TEACHER MOTIVATION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON JOB PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AKWANGA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Education is one of the vital tools for emancipating mankind, such that each society puts a lot of capital on it to ensure that the entire generation acquires the necessary skills, knowledge and the desired attitudes critical for future survival. However, owing to its value, the extent to which education is measured greatly anchors on examination scores, yet academic achievement also corresponds to teachers’ job performance. In the light of this reality, human capital investment plays significant role in addressing students’ performance gaps. The most crucial resource for organization is human capital, development through continuous training. It is advised that regular training should be encouraged to renew the employees’ vigor in undertaking tasks effectively, as this motivates individual workers to get committed to the ideals of the organization (Ombuya, 2015).

The developed world has realized the invaluable contribution of education to the development of nations. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s(UNESCO) recommendation on the status of teachers as far back as 1966 is an eloquent attestation to this recognition. In this regard, Ogundele (2000), observed that no nation rises above the level of its education and no educational system outgrows the quality and status of its teachers and no nation can afford to pay lip service to the education of its people. The nation which fails to realize this importance of education, does so at its own peril. This assertion attempts to correct the erroneous impression that teachers’ rewards are in heaven. This is supported by section 9 No. 59 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Policy on Education. FRN, (2004) which stated that teachers’ education will continue to be given a major emphasis in all our educational planning because no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers. The section also added that all teachers in our educational institutions from pre-primary to university will be trained. The school can change the society for better through the agency of the teachers, but the society has to first empower the teacher and enrich the climate of the school.

The importance of welfare scheme on teachers’ job performance is greatly being felt all over the world. As Locke and Latham (2004) theory opined that a satisfied worker will produce more and use this as a basis for relating motivation, satisfaction and job performance. The need to motivate workers is a fundamental issue in all organizations that are aimed at achieving set goals. Teachers like workers in other organizations, need the renewed energy brought by motivation. From observations, teachers tend to perform well when provided with conducive working environment. The working environment, not necessarily high pay, if properly improved to satisfaction of a worker, one gets motivated and the output is high.

A motivated and qualified workforce is crucial to increase productivity and the quality of the organisational services in order to achieve organizational objectives. The challenge and dilemma for many managers is how to create this type of motivation (Dieleman, 2006).

Motivation is significant because even people with the required knowledge, skills, and abilities will perform poorly if they are not motivated to devote their time and effort to work (Milapo,2001).

Workers have needs which a workplace must fulfil in order to avoid demotivation. When workers lack motivation they tend to resort to anti-work behaviours such as absenteeism, negligence of duty, late-coming, failure to meet deadlines, display of open frustration and all these factors work negative to the performance and credibility of an organization. Organizations need to place all efforts to ensure that incentives such as intrinsic motivators, extrinsic motivators and performance management approaches are used in order to retain, attract, increase workers efforts, satisfaction and commitment.

Enumerating factors influencing teachers’ productivity in public institutions in Nigeria,Emenike (2013) observed that; working conditions, availability of working tools and resources, improved knowledge and skills through regular training, accessibility to information and a sense of recognition, superior remuneration and handsome reward system, are the critical ingredients of worker job performance.

From the foregoing, it means that organizations seeking to remain relevant in their operations within an industry that is characterized by heightened competition must emphasize on investing more in human resource than any other. It was also noted that schools that were able to remain relevant in undertaking their key mandates to society focused on the human capital development through superior motivational rewards. It is in line with t he above discussion that this study seeks to examine teacher motivation and its influence on Job performance of secondary schools in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nassarawa State.

1.2 Statement of the problem

The purpose of every organization is to achieve set goals and objectives. These achievement of goals is dependent to a large extent on the quality of workers employed in such organization. Every employer/manager is supposed to ensure that every worker discharge his or her duties effectively. To get the best out of workers, it is not out of place to motivate them by consistent payment of their salaries, wages, allowances and other incentives likely to trigger their dedication, willingness and boost their morale to work.

However, it has been observed that many workers especially teachers, are left to regret choosing teaching careers due to poor promotion schemes, part payment or non-payment of teachers’ salaries, and other incentives that accrue to them. This has made many teachers to withdraw from discharging their duties, develop truant attitude to work, unwillingness to work and absenteeism. All these poor attitude to work by teachers is a consequence of poor motivation from the government and educational managers. This has resulted to incessant strike action by teachers, protests, resignation and even death of teachers as a result of hardship meted on teachers.

From the above, given the problems highlighted, it implies that organizational goals cannot be achieved in situations characterized by teachers’ poor attitude. This study has been taken to find out the influence of motivation on work performance. The major problem here is that; could teachers’ work performance be related to remuneration, promotion, their involvement in decision making, and on-the-job training?

1.3 Purpose of the study

The main purpose of this study is to determine the influence of motivation on teachers’job performance in secondary schools in Akwanga local Government Area of Nassarawa State.

Specifically, the study has been designed to examine the extent to which:

1. Teachers’ remuneration relates to their work performance
2. Teachers’ promotion relates to their work performance

iii. Teachers’ on-the-job training relates to their work performance

1.4 Research questions

The following research questions have been posed to guide this study.

1. In what ways does teachers’ remuneration relate to their work performance?
2. What is the relationship between teachers’ promotion and their work performance?

iii. In what ways does teachers’ on-the-job training relate to their work performance?

1.5 Significance of the study

The findings of this study is anticipated to be beneficial to (1) educational administrators, (2) teachers, (3) government, (4) students,(5) the general public and (6) future researchers.

1. To the educational administrators, the study will serve as a blueprint for them to understand the usefulness of motivation in the organization. It will serve as a mirror with which educational managers can use to assess themselves in order to determine whether or not to change their strategies or improve existing ones. It will enable them apply the right motivation techniques and good human relations skill and as when due to promote efficiency in the organization.
2. The study will be relevant to the teachers because they are the target group in this study. It will serve as an eye opener to enable them put efforts into work whenever they are motivated and to discharge their duties effectively for goal attainment.
3. To the Government, it will enable them see the indispensable role motivation plays in organizational performance. It will also serve as a reminder to enable them pay teachers’ salaries, wages, promotions and other such payments.
4. The students would benefit from this study through improved academic performance due to the government, educational managers and teachers’ improvement.
5. This study will benefit the general public because quality graduates will be produced leading to an improvement in the society’s standard.
6. The finding will also serve as a vehicle and useful guide to future researchers in the field of industrial and labour studies and other related disciplines.

1.7 Scope of the study

This study is restricted to all public Secondary Schools in Akwanga Local GovernmentArea, Nassarawa State. In terms of content, the study shall examine four variables which include the followings: teachers’ remuneration, teachers’ promotion, teachers’ involvement, teachers’ on-the-job training and their work performance.

1.8 Definition of terms

Certain terms or registers used in this study are hereby defined.

Motivation: This is a process of deliberately causing somebody to perform a positive action through such means as payment, use of incentives, praises etc.

Decision making: this is a process of taking a position, accepting others opinions that are good or putting ideas together which are likely to result in problem solving or promoting organizational attainment

Remuneration: this is payment given to workers in monetary terms for a job or service rendered.

On-the-job: this refers to a state where someone is still working.

Training: the action of teaching a person or animal a particular skill or type of behavior.

Performance: the process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.

Teachers: a group of people whose primary duties include to modify learners’ behavior, impart knowledge, skills, attitudes and competencies necessary for learners’ self-development, national growth and productivity.