The Level of Sufficiency Given to DepEd Nurses, Division of

Southern Leyte in Terms of Remuneration and Other Monetary Benefits, Non-monetary Benefits, Budget Allocation and Career Advancement

Table 9 presents the level of sufficiency given to DepEd nurses in terms of remuneration and other monetary benefits.

Table 9. Level of Sufficiency Given to DepEd Nurses in Terms of Remuneration and Other Monetray Benefits

The table shows that in terms of remuneration and other monetary benefits, majority of the DepEd nurses find their transportation and field work allowances, and medical and hospitalization to be Very Insufficient;

and their monthly salary, PERA and ADCOM, and step increment to be insufficient. They however find their hazard pay, year-end bonus and cash gift, productivity incentive, and clothing allowance to be Sufficient.

Over all the DepEd nurses reported their remuneration and other monetary benefits to be Insufficient, with the weighted mean response of 2.26.

Newstrom and Davis (1993) stress that money is very important to employees because of its both economic and social value. It serves as a medium of exchange for allocation of economic resources, as well as a social status symbol for those who have it and can save or spend it. It is the most tangible form of a worker’s survival because it immediately answers his physiological needs for food, shelter, and clothing. Thus, the most grieve disservice that an organization can extend to its employees is to grant them with insufficient monetary benefits.

Miranda and Miranda (2002) aver that money is the “greatest motivator of them all,” and that man of the present century is a highly materialistic creature craving more and more for material goods that will contribute to higher standards of living. They add that a usual job hunter is not interested in the job itself which will enable him to use his talent and skills, but rather on the remuneration that such a job offers, that is money rewards, whether expressed as salaries or wages.

Table 10 presents the level of sufficiency given to DepEd nurses in terms of non-monetary benefits.

Table 10. Level of Sufficiency Given to DepEd Nurses in Terms of Non-monetray Benefits

Indicators Mean Description Weighted Mean Description Response Response

Recognition for Completion non-monetary benefits to be Very Insufficient with 1.68 as the weighted mean response. types of esteem needs: 1) the desire for achievement and competence;

and 2) the desire for status and recognition. In organizational terms, it has always been basically the drive of every person to be good at his job, and at the same time to feel that he is achieving something important when he performs his job.

Self-actualization need is the highest rung in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs wherein a person looks for meaning and personal growth for his work, and actively seeks out new responsibilities. This need would vary from individual to individual. For some individuals, producing work of

high quality maybe a means for self-actualization, while for others, developing creative, useful ideas serves the same need (Stoner and Wankel, 1987).

Flippo (1984) explains that sufficient monetary and non-monetary benefits could bring out three (3) things for the organization: 1) attract capable employees; 2) motivate them toward superior performance; and 3) retain their services over an extended period of time.

However, if a worker does not receive the remuneration and other monetary and non-monetary benefits he feels entitled, and what he thinks sufficient for his needs, he often show dissatisfaction and eventually less commitment to his job as can be shown by becoming angry and working less hard. He may even increase absenteeism, or even leave his job (Cropanzano and Folger, 1991).

An individual could only feel that the compensation (monetary or non monetary) he is getting is sufficient if it is attached to the concept of fairness and equity. Cropanzano and Folger (1991) contend that when employees react to the way they are treated at work, their motivation to respond in one fashion or another cannot be understood adequately without taking into account two separate notions of fairness: the distributive justice, and the procedural justice.

Traditionally the organizational science literature has considered only one way of describing what it means to be fairly treated. It is through distributive justice as illustrated by the equity theory of Adams.

According to equity theory, a person determines whether or not he is treated fairly at work by examining his own payoff ratio of outcomes to inputs and comparing that ratio with the corresponding outcome-input ratio obtained by others such as their coworkers (Cropanzano and Folger, 1991).

A second way of thinking about what it means to be treated fairly is through procedural justice wherein the focus lies on the manner in which the decision-making process is conducted (Cropanzano and Folger, 1991).

The focus shifts from what was decided (distributive justice) to how the decision was made.

In 2001, Valadez and Anthony examined the level of job satisfaction and commitment among two-year college part-time faculty members towards their professional roles, responsibilities and rewards. They found out that part-time faculty members with higher level of perception on fair and just compensation for their works had higher level of work commitment than those who were frustrated by modest pay and meager benefits.

Table 11 presents the level of sufficiency given to DepEd nurses in terms of budget allocation.

Table 11. Level of Sufficiency Given to DepEd Nurses in Terms of Budget Allocation

Indicators Mean Description Weighted Mean Description Response Response

Salaries and Wages 2.37 Insufficient

The table shows that the DepEd nurses perceive their salaries and wages, and other compensation benefits as Insufficient; while their transportation and fieldwork allowances, office supplies, fixtures and furnitures, and laboratory equipment and facilities as Very Insufficient.

Over-all, they find the budget allocated for their department to be Very Insufficient with 1.88 as the weighted mean response.

Budget allocation is very important to every employee as it is the process wherein organization allots money for its future programs and activities. They may include raising salaries and wages, hiring and training personnel, and purchasing new equipment.

Irvine (1970) states that budgets can have a positive impact on motivation and morale of workers if they are included in the process.

Most individuals need to achieve things they are committed to and desire to be accepted by groups to which they belong. Budgets can activate

these motivational factors by creating common goals and the feeling that everyone is working toward them.

However, budgets could also be a foreteller of an undesirable future for employees, and therefore a bringer of demoralization. In series of oral interviews conducted by the researcher, the DepEd nurses admitted that they are not included in the organization’s budget preparation process, and that the amount allocated for them in the end are below of what they feel as sufficient to answer their financial and work resource needs.

More particularly, in the aspect of allocating budgets for office supplies and fixtures and furnitures, and laboratory equipment and facilities, the respondents reported that they should have been consulted by management on what items to prioritize for allocation as they are the ones who are on the frontline and are the main users of the equipment and dispensers of the medicine supplies.

A study conducted by Magner et al (1996) revealed that performance among workers can be negatively affected by the following resource allocation conditions: a) unfavorable distribution of a helpful work resource; and b) unfair procedure of work resource allocation. The negative effects would range from low morale, tardiness, absenteeism, and low productivity, to eventual turnover.

Table 12 presents the level of sufficiency given to DepEd nurses in terms of career advancement.

Table 12. Level of Sufficiency Given to DepEd Nurses

The table shows that over-all, the DepEd nurses find their career advancement opportunities to be Very Insufficient with 1.88 as the weighted mean response.

Insuffiency of opportunities for career advancement provides negative impact both to employees and the organization. To the employees, it could send the message that they are on a career plateau and are not going anywhere in the corporate ladder. To the organization, on the other hand, it reflects grieve indifference to its people’s career progressions that eventually would contribute to its downfall, considering that the quality of every organization will depend primarily on the quality of skills, competence and motivation of the people operating it.

Career plateau is defined by Stoner and Wankel (1987) as “the point in a career where the likehood of additional hierarchical promotion is very low.” Its cause is not always due to personal shortcomings, but more

often due to a normal organizational occurrence such as lack of personnel development programs, and the workers’ lack of skill in organizational politics.

C. The Level of Job Satisfaction Among Nurses at DepEd, Division of