Abt Associates Inc. In collaboration with:I Aga Khan Foundation I Bitrán y Asociados I BRAC University I Broad Branch Associates I Deloitte Consulting, LLP I Forum One Communications I RTI International I Training Resources Group I Tulane University’s School of Public Health
Untangling Intrinsic Motivation of Health Workers in Uganda and Malawi
Ilana RonResearch Associate, Abt AssociatesPrepared by: Ilana Ron, Allison Goldberg, Paul Kiwanuka-Mukiibi
June 16, 2011
Presentation Outline
Conventional Wisdom and Overarching Research Questions
Brief Overview of Study Methodology Limitations of Study Results from Data Analyses Summary and Parting Thoughts
Background and Conventional Wisdom
Funded by USAID/Washington and USAID/Malawi as part of Health Systems 20/20 project
Faith-based institutions (often Christian Health Associations) are better able to attract, retain, and motivate staff than their public counterparts
Recent attention by donors given to a wide variety of financial and non-financial incentive schemes to improve health worker performance and motivation
Overarching Research Questions
What are the levels of intrinsic motivation, retention, and performance factors for health workers in public, faith-based (Christian Health), and private for-profit facilities in Malawi and Uganda?
What are drivers of intrinsic motivation for health workers in these sectors? How might intrinsic motivation be improved?
How important is faith as a predictor of intrinsic motivation for health workers?
Brief Overview of Methodology
Equal probability systematic sample selected Uganda: 311 health workers from 91 health
facilities (all size levels) interviewed from 20 districts Malawi: 602 health workers from 163 health
facilities from every district in Malawi interviewed; in addition, 612 clients interviewed
Both qualitative and quantitative data collection Very rich dataset on intrinsic motivation; over 900
health workers from all cadres interviewed
Limitations of Study
Sample size in each cadre is too small to drill down into results for each cadre; results are a profile of a cadre overall
Faith-based sector included Christian Health facilities, not Muslim facilities
Data around intrinsic motivation, retention and job satisfaction are not matched with health outcomes; we do not know if more motivated health workers actually perform better (but we assume that they do)
RESULTS
Intrinsic Motivation Factors
Feeling of being good at the job Feeling of being able to successfully complete all
assigned tasks Feeling of being proud of job and position at the
facility Opportunities for growth and development Role of faith Daniel Pink definition: internal motivators like
enjoyment of work, genuine achievement, personal growth
Malawi: Comparison of Means on Overall Morale & Job Satisfaction and Overall Intrinsic
Motivation Across SectorsPublic Sector
(N=415)Private Sector
(N=47)CHAM with SLA
(N=17)CHAM w/out SLA
(N=116)
Mean Score on Morale & Job Satisfaction Index
27.21 (26.7-27.7) 28.94 (27.0-30.8) 26.74 (24.45-29.03) 27.13 (26.18-28.08)
Mean Score on Intrinsic Motivation Index
35.03 (34.7-35.3) 35.00 (34.1-35.9) 34.67 (32.9-36.4) 34.7 (34.2-35.2)
Average levels of overall morale & job satisfaction and overall intrinsic motivation are not substantively different across sectors
Overall, health workers across all sectors report that they are only generally satisfied with their jobs, yet highly motivated to complete them
Malawi: Impact of Compensation and Faith & Religion on Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic Motivation Index
Public Sector N Private
Sector N CHAM with SLA N CHAM w/out
SLA N All Sectors N
Compensation Satisfaction Index -.08 (-.19-.014)
413 -21 (-.544-.12)
47 -.39 (-1.1-2.9)
17 .26* (.07-.45)
117 -.04 (-.13-.04)
594
Religiosity Index .52* (.38-.67)
412 .80* (.23-1.4)
47 .21 (-1.11-1.5)
17 .27* (.02-.52)
116 .46* (.34-.58)
592
Importance of Religion in the Workplace Index
.17*(.02-.32)
416 .37 (-.10-.85)
47 .64 (-.55-1.8)
17 .40* (.12-.68)
117 .22* (.09-.34)
597
Health workers’ overall level of satisfaction with compensation is not significantly associated with their overall level of intrinsic motivation. This means that compensation is not a driver of health worker motivation, except in the case of CHAM facilities without SLA (.26*).
Strong religious values are significantly associated with health workers’ overall level of intrinsic motivation
The importance of working in a religious environment is associated with higher levels of overall job satisfaction (but less strongly than individual religiosity)
Uganda: Motivation and Satisfaction Factors
Uganda: Predictors of Intrinsic Motivation
Strongest predictors of satisfaction and motivation: Adequate equipment and supplies to do job Professional development opportunities Feeling of being “good at job” Fair pay [*not high pay*] compared to others doing similar work
Only predictor of satisfaction and motivation related to faith: Feeling that religion can help a health worker serve a client well
Extrinsic Motivation Factors
Compensation
Benefits
Malawi: Impact of Compensation and Intrinsic Motivation on Retention
Retention Index Public Sector N Private
Sector N CHAM with SLA N CHAM
w/out SLA N All Sectors N
Compensation Satisfaction Index .00 (-.07-.07)
415 .22 (-.03-.48)
47 .19 (-.27-.65)
17 .14 (-.03-.31)
117 .05 (-.01-.12)
596
Intrinsic Motivation Index .17* (.11-.24)
416 .07 (-.15-.30)
47 .09 (-.27-45)
17 .17 (-.03-.27)
117 .15 *(.09-.20)
597
Health workers’ overall level of satisfaction with compensation is not significantly associated with their intention to stay at the facility where they are working Reasons to stay at facility: convenience (e.g. house and family are nearby and transport is
accessible) and the opportunity to learn from experienced colleagues
Health workers’ intrinsic motivation is significantly associated with the decision to retain employment in the public sector. Intrinsic motivation is only a primary driver of retention in public sector facilities
Uganda: Compensation and Retention Factors
Summary and Parting Thoughts
Very large dataset; only a very small sub-section of results able to be presented today
Several key themes emerging: Intrinsic motivation levels are largely not associated with satisfaction
about compensation package Particularly in the public sector, intrinsic motivation is a primary driver
of retention Biggest drivers of intrinsic motivation: professional development,
opportunities for promotion, fairness of compensation Religiosity is an important driver of motivation but exists at the
individual and workplace level in the public as well as the FBO sector Striking the balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivators is key
but difficult
Abt Associates Inc. In collaboration with:I Aga Khan Foundation I Bitrán y Asociados I BRAC University I Broad Branch Associates I Deloitte Consulting, LLP I Forum One Communications I RTI International I Training Resources Group I Tulane University’s School of Public Health
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