Abstract:
Public organizations in Kenya have become vulnerable to losing their highly qualified,
knowledgeable and experienced employees to well-paying public and private organizations.
The consequences of losing such employees are dire since public organizations invest heavily
on their employees in terms of recruitment, induction, training, development, maintaining and
retaining of such employees. This study evaluated the determinants of job satisfaction in
selected government organizations in the Ministry of Education in Nairobi County, Kenya.
The specific objectives of the study were: to examine the influence job characteristics, to
identify the influence of employee benefits, to evaluate the influence of leadership, to observe
the influence of work environment and to assess the influence of demographic characteristics
on job satisfaction in selected government organizations in Nairobi County, Kenya. To
achieve the above specific objectives, the study was guided by Locke‟s Value Theory,
Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Theory and Herzberg Two Factor Theory. The study employed a
descriptive research design. The population of this study was 5835 employees at both
managerial and non-managerial positions in Teachers Service Commission, Kenya National
Examination Council and Higher Education Loans Board. The sample size was 374
respondents. Data was collected using structured questionnaires. The collected data was
analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The response rate was 321 questionnaires
representing 80.2% response rate. Findings established that job characteristics had positive
and significant association with job satisfaction. A negative and significant association
between employees‟ benefits and job satisfaction was revealed. Findings showed that
leadership had the best correlation association with job satisfaction (r²=0.642). The results
indicated that there was a positive and significant association between leadership and job
satisfaction. The research findings established that work environment had a negative and
significant association with job satisfaction. Finally, there was positive and significant
association between demographic characteristics and job satisfaction. The study concluded
that enhancing the various job characteristics in the entities under the Ministry of Education
will lead to increase in the level of employee job satisfaction. The study also concluded that
the leadership of Teacher Service Commission (TSC), Kenya National Examination Council
(KNEC) and Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) should improve the various benefits
provided to employees to strengthen the magnitude of job satisfaction. The study concluded
that leadership is the most critical element of enhancing job satisfaction among the
employees of entities of the Ministry of Education. Thus, the leadership of these
organizations should lead by example to inculcate employee job satisfaction. It was
concluded that the management of the organizations under the Ministry of Education should
strive to improve the conditions of work to positively enhance the job satisfaction of
employees. The conclusion was that demographic characteristics of employees should be
positively embraced by leadership of organizations under the Ministry of Education to
guarantee satisfaction of employees in the job. The study recommended that since
employee‟s benefits had a negative association with job satisfaction of employees of TSC,
KNEC and HELB, efforts should be made by the leadership of these organizations to increase
the quality and frequency of provision of these benefits. The study also recommended that the
leadership of these organizations should improve the work environment in order to dissociate
them from the negative perception to employee job satisfaction.
