variance accounted for by these variables is
relatively large, with the remaining 47% of the variance being explained by factors other than
those considered. From this, it can be concluded that promotion opportunity, supervision,
nature of job, payment and working environment statistical significance at the 0.01 level.

5.3. Recommendation
The following recommendations were made from the findings and conclusion of the study:
Based on this the top management of the public sectors recommended to improve the working
conditions. This will make them equally satisfied with those who work under normal working
condition and in return overall performance will increase.
 Management of public sectors and policy planners should consider work environment,
pay, and promotional opportunities, work itself as an important factor while designing the
job, setting promotional policies and developing pay and compensation system.
 Top management of those public sectors needs to design a promotion opportunities and
career path that is fair, equitable and free of bias. It is evident from the literature that
one of the many contributing factors to the issue of job satisfaction is opportunity for
promotion. The perception that there is little scope for promotion does not give
employees much hope for future advancement.
 Top management of public sectors therefore needs to develop clearly defined criteria for
promotion opportunities and career path. This policy needs to display fairness in that it
presents an unbiased process in so far as providing equal opportunity to all employees.
 The public sectors should ensure that the existing system of pay and financial
compensation is fair and equitable and promotional policies and procedures in the public
sectors for better advancement are fair and within performance.
 Policy makers should consider pay, promotional opportunities, work itself as an
important factor while designing the job, setting promotional policies and developing pay
and compensation system.
 Generally, it is recommended that public sector top managers should effectively
implement the determinants of employees’ job satisfaction such as work environment,
payment, promotion opportunity, supervision, and nature of job for incremental of
employees’ job satisfaction

5.3.1. Suggestions for further research
The study suggests further studies to be conducted on the same topic in other town to ascertain
the results found. This will not only confirm what the study found, but also offer an opportunity
for comparisons to be made. Studies can also be conducted on other factors that affect employee
job satisfaction, including training, leadership style, co-workers and other psychological factors.

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