Work Motivation among Occupational Therapy Graduates in Malaysia

Objective/Background: Occupational therapy that focuses on servicing clients demands motivated workers for quality service delivery. The objectives of this study were: (a) to determine the level of work motivation among occupational therapy graduates in Malaysia and (b) to determine if there is a difference in work motivation among these graduates based on work sector, job position, length of work experience, and gender.

Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited occupational therapy bachelor's degree graduates using an online survey. The Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS) was used to measure level of work motivation.

Results: Responses from 82 (60.3%) graduates (male: 26.8%; female: 73.2%) were analysed. Sixty-two (75.6%) graduates worked locally and 20 (24.4%) worked in foreign countries. The average Work Self-Determination Index (W-SDI) score for WEIMS is +11.38 with 78 (95.1%) of graduates demonstrated a self-determined motivational profile and 4 (4.9%) demonstrated a nonself-determined profile. Graduates in the private sector (13.10 ± 6.47) show significantly higher W-SDI score compared to those in the public sector (9.40 ± 6.06), p = 0.01. W-SDI scores appeared higher among clinician (11.67 ± 6.40), case manager (13.33), and others (14.90 ± 8.23); and those with work experience of 5-6 years (13.11 ± 6.90) and less than one year (12.65 ± 7.12). Male (10.29 ± 6.86) and female (11.79 ± 6.39) graduates shared equally high score. There is no significant difference in W-SDI score based on job position, length of work experience, and gender.

Conclusion: Occupational therapy graduates have high work motivation as evident by their self-determined profile. Only work sector imposes difference in work motivation among these graduates. Copyright © 2017, Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association. Published by Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).