MOTIVATION AND PERFORMANCE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Motivation simply means the action of motivating or encouraging employee in the area of their job, in order to put on the best performance. If employees are given necessary motivation there will be great achievement and progress in the area of the employee’s performance, while performance means the act of carrying into action, execution, achieving and accomplishing a work done by an employee. When there is great performance of an employee on a particular job in a private sector it will yield increase on the organisation in so many ways either financially or in the area of production.

The Human resources of any organization are the most important factors of production as it is with public or private sector hence, the necessity to build motivational factors into organizations. The human element is considered as the most important and complex in any organization and is the sole determinant of a successful organization. Hence human resource is considered as the pushing factor or force that can make or break an organization. The manager’s main task is to develop a productive work place, with and through those he or she is in charge of. The manager should motivate his or her team, both individually and collectively so that a productive work place is developed and maintained.

Motivation can be defined as ‘the process of i­nitiating conscious and purposeful actions. Pratt Fairchild [1970] defines Motivation as the force that makes us do things: this is a result of our individual needs being satisfied {or met} so that we have inspiration to complete the task. It can also be said to be the process of supplying an incentive adequate deliberate and purposeful action’.

Since management’s ability to analyzing and improving the motivation of its workers is of more concern to effectiveness and efficiency of the organization, motivation on workers performance refers to the entire class of drives, desires, needs, wishes and similar forces which causes, channels and sustains someone’s behaviour. Within the context of management the focus of interest on motivation tends to be on how to ensure that all workers perform at their optimum level. Managers who find the key to their workers inner motivations can tap an immense source of productive energy. Maslow (1954) identified that man is motivated by five basic needs (physiological, safety, love and belongings, esteem and self-actualization) and will work accordingly. He ranked them as hierarchy, recognizing that as man developed his needs changed as the individual moves up the hierarchy. The major implication for management is that the needs of workers should be identified and gratified, in order to motivate the employee to work efficiently and effectively. Eltom Mayo recognized that above a certain level, monetary rewards ceased to have an effect and the operatives started to look for the satisfaction of other needs. Unfortunately, Maslow’s ideas have no clear practical application, because it had not been proved that by providing motivators to stimulate an individual’s need will result in more satisfactory work from other workers. Herzberg (1959) suggested that there are elements in a person’s work and working environment which causes job dissatisfaction (hygiene factors) and different elements which create job satisfaction (motivational factors). The implications of these ideas are that managers must deal with two completely separate issues when trying to obtain good work performances from their subordinates. Firstly, they should prevent dissatisfaction by attention to hygiene factors and secondly, they should encourage greater achievement by paying attention to motivator factors. There are many other theories explaining what motivates people at work. According to Penny Hacket, motivation at work comes from two sources, namely, intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction. As the name imply, intrinsic satisfaction is the derivation of satisfaction of the needs from the work itself, while extrinsic satisfaction is the deriving of satisfaction through rewards received for doing the work. The ways in which motivation and performance might be achieved are likely to vary, however, according to different circumstances and situations. An individual’s motivation to work will thus vary over time and will be influenced by different factors at different times.

1.2      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Motivation is very important in any organization so that the employee will put on the best performance. Any organization without adequate motivation will not get the best performance from the employees. Organization can be faced with insecurity, low level of income, delay in employee’s promotion, low productivity etc. all these problems occurs in an organizations when employees are not given adequate motivation in order to enhance best performance.

Research has shown that management has due to its endemic antipathy towards new technology failed to motivate workers coupled with their performance throughout their employment. Rather they organize and manage other factors of production in order to achieve effective productivity at the expense of the workers. Therefore, this study is intended to evaluate and articulate the impact of motivation and performance in an organization set up using The Federal Ministry of Health, as a case study.

The statement of the problem are being hindered by certain factors, for the purpose of this study, such factors include:

(a)          To focus on what motivates workers and increase their productivity as it relates to wages and incentives.

(b)         To learn about how to motivate staff towards enhancing their job performance.

(c)          To take total responsibility for their own performance and to teach this modus operandi to others.

(d)         To understand and model self-motivation as it affects workers in achieving organizational objectives.

(e)          To help workers to improve job satisfaction and adjust to innovations and changes on the job.

(f)           The need for motivation in order to arouse a person’s passion or commitment on the job.