INFLUENCE OF JOB CONTEXT FACTORS ON JOB SATISFACTION AMONG PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN NAKURU WEST SUB COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Job satisfaction is the perceptions of fulfillment derived from day-to-day work activities and is the ultimate reward to employees in an organization. Job satisfaction among public secondary school teachers plays a key role in how they perform their functions. However, in Kenya, despite significant redress of issues affecting teachers job satisfaction by multiple stakeholders, most teachers still remain unsettled in their work-stations while others are contemplating quitting the profession altogether for other promising careers. In Nakuru West Sub County, for example, a good number – a cumulative average of 16% between 2015 and 2018 - of teachers have been lost to other professions. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to establish the influence of job context factors on job satisfaction among public secondary school teachers in Nakuru West Sub County. Specifically, the study sought to determine the influence of work environment, workload, compensation practices and supervision practices on job satisfaction among public secondary school teachers. The study was guided by Herzberg‟s Two-Factor Theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and carried out in Nakuru West Sub County, Nakuru County, Kenya. The study targeted 326 teachers drawn from 9 public secondary school teachers in Nakuru West Sub County. A sample size of 150 respondents obtained using stratified random sampling was used for the study. Data for the study collected using structured questionnaires. The validity and reliability of data collection instruments was ascertained through content validity and internal consistency respectively. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The findings revealed that work environment (β = 0.243, p = 0.014 < p ≤ 0.05), workload (β = 0.108, p = 0.025 < p ≤ 0.05) and Compensation practices (β = 0.313, p = 0.001 ≤ p = 0.05) significantly influenced satisfaction among public secondary school teachers in Nakuru West Sub County, Kenya in the joint regression model. The positive and moderate relationship observed between the two variables; work environment and compensation practices with job satisfaction together implied that emphasizing the variables in the schools would lead to improvements in teachers‟ job satisfaction. However, supervision practices (β = 0.125, p = 0.197 ˃ p = 0.05) was not found to significantly influence job satisfaction among public secondary school teachers in the area in the joint regression model. Therefore, the study recommends that the management of the schools in the area should invest in the school infrastructure and also in bonding activities to improve the levels of satisfaction among teachers with their jobs. The study also recommends that the schools management explore ways through which they can further reduce the teacher‟s workload and make them more happy and satisfied with their work. It is further recommended that the Compensation schemes should be done competitively so as to have considerable effect on the teachers job satisfaction levels. Finally, the study recommends that the management of the schools should pay more attention to their supervision practices and try to create a rapport with their teaching staff so as to enable them address issues regarding appraisals in their work.