Impact Of Employee Motivation On The Banking Industry (a Case Study Of Union Bank Of Nigeria Plc, Maiduguri)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. 1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The need to increase productivity and efficiency in the work place or any organization has led to increasing academic interest in the area of motivation over the years. Scholars have been keenly interested in knowing what factors are responsible for stimulating the will to work. Thus motivation has become an issue of concern for both scholars and practitioners of personnel management.

Every organization either in the private or public sector is goal oriented and all efforts are geared towards the successful attainment of those goals and objectives. Therefore, for any organization to record any degree of meaningful success in the pursuit of its goals and aspirations, it must have the ability to create values (motivation) enough to compensate for the burdens imposed upon the staff. Such value or motivators can come in the form of good training policies, facilities or incentives such as fringe benefit, promotion, status symbol etc so as to satisfy the needs of the staff for enhanced performance (Obisi, 1996).

It has been shown, argued and proven that unless individual staff are motivated to make sufficient use of the potentials found in them during the employment process they may not achieve the level of performance that is desired from them (Morris, 1998). For a staff to be motivated, he or she has to perceive that his or her needs and wants are being met. Thus the satisfaction of the staff represents an indispensable dimension of the motivational process. A satisfied individual would certainly contribute positively to the realization of the organizational goals and objectives while a dissatisfied staff may only not contribute but can even act in such a way that the realization of such goals and objectives could be completely destroyed. This underlines the importance of staff satisfaction to the organisation.

Motivation is said to be the core of management of human resources. The management of men and women is a challenging task. No two persons have the same qualities, feelings and behaviour. The nature of man is very complex. It is not easy to take care of human beings with such varying characteristics and qualities.

Without motivation, organisation would not last long. Human resources must be activated, trained, developed and above all motivated in order to realize individual and organizational goals. An individual who has ability, skills and knowledge would not do much without motivation. However, an individual with skills, knowledge and ability with added motivation is a sure way to success (Ajiola, 2002). The performance of a worker does not depend largely on his ability, intelligence, skills and knowledge but on the motivation which he has. If we do not motivate a worker, he would not as such be a problem solver (Abbegleen, 2001).

It is generally acclaimed that incentives such as good pay, good condition of service, provision of decent accommodation, opportunity for staff training etc. motivate employees in order to increase their productive capacity. In view of the above, therefore, incentives are regarded as the major factor which motivates employees to exhibit better performance. However, it is not a matter of course to motivate an individual staff because the success of any motivational effect solely depends on the extent to which the motivation meets the needs of the individual employee.

Finally, the test for management of either private or public organisations therefore is to determine the valued needs and motivators that will make an employee react according to the organizational desires to increase productivity. The impact of employee motivation on the banking industry using the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Maiduguri as a case study will therefore form the basis of this study.

1. 2. STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Personnel management, motivation and productivity are areas that have occupied the minds of management in Nigeria especially in the private sector. Managers and scholars alike have wondered at the poor attitude to work of employees in the work place.

With the rise of new ideas of management and motivation, one expects to see that these ideas are applied and the employees motivated to maximum productivity. However, the opposite has always seemed to be the case. One notices in many public and private organisations the non-challant and sluggish attitude to work by the employees, and wonders where the problem lies.

Union Bank Plc, Maiduguri is not an exception to the above problem. Employees of the organisation only perform their duties as much as will enable them to keep their jobs. Despite the fact that the organisation is meeting the needs for which it is created the employees seem not to be happy and have not utilized their full potential and skills. It is against this backdrop that this study examines the impact of employee motivation on the organization.

1. 3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The general objective of the study is to examine the impact of motivation on productivity in Union Bank Plc. The specific objectives are to:

1. examine what motivates employees in Union Bank Plc.
2. examine the impact of motivation on employee performance in in Union Bank Plc.
3. identify the problems of motivation in in Union Bank Plc.
4. recommend ways of enhancing motivation and employee performance in Union Bank Plc.

1. 4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Based on the objectives of the study, the following questions are formulated:

1. What are the motivational factors of employees in Union Bank Plc.?
2. What is the impact of motivation on employee performance in Union Bank Plc.?
3. What are the problems of motivation of employees in Union Bank Plc.?
4. How can motivation and employee performance be enhanced in Union Bank Plc.?

1. 5. RESEARCH HYPOTHSES

The central hypotheses guiding this study are:

1. 1. Ho: There is no relationship between employee motivation         and performance in the banking industry.
   2. Ho:  Jobs in the banking industry have not provided motivation for its employees.

1. 6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The need for the study arises from the realization that the pivotal asset of any organisation is the employees. Without them the very survival of the organisation could be an impossibility. Such an important asset needs to be motivated to make them contribute their best to move the organisation forward. Thus, a study of this nature is a step in the right direction.

The study possesses some academic value and could be of interest to both researchers and students, managers in the banking industry and the general public.

To the researchers and students, it will be a contribution to knowledge and literature on the topic and a guide for further study. To managers of organizations and the banking industry, the study will help identify motivational factors of employees, their problems and suggestions on how to motivate and enhance their performance.

To the general public, the study will be an eye opener on the impact of employee motivation on the banking industry.

1. 7. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study essentially concentrates on motivation. Emphasis will be on the impact of employee motivation on the banking industry. The study is limited to Union Bank Plc, Maiduguri.

1. 8. DEFINITION OF TERMS

This section clarifies concepts within the context of this research. These concepts are as follows:

Motivation: The state or condition of being induced to do something.

Employee: This refers to managerial, secretarial, technical and other personnel in an organization.

Impact: This is concerned with the effect that motivation has on employees of the organization in relation to their performance.

REFERENCES

Abbegleen, H. (2001) Principles of Management: A Modern Approach. (Seventh Edition) John Willey and Sons, London.

Ajilola, E. (2002) “How to Motivate the Nigerian Workers” in Management in Nigeria Journal. Vol. 2, No. 6. PP.157-192

Morris, V. (1998) Motivation and Morale in Industry. Norton and Co., New York.

Obisi, C. (1996) Personnel Management. Jackbod Enterprises, Ibadan.

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