THE INFLUENCE OF DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES ON THE JOB SATISFACTION OF GREEK BANK EMPLOYEES

Transcription

1 International Journal of Human Resource Management and Research (IJHRMR) ISSN Vol. 3, Issue 4, Oct 2013, TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. THE INFLUENCE OF DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES ON THE JOB SATISFACTION OF GREEK BANK EMPLOYEES DIMITRIOS BELIAS 1, ATHANASIOS KOUSTELIOS 2, LABROS SDROLIAS 3 & MARIA KOUTIVA 4 1,2,4 University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece 3 Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece ABSTRACT The purpose of the present study is to investigate the job satisfaction experienced by bank employees in Greece and how much it is affected by several demographic factors. More specifically, it is investigated how the factors of gender, age, educational level, years of experience in the specific institution, total years of experience and position in the specific institution affect the feeling of personal accomplishment of employees in bank institutions in Greece. The most appropriate research method for the purposes of the study was considered to be the quantitative research method. The tool which was used for data collection is the Employee Satisfaction Inventory, ESI, created by Koustelios, It included 24 questions, which measure six dimensions of job satisfaction: 1. Working conditions (M = 3.13), 2. Earnings (M = 3.30), 3. Promotions (M = 3.21), 4. Nature of work (M = 3.58), 5. Immediate superior (M = 2.81) and 6. The institution as a whole (M = 3.91) (total Chronbach s α = 0.79). The responses were given in a five-level Likert scale: 1 = I strongly disagree, 5 = I strongly agree. The sample of the present study consisted of 258 employees of Greek banks and credit institutions. The results of the study showed that the aspects of job satisfaction experienced by Greek bank employees is affected by several demographic features, like age, gender, educational level and position held by the employee. However, further investigation should be carried out in the Greek population, so that the phenomenon of job satisfaction is well studied and promoted. KEYWORDS: Job Satisfaction, Demographic Features, Bank Employees, Greece INTRODUCTION In the past few decades, the process of management and overall function of companies, institutions and organization has changed dramatically, due to high requirements and competition. As a result, a new culture has been grown in order to solve problems of external adjustment and internal completion (Schein, 1991). This organizational culture has proved effective, valid and reliable over the years, so at present it is being studied in universities and colleges and taught to new members of business groups. For the proper measurement of organizational culture, however, researchers have not come to an agreement, although the quantitative methods, like questionnaires, seem to be the most suitable for this purpose (Tucker et al., 1990, as referred in Koustelios, 1996). Organizational Culture Organizational culture is closely related to job satisfaction, job commitment and job burnout. More specifically, employees who experience low job burnout are more likely to feel more satisfied by their working conditions, personal achievements and colleagues, so they remain at the same institution for a long time. In addition, the research of Koustelios (1996) revealed that there is no statistically significant difference between employees of different types of organizational cultures and different types of institutions. In every institution, the prevailing culture seems to be the so-called culture of

2 16 Dimitrios Belias, Athanasios Koustelios, Labros Sdrolias & Maria Koutiva power, which means that there is a central source of influence and authority either one person or a group of people. This source affects job satisfaction in terms of working conditions, colleagues, institution as a whole and promotion opportunities. Furthermore, the organizational culture of power seems to be the most appropriate for the ultimate aim of management, the identification of the goals of the employees and those of the institution. Employees who are able to work in small groups tend to be more efficient and productive, thus promoting the institution s function and competition (Deal & Kennedy, 1988, as referred in Koustelios, 1996). In contemporary societies, the job satisfaction of bank employees is considered to be crucial in terms of production, because of the levels of collaboration developed from employees who are content with their work. Previous research indicates that studying the factors that contribute to job satisfaction among bank employees is key in formulating future policies and plans of the organizations (Bader et al., 2013, p.30). In addition, Sowmya & Panchanatham (2011) stated that high levels of job satisfaction of bank employees are considered to be leading to higher levels of productivity and job involvement and lower levels of resignation. Job Burnout Job burnout is considered to be a syndrome present in employees who spend long hours in a certain working environment and thus interact with it and their colleagues in a negative way (Belias et al., 2013). More specifically, job burnout is a specific type of professional stress experienced by people while working in a demanding environment, where they have to co-operate with other employees in order to provide certain services. Everyday interaction with colleagues and customers for a long time can possibly make their relationships emotionally charged, leading employees to lose their physical and psychological energy. According to Masclach (1993), the job burnout phenomenon is an evolutionary process, in which the employee experiences physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, caused by long term exposure and involvement in emotionally demanding situations, and thus he/ she loses interest and positive emotions for colleagues and customers, stops being satisfied with his/ her job and efficiency and develops a negative self-image. The job burnout syndrome is considered to appear mostly to employees who work in the field of human resources. According to Masclach & Jackson (1981), the most common features of job burnout are the following: 1. Emotional Exhaustion, which is manifested by the employee s feeling of mental fatigue that makes him/ her lack the energy to invest and dedicate to his/ her work. 2. Depersonalization, which is manifested by the person s negative behavior towards colleagues and customers, creation of impersonal relationships and withdrawal. 3. Reduced sense of personal accomplishment, which includes the reduction of the employee s efficiency, productivity and self-efficacy, and may lead to his/ her resignation. Job burnout is one of the most popular survey areas of organizational and occupational psychology (Koustelios & Kousteliou, 2001). This is because job satisfaction is an emotion that affects many aspects of everyday life and it is considered to be connected with employees job motives, attitudes and personal values (Kantas, 1993). As a result, emotional exhaustion and loss of personal accomplishment lead to an employee s negative opinions and behavior at work, increase his/ her anxiety and affect his/ her everyday activities, mood and relationships. In their attempt to categorize the causes of job burnout, Anagnostopoulos & Papadatos (1992) have suggested three different approaches: 1. Job burnout as a result of adverse working conditions, 2. Job burnout as a result of specific factors of the working environment and 3. Job burnout as a result of individual factors. At any case, job burnout is related to job satisfaction, job commitment and personal well-being (as referred in Koustelios & Kousteliou, 2001).

3 The Influence of Demographic Features on the Job Satisfaction of Greek Bank Employees 17 Job Satisfaction For the definition of job satisfaction, several approaches have been suggested internationally. According to Locke (1976), job satisfaction is considered to be a pleasant or positive emotional condition, derived from an employee s appreciation for his/ her occupation or work experience. Job satisfaction or dissatisfaction is affected by the relation between a person s job expectations and his/ her actual achievements. As it is shown by research results, high job satisfaction levels are related to and can even predict- low levels of job burnout (Platsidou & Agaliotis, 2008). Herzberg (1987) has supported that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction can be interpreted by two different kinds of factors, so they should not be measured on the same continuum. More specifically, job satisfaction is affected by hygiene factors, that include physical working conditions, job security, supervision, salary, institution policy and administration, interpersonal relations and benefits, as well as motivation factors, that include the work itself, personal achievement, responsibility, recognition and advancement. Those factors satisfy a person s need for self-actualization, thus lead the employee to develop positive job attitudes. Herzberg and his colleagues (1959) have concluded that if an employee s hygiene needs are satisfied, poor performance and job dissatisfaction can be prevented, while the satisfaction of the employee s motivation needs lead to the institution s/ company s desired productivity improvement. Another model of job satisfaction has been suggested by Hackman & Oldman (1975) in order to describe the causal relation between a job s features and the employees behavior. This relation is affected by three psychological conditions: 1. Experienced meaningfulness of work, 2. Experienced responsibility for the outcomes of work and 3. Knowledge of the actual results of work. According to this theory, employees are more likely to react positively to their work if they experience the feeling that their work is remarkable and that they are responsible for their job performance and if they are aware of their actual job performance. The first psychological condition is affected by three fundamental job features, skill variety (different activities require different skills), task identity (completion of a special task) and task significance (the effect of a task on other people). The second condition is affected by another job feature, autonomy (independence and freedom during the completion of a task), while the third condition is affected by the job feature of feedback (providing accurate information about the effectiveness and performance in a specific task). The combined values of these five variables define the overall complexity of the task, which is called motivating potential. The motivating potential is the degree that intrinsic motivation of the employee can be caused and it is affected by the combination of the above five features. The experience of job satisfaction has been connected with another factor, job commitment. More specifically, employees who feel content with their working conditions, have positive relations with their colleagues, experience low work anxiety levels and feel that their work is being recognized by their supervisors tend to express their positive feelings in physical, mental and emotional ways (Kahn, 1990). As a result, employees with high job commitment make especially great physical, mental and emotional effort while performing their working roles. On the contrary, employees with low job commitment are more likely to withdraw physically, mentally or emotionally from any possible difficulties during working. It is conducted from the above that job satisfaction and the subsequent job commitment have positive effects both in personal and in organizational level (personal growth and development and increased productivity quality). Job commitment is considered to be affected by multiple factors that lead to the increase or decrease of employees performance. Among others, support from colleagues and managers, providing of feedback and comments on the job performance, training and learning opportunities, it is being estimated that individual factors, like the ability to work in autonomy, are very likely to affect job commitment as well (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Furthermore, job

4 18 Dimitrios Belias, Athanasios Koustelios, Labros Sdrolias & Maria Koutiva commitment is considered to be affected by the employees personality traits, emotions, skills and ways of interpreting environmental stimuli and information (Robinson, 2006). Moreover, demographic features, such as gender, age, years of experience, employee s position in the specific institution, educational level and family status are supposed to be some important factors that influence and differentiate job commitment (Kular et al., 2008). LITERATURE REVIEW Investigations about job satisfaction have been conducted in many different areas and for many different occupations. For example, research in the field of law in many western countries (including Greece) has shown that lawyers are quite satisfied with their working conditions and their job itself, but not satisfied with their salary (Seron, 2007; Dinovitzer & Garth, 2007; Salman & Platsidou, 2011). Other researches in the field of education have indicated that secondary school teachers in Europe experience high levels of job burnout and low levels of job satisfaction. For example, the research of Crossman & Harris (2006) indicated that teachers who work in independent and privately-managed school settings experience higher job satisfaction than those who work in foundation schools. As it seems, job satisfaction of teachers is an emotion which can be affected by school type, but there is no significant difference between teachers of different age, gender or years of experience. However, the research of Sunbul (2003) had revealed that the age of high school teachers is significantly predictive of their feeling of personal accomplishment. In the field of bank employees, the investigation of Singh & Kaur (2009) showed that the level of job satisfaction among Universal bank employees was most highly affected by the factors of supervision, cooperation with peers, payment and other facilities, and delegation of authority. Allam (2007) collected data from 300 bank manages and clerks and found that the experience of job satisfaction and job commitment of managers and clerks was most affected by personal accomplishment, while the job involvement of clerks is also likely to be affected by emotional exhaustion. Additionally, Malllik & Mallik (1998) found that bank managers were more job involved than clerks and sub staff, but experience less job satisfaction. Moreover, the study of Shaw et al. (2000) revealed that job satisfaction of bank employees was strongly and negatively related to frustration and intention to quit of individuals with positive affectivity. In addition, Walther (1988) had found that perceived communication adequacy in multi-branch banking organizations affected employee s productivity and job satisfaction as well. Furthermore, Clinebell & Shadwick (2005) found that employees of branch banks experienced lower levels of job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational commitment and partial inclusion, and higher levels of role ambiguity and role conflict than employees of main office banks. Sowmya & Panchanatham (2011) revealed that salary and promotion were the most influencing factors of job satisfaction among the banking sector employees in India. The next important factor was considered to be organization aspects, and dissatisfaction with supervisory behavior is likely to lead the employee to negligent behavior and absenteeism. Age and Job Satisfaction Investigating the effect of age on job satisfaction, Choudhury & Gupta (2011) collected data from employees from different industries, like Public Sector Units and Pharmacy, with median age of 25 years. According to the results, the feeling of job satisfaction and pay satisfaction is more likely to affect the turnover intention of employees under 25 years than those who are over 25 and relatively experienced. The researches of Falcon (1991), Oleckno & Blacconiere (1993) and Lee & Wilbur (1985) had revealed that job satisfaction increased with age, as older employees were more satisfied with the extrinsic features of their job.

5 The Influence of Demographic Features on the Job Satisfaction of Greek Bank Employees 19 Other researches, like the one of Blackburn & Bruce (1989) had shown that job satisfaction is correlated with age, education and length of tenure. Al-Ajmi (2001) stated that young managers might share the opinion that their expertise is not appreciated enough and that aged generations enjoy an almost complete monopoly on important jobs. Thus, they tend to be less satisfied with their job, as job satisfaction is influenced by the factor of having a highly prestigious job and earning enough money. Gender and Job Satisfaction Jung et al. (2007) used data from the Korean Income and Labor Panel Study in order to investigate the feeling of job satisfaction of public and private employees. They came to the conclusion that job satisfaction was affected by the employees gender in terms of working environment and wages. On the contrary, the research of Hill et al. (1985) had revealed that female bank employees were as dissatisfied with their job aspects as male employees and thus they were as prepared to take industrial action. Another study of Asha (1994) showed that job satisfaction among women employees was related to their perception of family environment. The study of Warr (1992) revealed that job satisfaction was negatively related to the educational level of female employees, while Clark eta al. (1996) revealed that married and widowed employees experience higher job satisfaction levels than single and divorced employees. Educational Level and Job Satisfaction An employee s educational level has been found to be one more factor that is likely to influence the feeling of job satisfaction. Many researches, like the ones of Clark et al. (1996) and Zou (2007) showed that highly educated employees were more likely to experience lower levels of job satisfaction, while others, like the ones of Phil (2009) and Wae (2001) indicated the opposite. Other researchers, like Green (2000) claim that there is no significant difference in job satisfaction among employees of different levels of education. In the study of Bader et al. (2013), employees of secondary level education showed higher job satisfaction levels than employees holding an undergraduate degree. One possible explanation which is given is that highly educated employees are more likely to have higher expectations thus feel more dissatisfied with job opportunities. Years of Experience and Job Satisfaction Several researches have shown that the years of experience both in a certain institution and in general are likely to affect the feeling of job satisfaction of employees. Wae (2001), for example, indicated that bank employees with long working experience were more satisfied with their job than employees with short experience. Others, like Phil (2009) and Green (2000) found no statistically significant difference. In the recent study of Bader et al. (2013), employees with 1 to 10 years of experience showed lower levels of job satisfaction than employees with 21 to 40 years of experience, while employees with 11 to 20 years of experience showed lower levels of job satisfaction than employees with 21 to 30 years of experience. Position Held and Job Satisfaction An employee s position in a certain institution is considered to be highly correlated with the feeling of job satisfaction. Studies like the ones of Reilly et al. (1993) and Howard & Frink (1996) had revealed that managers are more likely to experience higher levels of job satisfaction than clerks and other staff, as they are provided with more opportunities for growth. However, the study of Bader et al. (2013) showed that high level managers, department managers and staff experience approximately the same job satisfaction levels.

6 20 Dimitrios Belias, Athanasios Koustelios, Labros Sdrolias & Maria Koutiva METHODS Aim of the Study The aim of the present study was to investigate the experience of job satisfaction among bank employees in the region of Greece. The phenomenon of job satisfaction is being studied in relation with demographic features like gender, age, level of education, positions and years of experience in the specific institution, and years of experience in general. The Inventory For the measurement of job satisfaction in the present study, the Employee Satisfaction Inventory - ESI (Koustelios, 1991; Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997) was used. The inventory was created using Greek employees as a sample. It included 24 questions, which measure six dimensions of job satisfaction: 1. Working conditions (5 questions), 2. Earnings (4 questions), 3. Promotions (3 questions), 4. Nature of work (4 questions), 5. Immediate superior (4 questions) and 6. The institution as a whole (4 questions). The responses were given in a five-level Likert scale: 1 = I strongly disagree, 5 = I strongly agree. The structure, manufacturing validity, reliability and internal consistency of the inventory have been supported by previous studies of human resources occupations, like public employees (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997) and teachers in Primary and Secondary Education (Koustelios, 2001; Koustelios & Kousteliou, 1998). Sampling Employees working in Greek banks and credit institutions from several branches across the country participated in the present study. The questionnaires were administrated either by ordinary or by electronic mail and collected within a month after the first pilot study. The pilot study ensured the researchers that the tool was simple, understandable and suitable for the measurement of the six variables mentioned above. FINDINGS The Sample The sample of the present study consisted of 258 employees of Greek banks and credit institutions. 151 of them were male (58.5%) and 107 were female (41.5%). The participants age varied from 25 to 54 years old, with an average of 39, 27. More specifically, most participants (116) were between years old (44.96%), 92 of them were between years old (35.65%), 31 were years old (12%) and only 19 of them were older than 51 years old (7.36%). Referring to the marital status of the participants, the results revealed that the majority of them (163) were married (63.2%), 89 of them were single (34.5%), 5 were divorced (1.9%) and only one had been widowed (0.4%). Regarding the educational level of the employees, it was found that 168 of them had received a university degree (65.1%), while 90 had not (34.9%). Furthermore, the results showed that only 47 of them had received a postgraduate diploma (Master) (18.2%). Referring to the position held by the employees in the institution they were currently working, it was found that 97 of them were officers or clerks (37.6%), 88 of them were managers (34.1%) and 70 of them were heads of the branch (27.1%). Regarding the employees years of experience in the institution they were currently working, it was found that they varied from 1 to 25 years, with an average of More specifically, the majority of them (80) had years of experience (31%), 65 had years (25%), 46 had 6-10 (17.82%), 40 had over 21 years of experience (15.55) and 27 had up to five years (10.46%). Finally, regarding the participants total years of experience as bank employees, it was found that they varied from 1 to 25 years, with an average of More specifically, the majority of them (83) had years of experience (32.17%), 75 of them had years (29%), 41 had more than 21 years (15.89%), 32 had 6-10 years (12.4%) and 27 had up to five years (10.46%).

7 The Influence of Demographic Features on the Job Satisfaction of Greek Bank Employees 21 RESULTS Testing the reliability of the present study, using Cronbach s α, it was found that the values of all variables were higher than 0.7, so the participants answers were considered to be reliable. In addition, it was found that the reliability of the entire questionnaire was also high (Table 1). Table 1: Cronbach s Alpha Reliability Test Variables Cronbach s Alpha Working conditions 0.72 Earnings 0.72 Promotions 0.75 Nature of work 0.70 Immediate superior 0.73 The institution as a whole 0.78 Total/ Questionnaire 0.79 As it is supported by the author of the Inventory, the reliability of each variable and the questionnaire as a whole provides guarantee that the variables represent the actual experiences and attitudes of the participants. More specifically, for the variable Working conditions it was found that on average the participants agreed that there is not adequate lighting and ventilation in their working environment. For the variable Earnings, on average the employees believed that their salary is not adequate to cover their needs. For the variable Promotions, the participants on average believed that the experience they had gained was likely to increase the chances for promotion. For the variable Nature of work, the employees on average considered their work to be monotonous. For the variable Immediate superior, the participants on average reported that their superior was supportive when needed. Finally, for the variable The institution as a whole, it was found that the participants believed that there were distinctions among employees in their institution. The mean of the participants answers in each variable of job satisfaction is presented in Table 2. Table 2: Mean of the Participants Answers in the Variables of Job Satisfaction Variables Mean Standard Deviation Working conditions Earnings Promotions Nature of work Immediate superior The institution as a whole Searching for correlations among all the variables of job satisfaction and the variables of age and years of experience both in general and in the specific institution, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The results revealed several strong correlations among the variables (Table 3). Working conditions Earnings Promotions Variables Nature of work Immediate superior The institution as a whole Working Conditions Earnings Table 3: Correlations among Variables Promotions Nature of Work Immediate Superior The Institution as a Whole Age Experience in the Specific Institution Total Experience Pearson 1.243** **.387**.133** p Pearson.243** **.180** p Pearson ** -.106** ** * p Pearson.214** ** 1.526**.103** -.197** p Pearson.387**.200** -.106**.526** 1.193** -.068** -.314** -.365** p Pearson.133**.180** **.193** p

8 22 Dimitrios Belias, Athanasios Koustelios, Labros Sdrolias & Maria Koutiva Age Experience in the specific institution Total experience Table 3: Contd., Pearson ** -.197** -.268** **.863** p Pearson ** ** 1.900** p Pearson * ** **.900** 1 p **.Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level The results revealed that the strongest positive correlation was between the variables of the years of experience in the specific institution and the years of experience in general (r = 0.900, p = 0.000) and the variables of age and years of experience in the specific institution (r = 0.835, p = 0.000) and age and years of experience in general (r = 0.863, p = 0.000). In addition, strong positive correlation was found between the variables of nature of work and immediate superior (r = 0.526, p = 0.000) and between the variables of working conditions and immediate superior (r = 0.387, p = 0.000). Thus, it can be said that the participants who believed that their superior was understanding and supportive tended to believe also that their work was satisfying and their working environment was pleasant. Furthermore, strong positive correlation was found between the variables of working conditions and earnings (r = 0.243, p = 0.000), working conditions and nature of work (r = 0.214, p = 0.000) and earnings and immediate superior (r = 0.200, p = 0.000). This means that employees who believed that their superior was rude or annoying tended also to believe that they were paid less than they were worth. Taking into account the negative correlations, the strongest negative correlations were found between the variables of immediate superior and years of experience in general (r = , p = 0.000) and immediate superior and years of experience in the specific institution (r = , p = 0.000). In addition, strong negative correlation was found between the variables of immediate superior and age (r = , p = 0.000). Thus, it can be said that the younger a participant was, the more likely he/ she was to have negative attitude towards their superior. Furthermore, strong negative correlations were found between the variables of age and nature of work (r = , p = 0.000) and age and promotions (r = , p=0.000). This means that younger employees were more likely to believe that their work was monotonous and boring and that the chances of promotion were limited. The six variables of job satisfaction were tested for differentiating feelings due to the factor of gender, using the Independent Samples T-Test. The results revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between gender and the variables of working conditions, earnings, promotions and institution as a whole. However, a statistically significant difference was found between gender and the variable of nature of work (p = < 0.005), indicating that women were more unsatisfied with their duties than men. Similarly, a statistically significant difference was found between gender and the variable of immediate superior (p = 0.005), indicating that women tended to believe that their superior was rude or annoying more than men did (Table 4). Table 4: Testing for Statistically Significant Difference among the Factor of Gender Variables Working conditions Earnings Promotions Nature of work Gender No. of Participants Mean Standard Deviation p. Male Female Male Female ,538 Male Female Male Female

9 The Influence of Demographic Features on the Job Satisfaction of Greek Bank Employees 23 Immediate superior The institution as a whole Table 4: Contd., Male Female Male Female The variables of job satisfaction were also tested for differentiation due to the educational level of the participants. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the possession of a university degree and the variable of nature of work (p = < 0.005). This means that participants who had graduated from a university were more likely to think of their work as satisfying and valuable than those who did not have a university degree (Table 5). Table 5: Testing for Statistically Significant Difference among the Factor of University Degree Holder or Not Variables Working conditions Earnings Promotions Nature of work Immediate superior The institution as a whole University Degree Holder No. of Participants Mean Standard Deviation Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No p , Searching for statistically significant differences between the factor of postgraduate degree holder and the six variables of job satisfaction, it was found that participants who possessed a postgraduate degree (master) were more likely to have higher expectations for promotion (p = < 0.005). Similarly, they were more likely to have positive attitudes toward their immediate superior (p = < 0.005) (Table 6). Table 6: Testing for Statistically Significant Difference among the Factor of Postgraduate Degree Holder or Not Variables Working conditions Earnings Promotions Nature of work Immediate superior The institution as a whole Position No. of Standard Mean Held Participants Deviation Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 210 3, Yes No p , Finally, searching for statistically significant differences between the factor of position held by the employees and the six variables of job satisfaction, it was found that it was likely to affect the employees attitude toward the working conditions (p = < 0.005), earnings (p = < 0.005), nature of work (p = < 0.005) and the institution as a whole (p = < 0.005). Thus, it can be assumed that employees who hold higher positions in an institution were more likely to believe that their working environment was pleasant, that their wage was adequate to cover their needs, their work

10 24 Dimitrios Belias, Athanasios Koustelios, Labros Sdrolias & Maria Koutiva was satisfying and the institution took care of its employees. Table 7: Testing for Statistically Significant Difference among the Factor of Position Held by the Employee Variables Working conditions Earnings Promotions Nature of work Immediate superior The institution as a whole Postgraduate No. of Standard Mean Degree Holder Participants Deviation Clerk Manager Head Clerk Manager Head Clerk Manager Head Clerk Manager Head Clerk Manager Head Clerk Manager Head p DISCUSSIONS The results of the present study revealed that the experience of job satisfaction among Greek bank employees is affected by several demographic features. More specifically, the factor of gender seemed to affect the employees feeling of job satisfaction in terms of nature of work and attitudes toward their immediate superior. This result was similar to the findings of Jung et al. (2007), according to which women tended to feel more dissatisfied with their working environment and salary than men. Regarding the factor of age, it was negatively correlated with the factors of nature of work, working conditions and promotions, indicating that young employees were more dissatisfied with their duties, aspects of promotion and co-workers. This conclusion confirms previous findings from the researches of Choudhury & Gupta (2011), Blackburn & Bruce (1989) and Al-Ajmi (2001). The fact that job satisfaction appears to be lower among young employees may be explained by their lack of experience, high possibilities of making mistakes and great anxiety in their attempt to carry out the role assigned to them (Belias et al., 2013), while they are more likely to be affected by negative experiences and uncomfortable situations. Taking into account the factor of educational level, it was found that university degree holders were more likely to believe that their work is valuable and interesting, while postgraduate (master) degree holders were more likely to believe that they have high promotion prospects and have more positive attitude toward their superiors. The results agree with the findings of Wae (2001) and Phil (2009) and might be explained by the fact that highly educated employees tend to think higher of their work as a whole and have higher ambitions. When referring to the factors of years of experience in general and years of experience in the specific institution, negative correlation was found with the factor of immediate superior, indicating that the less experienced an employee was, the more likely he/ she was to have negative attitudes toward their superior. The results confirmed the findings of Bader et al. (2013) and can be explained by the fact that older employees are more used to the expectations and demanding of their superiors. Finally, taking into account the employees position in the institution, it was found that managers and heads of the branch experienced higher job satisfaction than clerks, as they

11 The Influence of Demographic Features on the Job Satisfaction of Greek Bank Employees 25 thought higher of their work, enjoyed their working conditions, were satisfied with their earnings and believed that the institution was taking their needs into account. Those findings confirm previous researches, like the ones of Howard and Frink (1996) and Reilly et al. (1993). CONCLUSIONS The results of the present study represent a rather small sample of Greek bank employees, so they should be carefully interpreted. Although there is a quite big number of studies worldwide that confirms the findings of this investigation, there are also several studies which have come to contradictory conclusions. For this reason, in an effort to promote the experience of job satisfaction among employees, all possible aspects of the phenomenon should be taken into account. For instance, the feeling of job satisfaction among the employees should be investigated separately in each institution, so that its managers are able to form such working conditions that serve their employees specific needs. Finally, such surveys should be carried out at a national level, so that the phenomenon of job satisfaction among Greek employees in general is being studied and promoted. REFERENCES 1. Al-Ajmi, R. (2001). The Effect of Personal Characteristics on Job Satisfaction: A Study among Male Managers in the Kuwaiti oil Industry. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 11, Allam, Z. (2007). A Study of Relationships of Job Burnout and Job Anxiety with job involvement among Bank Employees. Management and Labour Studies, 32(1), Anagnostopoulos, F., & Papadatos, D. (1992). Παπαγονηική ζύνθεζη και εζωηεπική ζςνοσή ηος επωηημαηολογίος καηαγπαθήρ επαγγελμαηικήρ εξοςθένωζηρ ζε δείγμα νοζηλεςηπιών. Ψυχολογικά Θέματα, 5, Asha, C.B. (1994). Job Satisfaction among women in relation to their family environment. Journal of community guidance and research, 11(1), Bader, H.A.M., Hashim, I.H.M.,& Zaharim, N.M. (2013). Job Satisfaction among Bank Employees in Eastern Libya. American International Journal of Social Science, 2(1), Bakker, A.B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands-Resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, Belias, D., Koustelios, A., Sdrollias, L., Koutiva, M., & Zournatzi, E. (2013). Job Burnout Greek Bank Employees: A Case Study. International Journal of Human Resource Management and Research, 3(2), Blackburn, J.W., & Bruce, W.M. (1989). Rethinking Concepts of Job Satisfaction: The Case of Nebraska Municipal Clerks. Review of Public personnel Administration, 10(1), Choudhury, R.R., & Gupta, V. (2011). Impact of Age on Pay Satisfaction and Job Satisfaction leading to Turnover Intention: A Study of Young Working Professionals in India. Management and Labour Studies, 36(4), Clark, A.E., Oswald, A., & Warr, P ). Is Job satisfaction U-shaped in age? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 69(1),

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