APPRAISAL IN MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES IN MANUFACTURING ORGANISATIONS IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Human Resources is crucial to organizational survival and it has been acclaimed as the most important resource available to any organization. In discussing human resources in any culture or environment, human resources are the major wealth of any nation. People are the greatest asset of any organization we live in a people’s world. People are the backbone of any organization.

According to Banjoko (1996: 142), every organization advocates effective results and maximum individual employee as crucial to the organization growth and survival Performance standards or goals are established and all employees are enjoined to strive individually and collectively towards corporate goal attainment.

Obisi (1996:114) opines that in our today’s competitive economy characterized by risk taking organization must survive and the key to such survival is a revitalized human resources. Neither billions of naira nor the state of art, technology and machine can do the miracle if human resource is neglected and forgotten. This can be achieved if an organization nurtures, nourishes and develops its human resources through performance appraisal. More than anything else, competition, global trends and other issues have brought up human Resources Management and especially performance as the surest way of coping with competition. Thus, such activities as recruitment, selection, placement, rewards are all strategies of improving performance in order to cope with world happenings and megatrends.

Ovadje (1998:3 1) is also of the opinion, that is today’s highly competitive and chaotic environment, if organizations are to survive, they must attract and retain people who are able and willing to perform and even go beyond what is required. He went further to say that people are key in organizations, they are precious, problematic, unpredictable and productive. Nothing can be done in organization without people.

However, human beings are the most frustrating out of all the production elements for managers since they constitute the most difficult variable to control and predict. Performance appraisal is difficult to objectively and effectively implement because of the human element involved, yet it is crucial to individual and organizational growth.

Also on the part of Managers, there exists that reluctance to objectively appraise the work of those who report to them. In an activity important as managing, there should be no reluctance in measuring performance as effectively as we can, nor in having superior managers appraise the work of those who report to them.

However, the problem of “Praying God” also exists in a culture where individual performance has been rated, from the time the person enters kindergarten and though his school and university life. In almost forms of groups, performance has been rated in some way.

According to Walks (1989:210), “the guarantee of all organization measured by performance.” That is why emphasis is placed performance in most organization. To make performance appraisal effective in organizations, performance standards or goals must established and employee performance should be evaluated against such established goals or specific sets of expected behaviour.

The modern human resource system is divided into four parts acquisition of human resources (recruitment and selection), training and development, motivation and compensation. Performance appraisal involved in all four parts and services to tie them together by providing feedback information for all of the other parts. Performance appraisal has been called one of the most important tools for managing human resources in an organization.

According to Yodor and Staudohar (1982:101), the importance of performance appraisal seems from the importance of performance itself. Performance is the umbilical cord linking partners in the industrial relation system, that is the employers and the employees.

According to Moorhead and Griffin (1989:604), performance appraisal or evaluation is the process by which a manager:

1. Evaluates an employee’s work behaviours by measurement and comparison with previously established standards;
2. Records the results;
3. Communicates them to the employee.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

According to Kellogy (1969:21), it is difficult for many managers to make their judgment explicit. It takes a rare combination of courage and tact to come right out and say what we feel especially when personal judgment and interpretation to influence our decisions in areas of crucial importance to an employee.

Performance appraisal system in most conglomerates are thought to be subjective, and favoritism is prevalent.

According to Banjoko (1996:142), some superior officers strongly believe in the “Coker is my cousin” syndrome, ie. There is an element of godfatherism. In view of these criticism, there is a need to put in place performance appraisal system that is objective as humanly possible. Performance appraisal system that is dynamic that produces continuous advances progress. Forward movement both for the organization and its people. The belief or contention is that if the performance appraisal systems are objective, they will enhance employee’s performance and ultimately aid the attainment of organization goals and objectives.

1.3   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to find out the role of the performance appraisal system in Human Resources Management and how it is utilized.

The study also attempts to look at sub- objectives :

• To ascertain the extent to which performance appraisal systems are utilized in improving job performance of employees.
• To  Identity the features of the appraisal system that makes it effective and acceptable by the staff.
• To Find out the criteria used by employers in appraisal employees performance.
• To Examine the extent to which a performance appraisal system assist the organization in making general decisions or personnel decisions relating to promotions, staff transfers, career development, succession plan etc.

1.4    RESEARCH  QUESTIONS

The study will focus on the following relevant  research squestions:

• To what extent does performance appraisal systems are utilized in improving job performance of employees.
• What are the features that make appraisal system to be effective and acceptable by staff
• Is there criteria used by employers to appraise employee’s performance?
• Does the performance evaluation system assist management in making major decisions in their organisations  ?

1. 5 RESEARCH  HYPOTHESES

(i)   performance appraisal  systems  are not effectively utilized in improving job performance of employees

(ii)   There is no features of appraisal system that it effective and acceptable by staff

(iii)   The criteria used by employers are  ineffective in appraisal employees performance

• performance appraisal system does not assist the organisation in making general decision or personal decision relating to promotion of staff transfer, career development and succession plan.

1.6    SIGNIFICANCE  OF THE STUDY

The result of this study should be of interest to organizations and human resource practitioners of the selected organisations and other sectors of the economy.

1. This study will try to create awareness to all cadres of staff on the role of effective performance appraisal in managing human capital.
2. It will try to unfold the different performance appraisal systems and the essentials of dynamics of performance appraisal
3. The study will identify the short-comings of performance appraisal and proffer recommendations to make performance appraisal objective as humanly possible and acceptable.

4     This study will also aim at enriching the job knowledge    of the appraisee, establish a cordial relationship between subordinates and their supervisors and improve communications in the organization. This will be achieved by the creation of a clear understanding of what is expected and what needs to be done to meet

(5)    Also, academic community will not be left out, because this work will serve as a fertile ground for researchers who wish to carry 1.7       SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study will cover the appraisal in managing human resources in manufacturing organisations in Nigeria, researcher intends to use the  staff of the manufacturing   of darling yaki and expression brands of weavon to carry out this research work. The staff  the  manufacturing companies  will provide the researcher with useful information that will be required to effectively carryout this research work.

 

1.8       LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

          

The major constraints of the study include:

Time Constraint: Due to the limited time available for the study, the researcher could not go to places to source for information on the study.

Attitude of Respondents: Some respondents are indifferent to the study because they feel they have nothing to benefit from the study, financially or otherwise.

Finance: Due to the lack of financial resources of the researcher, he could not visits  some  place to gather more information about the workDownload Full Material-N5000

A REVIEW OF MOTIVATION AS A MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY OF EMPLOYEES IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Generally most businesses, organizations and their managers are faced with numerous challenges. One of such challenges is in the area of management which refers to the utilization of resources effectively and efficiently in order to achieve an organizations goals and objectives. Some of these managerial challenges are obvious in matters concerning employees such as reimbursement, recruitment, performance management, training and career development, health and safety, benefits, motivation and administration amongst others. The human resource is the most vital of all resources among other factors of production and the human capital is what distinguishes one organization from the other (Maimuna & Rashad, 2013). Therefore, for organizations to survive and remain relevant and competitive, it is essential for them to be able to entice and maintain efficient and effective employees in a bid to enhance productivity (Sunia, 2014). This study however is centered on the aspect of motivation and focuses on the effects of employee motivation on organizational productivity.

Hellriegel (1996) viewed motivation as any influence that portray, direct, or maintain people’s goal directed behaviors. It refers to the driving force that makes an individual to act in a specific way. It is an inner drive that causes an individual to behave in a certain manner. The goal of most organizations is to improve productivity therefore factors of motivation play significant roles in improving employee job satisfaction levels. This will in turn aid in improving an organization’s productivity levels.

Employees make up the workforce of any organization as such they are an integral part of the organization. Aluko (2014), stated that an organization is only as good as the workforce that runs the organization. This is to say that when employees are motivated chances are that their morale would be high as such performance and productivity levels would increase thereby to a large extent boosting overall organizational performance level. In order to achieve high levels of productivity as such boost organizational performance or productivity, managers therefore need to continually seek ways of ensuring that their employees stay motivated. This is because a lack of employee

 

motivation leads to reduced productivity which is harmful to organizational performance and continuous success.

Jennifer and George (2006) defined employee productivity as the level of effort put forth by the workforce of an organization towards achieving organizational goals and objectives. There are several ways by which a workforce can be motivated so as to enhance organizational productivity. George and Jones (2012) states that motivation can be categorized into two classes namely intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation arises from an employee’s internal cravings to execute a task out of self-interest rather than a need or wish for some external reward. External motivation is the type of motivation that arises when an employee is compelled to act in a specific way either as a result of that employee’s desires for external rewards or to avoid punishment.

Extrinsic motivation also helps boost an employee’s effectiveness and efficiency levels. This is because certain external factors such as adequate compensation, work environment as well as training and career development appeal to employees as such are essential in inspiring them to resourcefully and successfully discharge their duties. An organization that fails to provide a conducive work environment, compensate its workforce adequately, create room for proper training and career advancement is at risk of having a demotivated workforce. This means that such a workforce being demoralized would fail to effectively and efficiently discharge their duties leading to low performance and productivity levels (Nwachukwu, 2004). This study therefore focuses on showing the effects of motivation on organizational productivity.

             Statement of the Problem

 

James (2014) cited three warning signs of a demotivated workforce these include poor workplace atmosphere, slipping job standards and decreased productivity. He further stated that if any of these factors is observed to be trending downwards then there is a great chance that the organization is dealing with a demotivated workforce. Most businesses and organizations especially manufacturing industries have failed to recognize the importance of motivation as a concept be it intrinsic such as employee well-being, relationship with co-workers, relationship with managers, organizational policies etc. or extrinsic such as training and career development, good working conditions, compensation, promotion amongst other factors that enhance or improve employee performance as well as organizational productivity levels.

 

This in turn has continued to represent major managerial concerns for decades as employee productivity levels has relatively declined which has been acknowledged as a subject of growing concern in the aspect of business and management research (Akerele, 2001). Although a lot of factors may also be responsible or even cause a decline in productivity such as poor strategic and structural changes in decisions and executions, lack of infrastructure, leadership styles and organizational culture amongst others. Contemporary investigations that connects the concept of workforce motivation and productivity has laid an emphasis on employee perspective, needs and expectations as factors affecting their performance and productivity levels respectively. As such investigating those factors of importance to employees in the discharge of their duties at work has taken a new dimension.

Motivation through factors such as employee wellbeing, adequate compensation, promotion, good relationships with co-workers and relationships with managers can enhance an employee’s level of effectiveness and efficiency in the workplace. This is because good relationships with co- workers promote unity and gives the employee a sense of belonging and acceptance which in turn boosts employee performance and productivity levels. Employees who enjoy such relationships both within and outside the work environment tend to be more effective and efficient as such very productive in discharging their duties. Therefore organizations should promote harmony amongst employees by organizing social functions in a bid to bring employees together (Jibowo, 2007).

Therefore an organization’s best strategy is to provide suitable work environs that allow their workforce to meet or exceed expectations as well as offer a range of motivators to improve enthusiasm, performance and productivity levels.Download Full Material-N5000

ABSTRACT

This project work is focused on the role of leadership in promoting creativity and innovation (the study of selected manufacturing firms in Enugu urban). The project work is aimed at examining the effects of leadership role on creativity and innovation, the factors and challenges expected by leaders and employees during creative process. The writer employed the use of historical research method. In review of related literature in chapter two of this works. In chapter three, the researcher made use of survey research plan in which questionnaire were split into two sections: questionnaire on leadership and employees opinion concerning creativity and innovation process. Furthermore, the writer employed the use of stratified random sampling in selecting the sample size for the study. The writer formulated four hypotheses in line with the problems and objectives of the study. However, the researcher adopted the use of chi-square statistical test in testing the hypotheses which the following results emerged: that motivational incentives for creativity and innovation have encourage the exploration of hidden talents in the work place, there is significant relationship between managers/leaders and employees in promoting creativity and innovation, leaders setting unambitious tasks on employees have not reduce stress and hypotheses four indicate validate by concluding that leaders involving their subordinates in decision making process encourage the spirit of team work. Data collected were analyzed and presented with tables and percentages. In view of the findings made, the following recommendations accrued from the result of the research work: that leaders be democratic in their leadership styles as to create enabling environment to improve employees creative ability, leaders should consult their staff in taking key decisions, team members as to achieve set objective and finally, leaders should give adequate support to their employees when embarking on creative process.

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