Employee architect's perception of human resource practices and their job satisfaction

Purpose - There has been little empirical study on employees' perceptions of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices in the architectural industry, where the employee architects have been described as the assets of the firm, and how these influence their job satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that define the perceptions of these employees of the HRM practices and how these perceptions influence their job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach - A questionnaire survey of employee architects in Lagos, Nigeria was carried out. The respondents were asked to rate their perceptions of HRM practices in their firms. Data were analyzed using mean ranking, principal component analysis, and regression analyses. Findings - The results show that contrary to popular beliefs, most of the respondents were satisfied with their jobs overall, although they were least satisfied with their pay. The factors that predict the satisfaction of the employee architects with various aspects of the job were identified. Research limitations/implications - A major limitation to this study lies in the fact that samples were only taken from employees of privately owned architectural firms in Lagos, Nigeria. Practical implications - The results indicate areas of HRM practices that principals of architecture firms may explore to enhance employee architects' satisfaction. Originality/value - The study adds to the body of knowledge on employee perception of HRM practices and satisfaction by providing evidence from the architectural industry. This study further contributes to literature satisfaction as a multi-scale item in relation with the employee architects' demographic and HRM practices.