CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Motivation is one of the five factors that determine the existence of any organization, as they put motivation on an equal footing with men, money, machines, and morale. Determining and understanding the factors that motivate employees is an essential need, since the performance of any organization depends on the availability of a satisfied and motivated workforce (Thompson and McHugh 2002). Ensuring employees are committed to their work and ensuring they deliver the best output by working to their full potential to help the organization reach the goal is a herculean task for a manager (Maduka and Okafor, 2014).

 Employee Motivation is therefore very essential for the growth, development and success of any business entity is it small or big. In the workplace human resources are the most valued and cherished resources. Motivated employees are productive, happy and highly committed to their job. The spin of this was reduced in high Turnover, results driven employees, loyalty and harmony (Sharma and Sharma2017).

This chapter dealt with the Background to the Study, Statement of the problem, Purpose of the Study, Specific Objectives, Research Questions; Significance of the study, Justification of the Study, Scope of the study, Limitation of the Study, Assumption of the study and Definition of terms.

1.1 Background to the Study:

Çaliskan, (2010) states that the people who make up an organization - human resources- are considered to be one of the most important resources of today?s firms. People and how they are managed are becoming more important because many other sources of competitive success are less powerful than they used to. Motivation is the key to creating an enabling environment where optimal performance is possible. Shah and Shah (2010) defines motivation as inspiring people to work; individually or in groups in such a way as to produce best results. It further states that motivation is a general term applied to the entire class of drives, desires, needs, wishes and similar forces.

Blanchard and James, (2007) elaborates that, Job is not performed properly even if necessary skills are given to employees until and unless employees are motivated and proper environment of work is provided to them. Recent Studies claim that organizations that are concentrating more on training produce improved financial results and net sales, their profit which are high indicators of staff performance and employees can grow their skills and knowledge to better perform their jobs.

According to performance model of Blanchard and James (2007), no matter how much a person is enabled with skill, knowledge, salaries and abilities will not perform well if not motivated. Motivation is therefore as important as training and appropriate environment. In order for business organizations to ensure their growth it is their sole responsibility to ensure the training and development of their workforce so as to deliver quality and efficient service. Training and development are significant essentials in ensuring the effective and beneficial performance of employees. Through training, employees acquire specific knowledge and skills to ensure that they perform their work more effectively (Valaries, Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremler 2009).

Baldwin, Magjuka, and Loher, (1991) indicates that individuals with higher pre-training motivation on the basis of their willingness to attend training have greater learning compared to individuals having lower pre-training motivation. Commeiras, Loubes, and Bories, (2013) also elaborates that traineeship is continuing to grow. In business, context training basically refers to action of teaching employees and providing proper knowledge and skills to make themselves job fit as well as organization fit. Training teaches employees how to work and enhance their skills, hence motivate them to achieve the common goal of organization as well as of employee. In today?s competitive world, every organization wants to achieve competitive edge over their competitors and be impossible to achieve without employee involvement, which forces management to motivate their employees by different means.

Jung and Kim (2012) states that good work environment and good work conditions can increase employee job satisfaction and an employee organizational commitment. So the employees will try to give their best which can increase the employee work performance. Similarly, Cheng, Chen, Chen, Burr, and Hasselhorn, (2013) concludes that there were evidences of moderating effects of age on the associations between psychosocial work conditions and health. Now the importance and the need of working condition is so describing or defining the physical environment by identifying those elements or dimensions of the physical environment. Employees having poor working conditions will only provoke negative performance, since their jobs are mentally and physically demanding, they need good working conditions.

Aguinis, Joo, and Gottfredson, (2013) states that monetary rewards can be a very powerful determinant of employee motivation and achievement which, in turn, can advance to important returns in terms of firm-level performance. Similarly; Ryan and Deci, (2000) elaborates that reward influences employee motivation and spur employee to performance. Rewards in forms of pay, promotion, bonuses or other types of reward are used to motivate and encourage high level performances of employees. Effective use of rewards to motivate employee can enhance the bottom line of any organization because when employees are motivated, their productivity level increases which has a multiplier effect on the organization.

Beretti, Figuie`res, and Grolleau, (2013) also discusses that monetary incentives used to build a positive environment and maintain a job interest, which is consistent among the employees and offer a spur or zeal in the employees for better performance. For this reason, monetary incentive motivate employees and enhance commitment in work performance, and psychologically satisfy a person and leads to job satisfaction, and shape the behavior or outlook of subordinate toward work in the organization. Similarly, Park (2010) states that monetary incentive acts as a stimulus for greater action and inculcates zeal and enthusiasm towards work; it helps an employee in recognition of achievement. 

A study by Mahazril, Zuraini, Hafizah, Aminuddin, Zakaria, Noordin, (2012)states that organizations had the duty to appreciate the employee from time to time and offer other form of benefits such as payment, which will help in employee motivation. Kingira and Mescib (2010) defines appreciation as the abstract of immaterial incentives; “employees giving immaterial incentives (appreciation, respect etc.) as much as material incentives with working department” shows employees do not agree with this behavioral statement.

Koch and Nafziger (2012) specify that promotions are desirable for most employees, only because they work harder to compensate for their “incompetence.” As a result, promotion at regular interval of time has an optimistic approach behind and they are generally given to satisfy the psychological requirements of employees in the organization. Furthermore, García, Moscoso, Ramos and Villagrasa, (2012) identifies that perceptions of promotion systems affect organizational justice and job satisfaction. Zhang and Wu (2004) cited that with job security, an employee gets confident with the future career and they put their most efforts to achieve the objectives of the organization. So we can say job satisfaction is the most influential tool of motivation and put the employee very far off from mental tension and he gives his best to the organization, ultimately it leads to profit maximization. In addition to that, Yamamoto (2013) states that if an employee perceives they will be getting rewards for good work and their job is a secured one, the performance will automatically be better.

Kamalian, Yaghoubi and Moloudi, (2010, 165-171) states that recognition can be in the form verbal or written recognition of an employee”s achievements, skills, or overall performance. He argued further that intrinsic reward such as recognition tends to drive employee motivation on a day-to-day level, rather than the tangible rewards. According to Kamalian, Yaghoubi and Moloudi, (2010, 165-171) rewards and recognition are essential factors in enhancing employee motivation and job satisfaction which is directly associated to organizational achievement. They also added that taking time to say you recognize them, makes the employees to do more than they would normally do. A study by Mahazril, Zuraini, Hafizah, Aminuddin, Zakaria, Noordin, (2012) concludes that rewards and recognition and communication may motivate them to work. Recognition enhances the level of productivity and performance at job whether it is a first time performance or a repeated action at the job in a progressive way and ultimately reinforces the behavior of employee. 

According to Orpen (1997) better the relationship between mentors and mentees in the formal mentoring program, the more mentees are motivated to work hard and committed to their organization. Co-workers are a distinct part of the working environment, and employees are expected to work harmoniously with other employees. A co-worker is a person who holds a position or rank similar to that of an employee in the same company/organization. People seek friendly, warm and cooperative relationships with others, not only for what these relationships produce in the immediate present, but also for what they provide in those times of need, such as social support. Harmonious interactions between an individual and their fellow employees, as well as relations between other fellow employees with each other, have a positive influence on an individual”s level of organizational commitment and motivation (Iqbal, 2010). Pleasant associations with co-workers have been found to have a positive influence on an individual”s level of motivation (Ladebo, Awotunde and Abdul SalaamSaghir 2008).

Even though a lot of research has been written on motivation, this subject is not clearly understood and more often than not poorly practiced. To well comprehend how motivation can impact on employee´s performance, one must identify with human nature. In as much as motivation impacts on employee performance, there is need to blend the appropriate motivational tools with effective management and leadership to achieve this goal (Sullivan,

2009). With the fact that motivation is very important to determine employee?s ability, so are other factors such as the resources given to an employee to perform his or her job. For this reason, successful work performance can arise from a variety of motives. For instance, two people doing similar jobs may both be successful for different reasons. One salesperson may be motivated by the commission earned on sales, while the other may be more concerned about achieving sales targets. This creates a fine distinction in the subject matter because motivation to enhance performance varies from person to person and from organization to organization (Daft, 2009).

Zeithaml, Bitner and Glemler, (2000, 366) emphasized that organizations should not only focus on recruiting the precise employees? but also need to retain the best employees. Employee turnover is a major setback to the service organization, as it can be detrimental to customer satisfaction, employee morale and overall service quality. When an employee leaves the organization it might affect the customers, due to the attachment the customer may have with that employee. Companies that consciously enact strategies to create a culture of employee motivation are the companies that attract and retain the best talent and surpass their corporate objective.

1.2 Statement of the problem:

Motivation according to many researchers remains a key to employees? performance however some scholars do not attest to that arguing that other factors beyond motivation can also affect employees? performance. However, this has remained an illusion in the modern employment sector. According to C. Sekhar (2013), motivation works as a catalyzer for individual employees working for an organization to enhance their working performance or to complete task in much better way than they usually do. Radio Tamazuz (2019) “Cooperative bank employees go on strike over pay” had this eye catching headline, “More than 100 national staff of Cooperative Fidelity Bank are embarking on an open-ended strike starting Wednesday after they expressed dismay at poor working conditions.” 

The managers of the banks do play a part to this worrisome reality which has seen some banks lose their most enterprising employees, or seen their loyal workforce turn to intractable, the development that has negatively affected the timely and sustained achievement of organizational objectives. It is therefore important for the managers to think of the best combination of motivational techniques to maintain good working relationship between organization and the workforce so as to improve performance. With the occurrence of this incident, it indicates the knowledge gap among the management and the findings of this research would address. Although many researchers have investigated on the factors influencing employees? motivation on performance, there is still limited research on the same particularly in Owerri Municipality. 

1.3 Purpose of the Study:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing employees? motivation on performance, a case study of Banks in Owerri Municipality, Nigeria.

1.4 Specific Objectives:

The following were the specific objectives of the study.

1.         To assess the contribution of training on motivation of employees of Banks in Owerri

Municipality, Nigeria.

2.         To investigate the impact of salaries on motivation of employees of Banks in Owerri

Municipality, Nigeria.

3.         To assess how working environment influence motivation of employees of Banks in

Owerri Municipality, Nigeria.

1.5 Research Questions:

1.         How does training contribute to employees” motivation of Banks in Owerri Municipality,

Nigeria?

2.         What is the impact of salaries on motivation of employees of Banks in Owerri

Municipality, Nigeria?

3.         What influence does working environment have on motivation of employees? of

Banks in Owerri Municipality, Nigeria?

1.6       Significance of the study:

The findings of this study would be of importance to the Banks, other organizations and Human Resource Managers. It would also help the management to identify ways of motivating their employees and besides that; the findings of this study would help other scholars who would wish to do further research on motivation.

1.7       Justification of the Study:

The current economic crisis in Nigeria and some organization policies is likely going to force many employees leave their jobs for green pastures in order for them to meet their basic needs. Therefore, much is needed to motivate the staff either by increasing their wages, provide training opportunities and improving their working conditions among others.

1.8       Scope of the study:

This study was narrowed to the factors influencing motivation level of employees, a case study of Banks in Owerri Municipality - Nigeria and concentrate on the most independent variables such as training, monetary incentives, working conditions among others. Thereafter, the targeted populations are the employees as the most affected group on motivation, managers because they interacts with employees in terms of planning, directing, controlling and employees? motivation.

1.9       Limitation of the Study:

This study experienced some menace such as time factor. The findings of this study weren?t out as scheduled. On the other hand, one of the biggest obstacles was lack of funds for printing, transport and feeding in the process of collecting the data.