CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY    

Employees’ productivity is the heart and soul’ of any organization. Any successful business knows much of its success is due to diligent workers with excellent productivity. Employees who put forth extra effort often make a big difference in company profits. The employees who do only what the job duties require, and no more, can stymie the progress of a company. Increasing productivity is one of the most critical goals in business. Unfortunately, it’s an activity seldom accepted by Human Resource professionals as a legitimate mandate. While most Human Resource professionals acknowledge that their job entails establishing policy, procedures, and programs governing people management, few attempt to connect such elements to increasing employee output (volume, speed, and quality) in terms of revenue per employee. It is important to motivate all employees to reach their full potential and maximal their level of productivity. Companies that recognize and encourage increased productivity are likely to be more successful than their counterparts that don't (Sahay, 2005).

The importance of qualified manpower in the social, political and economic development of any nation can hardly be over emphasized. No nation is known to have attained and sustained high level of economic growth and development without ample supply of manpower. Of all the factors that unlock the forces of economic and development, a country’s human resources is the most vital because without, it all the other factors have to wait. (Nwachukwu 1988, p-128) Positive changes in the quality of work force according to Nwachukwu, account for rapid economic development that has taken place in advanced countries, Kuznet in Nwachukwu once observed that “the major capital stock of an industrially advance country is not its physical equipment; it is the body of knowledge amassed from tested findings and discoveries of empirical science, and the capacity and training of its population to use this knowledge”.

Kauno (2005) says productivity is important because it allows the business to be more cost effective. The more output a business has for a specific cause, the cheaper it is to produce the product. This in turn allows the business to have a higher profit. Productivity on the part of employees is important because getting your job done will help the company's growth. If the company grows and progresses, profits will increase. If profits in the company increase, not only will the bosses be happier but they will hire more people and give raises to those doing a good job and increase benefits for them. If employees are shareholders in the company they will win even more benefits since their shares will be worth more and they will have a nice nest egg when they retire. Productivity is good for everyone and important for a company's survival.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Although attempts have been made in the past to tackle this problem of low productivity which has been a long standing concern in Nigeria, though establishment of such bureaucratic institutions as the Productivity, Prices and Income Board (PPIB), the problem remained more or less unabated. It is not in doubt that Nigeria is richly and extra-ordinarily endowed with all the three basic principal factors needed for enhancement of productivity, namely, capital, human and mineral resources, it has been unable to take advantage of these factors to obtain at least a corresponding level of outputs consequent to which the country, several years since it attained political independence, is yet poverty ridden.

Tangen (2002) argues the term productivity clearly has a profitability component, but profitability is strongly influenced by the prices a company pays for its input and receives for its output. If a company can recover more than the cost of its input from rising prices for its output, its profitability can be increased even in times when its productivity is decreasing. That is also a strong argument for productivity being expressed in physical units (in quantities) instead of monetary units. However, profitability as a performance measure mainly addresses shareholders as the interest group and many researchers therefore claim that using monetary ratios as productivity measures will result in several shortcomings, for instance, induce short-termism and discourage the customer perspective.

1.3     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY     

The general objective of this study is to investigate the impact of work environment, supervision and job satisfaction on employees’ productivity, a case study of ACCION microfinance Bank. The specific objectives are:

1.     To ascertain the nature of the work environment of ACCION microfinance Bank.

2.     To find out the factors affecting the work environment of ACCION microfinance Bank.

3.     To investigate if poor work environment affects the productivity of employees in ACCION microfinance Bank.

4.     To examine the influence of proper supervision on the commitment of workers in ACCION microfinance Bank.

5.     To access the relationship between job satisfaction on the performance of employees in ACCION microfinance Bank.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The relevant research questions related to this study include the following:

1.     What is the nature of the work environment of ACCION microfinance Bank?

2.     What are the factors affecting the work environment of ACCION microfinance Bank?

3.     Does poor work environment affects the productivity of employees in ACCION microfinance Bank?

4.     What is the influence of proper supervision on the commitment of workers in ACCION microfinance Bank?

5.     What is the relationship between job satisfactions and the performance of employees in ACCION microfinance Bank?

1.5     RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H1 – there is a relationship between job satisfactions and the performance of employees in ACCION microfinance Bank.

H0 – there is no relationship between job satisfactions on the performance of employees in ACCION microfinance Bank.

1.6     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The results of this study will enable the organization’s policy makers evaluate the impact of working environment. The management will appreciate both the positive and the negative effects that working environment can have on the productivity of the organization’s employees hence her performance.

The study will also enable the researcher know and understand other reasons that are attributed to productivity of employees in organizations. The researcher will also know the measures that FBOs have adapted to improve their working environment.

The study will give the donors and all other stakeholders’ confidence to continue ejecting finances and their efforts respectively since their objectives will be realized once the staff feel motivated. The faithful will also feel encouraged to identify themselves with the programme including giving their resources more towards the implementation of the programmes activities once they realize the performance is better.