THE INFLUENCE OF WELFARE FACTORS ON SITES WORKERS PERFORMANCE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0                   Introduction

This section of the research presents the introduction and background of the study, statement of the study, research questions, research objectives, significance of the study, the scope, overview of methodology, limitations of the study as well as the organization of the study.

1.1                   Background of the Study

Armstrong and Baron (2002) stated that the collective skills, abilities, and experience are now regarded as making an important contribution to organizational growth, improvement and worker performance, as constituting a major source of competitive advantage. One major valuable resource in any organisation is Human resource. In a similar way, Aydogdu and Asikgil (2011) assert that in view of rapidly changing business environment, it must not be forgotten that the growth and competing power of the organization through the performance of their workers depend on committed, highly motivated, satisfied and innovative human resources. Therefore, the retention of talented workers by employers is essential through diverse welfare approaches. (Schreuder and Theron, 2001)

The lifeblood of any company is it workers. How they feel about the work they are doing and the results received from that work directly influence a firms performance and, ultimately, its stability (Osei, 2011). For example, if firm workers are highly motivated and proactive, they will do whatever is necessary to achieve the goals of such firm as well as keep track of it performance to address any potential challenges (Osei, 2011). An organization whose workers have low welfare is completely prone to both internal and external challenges. This is because its workers are not going the extra mile to maintain the organization‟s stability. Osei (2011) suggested that unstable organization ultimately underperforms. Franco (2002) in his worked also noted that, results of studies on construction worker welfare in developing countries have not yet been formally compared to establish common themes.

Franco (2002) defines welfare as an individual's degree of willingness to exert and maintain effort towards firm goals. A literature review conducted collecting evidence of welfare of construction workers from both developing and developed contexts concluded that theories developed in western countries need be thoroughly assessed before using in a developing context (Dolea, 2005).

The rewards that individuals expect to get in return for their contributions in the workplace can be categorized into non financial rewards, indirect financial rewards, and direct financial rewards.

Non financial rewards consist of the satisfaction that a person receives from the job itself or from the psychological and/or physical environment in which the person works (Mondy and Noe, 1996). These rewards include opportunities to perform meaningful work, social interactions with others in the workplace, job training, recognition, employer brand, and a host of other similar factors (Kohli and Deb, 2008; Mondy and Noe, 1996).

Indirect financial rewards are the second category of rewards where individuals expect to get in return for their contributions in the workplace. These are indirect monetary rewards and include those items of financial value the organization provides to workers that do not result directly in workers receiving spendable cash.