A Methodology for Measuring Job Satisfaction in the Public Sector

The last decade Greece has undergone a financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters. Consequently, the principal focus of the country’s fiscal policies has shifted toward providing financial aid to the population groups that were mostly affected by these crises. To a significant extent this has resulted in underfunding and weakening of the public sector which was already facing many issues in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and economy. One of the main factors strongly correlated with effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity of the employees and the organization, is job satisfaction. In this context, the present chapter attempts to investigate factors that affect job satisfaction in public institutions, using as a case the Court of First Instance of Athens, one of the largest Courts of Justice in Europe. A survey on job satisfaction was conducted among the employees of the Court, for the period from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023. A structural equation model was developed to determine the variables that influence job satisfaction. The findings of the study can help all the involved parties (management, employees, etc.) to identify the most important factors, to improve existing tools and techniques, and thereby develop policies and strategies to enhance capacity and resilience of the organization.