Work environment, job satisfaction and academic staff intention to say

Abstract

The study sought to examine the possibility of Public Universities in Uganda leveraging upon work environment to improve the job satisfaction of the academic and their willingness to stay. The study was guided by four objectives; to explore academic staff perceptions of work environment, to examine the relationship between work environment and job satisfaction, to examine the relationship between work environment and intention to stay and to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and intention to stay. A cross sectional survey design with a sample (n= 335) taken from the total academic staff population (N= 2,495) in public universities in Uganda was adopted. Three hundred and thirty five questionnaires were distributed to the respondents. Two hundred and eighty three (84%) questionnaires were returned on time out of which two hundred and forty five (73%) questionnaires were complete and thus considered for processing and analysis. Descriptive statistics (mean = 3.37, SD = 1.08) show that the academic staff have a fairly positive perception of the work environment in public universities. Correlation analysis indicated that a strong positive relationships exist between work environment and job satisfaction (r = .554), work environment and staff intention to stay (r = .449), job satisfaction and staff intention to stay (r = .543). Additionally, the regression model indicated that the independent variables predicted the dependent variable up to 33.3%. Top level Public university administrators should engage other stakeholders of university education to continuously improve the work environment since it determines academic staff job satisfaction and intention to stay. A more detailed study focusing on the impact of staff involvement in designing work environment on workplace outcomes could strengthen the cause of creating conducive environment for the most vital staff in public universities.