Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Employee Job Satisfaction in Five Selected Banks in Ilorin, Kwara State

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is recognised as a strategic driver of employee well-being and organisational performance, yet empirical evidence linking distinct CSR dimensions to specific facets of employee job satisfaction in Nigeria’s banking sector remains limited. This study examines how four CSR dimensions legal responsibility, social responsibility, philanthropic responsibility, and ethical responsibility influence four dimensions of employee job satisfaction (work environment, compensation & benefits, career growth & development, and work-life balance) in five selected commercial banks in Ilorin Metropolis. A proportional stratified sample was drawn from a population of 345 bank staff (proportional sample = 185); fieldwork returned 191 usable questionnaires which were analysed. A descriptive survey design was used; items were measured on a 7-point Likert scale and the data were subjected to reliability checks, exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression using SPSS (version 26). Hypotheses were tested at the 5% significance level. The findings are as follows. Legal responsibility (measured by law enforcement, regulatory compliance and policy adherence) is a strong positive predictor of the work environment (R = 0.831; R² = 0.690), with law enforcement and regulatory compliance showing the largest effects (standardised β ≈ 0.516 and 0.441 respectively; p < .001). Second, social responsibility (welfare support, community engagement, social inclusion) significantly predicts compensation and benefits (R = 0.794; R² = 0.630); social inclusion and welfare support showed the larger standardised effects (β ≈ 0.355 and 0.294; p < .001). Third, philanthropic responsibility (charity support, scholarship provision, health donation) strongly predicts career growth and development (R = 0.845; R² = 0.714), with charity support exerting the largest influence (β ≈ 0.621; p < .001). Finally, the ethical responsibility model (ethical leadership, workplace fairness, transparency practice, general ethical responsibility) significantly explains variation in work-life balance (R = 0.768; R² = 0.589), with transparency practice and ethical leadership showing the more pronounced effects. The study concludes that distinct CSR dimensions have meaningful and policy-relevant effects on particular facets of employee job satisfaction in the Nigerian banking context: legal compliance and enforcement matter most for the work environment; social inclusion and welfare policies matter for pay and benefits perceptions; philanthropic programmes (notably charity support) are important levers for career development; and transparent, ethical leadership supports work-life balance.