MOTIVATION, A TECHNIQUE FOR PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY IN UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT

This research project tends to examine Motivation, a Technique for Productivity and Efficiency.

Survey design was employed with the use of a well structured questionnaire. Respondents were selected based on simple random sampling technique. Sample size of Thirty Five (35) respondents were selected from the staff of the institution.

Three hypotheses were formulated and tested with the use of Chi-Squre analysis. The analysis resulted to rejecting all null hypotheses and hence accepting the three alternate hypotheses.

Based on decisions of the tested hypotheses conclusions were reached that; Employee's need satisfaction leads to high morale; A low job turnover and high absenteeism is an indication of low moral; Workers achieve their set goals by being motivated. Recommendations were proffered to the university management

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER ONE

1.1   Background to the Study

1.2   Research Aim                                                          

1.3   Research Objectives        

1.4   Scope of Study

1.5   Statement of Study

1.6   Limitation of Study

1.7  Definition of Teams

1.8   Summary of this Chapter

CHAPTER TWO

2.0   Review of Related Literature

2.1   Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

2.2   The Preaching of Maslow

2.3   Hertzberg’s Motivational Theory

2.4   Alderfter’s Theory of Motivation

2.5   McGregor Theory X & Y

2.9   Extrinsic Theory of Motivation

2.10 Intrinsic Theory of Motivation

2.11 Ways to motivate Employers

2.12 What Motivates people

2.13 Motivation through the Principles of Job Loading

2.14 Leadership

2.15 Participative / Supportive /Democracy

CHAPTER THREE

3.0   Research Methodology

3.1   Research Questions

3.2   Population and Sampling Design

3.3   Data Collection Method

3.4   Research Procedures and Method Analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0   Data Analysis, Findings and Interpretations

4.1   Return of Questionnaire 

4.2   Data Analysis

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0   Summary, Recommendation and Conclusion

5.1   Recommendation

5.2   Areas of Further Research

Bibliography

Questionnaire

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The topic is chosen in recognition of the fact that in many organizations today, administrators and managers alike are faced with innumerable management challenges especially problems connected with motivating people. In discussing this aspect of management problem, renowned authors have agreed that motivation rightly comes under activation.

Practitioners are also fully aware that besides activating, one of the four major functions of management is the maintenance of congenial work environment of performance of individuals working together in the groups toward the accomplishment of a common objective.

To be able to create and maintain this conducive organizational atmosphere necessary for inducing productivity geared towards achieving predetermined objective in the organizational, administrators must have a thorough knowledge and understanding of human motivation.

Motivation in organizations has received increased attention in recent years among practicing managers and organizational researchers. Managers in all type of organizations are continually faced with the fact that vast differences exist in the performance of a group of employees, Some of them perform at high levels and need little or no supervision an appear to enjoy what they are doing while on the other hand, others perform only at a marginal level and require constant supervision and are often absent from office.

Motivation is an important concept to behavioural scientist. Many scientist like Elton Mayor, Urwick, Gullie, Abraham Maslow, Aldefer and Frederick Taylor embarked on researches on the concept and have found out that through motivational factors or inputs, things like money-wages, bonuses and other incentives, the lot of organizations and employees can be improved and that without proper integration and direction from management, the organizational goal might not be achieved.

There are at least three major reasons that account for emergence of motivation as a principal of interest First, the ever increasing external forces of national and international competition, economic, social, and technological and- governmental conditions have forced management to develop and acquire new techniques and mechanisms to increase or maintain levels of organizational efficiency and effectiveness. This requires the effective utilization of all the resources of the organization.

Second and closely related to the first is the growing perspective of considering human resources in terms of an infinite labour pool in which frequent changes can occur because of the endless supply of qualified individuals. More emphasis is being placed by managers on developing, stimulating and maintaining an effective workforce at all skill levels through the use of such strategies as job design, management by objectives and skill training.

Finally, the views of people in the work place have undergone a significant change. Motivation theorists have developed slightly different viewpoints of motivation that place emphasis on different concepts in general. The differing views about motivation leads to a number of different conclusions:

(i)    The analysis of motivation should concentrate on factors that arouse or incite a person's activities.

(ii)   Motivation is process oriented and concerns choice direction and goal

(iii) Motivation IS also concerned with how behaviour is started, sustained or stopped and what kind of subjective reaction is present in the person while this is going on.

The major theme of motivational theory began moving from philosophical to move psychological. The theories that evolved motivation attempted to explain the behaviour of individuals through an investigation of variables that focused both on the individual and the situation in which the individual interacted.

The early managerial motivational theories have been identified as prescription models because they purported to tell the managers how to motivate employees. To understand motivation, one first must comprehend the process of human behaviour. This is done through the study of attitudes, needs and cognitive process. From the managerial perspective, we can say that motivation relates to any conscious attempts on that part of a person or group to influence the direction and the rate of behaviour towards the accomplishment of organizational goals.

Motivation should be considered as a principal topic of interest to managers, it must be treated differently from any other named management function.

Increasing number of internal and external forces of national and international compilation, economic, social, technological and governmental conditions have forced management to develop and acquire new techniques and mechanisms to maintain levels of organizational efficiency and effectiveness. This requires the effective utilization of all the resources of the organization including human and non-human resources.

1.2    RESEARCH AIM

The aim of this area of study (MOTIVATION) is to bring out the fact that it is necessary that managers recognize that organizational objectives are not just achieved without the participation of individuals.

That there are motivational techniques for management to use in realization of the organization's goal. Individuals need training for efficiency and skill, they need rest, they need functioning machines and other effrontery inputs, and they also need money to be able to fend for other social and physical needs. It is also an objective of this study to highlight some of the bottlenecks in motivational techniques as regards establishments. This study will also proffer solutions to identified problems and research questions raised at the later part of this write-up. This subject is also chosen to further educate employers of labour that in any human endeavor, there is need for motivation. In actual fact, psychologists have identified man as a social being that needs to be adequately motivated to enhance his or her performance and make him/her produce at the optimal level. In view of this, the more workers are motivated, the better they will perform on their jobs. Most employers of labour have more often than not ignored this technique even in this critical period of the nation's economic development when workers should be adequately motivated in order to tum round the economy.

In this country today, some experts contend that companies will continue to operate below capacity unless workers are motivated to break into higher levels of productivity. There is the need to advise the employers to break the barrier levels of productivity and ensure that employees put in their best.

Furthermore, attention of the employers of labour should be drawn to the fact that almost every employee behaves like a child that is to say that if you attend to the need of a child, his/her would want to do anything to impress you. The same any employer who reconciles his workers aspiration with organizational needs to operate profitably will be running a successful team.

This is because there exists correlation between motivation and performance of a given task. The best way to make any serious organization grow is, by way of creating humane working conditions for workers.

Corporate organizations need to know their workers individually. Keep-up- to date record of what is happening to them and what interest in and out of the workplace, provide them with increasingly many challenging opportunities and remember to wait for signals indicating that they have reached the limits of their productivity levels.

There is always the need to immediately recognize good performance with prompt and appropriate rewards.

In ministries, decision makers should always remember to co-opt their workers in decision making especially when it relates to how the job can be done better. Furthermore, they should always be encouraged to bring up ideas on how to carry out the job. Above all, there should be free flow of information between management and workers. It is an established truth that organizations have a lot of benefits if they improve the lots and welfare of their workers and it will reduce the constant conflict in work places which invariably results to loss of many man-hours when workers are agitating for better pay-packages or general condition of service.

1.3   RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this research work is to bring to the knowledge of academicians, policy makers, students, government and every concerned individual that in any venture where human interests are involved, motivation is the only source through which aims and objectives of an organization can be achieved.

This study, after completion is expected to show to the generality of the people, the would be managers and administrators as well as practicing managers that for their organizations to be successful, they must try to maintain conducive organizational atmosphere for their workers to perform from time to time.

For these and other reasons, I intend to look into the following:

(i)          What have been the contributions of motivation in task and job mobility in an organization and do workers perceive them?

(ii)    What have been the responsible factors to the failure of most management despite all other managerial functions employed to the effective running of the organization?

(iii)   The need for all managers at all levels of management in organizations to motivate their employees.

(iv)   The cause of low productivity in most organizations.

(v)    How can organization reduce the ever-increasing rate of strike actions, which have become the order of the day.

It is imperative that solution to the above problems must be found at the end of this work.

1.4   SCOPE OF STUDY

Given the broad perspective of the subject and the need to reduce it to a manageable and meaningful proportion, the study is based on LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY, as an institution were workers need motivation to work effectively and efficiently.

1.5   STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS

The following statements are to be tested as hypotheses in this work:

(i)      Employee's need satisfaction leads to high morale.

(ii)     A low job turnover and high absenteeism is an indication of low moral.

(iii)    Workers achieve their set goals by being motivated.

1.6   LIMITATION OF STUDY

This study is lined to Lagos State University and the Lagos State Public Service represents the wider framework of the thematic study.

To ensure the attainment of more realistic results, emphasis is directed on the administrative staff executive cadre and the junior staff.

The envisaged and real limitation of the study is the collection of relevant data and facts for proper analytical discussion and in depth study of the topic. It is a common characteristic of Nigerian organizations to always hold back, in the provision of information, even for research purposes of this nature. An attitude borne out of the fear that such information or data might be released to the public.

Another constraint is that of time required for the study, when of course is compounded by lean resources for a compute and prompt report.

1.7   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Motivation: This is the effort of an employer to make its employees concept real so as to increase his/her production. That is to say, motivation reinforces behaviour.

Workforce: This is the human resources in an organization. Its effectiveness and efficiency increases organizations production.

Organization: This is a total unit of deliberately constructed and reconstructed to seek specific goals.

Labour Turnover: This is a total number of persons that leaves an organization compared to the average number of employed during the year.

Incentives: This is defined as those services provided to the employee in organization that ignite their ability to do more.

Employee: This means a worker who does work for a wage salary. It is also referred to as a servant.

Employer: This is a person or parasternal who offers job to employee. It is also referred to as a master.

Fringe Benefit: This is defined as labour cost added to the regular wages/salary paid for time work.

Expectancy: This means a person's perception of the possibility that a specific act will result in a specific outcome.

Valance: This is the degree or strength of individual's desire for specific outcome.

Productivity: This is the measure of how well resources are utilized to produce output (goods & services). It relates input to output and also integrates performance aspect to quality, efficiency and effectiveness.

Role: This is a behavioural pattern and an assumed character or function.

Motive: This is a drive, urge, feeling force, instinct, need, want, desire, emotion, impulse and tendency in a man that pushes him to act in a certain manner.

Norms: This is defined as a standard or rule of behaviour that are established by group members in order to carry out-group activities.

Job Design: This is defined as work frame or work requirement in any set-up.

Management by Objective: This is the involvement of all concerned workers in an organization as to how best to achieve productivity.

Need Satisfaction: This is the same as attaining those things one desires to have.

Self-Fulfillment: This is the same as self-actualization or self-accomplishment.

Job Enrichment: This is defined an increase in the job knowledge which is acquired as one gets involved in the job.

1.8   SUMMARY OF THIS CHAPTER

Let me summarize this chapter by restating few principles concerning motivation of employees to work.

(i)     People work best when they consider that their work is important. It is necessary to make an employee feel that no matter how little / his job is in the organization, it is a part of the total process without which the process is incomplete.

        (ii)        People get most satisfaction from the job itself; therefore, efforts should be made to enrich the job if satisfaction is to be achieved. This satisfaction is not likely to be achieved unless the basic needs are satisfied and this varies from one individual to the other.

        (iii)       Self-Direction and Self-Development are essential for personal commitment which leads to effective result. The erroneous belief that unless people are coerced, they cannot produce results must be disregarded.