Factors Affecting OSU Extension Agents’ Perceptions of Organizational Justice and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

This descriptive-correlational study investigated Ohio State University (O.S.U.) Extension county agents’ perceptions of, and relationships between, organizational justice (including distributive, procedural, interactional, and systemic justice) and job satisfaction. The researchers used a census of O.S.U. Extension county agents and a mailed questionnaire to collect data, achieving a final response rate of 86%. The findings suggest that O.S.U. Extension county agents have a somewhat uncertain perception of organizational justice; agree with procedural and interactional justice; disagree with distributive and systemic justice; and are very satisfied with their employment. A low, positive association was found between O.S.U. Extension county agents’ perceptions of organizational justice and current level of job satisfaction. Positive relationships were found between job satisfaction and interactional justice, procedural justice, and systemic justice. The findings suggest that O.S.U. Extension administration should investigate and strengthen reward structures and continue to offer opportunities for employees to be engaged in dialogue, decision-making, and the implementation of decision outcomes, when appropriate, while encouraging individual creativity in program development and implementation. Introduction Ohio State University (O.S.U.) Extension has been in existence for nearly 100 years, serving the needs of Ohio citizens through a variety of community-based educational programs focused in 4-H youth development, family and consumer sciences, agricultural and natural resources, and community development. In the current state of economic uncertainty and population shifts, rapid and complex change has been a constant for O.S.U. Extension similar to many other Cooperative Extension Systems. A complicating factor in the management of O.S.U. Extension is the autonomy of individual employees in a large and complex system and their evolving roles and responsibilities, coupled with the flexibility afforded to supervisors when carrying out their administrative responsibilities. For the past several years, O.S.U. Extension has prepared for, and now faces, many challenges: Balancing budgets under extreme fiscal constraint; addressing pay equity among individual employees; supporting employees balancing workloads and work/life issues; encouraging and assisting in the promotion and tenure review process; and supporting the tremendously complex and unique county agent position as they develop and implement innovative and unique educational programs. During such challenging times, it is only natural that Extension employees could find themselves questioning organizational decisions and how they are made, frequencies and effectiveness of communications between administrators and employees, and individual rewards and incentives. All of these potential employee reactions are addressed in the construct of organizational justice. In perhaps the most simplistic terms, organizational justice involves peoples’ perceptions of fairness in the organizational setting or workplace (Byrne & Cropanzano, 2001; Greenberg 1987). It is an evaluative