Job satisfaction of South African quantity surveyors: an empirical study

Abstract

A web‐based national questionnaire survey of the opinions of registered South African quantity surveyors was undertaken to establish their levels of job satisfaction. Issues explored included demographic factors; factors influencing job satisfaction; choice of career; gender and race in the workplace; and harassment and discrimination at work. Generally, it can be said that South African quantity surveyors like their jobs. Respondents tended to be poorly informed about career prospects when embarking on their careers and, although salary was a main driver in respect of career choice, many quantity surveyors ‘drifted’ into the career. However, most respondents claimed that they would choose the same career again. Important factors influencing job satisfaction for quantity surveyors were found to include: personal satisfaction in doing the work; a low degree of supervision; participating in decision‐making; undertaking challenging and creative work; and receiving recognition for achievements. Not all motivators were present in the respondents' workplaces, particularly participation in decision making and receiving regular feedback on performance. Women quantity surveyors perceive the profession to be male dominated, especially with regard to attitudes towards maternity leave and flexible working hours. The findings provide a valuable basis for indicating how quantity surveying firms can create an environment more conducive to enhancing job satisfaction of professional staff.

Keywords:

• Job satisfaction
• quantity surveyors
• South Africa

Notes

1. In terms of the apartheid legislation of the pre‐1994 government in South Africa, persons were racially classified as ‘White’, ‘Black’, ‘Coloured’ or ‘Asian’. The term ‘Coloured’ was used to describe South Africans of mixed descent. The ‘Asian’ classification included Indians. For the purposes of enforcing apartheid, persons were generally categorized as either ‘White’ or ‘Non‐White’. While the latter term has some pejorative connotations, it remains a useful label for categorizing several groups of people who were formerly disadvantaged because of their ethnicity. It has been solely used in that capacity in this research.

2. Currency exchange rate as at 3 August 2007: SA Rands 14.10 = Pound Sterling 1.00.

3. See note 1.

4. Given the legacy of apartheid and the policy of the current government of South Africa to address the inequities of the past using mechanisms of ‘positive discrimination’ and ‘affirmative action’, it has been considered appropriate to use the racial classifications of survey respondent groups for some of the data analysis. In most cases, however, the complete sub‐groupings were too small for reliable analysis, and the larger White and Non‐White sub‐groups (as explained in note 1 above) have been used. This is a limitation of the research as it is not possible to explore features that are distinct to the different Non‐White groups.