JOB SATISFACTION: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY AT A PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION ORGANIZATION

Purpose: The purpose of this this article was to analyze the evolution of the level of satisfaction in the work of public servants of a Higher Education Institution in the years 2016 and 2018, years that deal with changing the workload in the organization. Originality/value: In a bibliometric study carried out in the SPELL database with the terms "job satisfaction", "public organization" and "longitudinal", no studies on the subject were found. Design/method/approach: A field research was carried out, with quantitative and qualitative approaches. The data were obtained through questionnaires using the Siqueira Work Satisfaction Scale (EST) (2008), applied to public servants in the years 2016 and 2018. It was also used 6 interviews to understand the factors that would be influencing the change in job satisfaction. Findings: The two years of research resulted in indifference on the part of public officials, that is, they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the work in general. However, in 2018 the dimensions of satisfaction with salary, leadership and promotions have resulted in dissatisfaction, unlike the first year in which employees have been indifferent in all dimensions. Most of the participants argued that the change of schedule implemented at the institution was the motivator of job dissatisfaction. Managerial considerations: It is important that managers have a view of the variation in the satisfaction level of their employees, allowed by the use of a longitudinal study, since in this way they can implement policies that prevent the impacts that can occur due to the decrease of employee satisfaction, such as decreased productivity, turnover, absenteeism, among others.