Motivational Drives and Employee Performance: Evidence From Selected Universities in Nigeria
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study is to examine the relationship between motivational drives and employee performance in selected universities in Ogun State. The study attempts to specifically:
- Investigate the relationship between achievement and employeeperformance in selected universities in Ogun
- Examine the relationship between career advancement and employee performance in selected universities in Ogun
- Examine the relationship between autonomy and employee performance in selected universities in Ogun
- Assess the relationship between personal growth and employeeperformance in selected universities in Ogun
- Evaluate the relationship between recognition and employee performance in selected universities in Ogun
- Examine the relationship between nature of work and employeeperformance in selected universities in Ogun
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter presents literature review on the subject matter. It contains the conceptual review, theoretical review and empirical review.
Conceptual Review
It has been established that employees are lifeblood of any organization. Any issues pertaining to employees must not be handled with levity by management, otherwise, productivity will dwindle. Motivation of employees is a veritable channel to reinforce the morale, commitment and loyalty of employees towards the progress of organization. When employees are adequately motivated, they become committed to perform better to achieve organizational goals. The aspect discusses the concept and types of motivational drives, concept of performance and linkage between motivational drives and employee performance.
Concept of Motivation
The concept of motivation is inter-disciplinary. It cut across various fields of academic disciplines such as public administration, economics, sociology, education, psychology, business administration, marketing and human resource management. The Society for Human Resource Management (2010) defines motivation has a set of psychological forces that determines the direction of a person’s level of effort as well as the resilience of such individual in the face of challenges. This definition contains the notion of many potential actions that can be engaged upon to keep trying or relent when one encounter a challenge.
Bratton, etal, (2007) defines motivation as a cognitive decision making process that drives the persistence and direction of a goal directed behavior. George & Jones (2008) see motivation as a set of psychological forces within a person that determines the direction of his/her behaviors in an organization. Bartol & Martin (2007) describe motivation as a power that energizes behaviors, gives direction to behavior and gears the continuance of such tendency. This definition implies that in order for an individual to achieve certain goals, he or she must be strong and determined.
Motivation is an internal state that causes people to behave in a strategic way to achieve particular objectives. It is not possible to assess motivation arbitrarily but can be accessed through its external manifestations (Denhardt, etal, 2008). They further report that motivation is different from satisfaction while the latter is driven by the past the former is driven by the future. Motivation is sine qua non to management because it explains the behavior of employees in an organization (Boamah, 2014). Lindner (2006) defines motivation as the psychological process that provides direction and purpose to human behavior. It entails a purposive behavior to achieve certain unsatisfied demands and the will for actualization. Achoka (2011) assert that motivation is perceived as anything that drives employees to perform when their demands are met.
Grant (2010) posits that the process of motivation is an interaction of three factors namely needs, drives and incentives. Luthan (2007) believes that the process of motivation begins with the need that triggers a behavior or a drive targeted to achieve certain outcomes. His position centers on the fact that the process of motivation can be understood by the interdependence and interaction of need, drives and incentives. Armstrong (2009) posits that when people get motivated when they believe that certain need will be satisfied by achieving certain goals to meet such needs.
Employee motivation can be divided into two broad categories namely intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to the kind of motivation that satisfies people’s needs or makes them believe that their goals will be realized. Intrinsic motivation is gotten from the job itself. Management can motivate their employees intrinsically by designing job design policies. The factors that affect intrinsic motivation include career progression, responsibility, autonomy, recognition and opportunities for advancement. Extrinsic motivation refers to the obtained by the actions of management to motivate their employees. Extrinsic motivations are mostly financial-related and have immediate influence on employees. However, Gikuya (2014) maintains that the influence of intrinsic motivation has more sustainable effect on employees than extrinsic motivation. Armstrong (2009) supported this position that intrinsic motivation is more powerful in the long run as it is embedded within the individual and not emanating from the outside whereas extrinsic motivation might have quick visible effects but these do not last long as the stimuli emanates outside the individual. An employee can be said to be extrinsically motivated when his or her needs are met through the use of financial rewards. Employees in this category regard money as a goal that provides satisfaction independent of the actual activity itself. Management should adopt a formidable motivation practices that will make employees feel valued. This can be done via celebration of birthdays, issuance of commendation messages upon good performance, consultation with employees before decision-making and concern about their job growth.
The psychologist Fredrick Herzberg set out to determine the effect of attitude on motivation, by asking people to describe situations where they felt really good, and really bad, about their jobs. What he found was that people who felt good about their jobs gave very different responses from the people who felt bad.
These results form the basis of Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory (sometimes known as Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory). Published in his famous article, “One More Time: How do You Motivate Employees,” the conclusions he drew were extraordinarily influential, and still form the bedrock of good motivational practice nearly half a century later.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This study uses a research methodology t ha t is systematic in da ta c olle c tion t o provide relevant answers to research questions. Past studies such as Zameer, etal, (2014); Muogbo (2013); Boamah (2014); Lameck (2011) and Uzonna (2013) to mention few, adopted the quantitative methodological approach. The study adopts the quantitative methodological approach because it is uses facts and figures to succinctly solve research problem.
Research Design
The descriptive survey design employed here ensures that data are actually collected from people who are in the right position to provide such information. Another reason for the choice of this design is because it was employed by virtually all past studies on the subject matter.
Population of the Study:
The population of the study constitutes all staff (academic and non-academic) of selected universities in Ogun State – Crawford University, Olabisi Onabanjo University and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Based on the information provided by the academic and non-academic establishments of selected universities, the total number of staff in selected universities is presented as follows:
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Introduction
This chapter focuses on the presentation of data, analysis and interpretation as regard the relationship between motivational drives and employee performance of staff of selected universities in Ogun State. Structured questionnaire, which is the instrument used for data collection, was administered to 477 staff of Crawford University, Igbesa; Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. The researcher was able to collect 378 questionnaires from respondents, representing 79.2% return rate. The data were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistical tools (count, mean and standard deviation) and the Pearson Product Moment of Correlation was utilized to test the hypotheses at 5% level of significance.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of Findings
The major findings of the study are summarized as follows:
- Career advancement has the strongest relationship with employee performance, followed by personal growth, recognition, autonomy, achievement and nature of
- Achievement is positively and significantly associated with performance of employees of selected universities in Ogun State (r=0.900; p< 05).
- Career advancement is positively and significantly associated with performance of employees of selected universities in Ogun State (r=0.939; p< 05).
- Autonomy is positively and significantly associated with performance of employees of selected universities in Ogun State (r=0.921; p< 05).
- Personal growth is positively and significantly associated with performance of employees of selected universities in Ogun State (r=0.926; p< 05).
- Recognition is positively and significantly associated with performance ofemployees of selected universities in Ogun State (r=0.924; p< 05).
- Nature of work is positively and significantly associated with performance of employees of selected universities in Ogun State (r=0.894; p< 05).
Conclusion
Motivational drives are also known as intrinsic forms of motivation which comes from inside a person. Motivational drive is a sense of achievement, responsibility, job satisfaction, purpose, involvement, empowerment and ownership. Motivational drives make employees feel that what they are doing makes a big difference in their lives and in the organization. If employees feel that what they are doing is insignificant, they will feel insignificant. On the other hand, if they feel their work is valued, they feel valued. Motivational drives are better and cheaper ways to get employees motivated for better performance. Motivational drives results in improved morale, increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, enhanced employer-employee relationship, increased commitment and dedication, increased higher retention rates and improved bottom-line results.
The usage of motivational drive is essential especially in a period when the Nigerian economy is recovering from recession and also there is a limit to which financial rewards can keep employees motivated. The study has provided empirical evidence that there is a significant relationship between motivational drives – achievement, career advancement, autonomy, recognition, personal growth and
nature of work and performance of employee of selected universities in Ogun State.
Recommendations
In an attempt to enhance the performance of employees of universities through motivational drives, the following recommendations are proposed:
Commendation: Management of universities should try as much as possible to commend their staff for exceptional performance. Commending employees invariably implies that they are cherished by the management. The constant practice of commendation enhances job satisfaction, which consequently improves their job performance.
Development: Management of universities should consistently train their employees. Their skill base should be enhanced. Employees should be prepared to fill in at the next level. They can also be given temporary assignments in different departments to enhance their job skill.
Creation of Informal Leadership Roles: Leadership roles, even temporary ones, create a higher sense of engagement and recognition. Management should find ways of creating informal leadership roles for their staff. For instance, employees can be allowed to lead small project, train new employees, give facility tours to visitors, head certain committees in the university and share experiences received from a training seminar or inter-departmental assignment with the rest of the team.
Tracking and Post-Key Performance Metrics: Management should make sure employees know how they – and the department- are performing. Post results discuss improvement needs and celebrate accomplishments. Management must ensure that performance indicators are consistent with goals, missions and visions. This will not only improve organizational performance, but employees will have a better understanding of their place in, and importance to, the organization.
Communication: Management should make it a point of duty to communicate formally, informally and/or verbally to their staff. The opinions of employees should be consulted before making key decisions. Management should involve employees in the decision-making process. Management should carry their employees along in everything they do. The suggestions, inputs, contributions and ideas of employees should be acknowledged, and at least few should be implemented.
Suggestions for Further Studies
It is advised that future studies should extend the subject area to other universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education and military education institutions in Nigeria. The study only examined the relationship between motivational drives and employee performance. Further studies should assess the effect of motivational drives on employee performance. Lastly, future studies should conduct a comparative analysis on the effects of extrinsic and intrinsic forms of motivation on employee performance in Nigerian organizations.
REFERENCES
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- Akanbi, P.A. (2011). Influence of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation on Performance of Employee in Flour Mills Limited, Lagos. A PhD Thesis submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Oyo State.
- Akwara., Azalahu, F., Grace A., Akwara., Ngozi, F., Okwelume., Rose. (2014). Motivation as a Tool for Enhancing Productivity in the Organized Private Sector of the Nigerian Economy: A Case Study of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry in Nigeria.
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