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THE INFLUENCE OF JOB MOTIVATION ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL BEING OF EMPLOYEES

ABSTRACT

The study examines the influence of Job motivation on the Psychological well being of employees amongst school teachers of some selected schools and staff of Daar communication Alagbado Lagos. The knowledge derived from this study was used to test the three hypotheses. The findings of the test led to the rejection of the hypothesis that job motivation would influence the psychological well being of employees, no direct relationship was found between motivation and psychological well being. The result of the 2nd hypothesis also rejected the hypothesis that there would be a positive correlation in the participants scores on motivation and psychological well being. It rather revealed a negative correlation between motivation and psychological well being. And finally the 3rdhypothesis also had no significant difference between male and female participants and also no significant difference between low & high motivation in well being. And based on these conclusion appropriate recommendations were made to both employers and employees.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0   Introduction

A milestone in success of an organization is to fulfill the continuous changing needs of organization and employees; heavy responsibility falls on top management to develop strong relationship between them. Organizations expect employees to follow the rules and regulations, work according to the standards set for them; the employees expect good working conditions fair pay, fair treatment, secure career, power and involvement in decisions. These expectations of both parties vary from organization to organization. For organizations to address these expectations, an understanding of employee’s motivation is required (Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Mills & Watson 1984).

Deeprose (1994) examined the effective reward system improve employee motivation and increases employee productivity which contribute to better enhanced organizational performance. Baron (1983) argues that there is very close relationship between motivation and job performance. Both performance and motivation are directly proportional to each other. The premeditated success For an organization lies in focusing attention at all levels specifically on important business actives which can be achieved through effective performance management Nel, Gerber. Van Schults, Sono & Werner (2001) Robert, (2005) took into account the work of Baron, (1983) in which he mentioned that not only motivation can influence performance, but performance can also influence motivation, if followed by rewards.

Organizations need to unleash the talents and motivations of all their employees if they are to achieve peak performance (Burke & Cooper, 2007, Katzenbach, 2000, Ulrich, 1997). There is considerable evidence, however, that many organizations are falling short (Burke & Cooper 2008; Sirota, Mischkind & Melzer, 2005). Recent efforts to improve organizational performance have begun to emphasize positive organizational behavior concepts and positive emotions (Cameron, Dutton & Quinn, 2003; Leiter & Bakker, 2009; MayGilson & Harter 2004; Bakker & Schaufeli; 2008. This includes concepts such as optimism and engagement, trust. Stress has become one of the most serious health issues of the twentieth century, a problem not just for individuals in terms of physical and mental disability, but for employers and government who have started to asses the financial damage. Matteson & Ivancevich (1987) estimates that stress causes half of absenteeism, 40% of turnover, and 5% of total lost productivity due to preventable occupational stress ($300 billion for the US economy annually). Occupational stress has serious consequences for both individual employees and organizations.

The problem of occupational stress is particularly relevant for countries undergoing enormous economic and economic change. Nigeria is one of such society, with transformation of the industrial structure from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, as well as rapid westernization in both work and life styles. In this context, it is important for psychologists, occupational physicians, managerial executives and even government policy-makers to understand the problem of occupations stress, and to produce practical guidelines and interventions to enhance employee, well-being.

Usually, work motivations can be revealed by investigating the question “what do people want from their jobs”? Herzberg, Mausner & Snyderman (1959) found two general types of work motivations: intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and further lined these two to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction, respectively, using this dichotomy of work motivations, we may well argue that people who have strongly intrinsic motivations such as self-fulfillment and self growth will be more seriously affected by lack of control in their jobs. Similarly, people who have strong extrinsic work motivations such as pay and work conditions will care more about demands in their jobs. Hence it is possible that work motivations may alter the job stressor-strain relationship, and not as a moderator. There is also increasing evidence that social support, both within the work settings, that is, help from colleagues or supervisors and outside the work settings, that is, help from friends and families can buffer the impact of occupational stress (House, 1981; Cummings, 1990).

1.2   Background to the Study

Within the behavior sciences in general and occupational health psychology in particular, there has been a specific focus on the importance of well being both physical and mental health, in affecting success in many life situations, including the work place. Indeed Seligman Steen, Park & Peterson (2005) challenged the field by asking “can psychologist take what they have learned about the science and practice of treating mental illnesses and use it to create a practice of making people lastingly happier? Psychological well being has been found to be related to both work and personal life outcomes. In other words, although co-relational, the inference from this research would prove that one’s psychological well being levels to desired outcomes at work and in life. Worrall & Cooper (2006) recently reported that a low level of well-being at work is estimated to cost about 5-10% of gross National Product per annum, yet quality of working life as a theoretical construct remains relatively unexplored and unexplained within the organizational psychology research literature. A recent publication of National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2007) emphasizes the core role of assessment and understanding of the way working environments pose risks for psychological well-being through lack of control and excessive demand the emphasis placed by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence on assessment and monitoring well being springs from the fact that these processes are the key first step in identifying views for improving quality of working life and addressing risks at work.

Why do people work hard and does their motivation for working long hours in terms of their satisfaction and well being? Several streams of research based on these questions. First, a growing body of research on workaholism has shown that different types of workaholics exist (Scott, Moore & Miceli. 1997; Spence & Robbins 1992) and that some types of seem to be work satisfied and psychologically health while other types are dissatisfied with their jobs and careers, with their family relationships and in psychological distress (Buelens & Poelmans, 2004; Burke, 2007; Machlowitz, 1980; Kanni, Waskabayash: & Fling, 1996; Robinson, 1998; Spence & Robbins, 1992B).

Second, extensive research on sources of motivation (e.g., the effects of intrinsic versus extrinsic goals) and different processes or motivations for realizing these goals (e.g. internal versus external motivations) – the “what” and “why” of goal pursuits – has shown that individuals motivated by extrinsic goals and external sources of motivation report lower levels of satisfaction and psychological health (Deci & Ryan, 1985; 2000, Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999, Ryan & Deci 2000). Burke (2007) has shown that different types of workaholics are motivated by different beliefs and fears about people and their larger social and work environment.

1.3   Statement of Problem

What motivated the researcher to carryout this study is because more recently an interest has arisen into the broader concepts of job motivation stress and subjective well-being of employees in the work place. Job motivation has been more widely studied, while quality of working life and also the psychological well being of employees, remains relatively unexplored and unexplained. Although some authors have emphasized the workplace respects of quality of working life, others have identified the relevance of personality factors, psychological well being, and broader concepts of happiness and life satisfaction.

Another reason for this study is to see if there is a relationship between motivating factors in the workplace and the extent to which an individual or employee feels good or content in themselves, in a way which may be independent of their work situation. It is suggested that general well being of individuals or employee’s both influences, and is influenced by work. Mental health problems, predominantly depression and anxiety disorders are common, and may have a major impact on the general well being of the employees in an organization. When employees are motivated at work, it make the employees feel they can control their work through the freedom of expressing their opinions and also the opportunity given them to be involved in decisions making at work. Another aim for the study was to understand the relationship between stressful experiences, behavior and health and how motivation comes to play in the experiences.

1.4   Objectives of Study

The main objective of the study is investigating the relationship between employee motivation and their psychological well being.

Other objectives include:

(i) Verifying if there is evidence for relationships between some job stressors or well being and organizational citizenship behavior.

(ii) Examining any positive and high workplace performance which will yield high productivity for an organization and even spread into the economy of a state or country as a whole. This can be achieved when employees are well motivated and this motivation in turn affects or influences the psychological well being of the employee in the workplace. The study may provide a good enough basis for effective intervention. Lastly the study may bring more light on how job motivation influences the quality of work performance which in turn affects quality of life.

1.5   Significance of Study

The significance of the study is to determine the importance of motivation in the workplace and how this in turn will contribute to the progress of the organization through a high level of performance. The findings will also contribute to knowledge and enlightenment on the important of motivating employees which would in turn flourish high performance culture in organizations. The study upon completion will help make clear the relationship between job motivation and psychological well being of employees in the workplace and in the home front.

1.6   Scope of Study

The area of coverage of the study is Alagbado area of Lagos State. The study will take place among the employees of organizations in both public and private schools and among staff of Daar Communication Plc.

1.7   Operational Definition of Variables

Motivation according to this study, is the stimulation that causes the creation of aroused, sustained and directed behavior. This behavior will in turn lead individuals to work and perform better.

Well-Being: In this study, is general health and happiness: emotional and physical. Psychological well being is multi-faceted.

Job Performance: The accomplishment of a given task measured against preset known standards of accuracy, completeness, cost and speed.

Workplace: A place such as an office or factory where people are employed.

1.8   Literature Review

In the modern world of globalization the work place realities of (yesterday) past organizations no longer exists. It is a matter of past and needs to be revised carefully. It is important for the organizations to meet and introduce new motivational needs of employees since the change have been observed on the work place realities in today’s organizations (Roberts, 2003). Beer et al, (1984) strongly asserts in their research of changing work environment the reality that organizations today have totally changed, therefore it is more important for the top management to carry out new methodologies of developing strong and durable relationships between the organization and employees for meeting the organizational goals and fulfilling the continually changing needs of both parties. A complete and thorough understanding of employee motivation is required for organizations to address and accomplish these expectations (Beer et al, 1984). It is clear from the above that strong relationship among organizations and employees is an instrument for success in fulfilling the needs of changing work environment for both parties. To make strong bond with employees the role of top management is crucial in this respect.

Carnige (1985) focused the human aspect regarding management, strongly believes people who craft a formulation for an organizations success or failure are the chief executive-responsible for motivating his company employees in respect of their satisfaction and assurance of organizational success. Carnige mainly insists on human capital that plays pivotal role in an organizational effectiveness compared to financial capital. People rather than finance are observed in modern times as the primary source of a company competitive advantage. Organizations require a number of resources, strategies and techniques in order to succeed. From capital, to a business site and to employees, all of these are essential for a business to work while these components are significant, values, particularly motivation is recognized as vital business element, especially in enabling organization transformation and enhancement. Motivation permits the business owners and employees to be resourceful, responsible and productive in performing daily business tasks which in turn helps in uniting the business with it consumers by means of motivating the employees, managers are able to encourage them to work towards a common goal. This business principles also helps the employee to become more productive, enabling enhancement and transformation to place.

1.9   Motivation and Job Performance

According to Butkus & Green (1999), motivation is derived from the word “motivate”, means to move, push or persuade to vet for satisfying a need. ‘Baron (1983) defined motivation in his own right. He says that “motivation is a set of processes concerned with a kid of force that energizes behavior and directs it towards achieving some specific goals. According to Creech (1995) motivation is typically defined by psychologists as a stimulation that causes the creation of aroused sustained and directed behavior. This behavior in turn leads individuals to work and perform towards goal achievement Kreitner (1995) has defined motivation as the psychological prices that results to a directional and purposeful behavior. Motivation is also defined as the tendency to behave in an appropriate manner to attain certain needs (Buford, Bedeian & Indner 1995). Many writers have expressed motivation is a goal directed behavior. This objective nature of motivation is also suggested by Kreitner & Kinicki (2001, P. 162) put forward that motivation represents “those psychological processes that cause the stimulation, persistence, of voluntary actions that are goal directed.

In another term, a motivated person has the awareness of specific goals must be achieved in specific ways, therefore he/she directs its efforts to achieve such goals (Nel et al. 2001) It means that a motivated person is best fit for the goals that he/she wants to achieve as he/she is fully aware of its assumptions. Therefore if the role of managers are assumed to successfully guide employees towards the organizational agendas of achieving its objectives, then it is very important for them to educate and understand those psychological processes and undertakings that root cause the stimulation, direction of destination, determination and persistence of voluntary actions (Roberts,2005).

On reaching the understanding and believing that people (employees) are naturally motivated, an organization simply provide the environment for their motivation to be enhanced and improved (Baron,1983). It means that an organization is the better environment and working atmosphere provider, it only needs to believe that the people have the motivational behavior.

The achievements of individuals and organizational goals are independent process linked by employee-work motivation. Individuals motivate themselves to satisfy their personal goals, therefore they invest and direct their efforts for the achievements of organizational objectives to meet with their personal goals also. It means that organizational goals are directly proportion to the personal goals of individuals.

Robert (2005) reported that the managers job, is to ensure the work done through employees is possible, if the employees are self motivated towards work rather directed. The managers involvement is not so much important in the motivation of employees. The employees should motivate themselves to work hard. The major issue in all service organizations is the motivation of employees whether, they are skilled or unskilled or professionals. Employee motivation is also a major issue for the commercial banks. It is a today’s challenge for the management in this competitive world to motivate employees to offer efficient and good services that customers expect for. The employee’s motivation, their enthusiastic and energetic behavior towards task fulfillment play key role in successes of an organization to benefit (Cheng, 1995).

According to Petcharak (2002), one of the functions of human resource manager is related to ensure employee’s work place motivation. The human resource manager’s function should be to assist the general manager in keeping the employees satisfied with their jobs. Another goal in organization is the goal of the service manager is to develop motivated employee’s and encourage their morale regarding their respective works. The employee work morale, such as supervisors, peers, organization and work environment can be defined in a sense that the employee live the feeling and be conscious about all aspects of the job. The performance is poor if the employee is not satisfied and happy. Work place dissatisfaction often leads organization and its employee’s poor performance.

According to research conducted by mostly, Megginsoin & Pietri in 2001, there are three levels of employee’s motivations.

· The direction of an employee’s behavior. It relates to those behaviors which the individuals choose to perform.

· The level of effort. It refers to how hard the individual is willing to work on the behavior.

· The level of persistence. It refers to the individuals willingness to behave despites obstacles.

Daschle & Ninemeier (1989) conducted research and investigated what employees may seek from the environment. Their discussion reviews some of employee-related concerns that can be found in the venue of strategies to employee’s motivation.

· Employees are individuals that come from different backgrounds they have different experiences and their different family classes are all the factors in which their needs be located.

· The primary interest of employees is to satisfy their personal needs, ambitions, desires and goals.

· An employee wants to satisfy its basic needs, linked to survival and security concerns and a desire to belong to generate positive feelings from within and from others and to be self fulfilled.

· Most employees wants (a) fair and consistent company policies in matters affection them (b) management they can respect and trust.(c) adequate working relationships with  managers and co-workers. (d) Acceptable salaries and working environment. (e) Appropriate job security assurance (f) favorable job status

· The other important factors that can fulfill and motivate employees are challenging work, work that yields a sense of personal accomplishment, expression of appreciation for good performance, increased responsibility and the chance to grow in the job, the feeling of importance and making a contribution to the organization and participation in job-related matters that affect the employees.

The research conducted by Dr. Koshifurrehman et al (2007) in Pakistan measuring the effect of “Human Resource  Strategies” like pay, promotion and training on job satisfaction. Their study was focused on work force of service based companies in Pakistan. They concluded from their research that pay, promotion and training had positive and significant impact on job satisfaction. They urged and suggested that employees in Pakistan give more importance to pay and promotion than training.

The significant differences were found among male and female employees’ job satisfaction level in Pakistani based service organization. According to their reports service based industry is going under tremendous changes for the last few years in Pakistan. Due to these changes not only their transactions are increasing but their range of services is also expanding. As a result different sectors of service industry such as banks, educational institutes and telecommunication firms are experiencing swift turnover (Rehman, Malik & Taj Rizwan 2007).

Human beings are motivated by requirements that fulfill their needs. This depends on many factors, and vary by the individual requirements and necessary situation. Beside basic needs that range from food, clothing, medicine and shelters, there is workplace that needs to be extended for acceptance and self-esteem. The researcher has indicated that each individual experience these factors in different level. Therefore, managers should figure out the basic theories of motivation, how to better (Cheng 1995).

While for many years there has been much research into job satisfaction, and more recently, an interest has arisen into the broader concepts of stress and subjective well-being, the precise nature of the relationship between these concepts has still been little explored. Stress at work is often considered in isolation wherein it is assessed on the basis that attention to an individual’s stress management skills or sources of stress will prove to provide a good enough basis for effective intervention. Alternatively, job motivation may be assessed, so that action can be taken which will enhance an individual’s performance. Somewhere in all this, there is often an awareness of the greater context. Whereupon the home-work context is considered, for example, and other factors such as an individuals personal characteristics and broader economic or cultural climate, might be seen as relevant. In this context, subjective well-being is seen as drawing upon both work and non-work aspects of life.

Sirgy, Efraty, Siegal, & Lee (2001) suggested that the key factors in quality of working life are

o       Need satisfaction based on job requirement

o       Need satisfaction based on work environment

o       Need satisfaction based on supervisory behavior

o       Need satisfaction based on ancillary programmes

o     Organizational commitment

They defined quality of working life as satisfaction of these key needs through resources, activities and outcomes stemming from participation in the workplace. Needs as defined by psychologist, Abraham Maslow, were seen as relevant in understanding this model, covering health and safety, economic and family, social, esteem actualization, knowledge and aesthetics, although the relevance of non-work aspects is play down as attention is focused on quality of work like rather than the broader concept of quality of life. The distinction made between job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in quality of working life reflects the influence of job satisfaction theories. Herzberg et al., (1959) used “Hygiene factors” and “motivator factors” to distinguish between the separate cause.