ABSTRACT

The main objective of the study was to investigate the impact of motivation on employees’ productivity. Descriptive Survey research design was used.Population of size was one thousand three hundred (1300). The questionnaires were issued to one hundred and thirty (130) respondents which formed the sample size. The samples were drawn using simple random sampling technique. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages. The formulated hypotheses were analyzed using chi-square ( 2) analysis based on 0.05 probability levels of significance.

The study revealed that there is a significant relationship between Motivation and Employees’ productivity. The organization was able to achieve high profitability due to effective motivation. Management encourages employees to put enough effort toward the achievement of organizational goals. There is effective communication network between management and employees. The organization rendered financial incentives to its employees to improve their performance on the job. The productivity level of the organization has increased as a result of efficient motivation of its workers. Management of the organization is sensitive to employees’ needs. The success of the organization depends on effective motivation of its workforce. Thus, the success and continuity of business organization depends greatly on how effective management is, in the motivation of its employees.

It was recommended that management of the organization should encourage effective motivation among the various units in the organization. Management should also provide conducive working environment that would enhance workers satisfaction on the job. The organization should endeavour to promote those factors that cause employees to be satisfied with their job. Finally, management should particularly try as much as possible to provide adequate financial incentive to enable employees put in their best in the achievement of organizational goals.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background to the Study

The quote “I am satisfied with my Job” is an ideal statement because it has to do with motivation and job satisfaction.  This further means that motivation and job satisfaction are very crucial in any organization setting.

Long before contemporary psychologist became interested in motivation, philosophers had developed elaborate theories regarding what it is that make animals and people move.  In his early writing Plato, for instance, already, familiar with pleasure/pain explanation of human kinds drives, tended to assign that principles to things of the body that disrupt a person contemplation of the good and works of the rational mind (Hunter, 2007).  Later, however, Plato modified his view and noted that some pleasure such as aesthetic joy – may be viewed as healthy.  He speculated that human have within them a stream of passionate desire, which may be channel into the search for physical pleasure, the state of honour or the acquisition of philosophical knowledge and virtue.  Thus like some contemporary motivational ideologies, drive may motivate human either transitory pleasure or higher form of pleasure or goals. From the above it is obvious that workers high performance in terms of productivity is relatively lied to their emotional instinct, needs, drives and incentives.

However, workers job satisfaction which has a corresponding influence on the level of productivity is dependent or the effective and efficient harnessing of both the innate and outward capability of the human environment via motivation (Linsey, 1958).

In the pre-independent Nigeria, for example, activities like production and marketing were the primary concerns of the management.  The management of human was generally treated as part of a general management or administration and was usually fully entrusted to a low executive called a personnel assistant while management attended to more important and pressing issues.

For many years the concern of management was for technical values, not human values, not the welfare of the employees.  To use the words of Strauss and Sayles (1960) the workers were considered little more than machines and were considered less worthy of attention because the machines were more expensive to replace.  As a result, the major pre-occupation of most employers at this period was the maintenance of the capacity of their technical resources.  No slightest thought was given to the welfare or development of human organization.

The non emergence of personnel department at a time when prominence was being given to other functional areas like finance, accounting, production and marketing can be attributed to top management’s perception of what personnel as a unit had to offer.

There was no realistic and acceptable standard by which the contributions of personnel management as a corporate unit could be assessed.  The contribution of, for example the production department could be assessed in terms of the yearly production output.  The marketing department’s contribution can be evaluated in terms of the yearly Naira Sales Volume.  Corporate profitability as shown by the end of the year balance sheet could be directly credited to production and sales effort.  On the other hand the personnel or human management unit had nothing concrete to show and because its contributions were largely indirect and intangible, it tended to be a victim of the myopic viewpoint of the captions of industry at that time.  As Drucker (1961) would put it “the problem with personnel administrators is their inability to prove that they are making a contribution to their enterprise.

The development and practice of personnel management as a profession in Nigeria have been substantially influenced by a host of factors that were worldwide in nature.  There include: the advent of the Europeans, the scientific management movement, the Hawthorns studies of 1933, the rise of organized labour unions, labour legislations, the development within the Nigerian universities and the upsurge in behavioural research which laid the foundation for the growth and development of personnel management and human relations.

Human relations are the encompassing body of knowledge through which workers and management get things done through each other.  This is frequently used as a generic term to describe the ways in which management interact with their employees.

Hack Halloran (1978) defines human relation as “all the interactions that occur among people”.  Whether there are conflicts or co-operative behaviours, the study of human relations in business and industry is the study of how people can work effectively in groups in order t6o satisfy both organizational goals and personal need of the employees.

However, human relations seek to improve people organization relationship in such a way that people are motivated to develop team work that effectively fulfill their needs and achieve organizational objectives.

1.2     Statement of problem

It is not an understatement to say that even when workers have their salaries increased, bonuses paid to them, other allowances and entitlements given them, yet their productivity still becomes a thing that attracts the question why such productivity should be at the breakeven or less than what is expected.  Sometimes, management of the organization  become worry about output being relatively low to inputs.  It is this phenomenon that has brought this study to find out the extent to which incentive can impact on the productive level of employees.  Other problems could be negative work attitude put up by workers, incessant industrial strikes, frequent industrial accidents, etc.  However, these are many other factors that are responsible for decrease in workers performance, such as environment of work, hours of work, etc.

The panacea to all these problems is that management should employ a more sophisticated approach to ensure that motivation technique are dully applied to achieve high productivity, industrial peace and harmony and profit maximization objectives of the organization.

1.3     Objectives of the Study

Both at the macro and micro levels, few things are more important than the issue of productivity improvement.  But productivity improvement is usually a factor of two subsystems: the technical and human elements which, remains the most vital factor for productivity improvement.  This is because equipment and technology are the product of human mind and can be productive only by people.  The success of any productivity depends on recognized as the most important factor of all the factors of production.  That being so, it is therefore imperative for production managers and top management staff in particular to look more closely into the human factor and examine what it takes to maximize human endeavour towards maximum productivity improvement.

Considering the fact that inefficiency of motivational techniques in any given organization will definitely have an adverse effect on the overall organizational efficiency and performance.  Hence, the need for effective motivational technique that will improve performance and profit objective of the organization is required.

In the same vein, this research study was designed to achieve the following:

       i.            To ascertain the influence of motivation on workers level of productivity.

     ii.            To identify the motivational technique adopted by (NIMR).

  iii.            To identify the motivational technique adopted by the establishment. To identify and explain the underlying variables that are  responsible for an effective motivational technique in Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR).

  iv.            To make useful suggestions based on the findings of the research particularly how motivational techniques can still thrive and sustain increase in market share and sustain increase in market share and potentials in spite of threats constantly posed by the ever changing business environment.

1.4     Research Questions

This study will investigate to answer such questions as:

       i.            To what extent would motivation impacts on employee productivity?

     ii.            Would employee perform more than expectation if they perceive management being attentive and concern to issues relating to their welfare?

  iii.            How can management of Nigeria Institute of Medical Research present an efficient and effective motivation approach that will lead to employees’ satisfactions?

  iv.            Does constant and excessive motivation package lead to a desire objective of the organization?

     v.            Would the benefit derive from motivating work force more than cost incurred in motivating the employees?

  vi.            At what degree of satisfaction would employees be pleased with management motivational packages design to satisfy them? 

1.5     Research Hypothesis

The following hypothesis will be tested in the study:

Ho:     There is no significant relationship between motivation and workers productivity.

H1:     There is significant relationship between motivation and workers productivity.

1.6     Significance of the Study

This research study would be of immense benefits and use to those who may have gained such exposure to what effect motivation has on employees performance, especially as it effectively carried out in the service oriented and manufacturing sector of the economy.  In addition, this research will pave way for whoever is interested in carrying any further research study in various aspect exposed by the study.  It will not be out of place to also state that, aspiring managers and managers will use the knowledge of the study to enhance workers sense of commitment to work for adequate productivity to management and also to fix employees performance for subsequent improvement of output.

1.7     Scope of the Study

This study was restricted to motivation of employees of Nigeria Institute of Medical Research – Yaba, Lagos State.

The study takes into consideration the members of staff of the centre – senior, middle and junior workers, visitors, patients on admission and outpatients are excluded from this study. NIMR was chosen as a sample and used as a case study because it is a notable leading service oriented in the health sector.

1.8     Definition of Terms

The following concepts are used in the study:

Productivity:       This is the net wealth after subtracting the inputs from output or final result.

Instinct:               This an innate biological force that despises a person to act in a given way.

Need:                   This is the physiological state of deprivation.

Drive:                   This is a psychological consequence of need.

Incentive:             This is an external stimuli that spurs man to action.

NIMR:                 This acronym means “Nigeria Institute of Medical Research”

Organization:      Organization as “The relating of efforts and capacities of individuals and groups engaged upon a common task in such a way as to secure the desire objective with the least function and most satisfaction to those whom the task is done and those engaged in the enterprise’.

Management:      This is getting things done through others with the sole aim of attaining optimum results with available organizational resource.

Society:                This is a seq subsistent or seq sufficient social system characterized by interdependent, independents, continuity and pursuance of the system.

Motivation:         This is the driving force behind human action.

Job Satisfaction: Job satisfaction as “the pleasurable or the appraisal of one’s job experiences.

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