The Key Components of Job Satisfaction in Malaysian Water Utility Industry

Problem statement: This study aimed to examine the impacts of employee’s rewards and employee’s motivation on employee’s job satisfaction between public and private water utility organization in Malaysia. Approach: A total of 689 employees from both sectors participated. While hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test the relationship between employee’s rewards, employee’s motivation and employee’s job satisfaction, gap analysis was utilized to determine the significant differences on the levels of employee’s rewards, employee’s motivation and employee’s job satisfaction between both sectors. Results: The result revealed that (1) employee’s reward was positively related to motivation; and (2) both employee’s rewards and employee’s motivation were found to had positive significant influences on employees’ job satisfaction. The t-test result revealed that employees in public water utility organization scored significantly higher on the levels of employee’s rewards, motivation and job satisfaction. Conclusion: The interesting findings showed that there are other factors than rewards and motivation involved in job satisfaction. However, motivation seems to give more impact to job satisfaction as compared to rewards for both organizations.