Is It the Job or the Support? Examining Structural and Relational Predictors of Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention for Nonprofit Employees. (June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Knapp, Joshua R.; Smith, Brett R.; Sprinkle, Therese A.
• Is Part Of: Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly. Volume 46:Number 3(2017)
• Page Start: 652
• Page End: 671
• Publication Date: 2017-06
• Subjects: job characteristics -- perceived organizational support -- relative importance analysis -- job satisfaction -- turnover intentions -- job structure; Nonprofit organizations -- Periodicals; Voluntarism -- Periodicals; Charity organization -- Periodicals; 361.763
• DOI: 10.1177/0899764016685859
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0899-7640

Abstract

We examine the relative efficacy of two theoretically distinct variables for predicting job satisfaction and turnover intentions for workers in nonprofit organizations. The first, perceived job characteristics, reflects the structure of jobs in terms of autonomy, skill variety, task identity, task significance, and feedback. The second, perceived organizational support, reflects the quality of the employee–organization relationship. We collected data from 196 full-time, nonprofit employees across two time periods, and we tested hypotheses using hierarchical regression and relative importance analysis. Results emphasize the significance of managing employees in a supportive manner and structuring jobs so that employees can work autonomously.