The leadership element: a phenomenological study of the job satisfaction of government contractor employees

Cecil Shannon Whitley

doi:10.17918/00001293

This study explored the lived experiences of government contractors serving on a military base in Maryland. The focus of the research was to gain a better understanding of the lived experiences of government contractors that serve both their contract company as well as attend to the needs of the customer site. The goal was to contribute to a limited body of qualitative research concerning government contractor job satisfaction when serving two independent leadership structures and, at the same time, to contribute to the existing literature concerning the organizational effects of leadership styles and behaviors. This study was guided by an overarching research question and three sub- questions. The overarching question was: How do government contractors describe how serving two independent leadership structures affects their level of job satisfaction? The three sub-questions were: (1) How do the contractors describe how their interaction with the customer site leadership affected their sense of job satisfaction? (2) How do the contractors describe how their interaction with the contract company leadership affected their sense of job satisfaction? (3) How do the contractors describe the experience of working for two leadership structures simultaneously? The researcher employed a qualitative phenomenological approach to inquiry. Fifteen contractors participated in the study. Data sources included a demographic questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and a researcher's journal. The results were as follows: 1) government rules provided clarity regarding the roles of contractor, contract company, and customer site; 2) the leadership styles and behaviors of the customer site leadership impacted the level of job satisfaction experienced by the government contractors; 3) the leadership styles and behaviors of the contract company leadership had little impact on the level of job satisfaction experienced by the government contractors; and 4) autonomy and team building were very important to participants' levels of job satisfaction. The researcher offered recommendations for practice and for future research. Keywords: leadership, job satisfaction, government, contractor, turnover

The leadership element: a phenomenological study of the job satisfaction of government contractor employees

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The leadership element: a phenomenological study of the job satisfaction of government contractor employees

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