Title:
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Non-Saudi employees' job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in a private organization in Saudi Arabia
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Introduction - In the recent years, job satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction have been the major
concern of the public as well as the private sector in Saudi Arabia. In the public, unlike in the
private sector, more emphasis has been placed on improving services excellency and promoting
more on market research, promotion of business, generation of higher profits and sustenance of
organizational growth.
Purpose - Firstly, to determine the factors that contributes to employees' job satisfaction or
dissatisfaction and the association (if any) between jobs related stress and employees' job
satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Secondly, to determine the levels of jobs satisfaction or
dissatisfaction among non-Saudi employees in the Twaik Medical Company (TMC) in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia.
MethodlDesign - Ten Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals took part in this study. Subjects were
non-Saudi employees (phYSicians, nurses, engineers, technicians and labourers) working under
the sponsorship of TMC. A random sample of 524 employees was obtained from a list of 2,250
active non-Saudi TMC employees (males and female). The selection criteria were: all non-Saudi
employees accept those who were on vacation. The data was collected using Minnesota
Satisfaction Survey Questionnaire (1967). The survey questionnaire (instrument) consisted of 56
items. Nine items were modified to match with the Saudi environment. The items were pre-coded
on a 4-point scale as follows: 1 ='very dissatisfied,' 2='dissatisfied,' 3=satisfied,' and 4='very
satisfied.' The questionnaire was pre-tested before being distributed to the respondents. 525
questionnaires were distributed. A total of 452 responses were received. Of these, 52 (11.5%)
questionnaires were not fully completed; they were excluded from the analysis. The final sample
foe a usable response rate of 88.5 percent (n=400) of the non- Saudi employees was achieved.
The average age of the sample was 38.31, which is in the range of '29 -39" age group of the total
sample.
Data Analysis - The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer program was used
to analyze the data. The reliability of the study was consistent, with values of Alpha above .80.
The frequency distributions and two by two (2x2) tables were used for descriptive and analytical
purposes. Multiple regression and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were applied for all and
selected variables. Further, the Pearson Correlation Coefficient was instituted to determine the
association between males and females' levels of job satisfaction and whether this association is
significant or otherwise.
Result - The results show that there is significant positive relationship between gender, levels of
education and employee's job satisfaction (p = .05) for both males and female. Also, the results
indicate that there are several factors that have significant influence on employees' job satisfaction
or dissatisfaction. For example, the 'amount of salary,' 'top management,' and company's
administrative policies are positively correlated to employee's job satisfaction (p = .005, P = .000
and p = .05) so as 'social activities' (p = .032). The work-related stress variables show that 'the
inability to control anger,' relationship with subordinate' and 'unclear objectives' have positive
association with employee's job satisfaction (p = .005, P = .03 and p = .023). Also, in Saudi
Arabia, being female and number of years worked in the company is positively related with
employee's job satisfaction (p= .05) especially on younger employees. These results are
comparable with the results reported by Sokoyo (2000), Bhuian, AI Shammari and Jefri (1996),
Bhuian and Manguc (2002). It proves that a survey is reliable method to determine employees'
job satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Conclusion - This study has provided insights into the factors perceived as contributing to
employees' job satisfaction or dissatisfaction in a private sector company. Therefore, further
researches need to be conducted to understand the dynamics of non-Saudi employees in the
Saudi private sector fully. Also, the TMC managers need to pursue strategies that would increase
non-Saudi employees' commitment to work and increase their job satisfaction
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