MOTIVATION AS A MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR INCREASING THE PRODUCTIVITY OF WORKER (A CASE STUDY OF EMENITE NIGERIA PLC)
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Over some year’s age, psychologist, mangers and students of management have given increased attention to the need for human motivation at the place of work. They found this concept useful to both explaining human behaviour, particularly workers.
The purpose of motivation is to optimize one’s performance and to attain a standard of excellence in any endeavor.
Managers in all types of organization are continually faced with the problem of vast differences that exist in the performance or output of individual workers. Some employees often perform at high level and need little or no supervision and appear to enjoy what they are doing. Other employees perform only marginal levels and require constant attention and direction and are often absent from their duty posts. The reasons for these differences in performance are varied and complex, involving the nature of the jobs, the behavior of the manager and the characteristics of workers. The big question is, how can the manager maintain the high performance of the first group and also increase that those producing marginally, when it comes to being highly productive on the job, to performing with little or direction and to being a real contributor to the organization. What can one usually say is the cause?
Does money count first i.e. the desire to draw bigger pay pocket? Is threat the principal factor? Or is it the sheer enjoyment of being part o a busy co-operative professional team that makes some employees perform high?
It has been recently shown that this variation is caused by the motives of workers, whether the employees or mangers are high or low in achievement motivation makes a real difference in the effectiveness of financial incentives.
Several studies have shown that offering additional financial reward for doing a task does not make a strongly achievement oriented person to work harder or better. A group of aggressive achievement mmaled sales men would certainly be angry of their extra efforts were not recognized with much greater financial reward. Yet offering them bonus is not what products the extra effort. This may seem lice a psychological distinction without a difference, but the interpretation of the meaning of the bonus plans genuinely effects performance.
People with relevantly low achievement motivation, on the other hand, will work harder for increased financial rewards. However, does the money got by doing it interest them primarily as a measure of accomplishment? Rather, it has other value for them.
This work therefore will attempt to problem into the motivational tools employed by the management of Emenite Nigeria Ltd to motivate its employees.
The findings will help to evaluate the problems and prospects of the organization in the area of motivation and to suggest way for improvement.
Emenite Nigeria Ltd is a big company and also a strategic one because of the place of works and housing in any economy.
The owners invested a large amount of money to set up Emenite Nig Ltd and therefore, expect returns from the investment. That is why it is a profit-oriented organization. It is only through the effective performance of the employees that returns from investment can be achieved. This is why it is necessary to know how they are being motivated to work and achieve their organization’s objectives.
1.2 PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ORGANIZATION
Emenite Nigeria Limited, which is located at No 7 Old Abakaliki Road, Emene, Enugu State came into existence to alleviate the problems, which builders and landlords (Estate owners) encounter in the process of roofing and ceiling their houses in Enugu in particular and Nigeria in general.
The attempts, which the owners of the company make in order to tackle the situation are what gave birth to the Emenite Nigeria Ltd Bund, was lounched in.
This was with the motivation to provide cheap, reliable and non-rusting roofing sheet and good quality asbestos and ceiling board. As time passes, the company has been encountered some differences which varies from location of market for its products, sourcing of right quality and qualities of raw materials need by the company for their products and etc. from the period, the company came to existence to now, the company has being faced with many problem which made the company to e exercising losses in some of the years which was as a result of poor economy situation of the nation. Infact, the owners has made serious plans to ensure that the company grow from strength to strength, to avoid being put out of business by it competitors.
Emenite Limited now has some branches or sale outlets located in different states of the federation with its Head Office located at No 7 Old Abakiki Road, Emene, and Enugu East Enugu State.
It major branches or sale outlets are located at Onitsha, Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, etc.
1.3 PROBLEMS STUDY WILL BE CONCERNED WITH/STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS
In a workplace, individual employees have different aims and aspirations, for instance, some would prefer to work very hard and yet be satisfied at least for working hard, some employees aim might be just to contribute to the job, others might have aims of showing appearance in the office and would not like to be useful engaged, still some would prefer working for short periods hence their aim would be to reduce the time they spend in the workplace to a minimum level.
When duties and authority of jobs and offices are carefully described, then it would appear that accountability and responsibility could be determine easily. In many great cases, this is true. However, in an organization, bureaucratic techniques originally designed to produce efficiency.
Similarly, when a departmental conflict creates the need for co-coordinating, decision, a non-responsible member/worker can avoid responsibility by basing a decision on the existing power structure, using history as the justification.