Effects of motivational factors on the performance of employees: A case of school teachers

Abstract

Employee performance and productivity of workers are crucial for personal and organizational success and, thereby, economic growth. In the case of education, the job satisfaction of teachers is a key to effective teaching. A motivated and content teaching workforce leads to better educational outcomes, which translates into a country's employable, productive labor force. This has long-term economic benefits, including higher innovation, skills, and productivity. The theoretical perspectives of this research show that workers decide how much labor to supply based on both financial and non-financial factors relating to job satisfaction. The main factors include salary, promotion, insurance, pension, job security, professional development, social recognition, and working environment. If teachers are satisfied with these aspects, they are likely to work in the profession; otherwise, they may leave or retire early. Thus, job satisfaction is a major determinant of labor supply. Although there is a volume of literature on job satisfaction, no adequate research on the effects of different vectors of motivational factors on job satisfaction for school teachers is found in particular. Hence, this research study has explored several new financial and non-financial motivational factors for different types of schools. This study surveyed 90 teachers from nine selected schools in the Kurunegala district using stratified random sampling and simple random sampling methods. Based on a mixed method approach designed to incorporate both qualitative responses and quantitative data, a questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was used to collect data for the study. The data was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics using Python and SPSS version 16.0. The regression results reveal that both the selected financial and non-financial motivational factors significantly enhance job satisfaction. Notably, non-financial motivational factors have a more profound impact (r =.570 at a 0.000 significant level) on job satisfaction compared to financial motivational factors (r = .0543 at a 0.000 significant level). Additionally, public school teachers reported higher job satisfaction levels (mean rank=36.93) than their private school counterparts (mean rank=24.07) as determined by the Mann-Whitney U test. Also, school teachers' different demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were tested against employment performance and explored important insights for policymakers. Major recommendations include increasing financial and motivational factors for school teachers to maintain their living standards satisfactorily.