UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
-------------------HA NGUYEN MINH TAM

KEY FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEE
SATISFACTION IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY –
EVIDENCES FROM HO CHI MINH CITY

MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)
SUPERVISOR: DR. DINH THAI HOANG

Ho Chi Minh City - 2014

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................ 4
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... 5
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. 6
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 8
1.1 Research background ....................................................................................... 8
1.2. Research problem ............................................................................................ 9
1.3 Research objectives ........................................................................................ 10
1.4 Scope of study ................................................................................................. 10
1.5 Thesis structure .............................................................................................. 11
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES ................................ 12
2.1 Employee satisfaction ..................................................................................... 12
2.1.1. Definition of employee satisfaction ................................................ 12
2.1.2 Employee satisfaction and its dimensions ...................................... 13

2.2 Previous research about employee satisfaction and identifying hypotheses
in this study ..................................................................................................................... 14
2.2.1 Salary and Benefits........................................................................... 14
2.2.2 Work environment ........................................................................... 15
2.2.3 Management system ......................................................................... 16

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2.2.4 Career progression ........................................................................... 17
2.2.5 Supervisor support ........................................................................... 18
2.2.6 Moderated variable: Bank type ...................................................... 19
2.3 The research model ........................................................................................ 20
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................... 21
3.1 Research process............................................................................................. 21
3.2 Measurement scale ......................................................................................... 22
3.3 Qualitative pilot research .............................................................................. 24
3.4 Quantitive research ........................................................................................ 25
3.4.1 Sample size ........................................................................................ 25
3.4.2 Data collection................................................................................... 26
3.4.3 Data analysis method ....................................................................... 26
3.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 29
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS .................................................................................. 30
4.1 Sample descriptive statistics .......................................................................... 30
4.2 The reliability test: The Cronbach’s Alpha Test ......................................... 31
4.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis ......................................................................... 33
4.4 Hypothesis testing ........................................................................................... 35
4.4.1 Pearson Correlation Coefficient ..................................................... 35
4.4.2 Testing assumptions of multiple regression ................................... 35
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4.4.3 Regression analysis ........................................................................... 36
4.4.4 Chow Test for moderating variable ................................................ 40
4.5. Discussion of research findings .................................................................... 45
4.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 46
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS .............. 48
5.1 Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 48
5.2 Managerial Implications ................................................................................ 49
5.3 Limitations and recommendations for future research .............................. 51
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 52
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................... 58

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Dinh Thai
Hoang, who offered his continuous support and useful advices throughout the course of
this thesis. His guidance helps me over the time of research and writing this master thesis.
Secondly, I would like to thank the ISB Research Committee for their encouragement and
valuable comments.
Last but not least, I am thankful to all my colleagues, friends for the consultation and
support during my research process.

4


ABSTRACT
This study aims to determine the different impacts of five independent variables (Salary

& Benefits, Work environment, Management system, Career progression and Supervisor
support) on dependent variable, employee satisfaction in the Vietnamese banking
industry, and explores the moderating role of the bank type variable on these
relationships. A survey was conducted by utilizing a sample of 171 employees working in
both local and foreign banks in Ho Chi Minh City. Multiple regression and Chow Test
were used to analyze these impacts on employee satisfaction as well as compare those
effects between two groups.
The result indicates that all determinants which are Salary & Benefits, Work
environment, Management system, Career progression and Supervisor support positively
influence employee satisfaction. Career progression and work environment are found to
be the most important factors. Furthermore, the analysis results also support that the bank
type moderates the relationship between these factors and employee satisfaction.
Accordingly, in the local bank type, career progression still has the strongest effect on
employee satisfaction, whereas, work environment has the highest impact on employee
satisfaction in the foreign bank type.
Based on the statistical results, managerial implications have been discussed and
recommendations are provided to enhance the employee satisfaction in the banking
industry in Ho Chi Minh City.
Keywords: Employee satisfaction, salary & benefits, work environment, management
system, career progression, supervisor support.

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Measurement scale ........................................................................................... 22
Table 4.1: Descriptive Statistics ........................................................................................ 30
Table 4.2 Reliability Statistics of Salary & Benefits variable ........................................... 68
Table 4.3 Reliability Statistics of Work environment variable ......................................... 68
Table 4.4 Reliability Statistics of Management system variable ...................................... 69

Table 4.5 Reliability Statistics of Career progression variable ......................................... 70
Table 4.6 Reliability Statistics of Supervisor support variable ......................................... 70
Table 4.7 Reliability Statistics of Employee Satisfaction variable ................................... 71
Table 4.8: KMO and Bartlett’s Test .................................................................................. 33
Table 4.9: Total Variance Explained ................................................................................. 72
Table 4.10: Rotated Component Matrix ............................................................................ 73
Table 4.11: KMO and Bartlett’s Test for employee satisfaction ...................................... 34
Table 4.12: Total Variance Explained for employee satisfaction ..................................... 34
Table 4.13: Pearson Correlation Coefficient ..................................................................... 74
Table 4.14: Coefficients .................................................................................................... 75
Table 4.15: Variables Entered/Removed ........................................................................... 36
Table 4.16: Regression analysis ........................................................................................ 37
Table 4.17: Hypothesis testing results ............................................................................... 38
Table 4.18: The summary of hypotheses testing results ................................................... 39
Table 4.19: Regression analysis for local bank ................................................................. 41
Table 4.20: Coefficients (local bank) ................................................................................ 42
Table 4.21: Regression analysis for foreign bank ............................................................. 43
Table 4.22: Coefficients (foreign bank) ............................................................................ 43
Table 4.23: Differences of impact of determinants on employee
satisfaction by bank type ................................................................................................... 44

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Research model ............................................................................................... 20
Figure 3.1: Research process ............................................................................................. 21

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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides background information on the nature of the present study and its
objectives. It consists of four sections. The first section introduces the background of the
research, the second and third part present the research problem, and the final section
present the scope of study.
1.1.

Research background

In present, along with the globalization, increasingly competitive markets, organizations
are forced to offer their best products and services to customers. Therefore, delivering the
premium service quality plays a critical role on the service providers’ success and
survival. In addition, some papers point that high service quality results in customer
satisfaction and loyalty, greater willingness to recommend to someone else, decrease in
complaints (Bitner, 1990; Danaher, 1997; Headley and Miller, 1993).
With regard to such a service business line as banking employees are the service
providers in the banks. The performance of a bank depends not on the various
services/products it launches, but on the employees who provide those services to the
customers. In order to enhance the productivity and profitability of the bank, the
performance of employee should be considered. Therefore, huge interest has been gained
by organizations as well as researcher to examine factors that foster employee satisfaction
and it and became a critical issue within the last two decades (Matzler and Renzl, 2007).
In service industry, specifically the banking sector, service employees are often
representatives of the whole bank and are vital to sharping customer’s perception of
service quality (Hartline and Ferrell, 1996).
Business dictionary defined bank as an establishment authorized by a government, act as
a financial intermediary to channel those who have capital surpluses to those who have
capital deficits. Bank also provides a variety of services such as payments and

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collections, funds transferring and foreign exchange dealing. Take a closer look at the
Vietnam economy, banking industry is the heart of the economy and is at growth stage of
its cycle life. According to the report of VietinbankSc, the industry’s contribution to the
economy grew from 2008 to 2012. In just a few years recently, the whole banking
industry has been developed remarkably and plays a significant role in Vietnamese
economic structure. As of 2013, the whole banking system includes: 6 state-owned
commercial banks, 35 commercial banks, 5 fully foreign-owned banks, 11 foreign banks
have investment in Vietnamese banks, 54 foreign bank branches, 04 joint venture banks,
17 financial firms, 12 financial leasing companies and nearly 1,100 credit funds. The
appearance of a lot banks makes the banking industry in Vietnam intensively
competitive, each bank tries its best to set up the wide network branches that leads to the
increase in the number of bankers.
1.2.

Research problem

A global economic crisis in 2008 has affected negatively the entire Vietnamese economy
as well as the banking industry. As the report of VietinbankSc in November 2013, over
60% enterprises reported negative net income and the profit after tax of commercial
banking industry in Vietnam declining from VND47 trillion to VND36 trillion (as of
2012). In 2012-2013, the State bank of Viet Nam restructured the banking industry by
making a series of large-scale M&A deals of nine commercial banks because of their
weak operation and management (SCB, Ficombank, TinNghiaBank, Habubank,
Tienphongbank, GP Bank, Navibank, TrustBank and Western Bank). Besides, the other
banks have suffered from the downtrend of economy and forced to cut expenses by
dismissing employees, salary’s reduction…
Based on the report of Vietnam News in May 2014, Exim bank has slashed nearly 500

workers and cut the salary for employees by 31.65% in the first quarter of this year.
DongA bank laid off 168 employees as well as SHB also dismissed off 100 jobs in this
period.
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As the consequence of above situation, many banking employees have been unemployed
and working under anxiety, depression and stress. These things may affect the employee
satisfaction that leads to a lower productivity, high turnover… because the employee
plays a vital role to any bank’s performance. Therefore, the bank managers need to be
aware of the critical role of employees to the bank’s success. As mention above, satisfied
employees will work with strong commitment and deliver better service quality to the
customer. This circumstance places a challenge to bank managers that they have to
maintain and improve the level of satisfaction of banking employees.
Many studies have been conducted to investigate key factors affecting employee
satisfaction in both developed and developing countries. This thesis is focused on the
investigating factors influence employee satisfaction in the banking industry in the
context of the Vietnam downtrend of economy as well as exploring the moderating
effects of the bank type on these relationships.
1.3.

Research objectives

The objectives of this study are to identify key factors that impact employee satisfaction
in the banking industry and determine the impact of each factor on employee satisfaction.
Furthermore, the study examines the moderating effects of Bank type: the impact degrees
of each determinant on employee satisfaction are distinct depending on local or foreign
bank.
1.4.


Scope of study
Due to the limitations of data availability, research funds and time, this research

undertakes in Ho Chi Minh city - the biggest and the most prosperous city in Vietnam –
so the result may not totally relevant to the whole country.
Respondents of this research are employees working in both foreign and local
banks in Ho Chi Minh City so that the result of this research may not appreciate with
other industry.
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1.5.

Thesis structure

The thesis is organized as follows:
 Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter presents research background of the study, as well as research problems,
research objectives, scope of study and thesis structure.
 Chapter 2: Literature review
In this chapter, the author presents research model and its hypotheses as well as its
literature.
 Chapter 3: Research methodology
This chapter particularly presents the research design, research methodology,
development of the measurement scales, the questionnaire and the data analysis
approach.
 Chapter 4: Data analysis
This chapter presents the results of research based on data collected, statistical analysis
and discussion.
 Chapter 5: Conclusions, implication and limitation

This chapter summarizes the research results, provides the findings and recommendations
as well as the limitations of this study.

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Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES
There are number of determinants affecting employee satisfaction that has researched in
many previous studies. Each determinant could have different effects on employee
satisfaction depend on business’s situation, type of organization, staff quality…
This chapter presents the theoretical concept of employee satisfaction and its
components. The conceptual framework and hypothesis development for this research are
proposed and discussed
2.1. Employee satisfaction
2.1.1. Definition of employee satisfaction
The concept of employee satisfaction has been defined in many different ways by many
researchers and practioners.
According to Meena and Dangayach (2012), employee satisfaction is the terminology
used to describe whether employees are happy and contented and fulfilling their desires
and needs at work. The employee satisfaction can be described as how pleased an
employee is with his or her position of employment (Moyes, Shao and Newsome, 2008).
Based on the study of Santoshi (2011), employee satisfaction is different from job
satisfaction, wherein job satisfaction is a subset of employee satisfaction. As Spector
(1997) defined job satisfaction as the degree to which people like their jobs. Employee
satisfaction gives a bigger picture which comprises job satisfaction of employees and
their satisfaction overall with companies’ policies, environment, relationships and
culture…
Many past studies identified various elements of employee satisfaction as well as the
importance of employee satisfaction to organizations. Employee satisfaction is

considered to be one of the most important drivers of quality, customer satisfaction and
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productivity. Keeping morale high among employees can bring tremendous benefit to any
organization.
Recent studies (Meena and Dangayach, 2012) have identified that employee satisfaction
plays an important role not only employees but also organizations. From the point of
view of employee, satisfied employees will care about the quality of their work, create
and deliver superior value to the customer and be more committed the organization. A
successful and highly productive work can be achieved by raising their satisfaction.
On the other side, from the point of view of the company, giving importance to the
organizational objectives, missions, employee satisfaction enhances employee retention,
increase productivity as well as customer satisfaction. In addition, employee satisfaction
reduces turnover, recruiting and training costs, improves team work and creates as well as
develops energetic employees for the company.
2.1.2. Employee satisfaction and its dimensions
According to Herzberg (1959), satisfaction and dissatisfaction are different constructs
and act independently of each other. The theory distinguishes between:
Motivators (satisfiers): results in satisfaction when adequately fulfilled, including:
achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility and advancement.
Hygiene factors (dissatisfiers): results in dissatisfaction when deficient, including:
working conditions, interpersonal relations, salary, supervision, administrative policies,
company policies.
As of Herzberg’s theory, because of the construct are unrelated, one’s level of
satisfaction is independent of the level of dissatisfaction. The opposite of satisfaction is
not dissatisfaction, but no satisfaction. The opposite of dissatisfaction is not satisfaction,
but no dissatisfaction.

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According to Fosam (1998), there are six dimensions of employee satisfaction: job
satisfaction; employee morale; colleague’s morale; communication, training, resources,
career development; perceived service quality and perceived public view.
Santoshi (2011) found that employee satisfaction is affected by ten factors: challenges in
the job, supervision, working conditions, salary, accountability, authority, recognition,
career progression, company policies and interpersonal relationships.
The study by Roland Rust, Greg Steward, Heather Miller and Debbie Pielack (1996)
identified four main contributing factors that were linked to employee satisfaction. These
were: supervisor support, benefits, work design and work conditions.
On the other hand, Shun, Ching, Jiun and Hui (2006) in their study designed the
employee satisfaction model with six dimensions as follow: organization vision, respect,
result feedback and motivation, management system, pay and benefits and work
environment.
2.2. Previous research about employee satisfaction and identifying hypotheses in this
study
The employee satisfaction concept was studied worldwide and applied in many
frameworks, research, in order to investigate which factor affecting employee satisfaction
in specific industry as well as circumstances.
2.2.1. Salary & Benefits:
Salary related to employee’s perception on fairness of pay. Employee should be satisfied
with competitive salary packages when comparing their pay packets with those of the
outsiders who are working in the same industry. A feeling of satisfaction is felt by
attaining fair and equitable rewards (Alam, Sameena and Puja, 2012).
Employee benefits on the other hand refers to fringe compensation which including social
security, worker compensation, health benefits, pension plans, paid time off,
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responsibility allowance, child care…Benefits, in the other way are the indirect financial
and non-financial payments employees receive for their commitment with an
organization.
Based on a study of Santoshi (2011), salary affects employees’ liking towards a job, their
satisfaction level and even their commitment to the organization. Salary is related to
company policies which affects employees’ attitude towards work as well as their
satisfaction level.
According to Blau and Boal (1989), the importance of fairness is a basic need for the
well-being and satisfaction of employees. So, employees who perceive that they are
treated equitably in pay are more likely to have a feeling of satisfaction and continue to
work at the organization.
Salary is an essential component, but benefits are equally important and can often be the
deciding factor in whether an employee accepts an offer or even stays at an organization.
Employee’s benefits packages can increase employees’ commitment and reduce their
intent to leave (Mitchell et al., 2001).
Various studies have established that salaries and benefits are closely related to employee
satisfaction. Therefore, an expected relationship between employee satisfaction and
salary & benefits is positive. Thus, the hypothesis is:
H1: Salary & Benefits have a positive influence on employee satisfaction
2.2.2. Work environment
Work environment, according to Opperman (2002), including three sub-environments:
the technical environment, the human environment and the organizational environment.
Technical environment refers to work equipment, tools, and physical elements: furniture,
noise, lighting, temperature, security guards, parking facility, the quality of air, work
areas, washrooms…The human environment refers to colleagues, team and work groups,

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interactional issues…Organizational environments includes systems, procedures,

practices, values and cultures.
Work environment is an important dimension affecting employee satisfaction,
willingness to work and work efficiency (Santoshi, 2011).
Work place environment may have both positive and negative impact on performance as
well as satisfaction level of employees. According to Chandrasekar (2011), there are
numerous factors of workplace such as: adequate information, sufficient help and
equipment, friendly and helpful colleagues… are considered to be factors that motivate
employees towards higher productivity.
Therefore, improving the work environment can enhance the employee satisfaction and
performance as well as reduce turnover. Employees are highly motivated with good
working conditions as they provide a feeling of safety, comfort and motivation. People
working under inconvenient and poor conditions may end up with low satisfaction, bad
health and absenteeism. The more comfortable the work environment is more productive
will be the employees. (Demet, 2012)
Numerous studies have investigated effects of work environment on employee
satisfaction. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H2: Work environment has a positive influence on employee satisfaction
2.2.3. Management system
ISO 9000:2000 defines a management system as a “set of interrelated or interacting
elements to establish policy and objectives and to achieve those objectives”. A
management system comprises the elements of policy, planning, implementation and
operation, performance assessment, improvement and management review.
According to Greve (2003), creating a set of objective, sustainable and credible measures,
as well as procedures and practices, leads to an effective management system in the
organization that will enhance the expected results and the fulfillment of organization
16


goals. This is true for organization in different industries, different firm sizes as well as
different types.

An effective management system will create a clear and fair performance evaluation
system as well as establish a transparent link between employee achievement and overall
business results. It contributes to better understanding of the work objectives and the
common goals of organization, resulting employee satisfaction. Employees can have an
honest and transparent communication with their leaders, good work environment, fair
compensation and recognition as well as feedback for their contribution. Ensuring a good
management system will help bring successful results in employee productivity and lead
to higher levels of employee satisfaction (Shun, Ching, Jiun and Hui, 2006).
From above literatures, management system was supposed to affect employee
satisfaction. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H3: Management system has a positive influence on employee satisfaction
2.2.4. Career progression
Career progression is about advancement within a job, within an organization or within
an industry. It can take a variety of forms and can involve: increasing the breadth or
depth of responsibilities, using more advanced knowledge or skills, taking on bigger and
more challenging projects and supporting or interacting with higher level administrators
or faculty (Adeboye and Adegoroye, 2012).
Today's employees are demanding more in terms of personal growth and development.
Opportunities to develop, improve skills and career is one of the most important reasons
employees choose to stay or leave an organization (Buckingham and Coffman, 1999).
It is essential that organizations place a high value on career development which includes
two major components: counseling and training. Counseling provides employees with the
opportunity to define career goals and create plans within the context of organizational
realities. On the other hand, training allows employees to develop and acquire
17


knowledge, skills and abilities required to enhance the current job and share them with
other employees (Noe, 1999). This will allow employees to fulfill their career needs and
feel motivated to contribute more for the company. Furthermore, organizations will

benefit by retaining qualified employees.
Besides, according to Santoshi (2011), career progression is one of the critical factors
affecting employees’ satisfaction and their willingness to stay with an organization. By
creating a clear and effective career progression in the workplace, this will enhance
organizational loyalty among employees, results in higher level of employee satisfaction,
lower employee turnover, and fewer employee complaints (Werther and Davis, 1992).
Hence, based on previous studies about affecting of career regression on employee
satisfaction, we hypothesize that:
H4: Career progression has a positive influence on employee satisfaction
2.2.5. Supervisor support
Supervisor support is defined as the extent to which leaders value their employees’
contributions and care about their well-being. A strong supervisor support improves the
quality of employment and is associated with increased job satisfaction and reduced
turnover (Newman & Thanacoody, 2010).
The relationship between leadership behavior and employee satisfaction has also received
a great deal of attention in past research. Howard and Frink (1996) states that
supervisors’ behavior, relationship with co-worker are positively related to job
satisfaction. Based on the study of Chandrasekar (2011), supervisors’ interpersonal role is
important to encourage positive relations and increase self-confidence of the employee.
Employees will perform better in their current role and be potential to develop further
into a future role if they get help from skilled supervisors. Supervisor support has a
significant impact on creating employee motivation and autonomy. As supervisor take
care to help and support employees as well as concerned about their needs, these
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employees will feel more satisfied (Griffin, Patterson and West, 2001). In the study done
by Mishra (2007), it was found that style of supervision affects the attitude of an
employee in the form of their satisfaction and performance.
Therefore, based on the literature review, a following hypothesis is proposed:

H5: Supervisor support has a positive influence on employee satisfaction
2.2.6. Moderated variable: Bank type
Based on the practical situation of the banking industry in Vietnam, the sixth hypothesis
is proposed to examine the moderating effects of the bank type: local and foreign bank on
the employee satisfaction of the bankers.
The appearance of the foreign banks brings competition to the domestic banking industry
by providing advanced banking services and products. In the context of this situation, the
foreign banks have many advantages compared to local banks such as investment capital,
professional management system, experienced and high-skilled staff, etc. Therefore,
indirectly, it makes the local banks have to improve their service quality, banking
products as well as human resources management in order to compete with foreign banks.
Some previous studies show that employees working in different foreign and local banks
have different levels of satisfaction. According to Admed (2014), employees working in
foreign banks are more satisfied regarding their pay structure and performance evaluation
whereas employees in local banks are more satisfied regarding their job security.
Given above discussion, the author proposed that the Bank type may have different
effects on the relationship between each factor and employees satisfaction. Thus the
hypothesis will be:
H6: The impact degrees of each factor (Salary and Benefits, Work environment,
Management system, Career progression, Supervisor support) on employee satisfaction
are distinct depending on local or foreign bank.
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2.3. The research model
According to above hypotheses, a research model was proposed as below:

Salary & Benefits

Work environment


Management system

H1

H2

Employee

H3

Satisfaction
H4

Career progression
H6
Supervisor support

H5

Moderating effects

Bank Type:
Local and Foreign Banks

Figure 2.1: Research model

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Chapter 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter introduces research methodology which is used to do the research. It will
present research process, the qualitative pilot test, the measurement scales were adopted
from previous studies, sample, data collection methods and the technique of analyzing
data.
3.1. Research process
The research follows the procedure illustrated in the below chart
Questionnaire design
Research Objectives

Literature Review

Draft Questionnaire

Revision

Final Questionnaire

Pilot survey
An interview of 8
respondents

Main survey and data analysis
A survey of 230
questionnaires

Reliability analysis

EFA


Conclusions &
Recommendations

Results

Regression analysis

Figure 3.1: Research process

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After identifying research problem, research objectives and reviewing the literature, the
draft questionnaire was developed based on measurement used in relevant previous
studies. In research design step, there are 2 sub-steps:
 Pilot survey: was conducted by interviewing 8 banking employees in both local
and foreign bank about the contents, the structure of the questionnaire, demographic
information and moderating variable to test the meaning of the measurement scales. After
that, the draft questionnaire was revised and the sample size was determined.
 Main survey: Final questionnaire were delivered directly and indirectly to banking
employees working in both local and foreign banks in Ho Chi Minh City. Data was
collected in two weeks.
In data analysis step, the collected data was used to test reliability and validity of the
measurement scales by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and EFA method. Then, the author
used multiple regression method to test the hypotheses proposed in this study. The final
step, the author discussed the findings and conclusions based on the results of the above
step.
3.2. Measurement scale
The scale of the study has been developed on the basic of previously established studies,

in conjunction with the refinement for contextual situation, in specific, a banking industry
in Viet Nam. In summary, 29 variables are selected and grouped according to their
characteristic: salary & benefits factors, work environment factors, management system
factors, career progression factors, supervisor support factors and employee satisfaction.
Items were measured on a seven-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 = strongly
disagree to 7 = strongly agree in order to explore the opinion of the respondents.
Table 3.1: Measurement scale
Constructs

Number

Sources

of items
22


Salary & Benefits

05

Shun, Ching, Jiun and Hui

 Good salaries systems

(2006)

 Good retirement systems

Rahman, Noraida, Mohd,


 My job is secure

Harnizam,

 Satisfied with amount of health care paid

Kamaruzaman (2009)

Gopala

and

for
 Satisfied with amount of vacation
Work environment

04

Shun, Ching, Jiun and Hui

 Materials & equipment to do job well

(2006)

 Physical work conditions are good

Rahman, Noraida, Mohd,

 Provision of educative and training


Harnizam,

Gopala

and

Kamaruzaman (2009)

environment
 Provision of abundant resources &
advanced information
Management system

05

Shun, Ching, Jiun and Hui
(2006)

 Fair promotion systems
 Good management systems
 Clear system of rewards and penalties
 Smooth communication channels
 Provision

of

high

quality


service

processes
Career progression

03

Santoshi (2011)

 Established career path

Rahman, Noraida, Mohd,

 Opportunities to learn & grow

Harnizam,

 Achieves the level or position I had

Kamaruzaman (2009)

Gopala

and

hoped to achieve
Supervisor support

06


Jessica and Helena (2011)
23


 Helps his/her team members identify and
develop their skills and potential
 Celebrates his/her team’s successes
 Deals effectively with multiple demands
and conflicting priorities
 Makes

timely

decisions,

without

unnecessary delay
 Demonstrates high ethical standards
 Treats me fairly and with respect
Employee Satisfaction

06

 Employee satisfaction with salary and

Khalil, Abdul, Waseem and
Ahmad (2011)


benefits
 Employee

Yasir, Kashif-ud-din, Zark,

satisfaction

with

work

environment
 Employee satisfaction with management
system
 Employee

satisfaction

with

career

progression
 Employee satisfaction with supervisor
support
 Employee overall satisfaction

3.3. Qualitative pilot research
The pilot test was conducted through qualitative pilot study with group discussion
technique. The qualitative research was conducted in December 2013 by making a deep

interview with eight employees who working in both local and foreign banks in Ho Chi
Minh city (Shinhan Bank, Viet A Bank, Asia Commercial Bank). The participants need
24