Impact of Incentives and Work life balance on Job Satisfaction

“Impact of Incentives and Work life balance on Job Satisfaction”

DISSERTATION PROJECT REPORT

Submitted To

RAJAGIRI BUSINESS SCHOOL

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of

POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT (PGDM)

2014 – 2016

By

Ajish Raju

Roll. No.P14163

Rajagiri Business School

Rajagiri Valley

Kochi – 682 039

DECLARATION

I, Ajish Raju hereby declare that this report titled “Impact of Incentives and Work life balance on Job Satisfaction” is a bonafide record of the Dissertation work done by me as part of partial fulfillment of the award of the degree, Post Graduate Diploma in Management program from Rajagiri Business School, Kochi.

I also declare that this report has not been submitted to any other university /board for the award of any degree/diploma.

Place: Kochi Ajish Raju

Date:

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The satisfaction that implies the success of any task would be impossible without the mention of

the people who made it possible, whose guidance and encouragement are valuable to me.

First of all I thank the God Almighty for his immense grace and blessings at each and every

stage of my dissertation.

Then I would like to express my gratitude to Dr.Binoy Joseph, Principal,Rajagiri Business

School, for granting me the opportunity to do the study.

I am thankful to my Faculty Guide, Prof. Shelly Jose faculty, Rajagiri Business School, Kochi,

for giving me his valuable guidance to execute the study as per the institution requirements and

for all the support he gave throughout my dissertation. I would also like to thank Dr. Imran

Khan and Prof. Saji George, Jury Members who extended their helping hands at various stages

of my study.

I would also like to thank my parents for their invaluable support and guidance, without which

this report would not have been possible.

I would like to thank all the respondents who cooperated whole heartedly and patiently in

providing me with the data by filling the questionnaire.

I am also thankful to all other faculty and friends who had extended their support and

contributions, which helped me in improving my dissertation.

Thanking You,

Ajish Raju

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DESCRIPTIONPAGE NO.

ABSTRACT....................................................................................

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………. LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………. RESEARCH DESIGN……………………………………………………… ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION…………………………………. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……………………………… CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………… BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………. ANNEXURE………………………………………………………………......

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LIST OF TABLES

Serial no.

Title of the table Page No.

Table 4.1 Result of reliability 17Table 4.2 Correlation between F, NF and WFB with Job

Satisfaction 19

Table 4.3 Regression model for Financial incentives and Job satisfaction

21

Table 4.4 Regression model for Non-Financial incentives and Job satisfaction

22

Table 4.5 Regression model for Work life balance and Job satisfaction

25

v

Abstract

Impact of incentives and work life balance on employee’s motivation represents an issue that continuously provokes interest for discussion and research. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which incentives and work life balance leaves an impact on job satisfaction levels of employees. The questionnaires prepared for this purpose were distributed to random employees. The data obtained from the research are analyzed via several techniques by using SPSS 20.0 program. According to the results of the analysis, a significant relation is observed between the financial, non-financial incentives and work life balance with the job satisfaction levels of employees. But among the three, work life balance has higher impact on job satisfaction level followed by financial incentives and non-financial incentives.

1

1. Introduction

Incentive is the concept which has become a key aspect for attracting, encouraging

and retaining the efficient employees in the organization. According to Bennett and

Minty(2005), incentives are viewed from two broad perspectives. They are

financial incentives and Non-financial incentives. The study of Kreitner and

Kinicker(2001) revealed that financial incentives has a short term result in

encouraging and stimulating workers for higher performance. But Dorenbosch, De

Reuver & Sanders (2006) explained in their study financial reward goes a long way

in determining their effectiveness and commitment towards their goals and

objectives. When high performances are recorded for employees, it must be

supported with a basis for recognition and promotions.

In the recent trends, many companies have been using some kind of incentive

system to motivate and reward their employees. Companies are using up lots of

money in their incentive system because of its popularity. A study, for example did

their research on companies of Finland, and about 65% companies have developed

new reward system in the last three years (Salimäki, Sweins, Heiskanen &

Laamanen 2009, p.6). The rapid growth and development in the world has created

new activities and new doors for all business organization. The globalization trend

has put the organization hard to retain their competitive advantage.

Organizational changes due to downsizing, mergers/ acquisitions and radical

changes in technology have changed the work setups. The employees in present are

more involved in their jobs than in the last decade. The long working hours, work

pressure, high demanding jobs, use of sophisticated technology made it difficult for

employees to keep a balance between their job and work commitments. Changing

societal trends, such as an increase in the number of women entering the workforce

2

combined with an economy that requires dual incomes support an average standard

of living, contribute to work life conflicts.

Personal life and work life are two sides of the same coin. According to various

surveys on work life balance, 65% of the people are finding it difficult to find a

balance between their personal and professional life. Traditionally creating and

managing a balance between the work-life was considered to be a woman's issue.

But increasing Work pressures and Globalization have made it an issue with both

the gender, all professionals working across all levels and all industries throughout

the world. Achieving "work-life balance" is not as simple as it sounds.

The crucial function of Human Resource management is to implement practices

that enhance the satisfaction of employees with their jobs. Consequently,

enhancing job satisfaction is considered to be a win-win proposition. Indeed, job

satisfaction has been the focus of thousands of studies in management since

Hoppock’s (1935) analysis. Employees expect financial and non-financial rewards

for their services and effort. In the absence of equitable pay, training and

development opportunities and recognition, employees do get dissatisfied and do

not perform the standards. The benefits that employees foresee for them and their

families motivates them to give their best.

There has been a long discussion about the success of incentives on the motivation

of employees in the literature, which claim that it has a positive effect on it. But at

the same time, there are also many others, which also argue that it has low or

negative effect. Hence, it is really important for the companies to know at what

extent these incentives affect the job satisfaction levels of employees. Therefore, it

is important to know which incentives do they accept and which do not serves its

purpose.

3

According to research conducted by the Corporate Executive Board among 50,000

global workers, Work life balance ranks as the second important workplace

attribute behind compensation. Employees tend to work 21 percent harder who feel

that they have better work life balance.

4

2. Literature review

There are many studies in the literature that examine the effects of incentives and

work life balance on several variables. Scheepers (2009) also examined the extent

to which incentives system affected the motivation of employees at IT firms.

According to the result of the study, an entrepreneurial reward system tends to

focus on formal acknowledgement, social incentives and organizational freedom of

employees to encourage corporate entrepreneurship. Pouliakas (2008) tested the

non-monotonic effect of monetary incentives on job satisfaction.

In the study, 1998-2005 of the British Household Panel Survey was used to

investigate the ceteris paribus association between the intensity of bonus/profit-

sharing payments and the utility derived from work. The set of job characteristics

identified as contributing to job satisfaction tends to include pay, hours of work,

promotion opportunities, job security (Brown et al. 2008; Bygren 2004; Capelli

and Sherer 1988; Clark, Kristensen, and Westergard-Nielsen 2009; Clark and

Oswald 1996; Heywood and Wei 2006; McCausland, Pouliakas, and Theodossiou

2005; Pouliakas and Theodossiou 2010); whether the job involves difficult,

monotonous, hazardous, or dirty work (Skalli, Theodossiou,and Vasileiou 2008);

whether the job is interesting, prestigious, or challenging (De Jonge and Schaufeli

1998; Katz 1978); and whether the job involves little worker autonomy or freedom,

offers opportunities for learning or skill acquisition, or allows one to feel a sense of

accomplishing something worthwhile (Bockerman and Ilmakunnas 2009; Clark

1998; Linz 2003). Not unexpectedly, in studies conducted in developed market

economies, affirmative responses for pay, promotion, security, challenging,

interesting, prestigious, and the like are associated with job satisfaction (negative

5

responses associated with dissatisfaction); for hours, difficult, monotonous,

hazardous, and closely monitored, the opposite holds.

Conversely, Adeyeye (2009) studies argued that managers are more motivated by

non-financial incentives and the employees are more motivated by financial

incentives.

Many changes in the industries and workplaces have changed and affected the

work and personal lives. These changes have risen in recent years as a result of

large numbers of working people and the entry of more women in the labor force.

Good WLB is a vital reason for the organisation’s success because it leads to

higher productivity (Bloom et al. 2006). Organizations always look for higher

productivity from their employees, whereas employees always look for deriving

satisfaction from their work and family life. The interests of both the employee and

the employer may conflict quite often, which results in dissatisfaction both among

employees and for the employer. Organisations may believe that they need to

exploit all the abilities of a worker and they will normally turn a blind eye towards

the personal needs of the employee.

Financial incentives and Job satisfaction:

Salau et al. (2014) studied the adoption of financial incentive in motivating

employees for higher performance at a state hospital. Nelson and Quick (2005)

analyzed the role of pay on job satisfaction. The use of monetary reward has

become indispensable in stimulating employees’ performance. In every

organization, especially in the manufacturing sectors, the use of pay, bonus,

compensation, profit sharing, etc has played a major role in motivating and

retaining workers for higher performance and commitments (Osibanjo, Adeniji,

6

Falola, and Heirsmac, 2014). Studies have indicated that when salaries of workers

are paid consistently, then it motivates them for to work willingly without the use

of coercion, while the absence of this leads to intention of workers to leave,

absenteeism, labour turnover, pilfering, lower commitment and low job satisfaction

levels. People work for organizations in exchange of money to satisfy their

immediate needs. The pay which comes in exchange for work done gives

employees a sense of satisfaction and eventually facilitates employee retention. So,

for organization to survive and be productive, the employees must be attracted,

rewarded and retained (Burgess Simon, & Ratto Marisa, 2003; Cheng & Ho, 2001;

Bartlett, 2001)

Non-financial incentives and job satisfaction

Kaya (2007) determined the major factors that are responsible for influencing

employees’ satisfaction. The findings of the study revealed that fringe benefits

such as paid holidays, sick leave and housing loans are the major determinants

meaning that non-financial incentives were more effective than financial incentives

in terms of the attitudes of employees. Non-monetary incentives are rewards that

an individual experiences and are directly related to the job itself (Falola, et al,

2014; Kinicki and Williams, 2003). Psychological rewards are responsibility,

achievement, autonomy, personal growth, challenge, complete work and feedback

components of the job. Physical rewards are training, welfare services, flextime,

promotions, interpersonal relationships, conducive environments, job enrichment,

etc. Studies also indicated that non-monetary incentives are also important factors

that help in influencing the satisfaction and retention level of an employee.

Greenberg and Baron (2003) and Friedman (2005) are also of the opinion that

organizations with adequate provisions of the non-monetary variables create a

7

center of responsiveness and attention which helps in retaining competent,

knowledgeable, experienced and trained personnel.

Several studies (Rothwell & Kazanas, 2004); Salau, Falola and Akinbode, 2014)

indicated that employees are often motivated and satisfied with jobs only when it

gives them the freedom and opportunity to make use of their skills and abilities

without any arbitrary coercion. Numerous studies like Cook & Crossman, 2004;

Caruth & Humphreys, 2008; McDonald Ruth, Harrison Stephen, Checkland Kath,

Campbell Stephen & Roland Martin (2007) stated that employees get motivated to

work when they get frequent promotions and job security in their work place;

while some also argued that factors such as promotion, training and career

development, as well as appreciation and improved work environment give

employees greater opportunities and that these will either directly or indirectly

influence their satisfaction on the job.

Work life- balance and Job satisfaction:

Grove and Crooker, (1995) have mentioned that flexible work hour and childcare

polices could increase employees satisfaction and commitment to the organisation.

It is not necessary that family and social commitments associated with the workers

are all the same. In other words, no two workers are alike as far as their social and

family commitments are concerned. For example, the family and society

commitments of a single person may be less compared to a married person. So it

may not be possible for a married person to extend his/her working hours like a

bachelor and still be able to achieve WLB.

Well managed firms have realized the importance of WLB in increasing the

productivity of an employee. They have realized that only an employee with a

8

peaceful mind will be able to concentrate on his/her work and to increase his/her

productivity.

Work life balance is not only about families and childcare, but also about working

less. It is about working “smart” (Almidani, 2008. p.13). Asadullah and Fernandez

(2008) examined the role of work-life balance practices and jobs satisfaction in

Gender Gap in the UK and they found that WLB practice has a positive

relationship with job satisfaction as the females reported higher level of job

satisfaction than men. Also, their results prove that having good WLB practice

increase job satisfaction.

Related Theoretical UnderpinningsHerzberg’s two-factor theory explained how best employees’ needs can be met and

satisfied. The study argued that the factors leading to job satisfaction are separate

and distinct from those that lead to job dissatisfaction; hence, the term two-factor

theory which simply refers to motivators which are related to job content. Herzberg

revealed that the job content or the motivators focus on task significance, task

identity and the notion a worker has on his/her job. It includes the following: the

work itself, respect, advancement, a sense of achievement and responsibilities. On

the other hand, Herzberg recognized the second factor as the hygiene factors which

are related to the job context. The job context refers to the environment in which

the job is performed. It also includes: Company policy and procedure, supervision

and administration, pay, working conditions and relationship with superior and co-

workers

9

3. Research Methodology

Title of the study:

“Impact of Incentives and Work-life balance on Job Satisfaction”

Statement of Problem

To examine the impact that incentives and work life balance leaves on job

satisfaction levels.

Purpose of the study:

Hence, the purpose of the study is to know to what extent incentives and work life

balance affect the job satisfaction levels. This study will help the organization to

focus accordingly on those variables that adds more value to ones satisfaction with

the job. The findings of this study will help the organization to implement rewards

as well as work life balance arrangements in an effective way.

Aims and Objectives:

The aim of this study is to determine as to what extent incentives and work life balance affects the job satisfaction levels.

To analyze the attitudes of employees towards financial incentives

To analyze the attitudes of employees towards Non-financial incentives

To analyze the attitudes of employees towards work life balance.

To analyze the relationship between financial incentives and job satisfaction

To analyze the relationship between Non-financial incentives and job satisfaction

10

To analyze the relationship between work life balance and job satisfaction

To analyze the effectiveness of each

Significance of the study

What makes workers happy? An important component of the job satisfaction

literature focuses on rewards. Studies in management and psychology examining

the link between job satisfaction and rewards tend to either utilize the valence–

expectancy–instrumentality framework proposed by Vroom (1964) and modified

by Porter and Lawler (1968) or subscribe to the discrepancy theory proposed by

Locke (1976).

The former involves identifying what workers value and their confidence in doing

their job sufficiently well to receive rewards, as well as their expectation of getting

the rewards they desire.

Work life balance practices are organizational changes designed to reduce work

family conflict. These work life balance practices enable employees to be effective

in both work and personal roles. The more control an employee has on their lives

the more able they are to balance work and family.

(Iqan lazar, 2010) Conclude that, a successful balance between work and non

work roles are beneficial for both employee and employer. And this balance in

work and life domains enhances quality of personal relationship and organizational

outcomes.

11

Variables:

Independent variable: Financial incentives, Non-financial incentives and Work-

life balance

Dependent variable: Job Satisfaction

Definition of variables:

Financial incentives:

Theoretical definition- According to Armstrong (2012) financial rewards comprise

all rewards that have a monetary value and add up to total remuneration. These

rewards include base pay, merit pay, skills based pay, incentives, and service

related pay, bonuses, financial recognition schemes and benefits such as pensions,

sick pay and health insurance

Operational definition- Financial incentives like bonus, allowances, pay hike and

discounts offered to consumers, employees and organizations to encourage

behavior or actions which otherwise would not take place.

Non-financial incentives:

Theoretical definition- A non cash award given in recognition of a high level of

accomplishment or performance such as customer care or support to colleagues,

which is not dependent on achievement of a pre-determined target”.(Rose 1998)

Operational definition- Non-financial incentive is a method of identifying either

individual employees or teams for particular praise or acknowledgement.

12

Work-life balance:

Theoretical definition- Clark (2000) defines work-family balance as “satisfaction

and good functioning at work and at home, with a minimum of role conflict”

Operational definition- The act of achieving a balance between the two competing

demands of work and personal life

Job satisfaction:

Theoretical definition- A pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the

appraisal of one's job or job experiences” (Locke,1976)

Operational definition- Job satisfaction means a positive or pleasant emotional

state that principals and educators experience when their work is in harmony with

their needs and values

Background:

This chapter explains the different research options that were used in this study

such as the design of the research, sample characteristics, the variables of

hypotheses which will be tested, data collection and analysis. In addition this study

intends to investigate the relationship between Financial incentives (pay, bonuses,

profit sharing), Non-financial incentives (develop skills and abilities, social

security and health benefits and career opportunities), work life balance and Job

satisfaction levels (pay, working condition, supervisor, steady employment, co

workers, feeling of accomplishment and praise)

13

Furthermore, the study intends to explain to what extent incentives and work life

balance have an impact on Job satisfaction levels. Job satisfaction will be

considered as a dependent variable because it depends on multiple factors such as

employee’s salary, promotion, supervisor style, co-workers and tasks. On other

hand, financial incentives, non-financial incentives and work life balance can be

considered as independent variables. Regression and correlation analysis will be

used to examine the relationship between independent variable and dependent

variables. Therefore the questionnaire method was considered to be one

appropriate method for this study.

The data was collected from full time employees in the companies based in

Infopark, Kochi. A total number of 129 employees – from middle and bottom

management were randomly selected using self-administered questionnaires. The

questionnaire was attached with a letter explaining the purpose, anonymity and the

confidentiality of all the information filled, and stated that the results would be

strictly used for the study purposes. The participating employees were instructed to

indicate the level to which they agreed with each of the statement in the survey.

14

Job Satisfaction

Financial incentives

Non-financial incentives

Work Life balance

The 129 collected questionnaires proceeded to the data analysis stage and were

analyzed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) program.

The study was focused on essential points related to financial incentives, non-

financial incentives, work life balance and job satisfaction

Study Measures:

The questionnaire used in the study includes 19 items which measures the four

variables included in the study. The scale used is of Likert’s five point format. The

highest scale is 5 which represent “strongly agrees” and the lowest is 1 which

represents “strongly disagree”. The followings represent the main variables:

Financial incentives: This variable was measured using 3 items scale developed by

Ali Erbaş & Tugay Arat (2012) using Likert’s five point format. The scale

included items of financial incentives.

Non-financial incentives: This variable was measured using 3 items scale

developed by Ali Erbaş & Tugay Arat (2012) using Likert’s five point format.

Work life balance is how to manage your time to have enough time for your

personal life and work life. This variable was measured using 4 items scale

developed by the researcher using Likert’s five point format.

Job satisfaction: This variable was measured using 9 items scale developed by

Suliman (2002) using Liker’s five point format. The scale included items of job

satisfaction.

15

Research Hypothesis

H1: There exist a positive relation between financial incentives and job satisfaction levels

H2: There exist a positive relation non- financial incentives and job satisfaction levels.

H3: There exists a positive relation between Work life balance and job satisfaction levels.

16

4. Analysis and Interpretation

This chapter explains the results which were concluded from the survey using

SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The survey is intended to help

in gathering information about employees’ feedback towards the organization in

terms of WLB, financial incentives, non financial incentives and job satisfaction.

The results were used to examine and to provide analysis of the reliability,

correlation and regressions of the collected data.

Findings:

The data was checked with reliability analysis. A reliability test was conducted in

order to decide acceptable alpha values and these were estimated using Cronbach

alpha coefficient.

Result of reliability test

Reliability Financial incentives

Non-financial incentives

Work life balance

Job satisfaction

Cronbach’s alpha

0.63 0.672 0.795 0.898

Table 4.1: Result of reliability

It can be seen from the table, the Cronbach’s alpha was found to be financial

incentives (0.63), non-financial incentives (0.672), work life balance (0.795) and

Job satisfaction (0.898). Hence, the scales used in this study are reliable with

acceptable level of internal consistency.

17

Correlation Analysis

The tools used for the analysis are Karl Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient and

Regression analysis. The Karl Pearson correlation coefficient is a measure of linear

association between two variables. The significance level (or p-value) is the

probability of obtaining results as extreme as the one observed. If the significance

level is very small (less than 0.05) then the correlation is significant and the two

variables are linearly related. The sign of the correlation coefficient indicates the

direction of the relationship (positive or negative). The absolute value of the

correlation coefficient indicates the strength, with larger absolute values indicating

stronger relationships. The significance level (or p-value) is the probability of

obtaining results as extreme as the one observed. If the significance level is very

small (less than 0.05) then the correlation is significant and the two variables are

linearly related. If the significance level is relatively large (for example, 0.50) then

the correlation is not significant and the two variables are not linearly related

18

Table 4.2: correlation between F, NF and WFB with Job Satisfaction

Correlation Analysis and Interpretation

Objective To analyze the relationship between financial incentives and job satisfaction

To analyze the relationship between Non-financial incentives and job satisfaction

To analyze the relationship between work life balance and job satisfaction

Hypothesis 1: There exist a positive relation between financial incentives and job

satisfaction levels

The Coorelation table indicates the strength of the relationship between two

variables. Here, the value for correlation between financial incentives and Job

satisfaction is .797, which states that the above hypothesis holds true.

19

Hypothesis 2: There exist a positive relation between non- financial incentives and

job satisfaction levels.

The value for Correlation between Non-financial incentives and Job satisfaction

is .775, which states that the above hypothesis is correct.

Hypothesis 3: There exists a positive relation between Work life balance and job

satisfaction levels.

The value for correlation between Work life balance and Job satisfaction is .828,

which states that the hypothesis holds true in this case. The value which is closer to 1

is highly correlated, which indicates that work life balance is highly correlated with

job satisfaction levels than financial incentives and non-financial incentives.

Regression Analysis

Regression analysis was undertaken hierarchically to test for significant interaction

effects over and above the simple effects of the independent variables. R, the multiple

correlation coefficients, is the correlation between the observed and predicted values

of the dependent variable. The values of R for models produced by the regression

procedure range from 0 to 1. Larger values of R indicate stronger relationships. R

squared is the proportion of variation in the dependent variable explained by the

regression model. The values of R squared range from 0 to 1. Small values indicate

that the model does not fit the data well. The sample R squared tends to optimistically

estimate how well the models fit the population. Adjusted R squared attempts to

20

correct R squared to more closely reflect the goodness of fit of the model in the

population.

Regression analysis for First HypothesisTo find the degree to which financial incentives influences job satisfaction levels

Table 4.3: Regression model for Financial incentives and Job satisfaction

21

From the above table we can arrive at the following equation

Y=4.494+2.525X; where

‘Y’ stands for the dependent variable Job satisfaction and ‘X’ stands for the

independent variable Financial incentives.

The model summary table indicates R and R square value. The R value represents

the simple correlation and is 0.797 (the "R" Column), which indicates a high

degree of correlation. The R2 value (the "R Square" column) indicates how much

of the total variation in the dependent variable, Job Satisfaction can be explained

by the independent variable-Financial incentives. In this case, 63.6% can be

explained, which is very large.

The ANOVA table indicates that p < 0.0005, which is less than 0.05, and indicates

that, overall, the regression model statistically significantly predicts the outcome

variable (Job satisfaction) (i.e., it is a good fit for the data).

The coefficient table indicates that Beta value of financial incentives (.797).

Higher the beta value, higher will be the impact of independent variables on

dependent variable compared to other independent variables which is measured in

terms of standard deviation units.

22

Regression analysis for Second Hypothesis

To find the degree to which Non-financial incentives influences job satisfaction

levels

Second Equation,

Y=5.208+2.472X; where ‘Y’ stands for the dependent variable Job satisfaction and

‘X’ stands for the independent variable Non-Financial incentives

Table 4.4: Regression model for Non-financial incentives and Job satisfaction

23














Regression analysis for Third HypothesisTo find the degree of influence that Work life balance has on Job satisfaction

levels

Third Equation,

Y=0.111+1.009X; where

‘Y’ stands for the dependent variable Job satisfaction and ‘X’ stands for the

independent variable Work Life balance.

24

Table 4.5: Regression model for Work life balance and Job satisfaction

25














26

5. Findings and Recommendation

Findings

Refering to Hypothesis-1, the Correlation value observed is .797 which indicates

that there is a significant relation between financial incentives and Job satisfaction.

Similarly for Second hypothesis, the Correlation value observed is .775 which

indicates that there is a significant relation between Non-financial incentives and

Job satisfaction.

Lastly for Third hypothesis, the Correlation value observed is .828 which indicates

that there is a significant relation between Work life balance and Job satisfaction.

Referring to Table-2, the observed R square value is .636(63.6%) which indicates

the variation in the job satisfaction levels that can be explained by financial

incentives.


the variation in the job satisfaction levels that can be explained by Non-financial

incentives


the variation in the job satisfaction levels that can be explained by Work-life

balance.

It can be observed from the beta value of all the three variables, Work life balance

(.828) leaves higher impact on Job satisfaction levels followed by financial (.797)

and non-financial incentives (.775).

27

Recommendations

Since the study was conducted among the random employees of Info Park, Cochin.

Organizations pertaining to that area need to focus more on their work life

arrangements such as flexi time hours, Job share arrangements, Maternity leave

arrangements, Compassionate leave arrangement, Emergency care of dependents

etc

Many researches has been conducted on incentives and work life balance affecting

job satisfaction whereas while given an alternative to choose among the three

variables, many employees have more positively responded to work life balance

rather than incentives. One can further extend the research by including variables

pertaining to satisfaction of employees from their job.

28

6. Conclusion

The study focused on finding out to what extent incentives and work life balance

affects the job satisfaction levels of employees. The researcher based on the

responses collected and the analysis done was able to reach an outcome, which

showed that significant relationship exists among financial incentives, non-

financial incentives and work life balance on job satisfaction levels. Hence it

validates the hypothesis as true. Analysis part was done using self administered

questionnaires among the employees at info Park, Cochin. The results are in line

with the previous studies with a slight difference in impact of independent

variables on job satisfaction. Based on the regression analysis, it was observed that work life balance (.828)

leaves higher impact on job satisfaction levels compared to financial incentives

(.797) and non-financial incentive (.775). There are also some limitation in the

study related to geographical location as employees of a particular region are only

included for this study. Besides that, the presence of unobserved job

characteristics, such as job disamenities, may cause further biases. Taking a larger

context as a base and conducting the survey to a broader population will increase

the generalizability of the findings obtained from this study. However, this was

impossible in our study due to time and cost and regarded as a limitation

29

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Annexure

Note: 5-point Likert scale (1-Strongly disagree, 2- Slightly Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Slightly agree, 5- Strongly agree)

In my job, I am getting enough payment to meet the requirements of life

1 2 3 4 5

In my job, incentives are paid according to my performance

1 2 3 4 5

My organization is keenly interested in sharing its profits with me

1 2 3 4 5

In my job, I am getting enough opportunities to develop skills and abilities

1 2 3 4 5

In my job, appropriate social security and health insurance is available

1 2 3 4

My job provides me enough career opportunities and development

1 2 3 4 5

In my life, there is a clear boundary between work and family

1 2 3 4 5

I feel that making a balance between my work, my family and other social responsibilities is difficult

1 2 3 4 5

The time I spend on my job is negatively affecting my social responsibility

1 2 3 4 5

My current job allows me to get involved in my family as I should be

1 2 3 4 5

My job gives me the chance to do something that makes use of my abilities.

1 2 3 4 5

I am happy with the way company policies are put into practice.

1 2 3 4 5

I get praised for doing a good job. 1 2 3 4 5

I am happy with the way my boss handles his/her employees

1 2 3 4 5

My job provides me steady employment 1 2 3 4 5

I get support from my co workers 1 2 3 4 5

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I am happy with the amount of work I do and the pay I get

1 2 3 4 5

In my job, working conditions are good 1 2 3 4 5

I get the feeling of accomplishment from my job 1 2 3 4 5

32

Documents

Impact of Incentives and Work life balance on Job Satisfaction