Motivation a Means of Increasing Productivity in a Business Organization. (a Case Study of Guiness Nigeria Plc)
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study is to examine motivation as a means of increasing productivity in a business organization. Specifically, this research work hopes to achieve the following objectives:
- To examine the factors which motivate employees to perform in Guiness Nigeria plc
- To look at various techniques of motivating people to performance in Guiness Nigeria plc.
- To ascertain the effect of motivation on worker’s productivity.
- To identify the problems associated with the motivation of workers in Guiness Nigeria plc.
- To suggest the solutions to such problems.
- Finally, to improve people’s knowledge in this area of organizational behaviour.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Framework
Concept of motivation
Human motivation is a complex and well-studied field that has broad roots in a diverse collection of academic disciplines including psychology, sociology, education, political science, and economics. In simplified terms, motivation can be defined as, “what causes people to behave as they do” (Denhardt et al., 2018 ). Unfortunately, this simple definition hides the dynamic intricacies of the motivation literature.
The word motivation is coined from the Latin word motus, a form of the verb movere, which means to move, influence, affect, and excite. By motivation we then mean the degree to which a person is moved or aroused to act Rainey, (1998). Dictionaries simply describe motivation as “the goad to action” Mitchell, (1982), whereas scholars expand the term to the set of psychological processes that cause the arousal, direction, and persistence of individual’s behavior toward attaining a goal Robbins/Judge, (2018). The latter definition underlines three pillars of motivation. The first arousal has to do with the drive or energy that ignites behavior Baron, (2014). The second direction – has to do with the type of behavior that is exerted and whether it is in line with demand or organization goal Robbins/Judge, (2018). The third pillar persistence – deals with the lastingness of behavior. Though, this factor is of less importance, because persistence can be simply defined as the reaffirmation of the initial arousal and direction processes Mitchell, (1997).
There tends to be a general consensus as to the definition of motivation which reflects that: (1) motivation is goal directed (Lawler, 1994), (2) motivation outlines the achievement and pursuit of goals (Denhardt et al., 2018) and (3) motivation is environmentally dependent (Pettinger, 1996). Campbell and Pritchard (1976) define motivation as being the set of psychological processes that cause the initiation, direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior.
Because motivation is so difficult to define, it may help in determining what motivation is not. Denhardt, Denhardt and Aristigueta (2018) outline four examples. Motivation is not: (1) directly observable, (2) the same as satisfaction, (3) always conscious, and (4) directly controllable.
Motivation is not directly observable. “Motivation is an internal state that causes people to behave in a particular way to accomplish particular goals and purposes. It is possible to observe the outward manifestations of motivation but not motivation itself” (Denhardt et al., 2018). For instance, the acquisition of money may be an extrinsic motivator, but it is simply the manifestation of the internal drive to meet intrinsic needs like purchasing food, paying rent for shelter, or acquiring high social status.
Motivation is not the same as satisfaction. “Put simply, satisfaction is past oriented, whereas motivation is future oriented” (Denhardt et al., 2018). While a worker may be very satisfied by the compensation of their job, there are countless instances where these workers are not entirely motivated to continue doing what they (Igalens & Roussel, 1999).
Motivation is not always conscious. Unconscious motivation is quite central to Sigmund Freud’s theories of human behavior. Freud posits that most human behavior is the result of unconscious repressed memories, impulses, and desires that influence and drive many human behaviors (Freud, 1976). A manifestation of this idea is the “Freudian slip” where an accidental word slip actually betrays true internal feelings and intentions.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter attempts to examine the various tools used in carrying out this research work. The chapter includes the methods of research design, data collection and presentation. It will present in detail the respondents responses to the research questions, section by section. The presentation will is in tabular form for quantitative data and descriptive analyses.
Area of Study
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria located in the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It is a planned city and was built mainly in the 1980s, replacing the country’s most populous city of Lagos as the capital on 12 December 1991. Abuja’s geography is defined by Aso Rock, a 400-metre (1,300ft) monolith left by water erosion. The Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the city extend to the south of the rock. Zuma Rock, a 792-metre (2,598 ft) monolith, lies just north of the city on the expressway to Kaduna.
At the 2016 census, the city of Abuja had a population of 776,298, making it one of the ten most populous cities in Nigeria. According to the United Nations, Abuja grew by 139.7% between 2000 and 2010, making it the fastest growing city in the world. As of 2015, the city is experiencing an annual growth of at least 35%, retaining its position as the fastest-growing city on the African continent and one of the fastest-growing in the world. As at 2016, the metropolitan area of Abuja is estimated at eight million persons, placing it behind only Lagos, as the most populous metro area in Nigeria.
The Guiness Nigeria plc is a Nigerian ministry whose function is to provide Nigerian citizens with “credible and timely information on government activities, programmes and initiatives” and to create the technological environment for Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
Source of Data
Well-structured questionnaires and use of focus groups were deployed to collect primary data for the research and secondary sources of data collection used include published reports and results of the organization. The use of secondary source of information afforded the opportunity to confirm the validity or otherwise the respondents response.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF DATA AND ANALYSIS
Data Presentation
In analyzing the data for this study, it is important to know the socio-demographic features of the respondents used in this study. Such demographic features will act as prelude to the data analysis.
Thus, such socio-demographic features like age, marital status, sex, and educational background of the respondents will be analyzed in this study. From the total of 160 questionnaires administered, only 153 were successfully retrieved and completed.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSION
Summary of Findings
So far, this study explore on the impact of motivation on organizational productivity, a case study of Guiness Nigeria plc. The study employed the primary data collection method, and the four hypotheses were tested with the use of chi-square statistics.
Based on the research objectives, the following findings were gathered:
- In the course of this research, it was discovered that there is a positive relationship between the quality of supervision and motivation to work. Most of the respondents used in this study-expressed satisfaction with their boss leadership style. This shows that there is a cordial relationship between leaders and most of their subordinates in the organization.
- It is also discovered that in the course of this study, many of the workers in the company are not happy with the fringe benefits, which they get from the company. In fact, many of the workers interviewed express their views that the fringe benefits enjoyed by them in the company are not in line with present day realities.
- There was also the belief by majority of the respondents included in this study that what obtains in other companies are better than what obtained in their own.
- Many of the workers included in this study-expressed satisfaction with the company’s appraisal policy.
- Finally, another important finding of this study is that many workers are some how satisfied with the training policy of the company. But they advocated for more training with regularity and richer contents than cover both work and personal development areas. However, interview with some of the management have shown that the company is considering using the e-learning platform to deliver some of the elearning interventions to save cost and take good advantages of benefits of using elearning which according to CIPD (2021), e-learning offers the following advantages over traditional offline methods:
- The learner is at the center of the process and has full control over the pace of the learning
- Interactively, at its best, is engaging and increases the effectiveness of learning, especially retention.
- It is flexible regarding time and place of learning.
- Consistency of presentation- the computer never has a ‘bad day’.
- Materials stored electronically can be repurposed as often as necessary (e.g. bulletin board discussions can be edited to form FAQs or case studies)
- It can provide support for users with learning difficulties.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:
- Organization leadership and management should provide adequate fringe benefits to the workers and such benefits should be geared towards meeting the needs of the workers. The provision of adequate fringe benefits to the workers will propel (motivate) them to put in their best in their contribution to the attainment of corporate objectives.
- The rewards workers enjoy in the company should be benchmarked and at par favorably with the reward which workers in other similar industries or companies enjoy. This is important because workers perception of what obtained in other organizations can affect their level of motivation.
- The management of the company should also encourage the training of workers. Learning and development opportunities is an important factor in motivating employees for superior performance.
- Managers; Supervisors and other workers who supervise and lead others should be equipped with management and leadership skills in other to manage and lead their team well and contribute to favourable work place environment for employee motivation and engagement.
Conclusion
This research work was carried out with the aim of looking at the motivation of employees in Guinness Nigeria plc. From the analysis of data and findings of such analysis, it was discovered that such motivational factors like the quality of supervision; the nature of fringe benefits enjoyed by the workers; worker’s perception of the reward he gets in the organization in relation to what other workers of similar status get and also his perception of what is obtained in his organization in relation to others Identifying the impact of each of these variables on employees‟ performance from the data analysis and interpretation, the following conclusions were drawn:
If managers wish to be effective, they need to have at least a basic understanding of motivation and the different motivational theories that try to explain the concept of motivation. They must be able to grasp the key components of theories such as Maslow‟s hierarchy of needs, and Herzberg‟s two-factor theory and make an effort to truly understand their employees. It is only by grasping these concepts that they can hope to effectively bring about continual high performance in their workers.
This study, survey results, and interviews have given us some valuable insight into motivation and its role in the workplace. Managers need to provide growth opportunity and challenging jobs in order to better motivate today’s workers. Without these challenges and opportunities for growth, employees may not see a need to perform highly at work. We have seen that recognition plays a major role in employees‟ motivation and that it is a very effective motivator. Employees want and need to feel that their contributions make a difference and recognition is one way to satisfy those wants or needs
This research and interviews have confirmed that the use of cash rewards can be an effective way to motivate employees, and the majority of our survey respondents agree with this statement.
In conclusion, when it comes to bringing out the best performance of employees, quality of supervision and relationship with the supervisor; recognition and adequate cash rewards are effective motivators.
Thus, it is important for organization to encourage and improve these motivational factors in the company in order to get optimum productivity from the workers.
The implication of this study cannot be overemphasized as this study will educate the management of the organization (especially the organization under study) on how to motivate their workers to performance. The findings of this study will generate people’s interest in researching into other areas of motivation in the organization, which will enrich the literature on motivation as a phenomenon.
In a nutshell, the study will enrich people’s knowledge in this area of organizational behaviour and management of people in the work place.
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