Employee attitudes on TQM implementation and job satisfaction in public health sector

Abstract

The quality of service in the public health sector is an essential aspect that influences patient satisfaction. Providing quality in public health sector means delivering health service in an affordable, safe and effective manner, with minimal risk and harm for patients. In other words, it means fulfilling patients’ needs and surpassing their expectations. In order to provide patients with good-quality and satisfactory service, many public health organizations implement quality standards that contribute with many benefits and advantages, among which employee satisfaction stands out. The objective of the research was to evaluate the attitude of employees in public health institutes towards the dimensions of job satisfaction and their perception of the level of TQM implementation, with regard to the employees’ sociodemographic characteristics. In order to achieve this objective, ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses and determine the difference between observed sociodemographic characteristics with regard to the dimensions of job satisfaction and the application of TQM principles in research. Beside that, correlation coefficient was used to test the connection between overall job satisfaction and the level of TQM implementation (overall TQM principles). The findings suggest that level of education and the length of service have a significant effect on the differences in assessments among employees, while position in the workplace affects within certain dimensions of job satisfaction, as well as within their perception of the TQM implementation. Results have also shown that there is a statistically significant relationship between job satisfaction and the level of implementation of TQM principles. The present study provides valuable guidelines for public health sector managers since the results of the research indicate the level of perception of the implementation of TQM principles and job satisfaction dimensions with which employees are the most and the least satisfied, thus pointing out to management in public health sector institutions the areas in which certain improvement measures should be implemented. As this study focuses specifically on Institutes of Public Health, future research could be expanded to encompass other public health institutions such as hospitals and private clinics as well as other sectors.Kvaliteta usluge u javnozdravstvenom sektoru važan je aspekt koji utječe na zadovoljstvo pacijenata. Naime, osigurati kvalitetu u javnom zdravstvu znači pružati zdravstvene usluge na pristupačan, siguran i učinkovit način, uz minimalan rizik i štetu za pacijente. Drugim riječima, to znači ispuniti potrebe pacijenata i nadmašiti njihova očekivanja. Stoga, kako bi pacijentima pružile kvalitetne i zadovoljavajuće usluge, mnoge javnozdravstvene organizacije implementiraju standarde kvalitete koji imaju mnoge prednosti, a među kojima se posebno ističe zadovoljstvo zaposlenika. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati odnos zaposlenika u zavodima za javno zdravstvo sa implementiranim sustavom upravljanja kvalitetom, prema dimenzijama zadovoljstva poslom i njihovu percepciju razine provedbe TQM-a, s obzirom na sociodemografske karakteristike zaposlenika. Kako bi se to postiglo korištena je ANOVA za testiranje hipoteza i utvrđivanje razlike između promatranih socodemografskih karakteristika s obzirom na dimenzije zadovoljstva poslom i primjenu načela TQM –a u istraživanju. Uz to, korelacijom je ispitana povezanost između ukupnog zadovoljstva poslom i percepcije primjene ukupnih načela TQM-a. Dobiveni rezultati sugeriraju da stupanj obrazovanja i radni staž značajno utječu na razlike u ocjeni među zaposlenicima, dok pozicija na poslu utječe u manjoj mjeri, tj. kod određenih dimenzija. Rezultati također ukazuju na korelaciju jakog intenziteta između ukupnog zadovoljstva poslom i ukupnih načela TQM-a. Istraživanje obuhvaća vrijedne smjernice za upravljanje zdravstvenim ustanovama budući dobiveni rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na načela kvalitete i dimenzije zadovoljstva poslom kojima su zaposlenici najviše, odnosno, najmanje zadovoljni, te samim time usmjeravaju uprave zdravstvenih ustanova na područja u kojima je potrebno provesti određene mjere za poboljšanje. Budući je istraživanje posebno usmjereno na zavode za javno zdravstvo, buduća istraživanja se mogu proširiti na način da obuhvate i druge javnozdravstvene ustanove poput bolnica, ali i privatnih klinika, kao i ostale sektore.