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South East Asian petroleum retailers are under considerable pressure to improve service quality by reducing turnover. An empirical methodology from this industry determined the extent to which job characteristics, training opportunities, age and salary influenced the level of job satisfaction, an indicator of turnover. Responses are reported on a random sample of 165 site employees (a 68% response rate) of a Singaporean retail petroleum firm. A restricted multivariate regression model of autonomy and training opportunities explained the majority (35.4%) of the variability of job satisfaction. Age did not moderate these relationships, except for employees >21 years of age, who reported enhanced job satisfaction with additional salary. Human Capital theory, Life Cycle theory and Job Enrichment theory are invoked and explored in the context of these findings in the South East Asian retail petroleum industry. In the South East Asian retail petroleum industry, jobs providing employees with the opportunity to undertake a variety of tasks that enhanced the experienced meaningfulness of work are likely to promote job satisfaction, reduce turnover and increase the quality of service.

This study reports on the responses of 165 site staff of a reputed Singaporean retail petroleum company. Links are explored between a conceptual framework consisting of the impact of Job Characteristics on Job Satisfaction, Training Opportunities on Job Satisfaction, and the role of Age as a mediator between these variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate which variables best predict Job Satisfaction as an outcome variable. A full regression multivariate model consisting of Job Characteristics variables (operationalized in terms of Skill Variety, Autonomy, Task Identity and Task Feedback), Training Opportunities, and Age groups explained 39.8% of the variability in the dependent variable Job Satisfaction. A restricted model consisting of Training Opportunities and Autonomy explained the bulk (35.4%) in the variability of the outcome variable Job Satisfaction. Both graphical analysis using a side-by-side box plots and ANOVA was used to test the way in which the mean of the investigated variables are affected by each of five age groups. The results revealed no evidence of significant difference in the variables’ means among age groups with Age accounting for less than 1.5% of variance in the proposed model. While the findings provide strong empirical support for Autonomy and Training Opportunities as an important predictor of Job Satisfaction, Age itself was not found to moderate the relationships between the linkages. Future research could productively identify the relative contribution of specific formal and informal Training Opportunities, and the relative contribution of performance-based incentive schemes and other motivational strategies for employee Job Satisfaction.