Job satisfaction and motivation among public sector health workers: evidence from Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough human resources for health have received increased attention by health systems decision-makers and researchers in recent years, insufficient attention has been paid to understanding the factors that influence the performance of health workers. This empirical study investigates the factors that are associated with health worker motivation over time among public sector primary health care workers in Ethiopia.MethodsThe study is based on data from public sector health worker surveys collected through a convenience sample of 43 primary health care facilities in four regions (Addis Ababa, Oromia, Amhara, and Somali) at three points in time: 2003/04, 2006, and 2009. Using a Likert scale, respondents were asked to respond to statements regarding job satisfaction, pride in work, satisfaction with financial rewards, self-efficacy, satisfaction with facility resources, and self-perceived conscientiousness. Inter-reliability of each construct was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, and indices of motivational determinants and outcomes were calculated for each survey round. To explore the associations between motivational determinants and outcomes, bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were carried out based on a pooled dataset.ResultsAmong the sample public sector health workers, several dimensions of health worker motivation significantly increased over the study period, including two indicators of motivational outcomes—overall job satisfaction and self-perceived conscientiousness—and two indicators of motivational determinants—pride and self-efficacy. However, two other dimensions of motivation—satisfaction with financial rewards and satisfaction with facility resources—significantly decreased. The multivariate analyses found that the constructs of pride, self-efficacy, satisfaction with financial rewards, and satisfaction with facility resources were significantly associated with the motivational outcomes, after controlling for other factors.ConclusionsOverall, the findings support the premise that both financial and non-financial factors are important determinants of health worker motivation in the Ethiopian context. Although the findings do not point to specific interventions that should be introduced, they do suggest possible areas that interventions should target to help improve health worker motivation.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12960-015-0083-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Transformational leadership, empowerment, and job satisfaction: the mediating role of employee empowerment

“…The job satisfaction of healthcare workers ensures that the nursing profession will achieve its full potential, thereby safeguarding an effective health care delivery system [66, 86]. In particular, our study highlights the important role of transformational leadership and empowerment in enhancing job satisfaction among medical assistants and nurses, which should be a focus of the Malaysian healthcare system under the ETP.…”

Physicians’ job satisfaction and motivation in a public academic hospital

“…In the work context, motivation can be defined as an individual’s degree of willingness to exert and maintain an effort to achieve personal and organizational goals [20]. The presence of motivated physicians in a service leads to better performance and high levels of satisfaction among workers, even if other health service characteristics fall below the standards that are recommended for health institutions [21, 22]. Low remuneration only partly explains the low levels of motivation [23].…”

“…These factors include the availability of resources, opportunities for training and promotion, issues relating to supervision and management, and communication within the organization. Neither job satisfaction nor motivation is directly observable, but both have been identified as critical for the retention and performance of health workers [21, 22]. …”

“…The evaluation of satisfaction in the workplace has been the method that many authors have used to verify professional retention by the health system [24–28]. More recently, some authors have performed studies about motivation; however, there is relatively little empirical evidence available on this issue, especially in low-income countries [22, 23]. …”

“…They are attracted to work in private units or in developed countries. This is a common path for professionals with proper training from recognized institutions in developing countries [22]. When the physician’s training center is a public university supported by the government (society), the university is left with just the burden of training.…”