The relationship between intrinsic job satisfaction, extrinsic job satisfaction, personal factors and turnover intentions- private hospital pharmacists in Hong Kong

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The impact of employee job satisfaction on retention or the impact of job dissatisfaction on attrition is becoming increasingly important as it has a significant impact on the quality of service provided, staff shortages, and the effectiveness of healthcare organizations. This is especially true for private hospitals pharmacists in Hong Kong. Aim Based on Herzberg's two-factor theory, the aim of this quantitative, correlational study was to determine the relationship between intrinsic job satisfaction, extrinsic job satisfaction, demographic characteristics, personal factors, and turnover intentions in a sample of pharmacists working for private hospitals in Hong Kong. Methods Following institutional ethical approval, five research questions were developed to study the relationships. An empirical model of causal relationships among variables was tested with a sample of 140 registered pharmacists working in Hong Kong private hospitals. The questionnaire was designed to be self-administered, and data was collected using convenience and snowball sampling methods via an Online Google Form link. Partial least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the structural relationships. The study employed SmartPLS 3.0 to compute the two-basic partial least squares (PLS) path modelling, i.e. structural and measures models. Results 68 (48.6%) were male, and 72 (51.4%) were female participants in this study, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 94. One third of the pharmacists surveyed were between 40-49 years old. This study found that older age was associated with a more moderate relationship between overall job satisfaction and turnover intention. At the same time, the more support from the family, the greater the negative moderating effect between overall job satisfaction and turnover intention. This study's most significant intrinsic job satisfaction factor was "achievement", with an outer loading of 0.846. Other important intrinsic job satisfaction factors included recognition, opportunities for advancement, work itself, and responsibility. For extrinsic job satisfaction factors, the most significant one was “employment status”, with an outer loading of 0.791. Other important extrinsic factors include working conditions, company policies and rules, remuneration, interpersonal relations, and supervisor's quality. There were positive relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction factors, and overall job satisfaction of the private hospital pharmacists. In contrast, the intrinsic job satisfaction factors, extrinsic job satisfaction factors, and overall job satisfaction are found to have negative relationships to the turnover intentions of pharmacists. Those relationships were statistically significant with p<0.05. Discussion/Conclusion In conclusion, private hospital managements may use the knowledge to implement strategies to improve intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction among pharmacists in private hospitals. It is hoped that private hospital pharmacies will then have more bargaining power to retain pharmacists in the workplace. In turn, a better-quality pharmacy service can be provided and, ultimately, better earnings for the private hospitals.