A STUDY OF SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION EMPLOYEES' WORK-RELATED NEEDS

This study was conducted to gather empirical data on the need priorities of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) employees and to assess employee dissatisfaction in five Maslow need categories. The purpose for gathering these data was to guide personnel policy revisions as the agency compiles with the philosophy and legal mandates of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. The Survey of Employee Job Related Attitudes (SEJRA) was distributed through inter-office mail to every SEC employee. The study data were gleaned from the voluntarily completed and returned surveys from 901 employees (44% of the survey population) representing a wide range of occupational and demographic categories. Returned surveys were first grouped into two categories (i.e. supervisory and non-supervisory employees). Separate multivariate analyses of variance were used to test for differences in need importance and need dissatisfaction between supervisory and non-supervisory employees. Each of these two groups was then subdivided into several occupational categories. Six supervisory and seven non-supervisory occupational categories were tested for differences in need importance and need dissatisfaction. Supervisors were significantly different from non-supervisors on need importance (p (LESSTHEQ) .001) and need dissatisfaction (p (LESSTHEQ) .001). Supervisors reported autonomy needs as more important than did non-supervisors, while non-supervisors were more dissatisfied in all need categories. There were significant differences among six supervisory occupational groups (i.e. attorneys, financial analysts, accountants, investigators/examiners, professionals/technicians, administrators) (p (LESSTHEQ) .001) and seven non-supervisory occupational groups (i.e. attorneys, financial analysts, accountants, investigators/examiners, professionals/technicians, administrators, secretaries/clerks) (p (LESSTHEQ) .001) on need importance. There were also significant differences among the six supervisory occupational groups (p (LESSTHEQ) .001) and the seven non-supervisory occupational groups (p (LESSTHEQ) .001) on need dissatisfaction. Specific differences among occupational groups and by level of occupation were reported and discussed. Univariate group means showed that higher-order needs for esteem, autonomy, and self-actualization were more important with greater dissatisfaction than lower-order security and social needs for all groups. However, supervisory professionals/technicians, along with non-supervisory professionals/technicians, administrators, and secretaries/clerks were moderately dissatisfied in security needs. Since the latter four groups comprise a large segment of the agency's competitive service employee population, their concerns were considered in revising competitive merit promotion procedures. Other related issues were also discussed. Ten of the thirteen occupational groups considered self-actualization the most important need category as shown by univariate group means. The other three groups (i.e. supervisory investigators/examiners, supervisory accountants, and supervisory administrators) considered autonomy the most important need. However, there was a wide range of individual differences within every occupational group on both need importance and need dissatisfaction. Voluntary comments by respondents suggested that environmental factors contributed to some of the individual differences in need dissatisfaction. Implications for personnel and management policy revisions and implementation of new procedures were discussed.