Crystalising employment quality and behavioural outcomes of employees in the public service

Abstract

The goals of equitable and fair treatment in employment relationships have become a growing concern due to demographic changes and globalisation. Consequently, the quality of employment and relationships appeared to be an anachronism in competitive conditions where an organisation may need to minimise costs by reducing the headcounts. The study investigated the determinants of employment quality on employee behavioural outcomes. The study adopted a descriptive research design to establish trends related to the objectives of this study. The survey questionnaire was adopted to elicit information from the staff of the selected public (corporation) service. Out of 350 copies of the questionnaire distributed, only 230 copies were duly filled and completed. A variance-based model, specifically, SEM was adopted to establish goodness fit. Results indicate that work flexibility, learning and development, organisational culture, involvement in the determination of reward system, and work relationship significantly impact on employee behavioural outcomes. On the contrary, it was evident that the organisational policy has the least predictive value for promoting desirable outcomes. This could probably be as a result of many written rules and bureaucratic structure that exist in the public service. Differences in employees’ behavioural outcomes can be linked to age (λ2 = 5.741, df = 4, P < 0.05), educational background (λ2 = 7.723, df = 4, P < 0.05) and work experience (λ2 = 9.672, df = 4, P < 0.05) while gender was not statistically significant. By implications, organisational policies should be tailored towards ensuring the quality of employment and should be targeted to facilitate commitment and positive work behaviour.

Keywords

• Employment quality
• Culture
• Rewards
• Relationships
• Employee behavioural outcome
• Policy