CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE
STUDY
Welfare is a corporate attitude or commitment reflected in the
expressed care for employees at all levels, underpinning their work and the
environment in which it is performed (Cowling and Mailer, 1992). Specifically,
Coventry and Barker (2009) assert that staff welfare includes providing social
club and sports facilities as appropriate, supervising staff and works’
canteens, running sick clubs and savings schemes; dealing with superannuation,
pension funds and leave grants, making loans on hardship cases; arranging legal
aid and giving advice on personal problems; making long service grants;
providing assistance to staff transferred to another area and providing fringe
benefits (such as payment during sickness, luncheon vouchers and other indirect
advantages).
Productivity, on the other hand, means goods and services produced
in a specified period of time in relation to the resources utilized (Singh,
2009). It is, however, contended by Cohen et al (1995) to be more than a narrow
economic measure, as it also measures how well the group performs its required
tasks to satisfy its customers inside and outside the organization. In effect,
productivity suggests effectiveness and efficiency of the employees.
Most organizations achieve remarkable success in their operations
not only because they operate in good environments, or because they are capable
of competing favorably with other organizations but most because the management
(or those at the helm of affairs) of such organizations provide them with the
incentives that make their work worth enjoying.
They appreciate the fact
that no organization performs efficiently and effectively if the human elements
are not adequately motivated. The provision of those things (welfare package)
that ginger workers to work in an organization have helped organizations to
create the enabling environment for better performance among the workforce.
As noted in Koontz
(1982), managing involves the creation and maintenance of an environment for
the performance of individuals working together in groups towards the
accomplishment of a common objective; it is obvious that the manager cannot do
this job without knowing what motivates people.
Koontz explained further
that the necessity of building motivating factors into organizational roles,
the staffing of those roles, and the entire process of directing and leading
people must be built on knowledge of motivation so it is through adequate
motivation of employees which in this study is the secretarial staff that
organizations will enjoy increased productivity.
Apparently, there are some scholarly works on staff welfare and
productivity (Owusu-Acheaw, 2010; Osterman, 2010; Singh, 2009; Cowling and
Mailer, 1992; Coventry and Barker, 1988), but they mostly dwelt on industrial
settings to the neglect of service organizations and banking industry. There is
therefore the need to extend frontiers in knowledge on the aforementioned theme
that this study focused on the effect of staff welfare on job performance,
using First bank
Plc as references. Specifically, the study enquired into: (a) the effect and
awareness of staff welfare as well as components of staff welfare in the study
area; (b) the existence of staff welfare in the study area and (c) the
perceived effect of staff welfare on performance (productivity) in the study
area, which is First bank Nigeria Plc.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Workers or
employees are often attracted into certain organization not only because of the
pays packages that are stated in the advert but also because of the benefits
attached to them. These benefits usually include housing, transport, medical,
pension or retirement benefits to name but a few.
These attractions also constitute to considerable objectives for which such
individuals make up their minds to these primary attractions of such
individuals into the organization will certainly lower the morale as well as
the efficiency of such individual’s performance which will in turn lead to low productivity
in the organization.
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1. To examine the
relationship between staff welfare and organizational productivity.
2. To observe the
relationship between staff welfare and job performance
3. To find out
whether good staff welfare package is the best form of extrinsic motivation
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the
relationship between staff welfare and organizational productivity?
2. Is there any relationship
between staff welfare and job performance?
3. Is good staff
welfare package the best form of extrinsic motivation?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
Ho: There is no significant relationship between staff welfare and
organizational productivity.
Hi: There is a significant relationship between staff welfare and organizational productivity.
Ho: There is no relationship between staff welfare and job.
Hi: There is a relationship between staff welfare and job performance.
Ho: Good staff welfare package is not the best form of extrinsic
motivation.
Hi: Good staff welfare package is the best form of extrinsic
motivation.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
In practical sense, the significance of
this study is to bring together the various news and facts as regards to
subject matter, against this back drop, it is anticipated that the study will
be of immensely help to different categories of people both the managements,
managers, students in various disciplines, the government, employees in
different organizations and employers at large. It will also go further to
remove the ambiguity between what motivates and what does not motivate workers
in work situation.
This study will be of great value to the
practicing managers and leaders on how to harmonize their resources to
effective and efficient result.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study primarily examines the effect of
staff welfare on job performance in organizations particularly in First Bank
Nigeria Plc. The study is therefore limited to the issue of staff welfare and
how it increases job performance and how it impacts the organization at large.
The study area in which data were gathered is First Bank Nigeria Plc, , Benin City.
1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
A study of this nature is bound to
experience certain problems as such the constraints imposed on the research
include:
a.
Time: A study of this nature needs relatively
long time during which information for accurate or at least near accurate
inference could be drawn. The period of the study was short, time posed as
constraints to the research.
b.
Cost: The research would have extended the survey
to other area at the empirical level, but limitation as included cost of
transportation to the source of material and the cost of time setting of the
already completed work.
c.
Lack of cooperation: many of the respondents are
usually aggressive on issue that border cooperation among the respondents
border.
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
MOTIVATION
Motivation is a factor which make an employee
to participate to action, it is referred to as those factors which arose
employee to action and could be measured by identifying various needs of the
individuals workers and how such needs influences the behavior of the workers
in the work situation in an organization.
SATISFACTION
This is employees contentment about his
satisfaction, it could be defined subjectively as the job reward which employee
derives from the work situation done effectively. Satisfaction could be
measured in terms of difference between what the employee expects from the
service he or she referred to the organization and what he or she actually
derives.
INCENTIVES
These are inducements given to an employee
of an organization for the purpose of carrying out organizational objectives.
It could be measured by the amount of inducement which workers get from the
organization and the extent to which such inducement enhances their
performances.
EMPLOYEE WELFARE SCHEME
In this study employees welfare scheme is
also variously known as the employees welfare services. Employee scheme, the
fringe benefits, which the employee receives from the organization besides his
pay or salary.