PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG VALENZUELA

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

A Correlational-Comparative study of Job Satisfaction and Level of Motivation among

Employees who Work from Home and Work from Office

A Research Presented to

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela

Psychology Department

In Partial Fulfillment of the Course

Bachelor of Science in Psychology

Dela Cruz, Trishamae Louise C.

Divina, Glydhel R.
Legaspi, Angelika C.
Nario, Kariza S.
Ramos, Jade Nicole D.G.
Vazquez, Leigh Yanni
Viedor, Krezza Mae G.

May 2021
INTRODUCTION

The global pandemic, COVID-19, has left a significant portion of the workforce

unable to go to work in order to prevent the virus from spreading. As a result, both

employers and workers are looking for new ways to operate (Butakhieo & Vyas, 2020).

Working from home (WFH) is one of the alternatives that most of the companies

considered in order to continue their operation. Almost 72% of companies in the

Philippines have worked remotely since the country was put under community

quarantine. According to a study conducted by Sprout solution (2020) last march the

BPO industry (31%), information and communication (9.79%), and healthcare (8.51%)

sectors were the most popular industries that enabled employees to work from home

during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (Daza, 2020). After two months of

lockdown, more establishments are reopening. More recently, as Modified Enhanced

Community Quarantine was lifted in some areas of the country like Metro Manila,

Laguna, and Cebu, wherein many companies are slowly sending their employee back to

the office (CNN Philippines, 2020) while some are still working from home.

Working from home has an impact on employee’s productivity. Some other

factors have either positive or negative impact and this depend on the employees' traits

and attitudes, as well as the circumstances, according to the findings of the study

conducted by Thorstensson (2020). Employees who work from home are more

productive and perform better than those who work in an office. Convenience,

connectivity with family, reduced stress levels, time and career growth, less absence

from work, reduced break time, better work life balance and emotional support are some

of the main factors that enabled employees working from home be more productive
(Shivaramu, 2017). However, it was found from the research presented by

Selvasundaram and Suganya Dasaradhan (2020) that respondents who work from

home will be willing to work if they are having a decent and supportive working

environment. Employers who understand their employees' needs have the chance to

assist their employees in creating a friendly and controlled work environment, which

may result in a greater number of workers wanting to work from home, resulting in

higher job satisfaction and efficiency. This is the sole reason why the researchers have

chosen to focus on this topic since it was considered as a new normal set up of

workplace across the world. The main purpose of this proposed study is to determine

and to compare the level of satisfaction and motivation between the employee who

works from home to an employee who works from office. Moreover, to identify the

relationship between job satisfaction and job motivation.

Benefits for various receiving communities can be extrapolated from this study.

First, to the employees since they are the main focused of this study this will be

beneficial to them as it provides knowledge about the current situation of the world of

work specifically the motivation and satisfaction it gives to the workers more specifically

to those who work from home and working from office. Second, for the employer, this

will give them idea about some adjustment and assistance that they can give to their

employees in which they think would be more suited or beneficial for their workers.

Lastly, the overall knowledge presented in this study could be used for future research

as a reference in conducting the same study.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Theory of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

This research study entitled Job Satisfaction and Motivation among work-from-

home and in-field employees used the Theory of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

developed by Abraham Maslow. The concept of this theory focuses on the human are

motivated because of needs to fulfill their life's purpose and mission. In terms of

personal growth, the hierarchy must be completed to achieve self-actualization.

According to Maslow, a person must satisfy his or her needs step-by-step starting from

the lowest level. There are five levels of in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; (1) Physiologic

needs, (2) Safety needs, (3) need for Belonging and Love, (4) need for Esteem, (5)

need for Self-Actualization. The researchers used this theory to understand the factors

that may affect the satisfaction and motivation of employees that are working from and

in the field.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The following representation has been developed to further help understand the

studies flow, to visually reflect the research and serves as its study guide.

Job Satisfaction Work-from-

Home

Work-from-
Office
Job Motivation
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1.) What is the level of satisfaction among employees who:

a.) Work from home

b.) Work from office

2.) What is the level of motivation among employees who:

a.) Work from home

b.) Work from office

3.) Is there a significant difference between the level of satisfaction among the

employees who work from home and work from office?

4.) Is there a significant difference between the level of motivation among the

employees who work from home and work from office?

HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

Ho1: There is no significant difference between the level of satisfaction among

employees who work from home and work from office

Ho2: There is no significant difference between the level of motivation among

employees who work from home and work from office

RESEARCH DESIGN

This study will be utilizing a correlational comparative research design under

quantitative research that emphasized objective measurements that involves utilization

and analysis of numerical data using statistical methods through polls, questionnaires,

and surveys (Williams, 2011).

In line with that, a comparative analysis will be conducted to analyze the

differences and similarities of the variable or variables to discover a newer conclusion of

all the things being compared (Pickvance, 2005). Meanwhile, the correlational study

attempts to create causal relationships or associations among two or more variables,

using statistical methods to measure the strength and significance of the relationships

(Gelo, et-al., 2008). The purpose of this study is to compare the levels of job satisfaction

and motivation among work-from-home and in-field employees and to conclude if there

is a significant relationship between the levels of job satisfaction and motivation among

the employees.

PARTICIPANTS OF THE STUDY

The samples in this study were composed of 200 total of respondents, wherein

half of the respondents (100) are working from home while the other half (100) are

working from the office. The researchers will be employing a purposive sampling

technique, a non-probability sampling technique wherein the selection of the respondent

was dependent on the researcher's judgement in relation to the characteristics that

needs on the study. On the other hand, according to Johnson (2014), snowball
sampling refers to the selection of participants that relies on referrals from initially

sampled respondents to other individuals perceived to possess the trait (Johnson,

2014). The criteria that will be using in the study are: (1) white collar job workers who

works either from home or from office; (2) participants must be employed and should be

regular employees since according to Al-Odeh et al. (2020), white-collar employees are

most likely to persist under WFH arrangements and mostly having a regular job, this

includes the individual who works in business, accounting, or management is referred to

as a white-collar employee; (3) the workers age must be at the range of fifth teen (18) to

sixty-four (60) years old as it is the estimated age of working individual according to

Philippine Statistic Authority (2020) and; (4) a resident of Metro Manila. Since the data

gathering of this study will be conducted online, anyone can participate in this study as

long as they possess the characteristics that are needed in this study.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS) and Job Satisfaction

Survey (JSS)

Research related to the management science used surveys as data collection

methods many times as shown before in the past. The questionnaire used in this study

varies into two different research instruments in order to find out the relationship

between the job motivation and satisfaction of a work at home employee and an

employee who chooses to report on site. After the results are gathered and the
relationship is found, the researchers will then try to compare the variables used in the

study.

One of the research instruments that the researchers will use in this study is the

Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS). It is a scale used to measure the

level of job motivation of an individual. It is an 18-item measure of work motivation

theoretically grounded in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000). In addition, with

this the WEIMS is divided into three-item six subscales, which correspond to the six

types of motivation postulated by SDT (i.e., intrinsic motivation, integrated, identified,

introjected and external regulations, and amotivation). Participants were asked to

indicate on a Likert-type scale3 ranging from 1 (does not correspond at all) to 5

(corresponds exactly) the extent to which the items represent the reasons they are

presently involved in their work.

In addition with that, the researchers will also use a Job Satisfaction Survey or

JSS to measure the job satisfaction level of a work at home employee and an employee

who is working on site. The Job Satisfaction Survey or JSS is developed by Paul

Spector that is designed to measure an employees’ satisfaction with their jobs. The JSS

is a measure of global satisfaction, meaning the participants are asked to think about

how satisfied they are with their job in a broad, overall sense. The Job Satisfaction

Survey (JSS) is a 36-item, 9-facet, validated scale to assess employee attitudes to their

role and aspects of that role.

Moreover, to test the validity and reliability of the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS)

questionnaire, this test was used with a sample of 239 employees of various specialties

in drug addiction treatment in Greece. There are more than 64% of the study
participants were female and the majority were aged between 35 and 39 (34.3%) or

between 40 and 50 years (45.2%). In terms of educational attainment, the majority were

university graduates, while 38.1% have completed post-graduate studies. In terms of

employment, the majority worked as Therapy – Prevention staff (56.1%), followed by

administrative staff (20.1%), Education – Research staff (12.1%), Part-time Trainers

(7.5%) and other staff (4.2%). As regards length of service, 37.2% of study participants

had worked from 11 to 15 years, 28% from 6 to 10 years, 13.8% from 16 to 20 years

12.1% from 0 to 5 years, 7.1% from 20 to 25 years, while 1.7% had worked for more

than 26 years. The measures of Cronbach’s Alpha exceeds 0.60 are considered to be

the reliable ones (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). In the present study, the total scale, and

all subscales but one was over 0.60. In term of reliability and internal consistency are

concerned, values show that the scale items are consistent with as many ways as

possible as eight of the nine subscales. The test were not evaluating the convergent

validity by comparing JSS with a similar tool and the discriminant validity by comparing

JSS with a tool designed to measure a different concept. Regarding to the test retested

the reliability method for determining whether the results are consistent over time, as it

was not useful in present field of research.

DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE

The first step in gathering data is selecting possible respondents that are

qualified in the set criteria of the study. The criteria that will be using in the study are: (1)

white collar job workers who work either from home or from office; (2) participants must

be employed and should be regular employees; (3) the workers age must be at the
range of fifth teen (18) to sixty-four (64) years old and; (4) a resident of Metro Manila.

The study needs to reach the target of respondents which is one hundred (100)

respondents work from home and one hundred (100) respondents work from office. To

gather enough respondents for the research, the analyst will use referral method.

Referral method will be utilized in searching for participants since it lessen the risk that

the respondent might acquire while participating in the study.

In the process of gathering respondents, researchers will collect respondents

through the initial participants which are the friends, family members, and

acquaintances of the researchers who meets the criteria of the study. Researchers will

ask help from the initial participants by asking them to refer an individual who share the

same characteristics as them or individuals who meets the criteria of the research

study. This process will be utilized continuously until the researchers accumulate the

total number of the respondents needed in the study.

Prior to the gathering of data, researchers will send a request letter to the

research adviser and chairperson of psychology department for the permission of

conducting the survey and administering the test questionnaires to the respondent. After

receiving the signed permission letter, the researchers will proceed to the third step of

data gathering procedure wherein the researchers will send a consent letter to the

respondent for pre-participation process. The respondents will sign the consent letter,

which contains an overview and all the necessary information with regards to the study.

After agreeing to the consent letter, researchers will begin the administration of the test

questionnaire to the test taker. This is administered through an online platform

specifically in Google Forms.

 The research questions are printed in google form document. Inside the google

form document are the two-screening tools which are the Work Extrinsic Intrinsic

Motivation Scale and Job Satisfaction Scale of employees who work from home and

work from office. Researchers will use the Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Scale for

determining the level of motivation of the respondents who works from home and the

office and Job Satisfaction Scale for determining the level of satisfaction of individuals

working from home and the office. Lastly, researcher will score the result of the two

standardized questionnaires using the scoring instructions of the test. The raw score

and result of the test of the individual will be interpreted respectively using the test

interpretation instruction of the standardized question.

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