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THE EFFECTS OF MOTIVATION ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR (A CASE STUDY ON KAAF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE) BY JIMMY ABIGAIL JOSEPH (AC/12/WDS/1056) PROJECT WORK SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 1

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THE EFFECTS OF MOTIVATION ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN THE

EDUCATION SECTOR (A CASE STUDY ON KAAF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE)

BY

JIMMY ABIGAIL JOSEPH

(AC/12/WDS/1056)

PROJECT WORK

SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT,

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

AUGUST, 2015

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DECLARATION

I, JIMMY ABIGAIL JOSEPH, author of this research project do hereby declare that except for

reference to other people’s work, which has been duly acknowledged, the work presented here

was done by me as a student of Department of Human Resource Management of the University

College of Management Studies during 2012-2015 academic years.

This work has never been submitted in whole or in part for any degree in this university or

elsewhere.

………………………

JIMMY ABIGAIL JOSEPH

(STUDENT)

This work has been submitted for examination with our approval as supervisors.

………………………

EMMANUEL OFORI – MENSAH

(MAIN SUPERVISOR)

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DEDICATION

To The Glory of God and Our Lord Jesus Christ and to my mother Unwana Luke for the

enormous sacrifices she made to enable me come these far in my Education.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My humble appreciation goes to the Almighty God who stood by me throughout my academics.

As a beneficiary of his guidance, I am highly appreciative of the contribution of my supervisor,

Mr. Emmanuel Ofori - Mensah a lecturer at University College of Management Studies, for all

the necessary support accorded during the project, whose comments, directions and

encouragement gave me the zeal and inspiration to complete this work no matter the odds. I do

appreciate his kindness, friendship, understanding, patience and unrelenting support

I am also grateful to Mr. Stephen Kuku, a lecturer at KAAF University College who assisted in

distribution and collection of the questionnaire.

Special thanks also go to Mr. Asante, H.O.D of the Human Resource Management of KAAF

University College, who led me to the school Management team for their permission and

approval for the administration of the questionnaire.

I am grateful to all my lecturers whose mentorship has been of immense help to me.

I also extend my sincere gratitude to my mother Miss Unwana Luke whose love, efforts and

understanding has been relentless throughout my academic years.

Finally, I would like to thank all my friends especially, Mrs. Mary Dodzih and Young Dorcas

Aseye who helped in diverse ways to make this work and my academic years a success.

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ABSTRACT

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Table of Contents

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List of Tables

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background to the Study

The overall success of an institution in achieving its strategic objectives relies heavily on the

performance level of employees. Employee performance is a function of ability and motivation,

where ability is comprised of the skills, training and resources required for performing a task and

motivation is described as an inner force that drives individual to act towards something. Flippo

(2001) adds that employee performance in institutions results in a more motivated work force

that has the drive for higher productivity, quality, quantity, commitment and drive. He also

concurs with Mondy (2007) and Armstrong (2005) both of who were of the opinion that it results

in more positive approaches and benefits than other managerial perspectives.

Organizations in this dynamic globalized world are continuously trying to develop and motivate

their employees to help achieve enhanced performance with various Human Resource

applications and practices.

Every organization that is committed to generating profits for its owners (shareholders), and

providing quality service for its customers and beneficiaries, is concerned with its performance

and performance of its employees.

Employee performance is defined as the outcome or contribution of employees to make them

attain goals (Herbert, John & Lee 2000) while performance may be used to define what an

organization has accomplished with respect to the process, results, relevance and success.

Afshan et al. (2012) define performance as the achievement of specific tasks measured against

predetermined or identified standards of accuracy, completeness, cost and speed. Employee

performance can be manifested in improvement in production, easiness in using the new

technology, highly motivated workers.

Employee's performance means how well employees perform on the job and assignments

assigned them measured against the generally accepted measure of performance standards set by

their companies. This means there are general expectations expected of employees in relation to

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their performance in every company. Employees can be said to have performed when they have

met the expectations and performed up to standard.

An important part of performance management noted by Bratton and Gold (2003) is to collect

and review data on an individual’s past and current work behavior and performance.

Performance is the accomplishment of a given task measured against pre-set standards of

accuracy, completeness, cost and speed (Business Dictionary 2010: online). This implies that any

given performance management process has to efficiently and effectively steer and control the

organization through predetermined steps and stages to attain established goals and objectives of

the organization in general and the individual employees in particular.

According to Sambo (1988) performance is the product of ability and motivation (Performance =

Ability times motivation).

Sambo (1988) continued by saying that what all organizations fail or are unable to determine

prior to entry by new entrants is the level of motivation. This is because among all others things,

motivation i.e. situational and colloquial does not easily render itself to measurement

management, therefore, we have the singular task of motivating staff to perform, since this is the

only variable in the performance equation that management influence.

Sambo (1988) also looked at motivation as the label for everything that determine how an

individual decides to initiate efforts on task, how he decides on the level of effort to exert on that

task. This view of motivation is obviously very embracing and effecting, motivation therefore is

spaced demanding task on management. He suggested that management determines the needs of

its staff and the situational variables that determine a person’s behavior. The main task of every

manager or administrator is to effectively achieve the objectives of the organization and this can

be attained through proper motivation among all employees in the organization or system. The

importance of motivation as an instrument in the hands of the management of an organization

has been a critical issue since the early 20th century. The persistent search by student for those

performance and productivity led to the formulation of the various management and motivation

theories. The early postulation of the motivation theorists were based on the belief that individual

seeks only pleasure and minimized displeasure. According to Koontz et al (1972) motivation is

“a general concept applying to the entire class of drives, desire, needs, wishes and similar forces”

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equally, to say that managers or administrators – motivate the workers that they do those things

which they hope will satisfy. These drive and desires induces the employees to act in a desired

manner.

In any organizational set up, the motivational process is concerned with how behavior gets

started, is energized, is sustained, is directed, is stopped, and what kind of subjective reaction is

present in the organization while all this is acting on. The assumption is that people work to

satisfy needs and apply drive or effort towards goal which provide the means of satisfying these

needs. Thus, the greater the need and the more relevant the goal object to need fulfillment, the

harder people work, so the individual is motivated by the extent to which a job provides needs

related rewards. Maslow (1943) provides a five category classification of need: physiological,

safety, social, esteem and self-actualization need.

Maslow argued that people in an organization or work place are motivated to perform by a desire

to satisfy a set of integral needs. He said that once one order is satisfied, the individual is

motivated by the next needs. He believes that things got do not motivate behavior and lower

level needs must be satisfied before attention can be paid to the higher level needs.

Movement is different from motivation. Movement is the internal movement within an object or

towards another object or objects. Therefore movement alone does not result into action.

Motivation on the contrary is the internal movement within an entity that causes another

movement in another entity that further causes the combination of internal and external activities.

To this end organizations are to seek to recruit and retain employees that are willing to work and

retain those enjoying their work and continually strive to improve their work performance (Stroh,

2001). Doing so requires the existence of a model that stimulates performance and predicts

employee behavior. Managing the performance of employees forms an integral part of any

organization’s strategy of dealing with their human capital (Drucker as cited in Meyer & Kristen,

2005). This function also includes creating a conducive and enabling environment for employees

to achieve organizational objectives. In a conducive work environment, motivating employees is

used as a strategic tool to enhance job performance.

Lawler (2003) argues that employees do not just need to be motivated, but also need to be

capable of performing the assigned tasks. Hence, a highly motivated employee who does not

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possess the required core competences (required expertise, knowledge, skills and behavioral

attributes) cannot perform well. Similarly employees with all the required competences would

not necessarily do well, while they experience de-motivation or are unmotivated (Roberts, 2005;

Amos et. al., 2004; Oosthuizen, 2001).

Motivation policies often forms part of quality and service initiatives with the objective of

getting everyone in the organization oriented towards the same direction, to develop awareness

of staffs and customers and to foster a team spirit within business units. In some organizations

the objective of Motivation policies is to promote a greater degree of innovation. Motivation

policies in promoting leadership in innovation involve the empowerment of all staff towards

making a contribution. Related to this, may be used to market new technologies internally, to

market a new corporate image, to change the ethos of the organization and, importantly, to

communicate strategic leadership issues. Motivation may be used as a competitive weapon to

differentiate the organization externally, giving the organization and externally-perceived

competitive advantage in terms of responsiveness.

Successful motivation policies appear to be dependent on a number of factors: Foremost,

programs rely on communications, good communication systems and strong messages. The

message must get through to the people who need to hear it. Motivation policies depend on

factors associated with the organization’s culture, including commitment at all levels, co-

operation, an open management style, and general awareness of the need to make cultural

changes and recognition that the customer comes first. This involves a recognition that everyone

in the organization must be pointing in the same direction towards the organizational objective.

Motivation policies must be accepted as a mainstream responsibility. Recipients of motivation

policies message need to see the benefits for themselves, this leads to ownership of the process.

Motivation policies have to be consistent, balanced, maintained and built upon as an ongoing

resource. This in turn is reliant upon feedback and continued interest - the motivation policies

message should also be enjoyable.

According to Wloodkwowskit (1989) the main Criterion for successful motivation planning, no

matter what the instructional plan may be, is that each time phase (beginning, during, and

ending) of the sequence of instruction for the particular project object includes significant

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positive motivational influence on the workers. He further listed out six basics question for

motivation planning as follows:

What can I do to establish a positive working attitude for this programme?

How do I best meet the needs of my workers throughout this working sequence?

What about this working conditions that will stimulate my workers?

How does this working pattern increase or affect workers feeling of competence?

How this working pattern does provide for my workers?

Knoveles (1980) contented that when workers are motivated to work, they work harder and learn

more. A manager working with motivated worker finds instruction more successful, achieves

greater satisfaction and avoids burnout.

1.1 Statement of the Problem

According to Michael Porter’s five forces of competitive position (or strategic) model, news

firms freely enter into the competitive industry or market and some existing firmly leave the

competitively market due to forces beyond their control (Porter, 2010). Similarly the provision of

tertiary educational services in general and that of private educational services in particular have

become intensely competitive and this brings about both opportunities and threats. Those private

tertiary institutions that will fail to properly motivate their employees will not only experience

high employee turnover but will consequently loose a good number of their customers. Other

threats that face private tertiary institutions that do not adequately motivate their employees

include: volatile loyalty and commitment, potential defective morale, employees’ taste for

different motivational packages and increase in the cost of recruitment and placing. Whenever

competent lecturers and essential employees consistently leave a given private university or

University College, such tertiary institution will develop negative branding. The other few

competent employees that will remain will unavoidably be overworked and as a result are most

likely to perform poorly.

It appears that the resources for serious operation for motivating teaching and non-teaching staff

at KAAF University College are inadequate. There is the problem of motivating planning that

liquidity and late payment of salaries occur. There is a problem of threat for retrenchment of

work threatening to lay down their tools. Lecturers do have meetings every year Full time

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workers have to look for additional job to supplement the low salary and the delay in payment.

Some lecturers delay in marking papers as a result in delay in salaries of staffs. Apart from

salaries, lecturers hardly receive any form of allowances and loans. Most lecturers do not get

access to training on continuous professional development in upgrading knowledge to the benefit

of students. Some lecturers do an hour instead of three as a result of demonization.

The researcher has looked into the various motivations that Private Tertiary Institutions need to

provide standard delivery services

out-perform other institutions

become competitive and

Ultimately motivate employees.

In other words, the study investigated in part into how KAAF University College employees

achieve their individual performance targets. To this end, the top management personnel must

specify what they ought to do and see to it that they do those things that make employees

perform well in KAAF University College.

1.2 Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the process and the applications of motivational tools

and their impact on employee performance.

1.3 Research Objectives

The objectives are:

To determine the procedure, process and practices of motivation in the education sector.

To discover the motivational packages that positively influences employee performance

in the education sector.

To assess ways of improving the motivational systems in the education sector.

To examine how motivation affects employee performance in the education sector.

1.4 Research Questions

The research will address the following specific questions:

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What are the procedure, process and practices of motivation in the education sector?

What are the motivational packages that positively influence employee performance in

the education sector?

How can the motivational systems of the education sector be improved?

How can motivation affect employee performance in the education sector?

1.5 Significance of the study

The study is vital in so many ways.

The research will help to reveal lapses namely discriminatory practices in the

motivational systems in the education sector and make recommendations on how to

address the said lapses. It is useful to employees as it enables them to understand the

circumstances under which they perform better and the circumstances under which they

perform poorly.

It further helps those in management positions to understand how internal and external

motivations influence each other. Managers are particularly encouraged to factor the

interests and goals of employees in the organizational objectives and to focus on internal

motivations of employees.

The study scientifically informed employers that salaries have the strongest relationship

with motivation and that employees similarly prefer a blend of financial and non-

financial motivational packages.

It would enable the researchers to find ways and means in improving motivation. The

study will add to the wealth of knowledge on motivation and performance. Its unique

contribution lays in its discovery that internal motivators are stronger than external

motivators.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The scope of this study is conducted at KAAF University College main campus located at

Gomoa Buduburam in the Central Region as a case study to access the impact of motivation, on

staffs overall performance.

1.7 Limitation of the Study

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Although, this study has accomplished the purpose which is set out to do, one of its

limitations is that the validity of the results of findings is dependent on the honesty of the

respondents in providing the needed information.

Also finance which is a core area in research located some problems on printing and

scanning of materials.

Another problem is the unnecessary secrecy purported to prevent the organization from

exposure or probe from the members of the society.

Some staffs are slow in filling the form and some don’t have time to fill the form.

Despite these limitations, however, this study was deemed successful because the

purpose for which it was designed was achieved.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Abilities – general human capacities related to the performance of a set of task

Attitude – this represent a person generally feeling favorable and unfavorable towards

some stimulus object.

High Performance Work Systems – a work place or work systems were the various

parts or subsystems are aligned or fit together in a way that lead to increased productivity,

quality, flexibility and shorter cycle times as well as increased customer and employee

satisfaction quality of work life.

Human Relations – a movement that advocates more human working conditions. It was

formulated as a response to for the frequent abuse of unskilled workers.

Human Resource Development (HRD) – a set of systematic and planned activities

designed by an organization to provide its members with the necessary skills to meet the

current and future job demands.

Human Resource Management (HRM) – the effective utilization of employees to best

achieves the goals of and strategies of the organization as well as the goals and needs of

employees.

Job discrimination – an example of one type of discrimination at a workplace. It occurs

when organization’s places limit on job availability, through such things as restricting

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advertisement and recruitment, rejecting applicants, salary disparities among staffs of the

same grade, or offering lower salaries to certain type of individuals.

Motivation, Volition And Performance (MVP) - The integrative MVP theory points

out that motivation is the external and internal force that boost enthusiasm to (i) reach

peak performance (ii) improve results (iii) genuinely care about their peers and company

and (iv) maintain positive results.

Performance Management – a management tactic that goes beyond the annual

performance ratings and interviews and seeks to incorporate employee goal setting,

feedback, coaching and rewards, and individual development.

Skills – a combination of abilities and capabilities that are developed as a result of

training.

360 Degree Performance Appraisal – an approach to performance evaluation that

generally uses peer, subordinate, superior and customer feedback to obtain and complete

a picture as possible as employee’s performance.

1.9 Organization of the Study

The thesis will be organized in five chapters and the breakdown is as follows;

Chapter one covers the background of the study, statement of the problem, the purpose of the

study, research objectives and questions, significance of the study, scope of the study, definition

of terms, and organization of the study.

Chapter two covers literature review.

Chapter three covers the research methodology,

Chapter four embraces findings and discussion.

Chapter five covers the summary, conclusion and recommendations of the study.

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CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.0 Introduction

The study focuses on the effects of application of motivational tools and the performance of

institution. It also focuses on motivation as a fore that energizes, directs and sustains the efforts

of employees; it situates employees’ performance and productivity. This chapter talks about

theoretical concept of motivation, performance and productivity, theories of motivation and

human resource, empirical literature, motivation and performance, measurement of employee

and organizational performance, summary of some research findings. The challenges associated

with implementing motivation policies as well as the benefits of motivation, among other issues.

2.1 Definition of Motivation and Methods of Motivation

2.1.1 Motivation

Grant (2008) says that motivation is fundamentally meant to facilitate behavioral alteration. It is

a force that enables an individual to act in the direction of a particular objective. According to the

study of Grant (2008) held on employee motivation; motivation forced such result as

productivity, performance and persistence. According to the studies of Ryan and Deci, (2000)

motivated employees are more oriented towards autonomy and freedom and are more self-driven

as compared to less motivated employees which lead to availing developmental opportunities

more correctly. (Guay et al., 2000; Vansteenkiste et al., 2007) goes further to reveal that

similarly employee commitment with their work and jobs is more, if they are motivated as

compared to less motivated employees.

According to Maslow, Alderfer, McClelland, Hackman and Hertzberg; the growth is most

influential motivator for individuals that exploit the potential of employees. (Basset-Jones and

Lloyd, 2005; Chen et al., 2004) explains, It is found that an undeniable link exists among the

motivation of employees and the satisfaction with the jobs and also to organizational

commitment. Chintallo & Mahadeo, (2013) continues to explain that employee motivation is

most important element for all organization to attain achievement weather these are public or

private.

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According to the outcomes of the study accomplished on the association between motivation and

job satisfaction of employees by Sirota et al. (2005) having 135,000 respondents from different

groupings and countries, organizations implementing various motivation programs involving

three constructs as camaraderie, equity and achievement were considered to be more effective

than organizations that had no or twice as many ‘enthusiastic’ employee (of total 45%). A study

was done by (Asim, 2013) to find the effect of motivation on employee performance in which it

was concluded that if employees are motivated then their performance will increase.

2.1.2 Motivation Methods

According to Coates et al (1994) there are as many different methods of motivating employees

today as there are companies, institutions, organizations etc, operating in the global environment.

Still, some strategies are prevalent across all organizations striving to improve employee

motivation. The best employee motivation efforts will focus on what the employees deem to be

important. It may be that employees within the same department of the same organization will

have different motivators. Many organizations today find that flexibility in job design and reward

systems has resulted in employees' increased longevity with the company, improved

productivity, and better morale. The motivation methods mentioned by Coates et al (1994) are

empowerment, creativity and innovation, learning, quality of life, and monetary incentive.

Coates et al, (1994) explain the method of empowerment in the sense that giving employees

more responsibility and decision-making authority increases their realm of control over the tasks

for which they are held responsible and better equips them to carry out those tasks. As a result,

feelings of frustration arising from being held accountable for something one does not have the

resources to carry out are diminished. Energy is diverted from self-preservation to improved task

accomplishment.

Coates et al, (1994) further reveals on the method creativity and Innovation, saying that at many

companies, organizations, institutions, employees with creative ideas do not express them to

management for fear that their input will be ignored or ridiculed. Company or organization

approval and toeing the company line have become so ingrained in some working environments

that both the employee and the organization suffer. When the power to create in the organization

is pushed down from the top to line personnel, employees who know a job, product, or service

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best are given the opportunity to use their ideas to improve it. The power to create motivates

employees and benefits the organization in having a more flexible work force, using more wisely

the experience of its employees, and increasing the exchange of ideas and information among

employees and departments. These improvements also create an openness to change that can

give a company the ability to respond quickly to market changes and sustain a first mover

advantage in the marketplace or environment.

Coates et al, (1994) concerning learning say that, if employees are given the tools and the

opportunities to accomplish, most will take on the challenge. Companies can motivate employees

to achieve more by committing to perpetual enhancement of employee skills. Accreditation and

licensing programs for employees are an increasingly popular and effective way to bring about

growth in employee knowledge and motivation. Often, these programs improve employees'

attitudes toward the client and the company, while bolstering self-confidence. Supporting this

assertion, an analysis of factors which influence motivation-to-learn found that it is directly

related to the extent to which training participants believe that such participation will affect their

job or career utility. In other words, if the body of knowledge gained can be applied to the work

to be accomplished, then the acquisition of that knowledge will be a worthwhile event for the

employee and employer.

Coates et al, (1994) talks on the method of quality of life saying; the number of hours worked

each week by American workers is on the rise, and many families have two adults working those

increased hours. Under these circumstances, many workers are left wondering how to meet the

demands of their lives beyond the workplace. Often, this concern occurs while at work and may

reduce an employee's productivity and morale. Companies or institutions that have instituted

flexible employee arrangements have gained motivated employees whose productivity has

increased. Programs incorporating flex time, condensed workweeks, or job sharing, for example,

have been successful in focusing overwhelmed employees toward the work to be done and away

from the demands of their private lives.

According to Coates et al, (1994) on the method of monetary incentive explains that for all the

championing of alternative motivators, money still occupies a major place in the mix of

motivators. The sharing of a company's, organization, institutions profits gives incentive to

employees to produce a quality product, perform a quality service, or improve the quality of a

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process within the company. What benefits the company directly benefits the employee.

Monetary and other rewards are being given to employees for generating cost-savings or

process-improving ideas, to boost productivity and reduce absenteeism. Money is effective when

it is directly tied to an employee's ideas or accomplishments. Nevertheless, if not coupled with

other, nonmonetary motivators, its motivating effects are short-lived. Further, monetary

incentives can prove counterproductive if not made available to all members of the organization.

Coates et al, (1994) study after study has found that the most effective motivators of workers are

nonmonetary. Monetary systems are insufficient motivators, in part because expectations often

exceed results and because disparity between salaried individuals may divide rather than unite

employees. Proven nonmonetary positive motivators foster team spirit and include recognition,

responsibility, and advancement. Managers, who recognize the "small wins" of employees,

promote participatory environments, and treat employees with fairness and respect will find their

employees to be more highly motivated. One company's managers brainstormed to come up with

thirty powerful rewards that cost little or nothing to implement. The most effective rewards, such

as letters of commendation and time off from work, enhanced personal fulfilment and self-

respect. Over the longer term, sincere praise and personal gestures are far more effective and

more economical than awards of money alone. In the end, a program that combines monetary

reward systems and satisfies intrinsic, self-actualizing needs may be the most potent employee

motivator.

2.2 DEFINITION OF EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE AND FACTORS AFFECTING

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

2.2.1 Employee Performance

According to the results of the study conducted by Yang (2008) on individual performance

showed that performance of the individuals cannot be verified. Similarly he asserts that

organizations can use direct bonuses and rewards based on individual performance if employee

performance is noticeable.

In line with Yang (2008), Bishop (1987) investigated employee performance and revealed that

acknowledgment and recognition and reward of performance of employees direct the

discrimination between employee productivity. Yazıcı, (2008) explains that moral and

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productivity of employees is highly influenced by the effectiveness of performance of an

organization and its reward management system.

Ahmad, (2012) reveals that to satisfy customers, firms do much effort but do not pay attention on

satisfying employees. But the fact is that customer would not be satisfied until and unless

employees are satisfied. Because, if employees are satisfied, they will do more work therefore

ultimately customers will be satisfied. (Azar and Shafighi, 2013) further says that employee

performance is actually influenced by motivation because if employees are motivated then they

will do work with more effort and by which performance will ultimately improve, therefore,

motivation has a significant and positive relationship with employee performance.

According to Koontz, (1988) Ways in which employee performance can be increased include;

proper incentive systems which may be financial or nonfinancial. Financial incentives include;

salaries, allowances, overtime payment, bonus and wages, while non financial incentives

include; promotion, medical allowance, training, transport, subsidized housing and meals. This

should be after identifying the needs and desires of employees that can be satisfied hence

increased performance.

2.2.2 Factors Affecting Employee Performance

Goal Clarity

Willmot (2007) asserts that people must have in mind a clear picture of any end or goal they are

to achieve. If this picture does not exist, they cannot tell if they are making progress or when

they have completed the task or assignment, let alone if it has been completed properly.

Knight (2008) agrees and adds that keeping the end in view has been sage advice for almost two

thousand years. The time a manager spends in developing, communicating and clarifying the

goals or ends to be achieved is time well spent.

Repertoire

Nickols (2003) writes that to achieve a goal, the people working toward it must possess a

suitable, flexible repertoire. They must be able to engage in whatever behaviors are necessary to

obtain that goal despite changing circumstances and environmental disturbances. In some cases,

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this will involve carrying out a routine that has been specified in advance by someone else. In

other cases, it will require figuring out — on the spot — an appropriate course of action. He

concludes that in many situations, the end to be achieved will remain constant but the conditions

under which it is to attained will vary. Therefore, employees need to possess a suitable and

flexible repertoire.

Knowledge of Structures

According to Fred (2003), figuring out what to do in a particular situation requires knowledge of

the structure of that situation. People must understand the elements that make up the situation,

how those elements are connected to one another and the relationships that exist between and

among these elements. This knowledge of the structure of the situation allows people to say how

the actions they take will lead to the result they seek. It also allows them to say, for a given

result, the actions that will lead to it. Absent this knowledge, action is little more than a shot in

the dark and achieving desired results depends mainly on luck or intuition.

Sara (2004) agreed and added that employees can only perform to the best of their knowledge

and therefore those with good knowledge about the structures will perform better.

Feedback

Gerhart (2004) wrote that without information about actual conditions in relation to intended

goals or results, no one can perform to standard. Such information is known as feedback. It

informs progress, enables corrections and, eventually, signals attainment of the objective. For

most hard tasks (i.e., tasks involving tangible products or other immediate and readily measured

effects of one’s actions), feedback is generally available without much effort on any-one’s part.

We are aware of our actions and their effects. But, for soft tasks (i.e., tasks where the effects of

our actions are not tangible, immediate nor readily measured), the feedback loop is essentially

open. This is especially true when the main effects of a person’s actions are the reactions of other

people. Therefore, lack of good feedback leads to lack of correction and hence poor

performance.

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Mental Models

Sara (2004) asserts that absent feedback, people have no choice except to act in ways that are

consistent with internally-held views or mental models of what is appropriate or what should

work instead of externally-based information about what is and isn’t actually working. For this

reason, it is worthwhile spending time working with people to identify the mental models they

currently use in situations where feedback isn’t readily available. In some cases, this will surface

mental models that are inappropriate or inadequate. In other cases, it might surface mental

models that are superior to those held by most people. This means that employee performance

does not only depend on the information provided to the employees but also to their mental

models.

Motivation

Kathleen (2004) asserts that it is one thing to be capable of doing something; it is something else

altogether to want to do it. Setting aside the issue of coercion, people generally want to do things

for two basic reasons: (1) it serves some purpose of their own or (2) it serves someone else’s

purpose and they’ve accepted something in return for doing whatever it is that someone else

wants done. Self-satisfaction and incentives; these are the two great motivators.

Environment

In his studies on performance, Rynes (2004) found out that performance might not occur if the

environmental conditions are so unsuitable as to present insurmountable barriers to performance.

He writes that Most of us can successfully drive our cars on windy days but none of us can drive

through a tornado. In less dramatic terms, missing tools and equipment, competing priorities, a

repressive climate and other factors can interfere with our ability to perform as expected,

regardless of our motives or our repertoire, the presence or absence of feedback and the quality

of the mental models that guide our thinking and actions. In short, the task environment must

support the desired performance; at the very least, it must be manageable.

Technology

According to Samuel (2010), technology is primary tool that can be used to boost employee

performance. Ha writes that improvement in technology accompanied by training of the

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employees can significantly increase their levels of performance because it reduces the stress that

comes with doing the job manually.

Abilities, training and experience

Scott (2000) defined ability as the capacity to learn and perform the tasks required. He revealed

that a good mixture of ability, training and experience is the root cause best performances. He

asserts that best performing employees at least have two of the three factors.

Work-Home Balance

Berman (2001) wrote that as much as an employer may not want to be affected by the personal

life of his employees, personal problems can sometimes affect employee performance. Managers

need to be sensitive to employee personal problems, and be prepared to discuss the issues with

employees when necessary. If an employee requires time off to deal with a personal problem,

then granting that time off will help to show all of your employees that the company values its

employees.

As a researcher, I strongly support the above factors that affect employee performance as valid

even in the present situation hence employees should take them serious and find out how to

mitigate their effects to have improved employee performance.

2.3 The Relationship between Motivation and Employee Performance

According to Steers (1999), employee motivation is the process of enabling or authorizing an

individual to think, behave take action, control work and decision making in an autonomous

way.

A number of studies have examined the relationship between motivation and performance,

Koestner (1999) wrote that if motivation is crucial for initiating behavior, then performance

exists at the opposite end of the spectrum and is defined as the outcome of a motivated act.

Posti, (2005) says that people need motivation just as pieces of equipment need fuel and

operators. This is highly demanded to ensure that they are always at their optimum working

condition. In turn, this will absolutely lead to optimum productivity. People are one of the most

important assets in business. They have unlimited potential to contribute in the achievement of

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objectives. Their aggregate productivity propels the operations of the company. It dictates the

overall performance, which creates an attractive corporate culture.

According to Dems, (2010). The value of human resource productivity is a managerial concern.

Employee motivation is the classic response on this matter. This has been utilized for ages by

many different entities, small- and large-scale businesses alike. It fosters mutual growth in an

employer-employee relationship. Indeed, motivation increases productivity.

In their study Wood, et al (2000) examined the role of active exploration in an adult training

program. Their results indicated that participants who were trained to actively explore the

environment during training had higher intrinsic motivation levels, as well as higher performance

on transfer tasks.

In agreement Cooper, et al (1999) found that intrinsic motivation was associated with higher

levels of creativity-based performance for an in-basket work task. The in-basket technique is an

employment screening task in which an applicant is asked to complete a set of paperwork that

would be representative of his/her actual work tasks.

Amodt (1999) and Graen (1999) also found that intrinsic motivation in employees was related to

higher levels of creative performance, as rated by work supervisors. However, Fang (1997)

reported that, although intrinsic motivation was related to innovative performance, it was not

related to other work outcomes.

According to Hersey (1996). Motivation is concerned with human behaviour. It is the inner

striving condition described as wishes, desires, drives or moves, human psychological

characteristics, which includes the factors that cause channel and sustain human behaviour.

Therefore motivation deals with what makes people active. It`s the influence force that gives rise

to behaviour involving creating conditions in which employees want to work and are willing to

accept responsibility.

According to Waterman (1982). Motivation is the degree of effort an employee exerts to

accomplish a task; it shows an excitement about work. From the managers’ point of view, person

who is motivated has such characteristics as hardworking, sustaining a pace of hard work, self-

directed behavior towards important organizational goals. Motivation is the key to performance

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improvement. There is a saying that saying that “you can take a horse to the well to drink water

but you cannot force it to drink”, it will drink if only it is thirsty-so with people. They will do

what they want to do or otherwise motivated to do. Whether it is to excel on the workshop floor

or in the ivory tower, they must be motivated or driven to it, either by themselves or through

external stimulus.

According to Heneman, (1992). Differences in institutional arrangements contribute to the

feasibility and effectiveness of various monetary incentives, as do differences in employees’

preferences for specific incentives. Therefore, companies are wise to study these issues before

implementing changes to existing incentive plans. This is especially pertinent for service

organizations, where financial reinforcements tend to produce a stronger effect on task

performance than non-financial rewards used alone. Even stronger results are seen with a

composite approach. For example, one meta-analysis of 72 field studies found that monetary

incentives improved task performance by 23%, social recognition improved task performance by

17% and feedback elicited a 10% improvement18. Simultaneously combining all three types of

reinforcements improved performance by 45%.

Putting in consideration Milkovich, (1991) presentation that team-based or small-group

incentives are defined as rewards whereby a portion of individual pay is contingent on

measurable group performance. In general, its effectiveness is dependent on the characteristics of

the reward system, the organization, the team and the individual team members. Here again,

studying this issue via employee surveys or interviews can be useful. But generally speaking,

research suggests that equally divided small-group incentives sustain high levels of productivity

and satisfaction for group members, and that small group incentives are at least as effective as

individual incentives with groups of two to twelve people. Qualitative, quantitative and survey

research studies of alternative pay systems such as profit-sharing or gain-sharing plans are even

more consistent in their findings. These incentive programs include various pay-for-performance

approaches that link financial rewards for employees to improvements in the performance of the

work unit20. Research reveals that these types of incentive systems are associated in practice –

and in employer and employee minds – with both higher productivity and improvements in

organizational performance.

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2.4 Theoretical Conceptualization of Motivation

According to Rudolf & Kleiner, (1989); Mouton, (2001). The integrative MVP theory points out

that motivation are the external and internal force that boosts enthusiasm to:

i. reach peak performance,

ii. improve results,

iii. genuinely care about their peers and company, and

iv. Maintain positive results

In agreement John Keller,(2006) says that this theory is recommended to guide empirical

research on motivation because it entails an explanatory frame and almost all existing theories of

motivation. That is, it contains the assumptions, formulas and principles that are common to the

said theories and that complement each other.

2.4.1 Concept of Motivation

Casio, (2003); Ehlers and Lazenby, (2004). People are important assets of organizations. In part

they specify, design, market or use both products and services. These people are either

stakeholders, owners, employees or customers. Employees are similarly known as internal

customers. Employees therefore occupy strategic positions as they are in a sense part of the

organization and in another sense part of the customers.

Meyer, (2002). In order to execute the organizational strategy, it is important that the

organization acquires the correct competencies, which are primarily the skills, knowledge and

behavioral attributes the organization possesses in its human capital. In other words, the strategy

of the organization is productively executed only if the employees of that organization have the

requisite competencies that comprise the requisite skills, knowledge and behavioral attributes

Lawler, (2003) reveal that considering the aforementioned, it makes sense that human resource

managers must obtain adequate knowledge regarding what motivates employees to fulfil their

full potential.

In the light of the above, I strongly recommend that competitive organizations should invest in

effective strategies to motivate their respective staff for them to maintain their competitiveness.

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Some of the different motivators are money, opportunity for personal development, flexible

schedules and sense of accomplishments. Different individuals prefer different motivators or sets

of motivators. This implies that a given specific motivator can be more appealing to an

individual or group of individuals than other motivators whereas another specific motivator can

similarly be more appealing to another individual or group of individuals than a different

motivator or set of motivators. This notwithstanding, employees have shared preferences, values,

desires and dispositions. If this is an absolute watertight inference then it is plausible to get the

right stimuli that make employees efficiently and effectively perform tasks in a timely manner.

This makes organizations succeed in the challenging and competitive market environment.

Rensis Likerthas, (2008). Apart from determining the employees’ preferences of a motivator or

set of motivators, human resource scholars, specialists and practitioners in private tertiary

institutions are to further determine if motivation is essentially internal or external. Some

scholars hold that motivation is essentially internal. If this is the case then either employees

naturally disposed to accomplish a given task or willingness is the precondition for the

accomplishment of a task. For other scholars motivations are essentially external. If this is the

case then external agents and factors are enough to determine employees to accomplish a given

task. Two propositions inferred and deduced from these arguments. First, internal and external

motivators influence each other and are complimentary. Second, willingness ultimately accounts

for any voluntary human action. Therefore internal motivation has a stronger force than external

motivation.

Shulze and Steyn, (2003); Oosthuizen, (2000); Amos et. al, (2004) reveals that motivation can be

said to be intentional and directional. Also motivation is the assent and agreement of the human

will with itself to move itself to further move the human intellect and body to act. This means

that the only role of the human will is to decide and urge the intellect and body to act. That is

human will does not act but is the reason for acting. It is the human intellect that acts by

specifying and judging and the human body carry out practical action or activities in agreement

with the dictate of either the will or intellect. The human body can similarly undertake activities

as a result of the unified prompting of the human will and intellect. Again, it can be deduced and

inferred that capability and willingness are the two complementary qualities that employees need

to efficiently and effectively carry out the tasks they ought to carry out well. They also need

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other motivators that are essentially external such as adequate pay, good team work, and

availability of other conditions that enable employees to realize their needs and interests. Human

resource managers must therefore;

i. develop skills to motivate employees,

ii. Assemble and maintain employees who are competent and willing, and

iii. Design standardized incentive-based or reward-based performance checklist to in part

prevent or minimize discrimination in the motivation systems.

They further say that human resource managers must ensure that the competencies and

personalities of the employees match the demands of the job and the cultural acceptability of the

job.

2.4.2 Concept of Motivation and Performance

Stroh, (2001) defines motivation as the internal movement within an entity that causes another

movement in another entity that further causes the combination of internal and external activities.

To this end organizations are to seek to recruit and retain employees that are willing to work and

retain those enjoying their work and continually strive to improve their work performance. Doing

so requires the existence of a model that stimulates performance and predicts employee behavior.

Drucker as cited in Meyer & Kristen, (2005) also reveals that managing the performance of

employees forms an integral part of any organization’s strategy of dealing with their human

capital. This function also includes creating a conducive and enabling environment for

employees to achieve organizational objectives. In a conducive work environment, motivating

employees is used as a strategic tool to enhance job performance.

Lawler (2003) argues that employees do not just need to be motivated, but also need to be capable of performing the assigned tasks. Hence, a highly motivated employee who does not possess the required core competences (required expertise, knowledge, skills and behavioural attributes) cannot perform well. Roberts, (2005); Amos et. al, (2004); Oosthuizen, (2001) further explains that similarly employees with all the required competences would not necessarily do well, while they experience de-motivation or are unmotivated.

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2.4.3 The Concept of Motivation and Productivity

According to Halse and Humphrey (1986), two factors impact positively on productivity,

namely, physical factors and psychological factors. The physical factors include the inputs of

machinery, money, materials and labor and end with the output of the product or service being

rendered. Psychological factors that affect the productivity include the motivators and de-

motivators that influence the performance of employees.

Also according to Cronje et. al. (2003) productivity “is a state of mind”; the spirit of progress;

“the ratio between goods and services produced (output) and the resources (input) used to

produce them, to indicate the productive efficiency of labor. Hence organizations should not

have one-off improvement productivity approach. They must put in place a long-term

productivity plan. It must include addressing employee turnover, absenteeism and retrenchment

as these variables negatively impact on the productivity of employees. Adonis, (2007);

Swanepoel, (2003); also reveals that organizations can also use the “productivity ratios” which is

a statistical tool that uses historical data to examine past levels of productivity index (P)

a. Motivation Process

b. Identification of need

c. Tension

d. Course of action

e. Result – positive/negative

f. Feed back

2.5 Theories of Motivation and Human Behavior

It has earlier been stated in this chapter that one of the theories of motivation is the integrative

theory of motivation, volition and performance - the integrative MVP. This theory is a meta-

theory that comprised almost all other theories of motivation including: Mcclelland’s

Achievement Need Theory; Alderfer’s Erg Theory of Motivation; Abraham Maslow need-

hierarchy or deficient theory of motivation; Vrooms Expectation Theory; Herzberg’s Two-Factor

Theory of Motivation and Skinner’s Reinforcement theory of Motivation. Since it is easier to

understand all units of the whole individual and more difficult to understand the whole

instantaneously, the researcher prefers to focus on the theories that constitute the integrative

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MVP theory individually. However this chapter will review only the Herzberg’s Two-Factor

Theory of Motivation. There are two reasons for doing so. First, the scope and period for the

study is limited. Second, the Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation better suit motivation

in a workplace.

According to Henry and Williams (1981), human motivation is a process by which behavior is

mobilized and sustained in the interest of meeting individual needs and achieving organizational

objectives.

2.5.1 Theories that Support the Study

Herzberg’s Two - factor theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are examples of content

theories. They are concerned with individual needs and goals and they seek to identify the

rewards that are most important. They further, explain the specific factors that motivate people.

They attempt to explain why human needs change, but not how they change. Equity theory by

Adams and Goal-Setting theory by Locke are examples of process theory which is concerned

more with the ‘how’ of motivation. They are concerned about the psychological and behavioral

processes that motivate an individual. They are all about how people’s needs influence and drive

their behavior. People need to see what is in it for them and to sense that “fair play” is being

exercised to all concerned.

2.5.1.1 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs, which suggests that individual needs exist in

a hierarchy consisting of physiological needs, security needs, belongingness needs, esteem

needs, and self-actualization needs. Physiological needs are the most basic needs for food, water,

and other factors necessary for survival. Security needs include needs for safety in one's physical

environment, stability, and freedom from emotional distress. Belongingness needs relate to

desires for friendship, love, and acceptance within a given community of individuals. Esteem

needs are those associated with obtaining the respect of one's self and others. Finally, self-

actualization needs are those corresponding to the achievement of one's own potential, the

exercising and testing of one's creative capacities, and, in general, to becoming the best person

one can possibly be.

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He further says that unsatisfied needs motivate behaviour; thus, lower-level needs such as the

physiological and security needs must be met before upper-level needs such as belongingness,

esteem, and self-actualization can be motivational. According to the implications of the

hierarchy, individuals must have their lower level needs met by, for example, safe working

conditions, adequate pay to take care of one's self and one's family, and job security before they

will be motivated by increased job responsibilities, status, and challenging work assignments.

Maslow argued that people in an organization or work place are motivated to perform by a desire

to satisfy a set of integral needs. He said that once one order is satisfied, the individual is

motivated by the next needs.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has been criticized for its failure to provide any empirical evidence

and the theory has not actually received a great deal at empirical validation. The original word of

Maslow did not include any actual-behavioral evidence to support the theory. The fact is that the

model is difficult to test. Moreover, the needs categories are vigilant clearly overlap one another

and the backset hierarchy is simply not a universal characteristic. However, I agree on its

relevance since no matter how, human needs are categorized, they are important in

understanding human behavior within the organization. Maslow’s theory influences all KAAF

employees regardless of the age, gender, qualification and so on.

2.5.1.2 Two - Factor Theory (Herzberg’s 1965)

A different approval has been presented by Herzberg with the two factor theory. His theory is

actually based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but he distinguishes needs in hygiene factors and

motivators or growth factors. He highlighted that when an institution hygiene factors do not exist

(e.g. salary, job security, working conditions, level and quality of supervision, company policy

and administrative and interpersonal relations) employees are dissatisfied and if these factors

exists this does not mean that employees are motivated or satisfied-this is because based on his

research the opposite of de-motivation is motivation only semantically and not when it comes to

understanding the behavior of employees in their jobs (Herzberg 2002). Herzberg’s theory

provides a strong link between motivation and performance of employees in the education sector.

He presents that performance can come as an emanation of feelings like achievement,

advancement, growth which are related with motivation. He emphasized the importance of job

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enrichment and he separated it from job enlargement which includes increased responsibility and

involvement, opportunities for advancement and the sense of achievement. The following is a

glance at each of the motivation factors according to Herzberg.

Achievement: An example of positive achievement might be if an employee completes a

task or project before the deadline and receives high reviews on the result, the satisfaction

the employee feels would increase. However, if that same individual is unable to finish

the project in time or feels rushed and is unable to do the job well, the satisfaction level

may decrease.

Recognition: When the employee receives the acknowledgement they deserve for a job

well done, the satisfaction will increase. If the employees work is overlooked or criticized

it will have the opposite effect.

Work itself: This involves the employees’ perception of whether the work is too difficult

or challenging, too easy, boring or interesting.

Responsibility: This involves the degree of freedom employees have in making their own

decisions and implementing their own ideas. The more liberty to take on that

responsibility the more inclined the employee may be to work harder on the project, and

be more satisfied with the result.

Advancement: This refers to the expected or unexpected possibility of promotion. An

example of negative advancement would be if an employee did not receive an expected

promotion or demotion.

Possibility of Growth: This motivation factor includes the chance one might have for

advancement within the institution. This could also include the opportunity to learn a new

skill or trade. When the possibility/opportunity for growth is lacking or if the employee

has reached the peak or glass ceiling, as it is sometimes referred to, this could have a

negative effect on the satisfaction the employee feels with their job and position.

The following are the hygiene factors, which work in the same way with positive or negative

attributes. However, these factors can only have an effect on the dissatisfaction one feels.

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Institution Policy or Administration: An employee’s perception of whether the policies in

place are good or bad or fair or not, changes the level of dissatisfaction that employee

will feel.

Personal or Working Relationships: This is those relationships one engages in with their

supervisors, peers, and subordinates. How someone feels about the interaction and

discussions that take place within the work environment can also effect dissatisfaction.

Figure 2.2.4: Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

Source: Grobleret. Et. al. (2006) Human Resource Management in South Africa (3rded.).

London: Thomson Learning.

2.5.1.3 Equity Theory

Equity theory suggests that individuals engage in social comparison by comparing their efforts

and rewards with those of relevant others. The perception of individuals about the fairness of

their rewards relative to others influences their level of motivation in the education sector. Equity

exists when individuals perceive that the ratio of efforts to rewards is the same for them as it is

for others to whom they compare themselves. Inequity exists when individuals perceive that the

34

Hygiene needs:

Reflect job context and

Negative job environment

creates

Hygiene factors:

More money

Better supervision

Good working conditions

Which influence? Level of job

dissatisfaction

Level of performance

Level of job satisfaction

Motivator needs:

Reflect job context and

Positive job allow worker

Motivator factors:

Achievement

Responsibility

Growth

Which influence?

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ratio of efforts to rewards is different (usually negatively so) for them than it is for others to

whom they compare themselves.

There are two types of inequity-“under-reward” and “over-reward”. Under-reward occurs when a

person believes that he/she is either puts in more efforts than another, yet receives the same

reward, or puts in the same effort as another for a lesser reward. For instance, if an employee

works longer hours than her coworker, yet they receive the same salary, the employee would

perceive inequity in the form of under-reward. Conversely, with over-reward, a person will feel

that his efforts to rewards ratio is higher than another person's, such that he is getting more for

putting in the same effort, or getting the same reward even with less effort. While research

suggests that under-reward motivates individuals to resolve the inequity, research also indicates

that the same is not true for over-reward. Individuals who are over-rewarded often engage in

cognitive dissonance, convincing themselves that their efforts and rewards are equal to another's.

According to the equity theory, individuals are motivated to reduce perceived inequity.

Individuals may attempt to reduce inequity in various ways. A person may change his or her

level of effort; an employee who feels under-rewarded is likely to work less hard. A person may

also try to change his or her rewards, such as by asking for a raise. Another option is to change

the behavior of the reference person, perhaps by encouraging that person to put forth more effort.

Another issue facing equity theory concerns how institutions and employees handle

inconsistencies in equity that emerge between different types of comparisons. For example, when

pay dispersion is high, star performers making self-comparisons perceive high equity, but

average and low performers making social comparisons may perceive low equity. Bloom, (1998)

in general, research suggests that in some circumstances, the costs of perceived inequity among

the latter group can outweigh the benefits of perceived equity among the former group.

However, this Bloom, (1998) research has yet to identify conditions under which KAAF

University can create favorable perceptions of equity for different groups of employees. Colella

et al, (2007) says one practical solution, pay secrecy, appears to be a mixed bag, as employees

often view it as a signal of inequity and resist by going out of their way to publicize their

salaries. Finally, a person experiencing inequity may change the reference person and compare

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him or herself to a different person to assess equity. For leaders in the education sector, equity

theory emphasizes the importance of a reward system that is perceived as fair by employees.

2.5.1.4 Goal Setting Theory

Latham and Locke (2002) states that motivation and performance are higher when individuals set

specific goals, when goals are difficult but accepted and when there is feedback on performance.

Locke [1984] argued that difficult specific goals lead to significantly higher performance than

easy goals, no goals or even the setting of an abstract goal such as telling employees to do their

best.

The goal theory suggests that the joint setting of objectives, feedback and involvement, which

are all part of a managerial approach, can improve motivation. The theory places particular

emphasis on goal-setting behavior and stipulates that the goals need to be clear, specific and

achievable if they are to motivate. Nagyms [2002] argued that employees are motivated if they

are aware of what needs to be done in achieving a specific goal, irrespective of the difficulties

they might encounter in doing so. This theory lies at the center of performance based motivation

programme which are effectively applied in human resource management in form of

management by objectives (MBO) technique that harbors employee involvement in goal setting,

decision making and feedback. Robbins [1998] states the employees will perform better if they

get continuous feedback in terms of how well they are progressing toward their goals.

Employees granted the opportunity to be involved in the preparation of their own goals would be

more committed in achieving such goals.

Managers of KAAF University college should set enabling environment so that employees needs

are met. They should also ensure that employees participate in goal setting and they should not

be too rigid or difficult to achieve. Employees expect to be given feedback to be able to know

their progress.

Another human relations theorist, Mcaregor (1960) in his work “the human side of enterprises”

advanced two beliefs about human behavior that could be held by different managers, divergent

views of managers about their employees. The first set of assumptions he summarized in what

he calls theory and which views man on the following set of principles.

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Mcaregor (1960) continues to say that average human beings have an inherent dislike of worth

and will avoid it if he can. Because of this human characteristic of dislike of work, work people

must be covered, controlled directed and threatened with punishment to get them to put forth

adequate effort towards the advancement of the organizational objectives.

Mcaregor (1960) also adds that the average human being prefers to be directed wishes to avoid

responsibility, has relatively little ambition and wants security above all. He says that managers

who adopt this style of leadership authority instill fear into their employees by having them

closely watched in order to obtain results. These assumptions have its emphasis on control and

extrinsic rewards.

Mcaregor (1960), in his second set of assumptions called theory ‘Y’ he sees man in a more

favorable light. The assumption of workers under this concept of management was that they

possess potential that is generally untapped by most working environments. Theory ‘y’ has the

following set of assumptions; the expenditure of physical and mental effort in works is as natural

as play or rest. External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing

about effort towards organizational objectives people will exercise self-direction and self-control

in the service of objectives to which they are committed. Commitment to objectives is a function

of the rewards associated with neither achievement. Average human beings Learn under proper

conditions not lonely to accept but also to seek responsibility. The capacity to exercise a

relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in the solution of organizational

problems is widely not narrowly distributed in the population. Under the conditions of modern

industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average human beings are only partially

utilized. Megregor’s theory ‘y’ presents it tents of concern for workers, morals, encourage

managers to begin to delegate authority for making decisions, enrich or enlarge jobs by making

decisions enrich or enlarge jobs by making decisions, enrich or enlarge job by making them less

repetitive a the warp to motivate employees to higher productivity.

Critics of theories X and Y opinioned that the theories do not tally with our traditional life

pattern and the opposite of dissatisfaction being no dissatisfaction. In organizations where the

reaction is positive, motivation is helping significantly improve quality of work and developing a

deeper involvement and cross-fertilization amongst staff.

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Responses are more positive in those organizations which have a supportive culture. Employees

in such companies are less cynical than they might otherwise be of compensation policies. This

suggests the right organizational climate is highly desirable prior to developing a motivation

policy.

Nelson and Quick (2003) argue that the combination of motivators and hygiene factors has four

(4) possible outcomes:

i. High motivated staff and few complaints: In such a work environment, staff employees

are motivated to perform above expectations and are contended with their work

environment.

ii. Jobs which are low in both hygiene factors and motivators: Such an environment results

in low levels of motivation and many employee complaints, where employees are de-

motivated to perform but also disgruntled with the working conditions.

iii. Job which are high in motivators, but low in hygiene factors: This lead to employees who

are discontent with their work environment, but are still motivated to perform, especially

when they take pride in their work.

iv. Job which is low in motivators, but high in hygiene factors: Although employees in such

an environment do not complain much about the work environment, they are complacent

and have little motivation to excel. Nelson and Quick (2003) therefore concluded that the

combination of hygiene factors and non-hygiene motivational factors lead to enhanced

performance and productivity. Nel et. al. (2001) therefore claims that organizations need

to prioritize hygiene factors before the introduction of motivators.

2.6 Empirical Literature on Motivation and Performance

Paul Young, (1941, 1950). Empirical study and/or research on motivation arguably started

around 1930 and were initially focused on ‘what moves organisms to act’ and from 1930 to 1960

was dominated by Clark Hull and Kenneth Spence (Baars J., 1986). From 1960 to 1970 the focus

shifted from nonhuman mechanism to human cognition, behaviour and related outcomes. By

1970 motivation research almost became synonymous with achievement motivation research and

from the 1990s scholars focused more on the causes of human performance (Anderman, 2013).

Finally since 2006, John Keller has expanded the integrative theory of MVP to include the

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concepts of intention, action and information processing within the framework of a system

model.

Chen and Silverthorne (2008), identify three types of performance. The first type of performance

measures output rates, amount of sales over a given period of time, the production of a group of

employees reporting to manager, and so on. The second type of performance measures involves

ratings of individuals by someone other than the person whose performance is being considered.

The third type of performance measures is self-appraisal and self-ratings. As a result, the

adoption of self-appraisal and self-rating techniques are useful in encouraging employees to take

an active role in setting his or her own goals. Hersey and Blanchard, (1993), continue that job

performance measures the level of achievement of business and social objectives and

responsibilities from the perspective of the judging party.

2.6.1. Performance Appraisal and Purpose

Robbins et al., (2000) defines performance appraisal as “the evaluation of an individual’s work

performance in order to arrive at objective personnel decisions”. Boswell & Boudreau, (2002)

reveals that while employees are keen to get feedback on their performance, organizations

investigate into how well their employees perform to make critical recommendations and

decisions. Winston & Creamer, (1997). An effective performance appraisal system must be clear,

open, fairness and must recognize productivity through rewards.

2.6.2 Performance Appraisal Methods

According to my research, there are three main approaches to measuring employee performance.

They are:

Absolute standards

Relative standards and

Objectives.

Absolute Standards

Dessler, (2000). Absolute standards refer to a situation that employees are compared to a

standard, and their evaluation is independent of any other employee in a group. This absolute

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standard is also known as the old method of performance appraisal of employees. An example of

the absolute standard scales is the checklist scale. In using the checklist scale, the evaluator has a

list of situations and statements and compares one employee to other employees. By doing so the

evaluator makes decisions of the employee’s characteristics and performance. Answers of

checklist are often “Yes” or “No” (Decenzo, 2002).

Relative Standards

Dessler et. al. (2000). The relative standards rates individual employees against other employees.

It ranks individual employees by classifications such as the top 5 best employees (group order

ranking), individual positioning against others and not against work standards such as 1st and

2nd (individual ranking) and pairing employees to compare them to each other in order to

determine the best person for each characteristics.

The Standard of Objectives

Ingham, (1995). The standard of objectives assigns one or some of the organizational objectives

to a given employee to achieve. His or her appraisal is based on how best he or she achieves the

said organizational objective or objectives. This approach is commonly referred to as

Management by Objectives (MBO).

2.6.3. 360 Degree Feedback Appraisal

One of the most recent performance appraisal methods is the 360 Degree Feedback Appraisal.

Yukl and Lepsinger, (1995); Tornow, (1993) defines 360 Degree Feedback Appraisal as the

“Feedback from multiple sources’’ that involves inputs from an employee’s superiors,

colleagues, subordinates, sometimes customers, suppliers and/or spouses” using a standardized

instrument. It is therefore a practice and process of gathering and processing a multi-rater

assessment on individuals (Jones and Bearley, 1996) that includes self-assessment and produces

wider perspective on the employee performance and competencies (Shrestha, 2007). It has been

used for human resource development, appraisal and pay decisions (Armstrong, 1998; Stone,

2002).

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2.6.4 Measurement of Employee and Organizational Performance

There are those scholars of performance measurement who focus only on measuring the finances

of organizations. These focus only on measuring the financial profit and loss of organizations.

They measure only financial performance. It is however important to focus on other areas of

performance in an organization. These areas include employee performance. Doing so will

realize the following:

Propel quality and productivity improvement activities

raise awareness of the effect of quality problem

Identify and track progress against organizational goals

Identify opportunities for improvement

Compare performance against both internal and external standards

Highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the organization

Ensures that customer requirements have been met

Facilitates the setting of sensible objectives

Ensures compliance with the establish objectives and standards.

Provides standards for establishing comparisons

provide visibility and a “scoreboard” for people to monitor their own performance level

highlights quality problems and determine areas for priority attention

provides feedback for driving the improvement effort

2.6.5 The Process Cost Model of Quality of Performance Measurement

There are rewards for good quality and poor quality performance. That is there are positive

rewards of good quality performance and the costs of poor quality performance. The maxim is

that any organization or employee that produces poor performance will pay the “Price of

Nonconformance”. Similarly efforts to produce good quality are also costly. First, it involves

costs for preventing failure, harm and ensuring good quality performance (prevention cost).

Second, it involves the cost of getting feedbacks from suppliers and customers and cost to ensure

products conform to specifications (appraisal costs). Third, in involves costs to rectify failures

and rebrand the products and services (failure cost). The cost of failure is more difficult to

address and has far reaching negative consequences. These include poor reputation, loss of

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customers and payment of damages either to individual customers or governments or regulatory

bodies. Therefore it is imperative that private tertiary institutions spend on preventing poor

performance and improvements activities rather than spending on addressing the effects of poor

performance. Prevention of poor performance and effective quality improvements result in:

Reduced failure costs

Lower appraisal costs

Increased market share

Increased customer base

More productive workforce

The Process Cost Model categorizes the cost of quality (COQ) into the cost of conformance

(COC) and the cost of non-conformance (CONC). Therefore the formula for the Process Cost

Model is:

COQ = COC + CONC where

COC is the process cost of ensuring that a given products/services meets the required and

specified standards in the most effective manner

CONC is the cost of failing to ensure that a given product/service meet the required and

specified standards in the most effective manner.

2.6.6 The Tools of Performance Measurement

There are several tools that are used to measure performance. The researcher will however

discuss the balanced scorecard performance measurement tool. The balanced scorecard tool for

measuring performance entails the following procedures:

Defining the goals

ensuring the goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely

Defining the outcome metrics that are the measurable metrics to demonstrate that the

goals are being achieved

Identifying the drivers of the outcomes by brainstorming on each outcome metric to

ascertain the measurable factors that influence each of the outcomes

Identifying the drivers that have the greatest impacts and classify them as driver metrics

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Demonstrating the stages any previous driver metric is being influenced by another

metric making the previous driver metric become outcome metric at the next level down

Organizations using existing metrics as starting points for evolving deriving new sets of

metrics as their own sets of metrics.

Using primary sets of metrics and derived sets of metrics to trigger effectiveness,

efficiency and productivity metrics

2.7 The Challenges Associated With Implementing Motivation Policies

Some problems are encountered in establishing motivation policies as a priority, although once a

small group of individuals become involved the program can run itself. Relying on the

motivation policies message to diffuse through the organization can be problematic, even where

a good grapevine exists as the message may not get through to the right people. Many motivation

policies activities, for example getting people together to celebrate the organization’s successes,

may be difficult to implement because of the company’s geographic spread. When “selling”

motivation policies by written form, it is seen as important to recognize that you are competing

for the readers’ time, as a consequence written materials and reports must be attractively

“packaged” to gain attention.

With motivation policies activities measurement is difficult. However organizations may impose

formal measures on specific initiatives which afford some measure of control. There is a general

feeling that introduction of tight financial controls may endanger the effectiveness of motivation

policies. The Maslow and Herzberg factors aims at motivating employees well for an improved

performance but needs are insatiable. Some Private universities rely only on school fees as the

major source of revenue without government subvention and subsidies so it will be very difficult

to satisfy all needs of workers. They may run at a lost if they want to abide by these theories.

2.8 Benefits of Motivation Policies to an Organization

Motivation policies have been introduced by organizations over the past decade. It has often

been initiated as part of a Total Quality Management program or similar activities. In the past

few years Motivation policies has emerged as a separate task, in many cases representing the co-

ordination of a range of disparate activities.

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Motivation policies is introduced for a variety of reasons connected with the realization that the

organization has to be better integrated and directed towards the employees and the customer;

thus motivation policies forms part of broader business objectives.

Motivation policies is used to develop inter-functional relationships, to improve

understanding and minimize conflict

Motivation policies have also been used to assist in cultural change as part of the post-

merger integration process.

Motivation policies are often recognized as an important task by key individuals in a

company who then champion its introduction.

Motivation policies have been used to raise the profile of HR departments, to make them

more responsive, and to improve their internal credibility where they have suffered from

poor image or performance.

Motivation policies often forms part of quality and service initiatives with the objective of

getting everyone in the organization oriented towards the same direction, to develop awareness

of staffs and customers and to foster a team spirit within business units. In some organizations

the objective of Motivation policies is to promote a greater degree of innovation. Motivation

policies in promoting leadership in innovation involve the empowerment of all staff towards

making a contribution. Related to this, may be used to market new technologies internally, to

market a new corporate image, to change the ethos of the organization and, importantly, to

communicate strategic leadership issues.

Motivation may be used as a competitive weapon to differentiate the organization externally,

giving the organization and externally-perceived competitive advantage in terms of

responsiveness.

2.9 Summary of Some Previous Research Findings

Positive incentives such as good salaries encourage higher performance whereas negative

incentives such as disciplinary actions against improper conduct discourage certain

practices or behavior (Bourne et al., 2003; Robson, 2005).

Motivation in addition to the employee skills, job design and work structure affect the

performance of a firm. Also motivation in addition to capability; opportunity and

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understanding have significant impact on the output of a process (Boudreau et al., 2003;

Becker et al., 1997).

Maximizing personnel motivation and satisfaction contributes to maximizing

performance (Sargiacomo, 2002; Van Lerberghe et al., 2002; Rector and Kleiner, 2002).

Managers need to acquire and effective use or apply the skills of motivation if their

organizations or businesses are to survive or succeed.

Performance is considered to be a function of ability and motivation. Thus job

performance = f (ability) and (motivation).

A research conducted in Pakistan that measured the effect of ‘Human Resource

Strategies’ like pay, promotion and training on job satisfaction concluded that pay,

promotion and training had positive and significant impact on job satisfaction even

though it observed that Pakistanis prioritize pay and promotion to training (Dr.

Kashifurrehman et al., 2007).

Job satisfaction occurs when someone feels he/she has proficiency, value, and is worthy

of recognition. Furthermore, A satisfied worker is creative, flexible, innovative, and loyal

(Al Jenaibi, 2010),

The literature on the effects of motivation on staff overall performance in the education sector, as

reviewed from the texts stressed the need for motivational strategies as a result of change,

planning for the change and to get abreast with all it takes to ensure that the literature on

different aspects of motivation by employers yield maximum outputs. Motivational theories by

Herzberg, Maslow and others were discussed together with the benefits and challenges

encountered in implementing the strategy. This chapter has generally explored motivation and its

theory and practices, employee performance and the relationship between motivation and

employee performance. From the above literature, I can conclude that motivation can really have

an effect on the level of employee performance as confirmed by Wood (2000) and Koestner

(1999) and the clear link between motivation and employee performance help us to investigate

the validity of various aspects in relation to KAAF University College.

CHAPTER THREE:

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the methodology employed for data gathering as well as the relevant

statistical analytical tools that were employed for analyzing the survey results gathered during

the study. Topics discussed are research design, area of the study, population of the study,

sample determination, data instrument, method of data collection and analysis.

3.2 Area of the Study

The area of the study is KAAF University College, a private tertiary institution in Buduburam in

the Central Region of Ghana. They offer courses in business, engineering, nursing law and

computer courses. They have campus at Premier Towers in Accra Central. This study is focus at

the main campus in Buduburam near Kasoa.

3.3 Research Design

The study is in the form of cross sectional study in which data was collected once across a

population through sampling. In carrying out this study a, description research design was

employed. Descriptive research design according to Osuala (1993) is that research which

specifies the natures of phenomena for a full understanding are for making a wide range of

policy – decision.

The descriptive research will be adopted and use to describe answers to questions of who, what,

where, when, and how. Example, who implemented the motivation policies? What are the

systems requirements, specifications and functions of motivation? When was the motivation

policies implemented and when will it be evaluated?

Conclusive answers to questions such as why organizational performance or productivity may

increase or decrease if the universities implement a good motivational system or why universities

with motivation system perform better than the others are questions that must be answered

through this research design.

3.4 Population of the Study

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All individuals who become the object of research are population (Mostafa, 1998).The

population is a composite of all the elements that formed the events, things or people that have

similar characteristics, which become the focus of a researcher because it is viewed as a universe

of research. Population is the group of interest to the researcher, the group to whom the

researcher would like to generalize the result of the study. The elements which make up the

population should be identical, either by living together in a defined territory or having a

common nationality. In research work, the target population is the complete group of the specific

population elements relevant to the research project (Cooper& Schindler, 2011).

This population is heterogeneous, and the population size in this study can be seen from teaching

and non-teaching staff, and organization position. The population of the study is 55 employees

making teaching and non-teaching staff. 28 are lecturers in both businesses engineering

department of KAAF University College, The non-teaching staff population is made up of 27

staff of 11 senior staff and 16 junior staff.

3.5 Sample Size

The sample size of the population of 55 staffs was reduced to 20 and that constitutes the sample

size of the population. Out of the 28 lecturers, sample size of 12 was selected which includes 8

non-teaching staffs including 2 management members.

The sample size was selected as the research is to measure performance on motivation. The

questionnaires were given to both teaching and non-teaching staffs. It will be time consuming to

interview all the 55 teaching and non-teaching staffs that was why 20 were selected. The data

collected is true representation of all the staffs of the population because most staffs gave similar

opinions.

3.6 Sampling Techniques

The sample for this study is to focus on teaching and non-teaching staffs of KAAF University

College. The researchers used stratified random sampling and convenient sampling to select

respondents of the school. This technique was used because it helped the selection of typical and

relevant cases necessary to equip the study with the required information and because it will be

more convenient since the population, every member that is the object of research is considered.

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According to Saunders et al (2000), “dividing the population into a series of relevant strata

means that the sample was more likely to be representative, as you can ensure that each of the

strata was represented proportionally within the sample”. That is management; teaching and non-

teaching staff formed the strata.

It is not possible to collect data from the whole population for practical reasons; in this study

convenience sampling techniques was used to select the respondents from the strata. In order to

ascertain a fair representative of the population convenient sampling was chosen by

consideration of the purposes of the research. One of the requirements of the convenient

sampling is information availability of the sample, that the natures of information are good and

correct. In selecting a sample of 20 respondents, a non-probability/random sampling technique,

specifically convenient sampling was be used. This technique was chosen to collect the research

data, researcher distributes questionnaires to sample that are the active members whose work

directly and indirectly related to KAAF University College.

3.7 Data collection Instrument

The data collecting instrument used was questionnaires. The researcher employed both

quantitative and qualitative methods in analyzing the primary data. The quantitative analysis

involved the use of Microsoft Excel to analyze the data to produce descriptive statistics

(percentages). Qualitative analysis entailed evaluation of views of respondents. The analysis was

presented in the form of tables with accompanying narrative that explained the findings. The

study used primary data generated for this specific research from management and staff of

KAAF University College using only questionnaires. Secondary data was sourced from both

internal and external sources like journals, magazines, internal, library, electronic sources

depending on the nature and scope of the information needed.

This record inspection was carried out in relevance to the study objectives. Reliability was

achieved by administering questionnaires to both teaching and non-teaching staff of KAAF

University College, Buduburam campus.

3.8 Data Collection Procedures

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The researcher administered questionnaire as the method of data collection for the study. The

researcher collected an introductory letter from University College of Management Studies in

order to visit the organization selected (KAAF University College) as a case study for the

research, to seek their consent for assistance in the study. The management and all the teaching

and non-teaching staff from the school were given the structured interview questionnaires to

respond on the same issues and the questionnaire were collected in a fortnight.

3.9 Data Processing and Analysis

The data collected were first cleansed. Some of the wrongly answered questionnaire was

corrected using various techniques of imputation. The cleansed data were then coded and

analyzed using descriptive statistic and a cognitive interpretative tool. The statistical tools of

analysis include frequency tables, pie charts and other quantitative computations such as

percentages (Mayring, P., 2000).

Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The qualitative data from secondary

sources were analyzed using content analysis and logical analysis techniques. Quantitative data

analysis was done using Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Percentages were used for the quantitative

data analysis. It was used to determine the proportion of respondents choosing the various

responses. This was done for each group of items relating to the research questions. The

proportions showed the diverse views of employees on the various sub-issues. Tables and charts

were also used to ensure easy understanding of the analyses.

3.10 Chapter Summary

The survey research method which is widely used by social researchers was adopted for the

study. The instruments used in collecting the primary data from a sample of 20 teaching and non-

teaching staffs were structured questionnaire that was why 20 teaching and non-teaching staff

was selected out of a population of 55. The data collected is true representation of all the staffs of

the population because most staffs gave similar opinions. Stratified and convenient sample was

used as a sample technique and the findings can be generalized for the entire population.

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CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

4.1 Introduction

This section of the dissertation study would be discussing the findings and results based on the

collated primary data and information on the survey. The primary aim and goal of this

dissertation study is directed towards the effect of motivation on employee performance in the

Education Sector- KAAF University College.

4.2 SECTION A: Basic Demographic Data of Respondents

4.2.1 Gender of Respondents

Evidence of table one shows that the male are more than the women. Out of the 20 respondents

14 were males representing 70% and the female 6 representing 30% of respondents.

Graph 4.2.1 Gender of respondents

50

male female

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

sex of respondents

sex of respondents

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4.2.2 Position held in the organization

Ideally, a holistic view of the designation of employees of KAAF University College revealed

three different titles and they are non-teaching staffs, teaching staffs and managers. The

respondents of the study consist of 5 (25%) non-teaching staff, 13 (65%) teaching staff and the

remaining 2 (10%) managers being heads of department.

RESPONSE NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE %

Non-teaching staff 5 25

Teaching staff 13 65

Managers 2 10

Total 20 100

Table 4.2.2 Position held in the organization.

4.2.3 Respondents Length of Stay in the School

The chart below shows that, 0-5 years (45%) of the members of staff have been in the university

from start since the university is still young, while more than 6 years and above representing

55% of the members of staff are new faces. This means that labor turnover is low.

Chart 4.2.3 Respondents length of stay in the school

51

respondents lenghth of stay

O-56years and above

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4.3 SECTION B: Motivational Packages at KAAF University College

4.3.1 Facilities Enjoyed by Respondents

With regards to advance salary, 2 (10%) indicated they have enjoyed it, 12 (60%) said no and 6

(30%) were not aware whether it existed. This means that most employees at KAAF don’t

benefit from the advance salary as a motivational package.

For prompt payment of salary, 17 (85%) said no and 3 (15%) said not aware. This means that

employees at KAAF are not paid on time.

Another benefit like Christmas bonus, 1 (5%) said yes, 18 (90%) said no and 1 (5%) said they

are not aware. This means that vast majority of employees at KAAF do not enjoy Christmas

bonus as a motivational package.

For annual bonus, all 20 (100%) of respondents said no. This means that all respondents of the

research are of the view that they don’t enjoy annual bonus as a motivational package.

Benefits like adequate transport service, all 20 (100%) of respondents said no. this results shows

that benefits like adequate transport service does not exist in KAAF.

Again respondents were asked if they enjoyed car loan as a motivational package, all 20 (100%)

said no. this reveals that all employees of KAAF do not enjoy car loan as a motivational

package.

On adequate office equipment, 19 (95%) said yes and just 1 (5%) said not aware. This means

that majority of the employees of KAAF are of the view that they have adequate office

equipment.

Finally adequate residential accommodation – 1 (5%) said yes, 17 (85%) said no and 2 (10%)

said not aware. This reveals that employees of KAAF do not enjoy adequate residential

accommodation as a motivational package.

This means motivation of members of staff is very low in KAAF University College. Their main

salary is what they enjoy but even the salaries are not paid on time.

RESPONSE YES NO NOT

AWARE

TOTAL

NO. PER% NO. PER% NO. PER% NO. PER%

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Advance salary 2 10 12 60 6 30 20 100

Prompt payment of salary 0 0 17 75 3 15 20 100

Christmas bonus 1 5 18 90 1 5 20 100

Annual bonus 0 0 20 100 0 0 20 100

Adequate transport services 0 0 20 100 0 0 20 100

Car loan 0 0 20 100 0 0 20 100

Adequate office equipment 19 95 1 5 0 5 20 100

Adequate residential accommodation 1 5 17 85 2 10 20 100

Table 4.3.1 benefits enjoyed by respondents

4.3.2 Packages That Motivates employees the Most

From graph 4.3.2 below, 11 (55%) of respondents ticked salary increase, 4 (20%) selected

promotion, 1 (5%) indicated motivational talks and 4 (20%) ticked recognition.

Therefore, it can be said that most employees of KAAF University College prefer salary

increase.

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Graph 4.3.2 Packages which motivates employees the most

4.3.3 Employees and Management

Total from table 4.3.3 below suggest that 12 (60%) agrees that management is really interested in

motivating employees, 8 (40%) said no. Herein, it is concluded that management shows interest

in motivating employees.

Again from table and figure 4.3.3 below, analysis shows that 11 or 55% of the total respondents

agreed that the managers have the affection that motivate staff to work in terms of appreciating

their performance, while 9 or 45% said no to such affections quality that motivate staff to work.

This means that management appreciates employees’ performance at KAAF

RESPONSE YES NO TOTAL

NO. PER% NO

.

PER%NO.PER%

Is management really interested in motivating

employees?

12 60 8 40 20 100

Does management appreciate the performance of

staff?

11 55 9 45 20 100

Table 4.3.3 Employees and Management

54

Salary increase Promotion Leave Motivational talks

Recognition0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

55%

20%10%

5%

20%

Packages Which Motivates Employees The Most

Series 1

perc

enta

ge

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4.4 SECTION C: Effects of Motivational Package on Employee Performance

4.4.1 Influence of motivational package on employee performance

The study revealed that 6 (30%) of respondents find delight in the students. Inner satisfaction,

early reporting to work and loyalty to the university is the second most influenced work

characteristics represented by 4 (20%) of respondents and finally staying on the job

characteristics represented 2 (10%). This indicates that these motivational packages have an

influence on employees of KAAF University College and that there is a good relationship

between motivation and employees.

Graph 4.4.1 Influence of motivational package on employee performance

55

Early

reporting t

o work

Stayin

g on th

e job

Delight in

studen

ts

Inner sati

sfaction

Loyalty

to the u

niversi

ty0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

20%

10%

30%

20% 20%

Influence of motivational package on employee performance

Series 1

perc

enta

ge

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4.4.2 Responses on whether Employee is able to achieve the same levels of output without

motivational packages

RESPONSES NO. OF REPONDENTS PERCENTAGE %

Yes 0 0

No 20 100

Total 20 100

Table 4.4.2 Employee is able to achieve the same levels of output without motivational

packages

Table 4.4.2 below shows that all 20 (100%) of respondents said yes. This means that if KAAF

University College withdraws its motivational packages, employees would not achieve the same

levels of output.

4.5 In your assessment, how has staff motivation impacted on productivity?

All of 20 (100%) of respondents says that it has helped in the admission of more students.

KAAF University College admission data for business student’s for September admissions since

2010 to 2014 reveals there is marginal growth which saw decline in the latter stages. Year 2010,

15 students were admitted, 2011-26 students, 2012 – 55 students, 2013 – 156 students, and 2014

– 54 students. This means there is no consistency though there is marginal growth. It can also

mean that motivation is also not consistent. The higher the motivation, the higher the admission

and vice versa.

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Figure 4.4 KAAF admission data Source field

Year 2010 year 2011 year 2012 year 2013 year 20140

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

KAAF first semester business admission data.

KAAF first semester business admission data.

4.6 Conclusion

In conclusion, there is therefore a direct relationship between motivation and performance. When

employee is motivated according to what drives them to perform beyond expectation, they would

definitely exceed performance and hence, increase productivity. On the other hand, when

employees are down, low salary, lack of recognition of employee performance and other

incentive, employee will not give up their best but rather lukewarm attitude towards work and

this will affect work output and therefore productivity will be decreased.

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CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

5.1 Introduction

This chapter discusses the findings of the study and draws conclusion based on the findings that

emerged. Recommendations for improving the motivation and development activities at KAAF

University College for an improved services delivery will be highlighted.

5.2 General Summary

The general aim of the study was to investigate the impact of motivation and staff performance at

KAAF University College.

This study is vital in so many ways because it helps those in management positions to understand

how internal and external motivations influence each other. Managers are particularly

encouraged to factor the interests and goals of employees in the organizational objectives and to

focus on internal motivations of employees.

Literatures on human resource management, motivational needs, and Maslow and Herzberg

motivation theories and how it enhances performance, were reviewed. It establishes the point

that motivation is probably the single most important issue affecting the ability of organizations

performance to achieve its assigned objective effectively and efficiently.

The descriptive research design was adopted and used to describe conclusive answers to

questions such as why organizational performance or productivity may increase if the

universities implement a good motivational system or why universities with motivation system

perform better than the others.

5.2.1 Summary of Findings

The study reveals that labor turnover at KAAF is low. It can be attributed that since there is no

opportunity elsewhere, employees are forced to stay at KAAF.

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From the findings, vast majority of respondents are of the view that they have adequate office

equipment but never had the opportunity to enjoy some benefits workers elsewhere enjoy. This

means motivation of staffs is very low in KAAF. Their main salary is what they enjoy and want

to enjoy the facilities mentioned but cannot access them.

It also came to light that employees of KAAF University College prefer salary increase to any

other motivational packages like promotion, recognition and motivational talks. This means that

when they are paid well, they will be more committed to their jobs and it will induce them to

give up their best to enhance performance.

Evidence from the study also shows that management is really interested in motivating

employees, which means that management interest in motivating employees has led to

employees commitment, improve productivity and profitability as the university has high-skilled

employees that help in effective organizational performance.

The study also show that majority of employees agrees that managers have the affection that

motivates staff to work in terms of appreciating their performance. Those who said yes see the

appreciation verbally but those who answered in the negative were expecting citation and awards

as part of appreciation which has not been done yet in the history of the school.

From the study it was revealed that the performance of employees is influenced by the

motivational packages in KAAF. The study showed that majority of the employees of KAAF

find delight in the students while others early reporting to work, inner satisfaction, staying on the

job and loyalty to the university. This indicates that there is a good relationship between

motivation and employees performance.

The study also revealed that if these motivational packages were not available, employees would

not be able to achieve the same level of output. This means that if KAAF University College

should withdraw its motivational packages, it will have a negative impact on employee’s

performance.

From the study, KAAF admission data for business student’s for September admissions since

2010 to 2014 reveals there is marginal growth which saw decline in the latter stages. This means

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there is no consistency though there is marginal growth, which also means that motivation is also

not consistent. Profit margin was confidential and was not disclosed.

5.3 Recommendations

The following recommendations are made based on the findings of the study:

The study reveals that labor turnover at KAAF is low; therefore it is recommended that there

should be more recruitment to replace old experienced staff in the bank to ensure continuity

since most of the employees have been there since the launching of the school.

From the study, it was found out that most staff at KAAF does not enjoy motivational needs like

advance salary, prompt payment of salary, Christmas bonus, annual bonus, adequate transport

services, car loan and adequate residential accommodation. It is recommended that in order to

improve performance, KAAF should introduce such packages.

From the study, it was also found out that most employees at KAAF prefer salary increase than

any other motivational package. It is recommended that in order to increase productivity and

induce employees to give up by their best to enhance performance, the management of KAAF

should as a matter of urgency really focus on the total implementation of salary increase.

From the findings of the research, majority of the employees agree that management is interested

in motivating employees. It is fully recommended that management should undertake a periodic

survey to find out the needs and hidden complaints of staff so that it can be fully addressed.

Management of KAAF should also improve its motivation policies to include reward or

compensation for staff who undertake self-advancement to enhance their skills and improve their

performance in order to maintain such staff and reduce attrition. It is also recommended that

demonstration of motivating all employees should be seen by all and not a few fortunate ones.

Transparency should also be considered when administrators decide to motivate employees to

enhance productivity.

From the findings of the research, majority of the employees agree that management appreciates

the performance of staff. It is recommended that management should recognize the success of

employees and inspire employees to work toward achievements. The employee will be inspired

by knowing their contributions are valued and that management is confident in their capabilities.

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From the findings of the research, majority of the employees find delight in the students through

the influence of the motivational packages. It doesn’t really influence them in the case of

reporting to work early, staying on the job, inner satisfaction and loyalty to the university. It is

therefore recommended that management of KAAF should put in place resource that takes care

of employee motivation like salary, incentives, good working atmosphere, appreciation, healthy

environment to influence employees at work.

From the study, it was found out that without these motivational packages employees would not

be able to achieve the same level of output. Keeping employees motivated is one of the key roles

of any organization as it leads to increase in overall productivity and profitability, it is therefore

recommended that the motivating of employees and equity theory must continue to exist in

KAAF and management must execute it to the latter since employees are also on the move to

achieve targets and follow instructions from managers.

From the study, KAAF admission data for business student’s for September admissions since

2010 to 2014 saw decline in the latter stages. It is therefore recommended that motivating of

KAAF should be vital and consistent.

5.4 Suggestions for Further Research

Following the results of this study suggestion for further research bases mainly on the scope and

issue on the case study of the motivational model effect on management efficiency are hereby

made:

It is recommended that further study can be extended to other tertiary institutions to assess the

effects of motivation on employee performance. The sample size can be enlarged in those

institutions and different statistical tool can be used in the research. This finding could bring

relative different motivational packages that could be implemented in these institutions by

management. That apart, most tertiary institution can also investigate levels of motivation that

can enhance their employees’ performance. Their findings would help universities to determine

which packages their employees’ desire most for the university to grow in this dynamic

education environment.

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5.5 Conclusion

The following conclusions have been drawn from the major findings of this study.

Managers of KAAF need to consider resources such as adequate transport services for the

purpose of advising management efficiency. More effort need to be made to ensure consistency

of motivation and delay in payment of salaries need to be addressed with utmost vigor.

Retrenchment threats need to be reverted to motivational plans for staff to promote desire and

remove the associated voices.

Managers need to evolve, experts – enthusiasm, empathy clarity commitment to avoid waste of

huge resources – essential for good practice of the job control. Dedicated workers must be

acknowledged and rewarded.

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APPENDIX 1

REFERENCES

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Adam, J.S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange.In L. Berkowitz (ed.), Advances in Experimental

Social Psychology. New York: Academic Press.

Armstrong M., Human Resource Management Practice, Kogan Page, 251-255 study.

Atkinson, J.W (1984). An introduction to motivation, New York, van Nostraud Reinhold

Bedeian, A. G. (1993). Management (3rded.). New York: Dryden Press.

Bowen, B.E. &Radhakrishna, R. B. (1991). Job satisfaction of agricultural education faculty: A

constant phenomena. Journal of Agricultural Education, 32 (2).16-22.

Buford, J. A., Jr., Bedeain, A.G., & Lindner, J.R. (1995). Management in Extension (3rded.).

Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Extension.

Buford, J.A., Jr. (1993). Be your own boss. Journal of Extension, 31 (1). (144-146).

Bryan, Leslie A. (1990). An Ounce of Prevention for Workplace Accidents, Training and

Development Journal, NY: USA Vol. 44, No.7

Cascio, Wayne F. (1989). Managing Human Resources, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw- Hill Book

Company

Creswell, J.W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative

and qualitative research (3rd ed). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.

Cooper, D. & Schindler, P. 2011. Business Research Methods (11th ed). New York: McGraw

Hill

Deci, E.L. (1980). The psychology of self Determination Lexington mass health.

Decouza, David A. and Robbins, Stephen P. (1996). Human Resource Practice, 5th ed. New

York: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

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Nti-Owusu F., HR Focus (09/12): 5 Social Activities for Training sections, (p.13).

Fashima, S.A. (1974). The classical theories of motivation

Henry L.S. and Willians, J. C. (1980). Management and organization (4th Edition) south western

publishing.

Herzars, F (1960). Work and the Nature of Cleveland: world publishing.

Hurrage H.A. (1983). Explorations impersonality A clinical and experimental study of fifty men

of college age New York: Oxford University press

Katz B and Kanu, R. (1966). Social Psychology organizations, New York John will eyand Sons

Ltd

Kirkpatrick, J.S. (1979) Masloman counseling Model Personnel and cividence Journal.

Kreitner, R. (1995). Management (6thed.). Botson: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, July 1943. 370-

396.

Maslow, A.H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 370-396.

Neuman, W.L. 2006. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (6th

ed). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Skinner, B.F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York: Free Press.

Saunders et al. (2007). Research Methods for Business Students. (4th ed). Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Terpstra, D.E. (1979). Theories of motivation: borrowing the best. Personnel Journal, 58.376.

Vroom, V.H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley.

Werner et al (2002) Definition of Terms, Human Resource Development p. 562

www.accel-team.(employee motivation theory and practice)

Yin, R.K. 1994. Case study research: design and methods. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.

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TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

Dear sir/Madam,

Questionnaire for management, teaching and non-teaching staff of KAAF University College

This questionnaire has been designed to solicit information for purely academic purposes. This is

to enable Abigail, a final year student of The University College of Management Studies,

complete her thesis on the topic; THE EFFECTS OF MOTIVATION ON EMPLOYEE

PERFORMANCE IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR (A CASE STUDY ON KAAF

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE) in pursuance of a degree in Business Administration Human

Resource Management option. All information given would be treated with utmost

confidentiality.

SECTION A

BASIC DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

INSTRUCTION: Please read the questions carefully and then indicate your response (s) in

the brackets that are consistent with your choice.

1. Sex. Male ( ) female ( )

2. Position held in the organization-----------------------------------

3. How long have you been working with KAAF University College? 0-5years ( ) 6-10 years ( )

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SECTION B

MOTIVATIONAL PACKAGES AT KAAF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

1. Give your responses to the following by using the response alternatives.

Do you enjoy the following facilities? {1 - Yes 2 - No 3 - Not aware}

Advance salary 1 2 3

Prompt payment of salary 1 2 3

Christmas bonus 1 2 3

Annual bonus 1 2 3

Adequate transport services 1 2 3

Car loan 1 2 3

Adequate office equipment 1 2 3

Adequate residential accommodation 1 2 3

Total 1 2 3

2. Which of the following motivational packages motivate you the most?

Motivational Packages Tick

Salary increase

Promotion

Leave

Motivational talks

Recognition

3. Give your responses to the following by using the response alternatives.

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{1 - Yes 2 - No}

RESPONSE 1 2

Is management really interested in motivating employees?

Does management appreciate the performance of staff?

SECTION C

EFFECTS OF MOTIVATIONAL PACKAGE ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

1. In what ways do these packages influence you?

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE TICK

Early reporting to work

Staying on the job

Delight in customers

Inner satisfaction

Loyalty to the University

2. Would you be able to achieve the same level of performance if these packages were not

introduced or were withdrawn by management? Yes ( ) No ( )

3. In your assessment, how has staff motivation impacted on productivity?

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…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Thank you for your kind co-operation

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