The Impact of Employee Satisfaction With Care on the Performance of Employees in the Food Industry in the Republic of Serbia

What the paper says

This study investigates the relationship between employee satisfaction with workplace care and their performance, focusing on three critical dimensions: management’s commitment to employee safety and health, the quality and accessibility of protective equipment, and the provision of medical allowances. The research was conducted in food industry in Serbia during 2021, involving 1123 participants. A cross-sectional design was chosen to meet the study’s purposes. The research findings indicate that medical allowances are the most critical aspect of employee satisfaction, which can be justified by the region’s low standard of living. The study also reveals significant discrepancies in satisfaction levels between management and employees regarding Human Resource Management and Occupational Health and Safety policies and practices, emphasizing the need to consider data selection bias present in such research. Additionally, the results demonstrate that individual characteristics and employees’ experiences related to Occupational Health and Safety influence their satisfaction with Human Resource Management and Occupational Health and Safety. The findings are significant in the context of ongoing reforms in social and pension insurance in the Republic of Serbia and negotiations between labor unions and the Ministry of Labor. They also contribute to a theoretical discourse in the context of the Social Exchange Theory, which conceptualizes Human Resource Management and Occupational Health and Safety policies and practices as gestures of goodwill by employers, that elicit positive responses from employees.