Abstract
Background: The manufacturing sector is noted to be important to the South African economy. Calls exist to understand those factors that enhance the workforce capability of the manufacturing sector.
Aim: This study examines the determinants of job satisfaction accounting for the role of person-organisation fit, decent work, and employee-organisational factors (high-performance human resource management [HRM] practices and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviours).
Setting: The study was conducted among a sample of employees operating in the manufacturing sector in South Africa.
Method: A conceptual model was tested through a probability sample (n = 211) drawn from South Africa’s manufacturing sector. Covariance-based structural equation modelling and the Hayes approach were used to test the hypotheses.
Results: The results demonstrate a significant relationship between decent work and high-performance HRM practices. Furthermore, person-organisation fit significantly moderates this relationship. High-performance HRM practices were significantly associated with change-oriented citizenship behaviours, which accounted for a significant variance in job satisfaction.
Conclusion: This study provides valuable insight into employee-organisational factors that can influence job satisfaction.
Contribution: The research re-invigorates attention to the factors influencing organisational job satisfaction. These factors become critical to re-vitalising the workplace to enhance job satisfaction and a dedicated leadership excellence agenda.
Keywords: decent work; employees; person-organisation fit; high-performance human resource management practices; change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour; manufacturing sector.
Introduction
The concept of job satisfaction is widely researched across various disciplines and contexts. The attribution here is that job satisfaction plays a utility role as it indicates responses to working conditions (Judge, Zhang & Glerum 2020). Ultimately, this may improve the quality of life of individuals within organisations (Zaghini et al. 2023). Through this understanding, aspects related to job satisfaction can be a barometer to assess the effectiveness of interventions introduced in the workplace (Andreas 2022). Such a focus becomes essential, especially given the noted changes characterising the world of work (Chinyamurindi 2022). Such changes include increased resignations and quiet quitting (Formica & Sfodera 2022; Fuller & Kerr 2022; Loewy & Spintge 2022; Zenger & Folkman 2022). In essence, especially for human resource (HR) practitioners, understanding job satisfaction-related issues is intrinsically tied to various work outcomes. These may include absenteeism, intention to leave, turnover intentions and counterproductive behaviours (e.g. ed. Mars 2019; Msuya 2022; Raid & Alzoubi 2021; Yunita, Fitria & Eddy 2021).
There is a consensus around the job satisfaction construct. In terms of definition, job satisfaction is viewed as an overall evaluative judgement or decision about one’s job (and that of others), informed by accumulated experiences and feelings (Mharapara et al. 2022). Regarding impact, promoting job satisfaction has been noted to benefit employees and their organisations (Sanhokwe, Chinyamurindi & Muzurura 2023). This includes benefits such as driving performance, promoting work engagement and decisions to commit long-term to the organisation (e.g. Garg, Dar & Mishra 2018; Gopinath 2021; Loan 2020). Ultimately, satisfied employees have more meaningful work experiences (Li et al. 2020; Satuf et al. 2018). Such positive job satisfaction experiences affect their relationships within and outside the organisation (Chigbu, Chinyamurindi & Marange 2024; Sypniewska 2014).
The lack of motivation effort and the consequent disengagement by dissatisfied employees results being very costly for organisations (Budrienė & Diskienė 2020; Clack 2020). Incentivising employees through high salaries and benefits alone may not have the desired effect (Cassar & Meier 2018; Kesternich et al. 2021). This may result in anxiety and limiting aspects related to job satisfaction (Andruszkiewicz et al. 2023). Emerging evidence suggests a paradigmatic shift in matters that significantly satisfy employees (Zheng et al. 2023). There appears to be a growing mismatch in employee and organisational expectations, more so as it relates to needs, values and purpose, the underlying tenets of meaningful and fulfilling work (Formica & Sfodera 2022; Harter 2022; Zenger & Folkman 2022).
Research problem, purpose and objectives
Calls exist to expand on research that aims to understand further the concept of job satisfaction (Judge et al. 2020). This is actuated by changes within the contemporary workplace that emphasise appreciating the determinants of job satisfaction and promoting the behaviour (Formica & Sfodera 2022; Fuller & Kerr 2022). One factor that is potentially linked to the understanding of job satisfaction is decent work. In their recommendations for future research, Judge et al. (2020) suggested the need to pay attention to the determinants of job satisfaction more closely, particularly justice perceptions, as they strongly predict job satisfaction. Carrying a social justice posture, the decent work phenomenon recognises work as a context for human experience and its impact on the lives of employees, their families, communities and organisations (Sanhokwe & Takawira 2022). These positions, especially within developing countries, also need to promote aspects related to decent work (Wignall et al. 2023).
Building on the International Labour Organization (ILO 1999), Duffy et al. (2016) defined decent work as:
(a) physically and interpersonally safe working conditions (e.g., absence of physical, mental or emotional abuse), (b) hours that allow for free time and adequate rest, (c) organisational values that complement family and social values, (d) adequate compensation, and (e) access to adequate health care. (p. 130)
Decent work enables employees to:
[A]ttain a sense of self-respect and dignity, experience freedom and security in the workplace, and (as far as possible) allow choosing and executing productive, meaningful, and fulfilling work that will allow them to construct themselves adequately and without restrictions and make social contributions. (Di Fabio & Maree 2016:9)
This integrated conceptualisation of decent work has shaped research over the last decade and proposed a frontier for future research (Blustein, Lysova & Duffy 2022).
Limited evidence links decent work to valuable workplace practices, attitudes and behaviour (Duffy et al. 2020). Within the sub-Saharan African context, promoting decent work is considered crucial, especially to the lives of working adults (Chinyamurindi, Mathibe & Marange 2023; Ruzungunde et al. 2023). The challenge appears compounded by decent work deficits that characterise the workplace in such contexts (Sanhokwe et al. 2023). Affected here could be organisational HR activities such as recruiting and retaining satisfied personnel who add value to the organisation (Alias et al. 2018).
The study tested a moderated mediation model linking decent work to job satisfaction via high-performance HR practices, person-organisation fit and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour. The study provides theoretical and empirical rationales for the direct relationships between the constructs in use because of their relevance, importance and generalisability. Additionally, the study presents the results of a multilevel moderated mediation analysis. Specifically, the study tested the moderating role of the person-organisation fit in the relationship between decent work and high-performance HR practices. High-performance HR practices and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour are hypothesised as mediators linking decent work to job satisfaction. The paper discusses the results, highlighting support for and value added to current theories, as well as the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings. The study seeks to answer the following research question: What are the determinants of job satisfaction accounting for the role of person-organisation fit, decent work and employee organisational factors (high-performance human resource management (HRM) practices and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviours)?
Literature review and theoretical basis
The study borrows from two theories – the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) and the Social Exchange Theory (SET).
Building on the principles of the SET, Blau (1964) suggests that meaningful, fulfilling work environments, characteristic of decent work, facilitate valuable work-related investments in HRM systems and practices. Linked to this are the assumptions made within the PWT (Duffy et al. 2016). The PWT recognises the centrality of work in the lives of those who work or seek to work (Duffy et al. 2016). The theory states that the experience of decent work influences the degree to which employees’ needs for survival, self-determination and social contribution are satisfied (Duffy et al. 2019). Satisfying these needs promotes work fulfilment and the well-being of employees, their families and communities (Duffy et al. 2020; Sanhokwe & Takawira 2022). Viewed this way, decent work could interact in theoretically plausible and significant ways with job satisfaction (Chada, Mashavira & Mathibe 2022). Recent work shows links between decent work and outcomes of individual and organisational well-being (Chinyamurindi et al. 2023; Ruzungunde et al. 2023).
Decent work and high-performance human resource management practices
High-performance human resource management practices include workplace systems and actions that promote workforce abilities and capabilities, motivation and goal-directed behaviours (Alqudah, Carballo-Penela & Ruzo-Sanmartín 2022). Such practices include but are not limited to, ability-enhancing practices (formal selection tests, structured interviews, hiring selectivity, high pay, commensurate benefits and capacity development opportunities), motivation-enhancing practices (e.g. compensation based on individual and group performance outcomes, formal performance evaluation mechanisms and merit-based promotion systems) and opportunity-enhancing practices (e.g. formal and informal participation processes, regular communication and information sharing efforts and autonomy in work-related decision making) (Alqudah et al. 2022; Kehoe & Wright 2013).
Employee perceptions of HRM practices are influenced by their day-to-day experiences of work (Kehoe & Wright 2013). For new and existing employees, experiencing decent work, or otherwise, manifests, first and foremost, through the quality of HRM practices. Human resource management practices depend, to a large extent, on the overarching work context; that is, they are an outcome of nurturance (Alqudah et al. 2022; Kehoe & Wright 2013; Van Esch, Wei & Chiang 2018).
Human resource practices are highly performed only when there is an appropriate, value-adding fit with the business, its characteristics and what it seeks to achieve (Murphy et al. 2018). High-performance HRM practices signal employers’ willingness to invest in their employees (Aburumman et al. 2020; Murphy et al. 2018). Decent work focusses on work conditions within the context of work, particularly adopting Duffy et al. (2016) framework. These conditions create an environment where high-performance HRM practices can exist. Through decent work, organisational leaders initiate and promote high-performance HRM practices to develop healthy, investment-based organisation-employee relationships (Magalhães, Dos Santos & Pais 2024). The study proposes that fulfilling decent work conditions challenges organisational HRM systems and practices to evolve and serve a mutually beneficial, goal-directed purpose. Based on the presented literature, it can be expected that:
H1: Decent work fosters high-performance human resource management practices.
High-performance human resource management and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour
Change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour denotes proactive, constructive behaviours by employees. These behaviours assist in identifying and implementing value-adding, work-related changes to policies, procedures and methods (Chiaburu et al. 2022). Change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour and related actions improve organisational situations and performance (Chiaburu et al. 2022). According to Seppälä et al. (2012), this set of behaviours is an interactive product of openness to change values, work unit identification and a sense of power and empowerment. Change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour represents behavioural manifestations of employee commitment to their organisation, thereby suggesting the relevance and intimacy of this behaviour to high-performance HRM practices.
The degree to which employees’ attitudes and behaviour respond to HRM practices depends on their cumulative experiences and perceptions over time (Aburumman et al. 2020; Murphy et al. 2018). As postulated by Kehoe and Wright (2013), employee perceptions of the HRM practice are temporally closer to, and therefore likely to be more predictive of, their attitudinal and behavioural outcomes. Through a mutual investment-based employment relationship inherent in high-performance HRM practices, the organisation expects employees to develop, stay motivated and make valuable work-related contributions as dedicated champions and brand equity ambassadors (Kehoe & Wright 2013).
Using the SET based on the tenets of reciprocity and psychological perceptions of obligation, it can be inferred that employees who experience high-performance HRM practices respond with positive behaviour and attitudes (Blau 1964). Predicated in the SET, employees who experience high-performance HRM practices will likely exhibit higher levels of change-oriented citizenship behaviour (Chiaburu et al. 2022; Pradhan & Shrestha 2022; Sivapragasam & Raya 2018). Employees identify with such an organisation when situated in supportive environments that develop their skills, provide regular, just performance feedback and reward performance through commensurate compensation and career progression opportunities. Therefore, high-performance HRM practices may be a prerequisite for change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviours. Based on the presented literature, it can be expected that:
H2: High-performance human resource management practices are positively related to change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour.
Change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction
Job satisfaction is a pleasant emotional state, an outcome of assessing one’s job experience. As a multidimensional construct, job satisfaction exists at the intersection of physiological, psychological and environmental circumstances that, in an integrated fashion, determine an employee’s satisfaction with their job, emotional stability and conscientiousness (Davidescu et al. 2022). Satisfaction embeds pleasurable emotional orientations towards the work roles employees perform. The level of satisfaction influences employee motivation and, by extension, productivity and organisational performance (Davidescu et al. 2022). Dissatisfied employees leave their jobs, which can be costly to the firm (Judge et al. 2020).
The SET suggests that, by discretionally taking charge to improve an organisation’s circumstances and improving its ability to adapt and thrive, employees create a mutually strengthening, value-adding relationship between themselves and their jobs. Change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour gives employees positive experiences and feelings towards their jobs and themselves (Singh & Singh 2018). This study posits that job satisfaction is most excellent in organisations where change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour is prevalent. Based on the presented literature, it can be expected that:
H3: Change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour is positively related to job satisfaction.
Decent work, person-organisation fit and high-performance human resource management practices
Person-organisation fit is the similarity of values and goals, the compatibility between the needs of employees and the support found in the work environment, and between individual and organisational characteristics (Mostafa et al. 2022). Given options, employees choose organisations whose values are congruent with theirs (Kurtessis et al. 2017). A central theme in the decent work and person-organisation fit constructs is the focus on the values-based relationship between the employees and the organisation (Duffy et al. 2016, 2020). Decent work and person-organisation fit are theoretically expected to travel as resource caravans because they embed value, goal and mission congruence (Mostafa et al. 2022).
The SET suggests that person-organisation fit could amplify the effect of decent work on HR practices. An optimal fit in values and choices between the employee and the organisation creates positive energy and a desire for continuous improvement to sustain desirable performance (Mostafa et al. 2022; Subramanian et al. 2022). The study argues that the person-organisation fit amplifies the effect of decent work on high-performance HRM practices by directing organisational energy, passion and interest towards the creation of mutually beneficial, value-adding practices and systems that galvanise performance. Based on the presented literature, it can be expected that:
H4: Person-organisation fit positively moderates the relationship between decent work and high-performance human resource management practices.
Decent work, human resource management practices, change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction
The literature suggests that employees make sense of their work environment through HRM practices before deciding on their attitudinal and behavioural responses (Aburumman et al. 2020). When promoted through decent work, mutually value-adding practices motivate employees to adopt goal-directed, value-adding attitudes and behaviours. Hinged on the SET, the study argues that positive social climates, anchored in decent work, improve the quality of life in an organisation by challenging and promoting processes that govern how talent is recruited, trained and/or mentored, supported and developed to support overarching organisational goals.
The SET suggests that employees show an increased affective commitment to the organisation when placed in high-performance HRM contexts. This will likely manifest itself in job satisfaction. The high commitment, via change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour, is complemented by a mutually reinforcing, supportive environment and practices that balance the benefits received by employees and the organisation, actors in the exchange relationship. In this vein, the contribution of employees – via change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction – reciprocates the relatively substantial organisational investments, including the benefits associated with decent work and high-performance HRM practices. Such workplaces will reflect an affective bond characterised by positive work behaviour and a dedicated drive to organisational goals.
The above-stated conceptualisations acutely situate the integrated influence of decent work on job satisfaction through HRM practices and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour pathways. Furthermore, the submissions expose why HRM practices and change-oriented organisational citizenship are situated as mediators at the first and second stages, respectively. Based on the presented literature, it can be expected that:
H5: High-performance human resource management practices and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour mediate the relationship between decent work and job satisfaction.
Based on the presented literature, a research model is proposed as shown in Figure 1.
Research methodology
The study used a descriptive, cross-sectional design. Perceptions are formed at the individual employee level as they are better appreciated. Hence, the study focussed on individual employees as the unit of observation and analysis. A probability sample of 211 employees was drawn from the manufacturing firms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Consenting employees self-reported on all aspects of the questionnaire using pencil and paper.
A range of measures were used. Firstly, decent work was measured through a 15-item scale (Duffy et al. 2017). The decent work scale (DWS) evaluates five subscales of decent work: (1) safe working conditions, (2) access to healthcare care, (3) adequate compensation, (4) free time and rest, and lastly (5) complementary values. A seven-point Likert-type scale was used to measure employee response ranging from (strongly disagree [0] to strongly agree [6]). Sample items from the DWS include ‘I feel emotionally safe interacting with people at work’ and ‘I get good healthcare benefits from my job’.
Secondly, as the moderator was a person-organisation fit (Sudibjo & Prameswari 2021), this scale consisted of seven items. Respondents reported their person-organisation fit along a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). An example item of this scale included: ‘I align with the purpose of this organisation’. Thirdly, a measure also existed for perceptions of high-performance HRM practices. The elements of this scale were adopted from Sun, Aryee and Law (2007) and cover the following HR practices: (1) results-orientated appraisal, (2) communication and clear job description, (3) extensive training and participation and (4) selective staffing. To operationalise the variables, the previously validated five-point Likert scale (totally disagree [1] to totally agree [5]) was used.
A fourth scale was used to measure change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour – four-item scale developed by Li and Wang (2022). These four items have their origins in a scale by Campbell and Im (2016). An example item of the change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour scale included: ‘I try to make suggestions in order to improve the operations of the organisation’. Employees self-rated their experience of change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour through a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Finally, job satisfaction was assessed using three items from the QPASS job satisfaction scale (Hart et al. 1996). An example item here was ‘Overall, I am satisfied with the kind of work I do’, and measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5).
A three-step procedure was followed for the data analysis. Firstly, we assessed whether the five measures were separate, distinct, and reliable. Secondly, we used covariance-based structural equation modelling in IBM® SPSS® Amos (Analysis of Moment Structures) to assess the structural relationships. Thirdly, we followed Hayes’ approach (2017), using SPSS PROCESS macro and bootstrapping, to test the moderating effect of the person-organisation fit.
Ethical considerations
Ethical approval to conduct the study was applied for and obtained through the University of Fort Hare Research Ethics Committee with ethical clearance number CHI001-22.
Results
Internal consistency and reliability tests
The Cronbach alpha coefficient values for the five scales exceeded the 0.70 threshold, meeting the stipulated requirements (Hair et al. 2019; Sanhokwe 2022). Table 1 shows all the constructs and the satisfactory composite reliabilities (> 0.70), thus confirming the internal consistency reliability of the measures in use (Sanhokwe 2022).
| TABLE 1: Descriptive statistics and reliability coefficients. |
The average variance extracted (AVE) of 0.5 or greater, as shown in Table 1, confirms the divergent validity of the measures in use (Hair, Howard & Nitzl 2020; Sanhokwe 2022). Table 2 shows that all factor loadings for the five scales were greater than 0.30 and significant at the 0.05 level, thus affirming the convergent validity of the five measurement models.
| TABLE 2: Factor loadings of the items for the five measures. |
To assess discriminant validity, the study used the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) (Roemer, Sutton & Medvedev 2021), as shown in Table 3.
All the values in Table 3 were below 0.90, confirming that the measures are unrelated (Henseler, Ringle & Sarstedt 2015; Purwanto & Sudargini 2021). Together, the results show that the measurement models were satisfactory.
Tests for direct effects
Table 4 shows the direct relationships among the constructs in use.
Table 4 shows a significant relationship between decent work and higher performance HRM practices (β = 0.369; p = 0.031). The results in Table 4 provide support for H1. In support of H2, high-performance HRM practices were positively correlated with change-oriented organisational citizen behaviour (β = 0.663; p < 0.001). Similarly, H3 was supported; change-oriented organisational citizen behaviour was very strongly correlated with job satisfaction (β = 0.968; p < 0.001).
Tests for moderating effect
Hypothesis 4 sought to establish the moderating effect of person-organisation fit on the relationship between decent work and high-performance HRM practices. Table 5 shows the results of the estimated model linking decent work, high-performance HRM practices and person-organisation fit.
| TABLE 5: The moderating effect of person organisation fit on the decent work high-performance human resource management practices relationship. |
Table 5 shows, for each decent work subscale, the non-standardised parameter and confidence intervals for interaction, the unconditional interaction effect and the overall conditional effects of decent work on high-performance HRM practices at different levels of person-organisation fit. The results in Table 5 show that the person-organisation fit significantly moderates the relationship between complementary values and high-performance HRM practices (0.066, p < 0.05).
Similarly, the person-organisation fit moderates the relationship between free time and rest and high-performance HRM practices (0.042, p < 0.05). The moderating effects of the person-organisation fit are highest in the relationships between safe interpersonal working conditions and high-performance HRM practices (0.099, p < 0.05) and adequate compensation and high-performance HRM practices (0.074, p < 0.05). The coefficients of the interaction are significant and positive. The confidence intervals computed by bootstrapping do not include zero, thus confirming the significance of the relationships. The moderating effect of person-organisation fit on the relationship between access to health and high-performance HRM practices was positive but insignificant (0.004, p > 0.05). The confidence interval includes zero, thus confirming insignificance.
The overall conditional effects show the comparative effects of high versus low person-organisation fit on the moderated relationship. Higher levels of person-organisation fit have a significantly stronger, positive effect on the espoused relationship. Conversely, low levels of person-organisation fit have a significant negative effect. Notably, medium levels of person-organisation fit have a low, positive and significant effect. This result suggests that marginal gains beyond the low threshold in person-organisation fit could be valuable to the organisation’s cause.
Testing the mediating effect
As expected from Hypothesis 5, high-performance HRM practices and change-oriented citizenship behaviour significantly mediated the relationship between decent work and job satisfaction (β = 0.041, p = 0.038). This is shown in Table 6.
| TABLE 6: Indirect effects on job satisfaction. |
Discussion and managerial implications
The study examined the determinants of job satisfaction accounting for the role of person-organisation fit, decent work and employee organisational factors (high-performance HRM practices and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviours).
Summary of the results
The study has made some crucial contributions with theoretical and practitioner ramifications in understanding factors influencing job satisfaction in organisations. The study findings established a significant, indirect, positive relationship between decent work and job satisfaction. Further, a significant mediation was found in this relationship through high-performance HRM practices coupled with change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviours. Concerning moderation, person-organisation fit moderated the relationship between decent work and high-performance HRM practices. Based on these findings, some implications are drawn.
Although previous studies have established a significant relationship between various workplace quality attributes and high-performance HRM practices, few studies have examined the influence of decent work or evaluated the more proximal effect of person-organisation fit that may play a moderating role in the relationship between decent work and high-performance HRM practices. Decent work appears as a resourceful pathway that incentivises the evolution of HR practices to a high-performance level and creates healthy workplace contexts.
High-performance HRM practices, from the point of view of social exchange, indicate the concern for employees’ well-being; it creates a sense of commitment to a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship between the organisation and the employee (Gould-Williams 2016). The person-organisation fit strengthens this relationship; that is, it further evokes the drive for HR systems and practices to evolve and better serve the organisation and its talent. The moderating role of the person-organisation fit in the decent work-work-high-performance HRM practice relationship has yet to be investigated in extant literature.
Empirical support for the relationship between high-performance HRM practices and change-oriented citizenship behaviour complements earlier claims that high-performance HRM practices work proximally through employee attitudes and behaviours via the social exchange pathway (Takeuchi et al. 2007). High-performance HRM practices allow the organisation to get the best out of its workers through their change-oriented citizenship behaviour. The study reports a significant and positive relationship between organisational citizenship behaviour orientated to change and job satisfaction. Several studies have interrogated the effect of job satisfaction on change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour (see the meta-analysis by Chiaburu et al. 2022; O’Connell 2022). The results support the assertion that change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour gives employees positive experiences and feelings towards their jobs (Singh & Singh 2018; also see Meynhardt, Brieger & Hermann 2020).
The complete model suggests that making work meaningful through experiences of decent work is valuable to the organisation and the employee. When exposed to meaningful environments that are fair, empowering and congruent environments, workplace systems evolve and morph into valuable practices that promote helping behaviour, which transmits into job satisfaction. Satisfied employees feel motivated, engaged and connected to their organisation. Through transmittal effects, decent work champions the development of valuable practices, attitudes and behaviours that promote and sustain job satisfaction. All the hypothesised moderating and mediating effects found support, thus reaffirming the arguments drawn from the SET and extending the existing literature.
Theoretical implications
The study contributes to the management literature especially with aspects related to HR development. From the ensuing model, there is need to give focus to the role of person-organisation fit, decent work and employee organisational factors (high-performance HRM practices and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviours). These identified issues provide implication and possible strategies in improving work performance. Potentially, the findings to the study contribute to the ongoing understanding around the role of decent work on workplace outcomes and experiences (Blustein et al. 2022) especially within a developing nation context such as South Africa (Chinyamurindi et al. 2023; Ruzungunde et al. 2023). In essence, the presence of decent work as found in previous research served an empowerment and improvement role for employees to not only work better but manage aspects related to change. This research contributes to the HR literature in showing how decent work coupled with employee organisational factors can lead to improved job satisfaction.
The study potentially adds value using a construct that has yet to be widely researched in the literature on job satisfaction. At three levels, the study makes some significant theoretical contributions. Firstly, in using the PWT and the SET, some fresh theoretical perspectives are gained in understanding the experience of job satisfaction. Secondly, incorporating a sequential moderation-mediation model factoring in employee-organisational factors shows a depth of analysis needed, especially when working with the job satisfaction construct. Through this, the study establishes new and deeper insights into job satisfaction, situating decent work as an anchor to desirable workplace practices, attitudes and behaviours. These efforts expand understanding of the PWT and the SET through an empirically tested model.
Practical implications
The study offers HR practitioners some practical insights. Firstly, especially for organisational structures, the findings offer a vantage point to the workplace conditions needed to support outcomes such as job satisfaction. The focus here should be on improving a link that potentially exists between the person and the organisation. Efforts can be made here to improve aspects related to recruitment and selection as entry points into the organisation. Secondly, we suggest promoting decent work in organisations. This may assist in unlocking new sources of organisational value. This can be done through promoting and prioritising organisational activity issues related to decent work. These include safe interpersonal working conditions and creating a culture of complementary values. Finally, for the success of such efforts, a need exists to support efforts related to ensuring that high-performance HR practices are put in place.
Conclusion
Limitations and future research
Some limitations can be drawn from the study. The level of focus for the study was mixed in nature and included general employees and managerial tier levels. Employee experience could vary depending on their level in the organisation. This variation could also be expected with aspects related to decent work. Future studies could prioritise a nuanced focus on understanding the constructs under study at specific employee levels. Future research could also narrowly focus on the managerial level as an essential conduit in enacting organisational decisions.
This research was carried out in the South African manufacturing sector. This limits cross-sector reflections and generalisations. Future studies could investigate these relationships in other sectors, given that perceptions of decent work and high-performance HR practices differ. The use of cross-sectional data is also acknowledged as a limitation, and future research could improve. The cross-sectional design is helpful for the relationships explored in the study. However, theory suggests that decent work is likely to have the desired attitudinal, behavioural and workplace practice consequences only to the degree that it is consistently experienced. Potential future studies may use a longitudinal design to further assess causality and patterns over time.
Finally, future research could be done in other business settings, especially in developing countries, as this research was conducted in a developing country. Notably, there is recognition in countries such as South Africa of the importance and proliferation of small and medium-scale enterprises (Sanhokwe 2022). Given a different business context, the constructs used in the study, such as decent work, may carry different meanings (Sanhokwe & Takawira 2022). Future research could also unpack the decent work measure by its sub-dimensions. This can clarify better the measure with specific relevance to such measures. Such an encouragement is noted and advocated within the literature (Ferraro et al. 2016; Perreira et al. 2019). Further, high-performance HRM practices may resemble a different reality and expectation. Given this, future studies could be conducted in small and medium-scale enterprises. Such an inquiry may yield additional insights and enhance understanding of the work already done in the current study.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the manufacturing firms that took part in the study.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
Authors’ contributions
V.R. was a post-doctoral research fellow under the supervision of W.C. with V.R. assisting in the writing up phase of the article. H.S. assisted in writing the article and also conducting the data analysis. W.C. assisted in the data collection and revisions of the article.
Funding information
This study received funding from the National Research Foundation.
Data availability
Data is available on request from the corresponding author, W.C.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and are the product of professional research. The article does not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated institution, funder, agency or that of the publisher. The authors are responsible for this article’s results, findings and content.
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