CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Welfare is a corporate attitude or commitment reflected in the expressed care for employees at all levels, underpinning their work and the environment in which it is performed (Cowling and Mailer, 1992). Specifically, Coventry and Barker (2009) assert that staff welfare includes providing social club and sports facilities as appropriate, supervising staff and works’ canteens, running sick clubs and savings schemes; dealing with superannuation, pension funds and leave grants, making loans on hardship cases; arranging legal aid and giving advice on personal problems; making long service grants; providing assistance to staff transferred to another area and providing fringe benefits (such as payment during sickness, luncheon vouchers and other indirect advantages).

Productivity, on the other hand, means goods and services produced in a specified period of time in relation to the resources utilized (Singh, 2009). It is, however, contended by Cohen et al (1995) to be more than a narrow economic measure, as it also measures how well the group performs its required tasks to satisfy its customers inside and outside the organization. In effect, productivity suggests effectiveness and efficiency of the employees.

Most organizations achieve remarkable success in their operations not only because they operate in good environments, or because they are capable of competing favorably with other organizations but most because the management (or those at the helm of affairs) of such organizations provide them with the incentives that make their work worth enjoying.

They appreciate the fact that no organization performs efficiently and effectively if the human elements are not adequately motivated. The provision of those things (welfare package) that ginger workers to work in an organization have helped organizations to create the enabling environment for better performance among the workforce.

As noted in Koontz (1982), managing involves the creation and maintenance of an environment for the performance of individuals working together in groups towards the accomplishment of a common objective, it is obvious that the manager cannot do this job without knowing what motivates people.

Koontz explained further that the necessity of building motivating factors into organizational roles, the staffing of those roles, and the entire process of directing and leading people must be built on knowledge of motivation so it is through adequate motivation of employees which in this study is the secretarial staff that organizations will enjoy increased productivity.

Apparently, there are some scholarly works on staff welfare and productivity (Owusu-Acheaw, 2010; Osterman, 2010; Singh, 2009; Cowling and Mailer, 1992; Coventry and Barker, 1988), but they mostly dwelt on industrial settings to the neglect of service organizations and banking industry. There is therefore the need to extend frontiers in knowledge on the aforementioned theme that this study focused on the effect of staff welfare on job performance, using Eco bank Nigeria Plc as references. Specifically, the study enquired into: (a) the effect and awareness of staff welfare as well as components of staff welfare in the study area; (b) the existence of staff welfare in the study area and (c) the perceived effect of staff welfare on performance (productivity) in the study area, which is Eco bank Nigeria Plc.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Human beings have needs which they expect to satisfy from such as safety or security needs, social need the needs for advancement in life. These need (welfare) inferences their work performance or role, social relation with their format and informal, groups, their attitudes towards the management and their efforts to meet the organization objectives. One of the function of the organization is to motivate workers motivating them entails, meeting them to perform their duties by dial of controversy over the issue of what motivates a worker, some people has around that workers can be motivated through the use of money, these people are of the view that people work primarily for money. However an opposition view advanced by the human relation movement does not regard `money as the primary thing that motivates workers, they lay great emphasis on “man as the producer.”

In other words the advocates of the movement are of the view that a good working environment and the provision of social facilities for the workers will be valued more highly by the workers than monetary rewards, thus, in this work it will be working to look at the situation.

Most remarkably, there is a serious problem and argument about the issue of staff welfare. Some scholars who believe that welfare scheme motivates worker to perform more includes Nwachukwu (1955), Ejiofor (1956), fried Lander (1964).   

However a scholars like Herzberg (1959) believes that welfare scheme are hygiene factors and as a result does not motivate the workers to perform. This study will therefore, set out to resolve and look into the effect of staff welfare on job performance using Eco bank as a case study.

1.3 OBJECTIVE/PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

1.     The main objective of this study is to find out the effect of staff welfare on job performance.

2.     To observe the relationship between staff welfare and job performance banking sector with particular inferences to Eco bank Plc.

3.     To give an empirical analysis of what actually motivate workers to performance in their duties.

4.     To examine the relationship between staff welfare and organizational productivity.

5.     To examine how staff welfare affect staff’s emotion at workplace.

6.     To examine the impact of staff welfare on both the staff and the organization herself.

7.     To find out whether good staff welfare package is the best form of motivating staff to perform.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In every research question, they posed to help to validate the purpose and aim of the research work. In this study, some research questions in order to help ascertain the study are:

1.     Is the welfare scheme adequate enough for workers in your organization?

2.     Is the level of employees’ motivation as a result of staff welfare scheme in your organization high?

3.      Has this scheme any relationship with staff performance?

4.     Has this scheme any relationship with employees’ motivation in Eco bank

5.     Had the provision of welfare scheme in turn increase productivity in your organization?

6.     Does staff commend the management for the provision of staff welfare package?

7.     Has any staff resigned from the organization due to lack of staff welfare scheme?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Ho: Good staff welfare doe not have positive impact on staff performance in organizations

Hi: Good staff welfare has positive impact on staff performance in organizations.

Ho: Quality welfare package does not motivate staff to be more effective and efficient in their job.

Hi: Quality welfare package motivates staff to be more effective and efficient in their job.

1.6 SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

In practical sense, the significance of this study is to bring together the various news and facts as regards to subject matter, against this back drop, it is anticipated that the study will be of immensely help to different categories of people both the managements, managers, students in various disciplines, the government, employees in different organizations and employers at large. It will also go further to remove the ambiguity between what motivates and what does not motivate workers in work situation.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study primarily examines the effect of staff welfare on job performance in organizations particularly in Eco bank Nigeria Plc. The study is therefore limited to the issue of staff welfare and how it increases job performance and how it impacts the organization at large. The study area in which data were gathered is Eco bank Nigeria Plc, Ikpoba Hill, Benin City. 

1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

A study of this nature is bound to experience certain problems as such the constraints imposed on the research include:

a.     Time: A study of this nature needs relatively long time during which information for accurate or at least near accurate inference could be drawn. The period of the study was short, time posed as constraints to the research.

b.     Cost: The research would have extended the survey to other area at the empirical level, but limitation as included cost of transportation to the source of material and the cost of time setting of the already completed work.

c.      Lack of cooperation: many of the respondents are usually aggressive on issue that border cooperation among the respondents border.

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Some the terms used in this research study may not be represented in the literature or universal meanings it is therefore imperative to explain the contextual meaning of some of the words used to guard against ambiguity but pare way for conciseness.

MOTIVATION: Motivation is a factor which make an employee to participate to action, it is referred to as those factors which arose employee to action and could be measured by identifying various needs of the individuals workers and how such needs influences the behavior of the workers in the work situation in an organization.

SATISFACTION: This is employees’ contentment about his satisfaction, it could be defined subjectively as the job reward which employee derives from the work situation done effectively. Satisfaction could be measured in terms of difference between what the employee expects from the service he or she referred to the organization and what he or she actually derives.

INCENTIVES: These are inducements given to an employee of an organization for the purpose of carrying out organizational objectives. It could be measured by the amount of inducement which workers get from the organization and the extent to which such inducement enhances their performances.

MANAGEMENT: Doing things using the instrument ties of other people. It is also the process combining and utilizing or allocating organizational resource by planning, organization directing, and controlling for the purpose of achieving organization objectives.

DECISION MAKING: This is the process where by solution are pointed to the problem in the organizations, decision making is concerned with the formulation of policies guiding or governing the running of an organization.

EMPLOYEE WELFARE SCHEME: In this study employees welfare scheme is also variously known as the employees welfare services. Employee scheme, the fringe benefits, which the employees receive from the organization besides his pay or salary.

WAGES: This is the amount pain for performing a specific job which its duration is short.

SALARY: This is a fixed amount of money which is paid to workers in their different places of work usually by end of every month.

1.10 HISTORICAL PROFILE OF ECO BANK NIGERIA PLC

Eco bank, whose official name is Eco bank Transnational Inc. (ETI), but is also known as Eco bank Transnational, is a pan-African banking conglomerate, with banking operations in 33 African countries. It is the leading independent regional banking group in West Africa and Central Africa, serving wholesale and retail customers. It also maintains subsidiaries in Eastern Africa, as well as in Southern Africa. ETI has representative offices in Angola,  China,  Dubai, France, South Africa and in the United Kingdom.

ETI is a large financial services provider with offices in 37 countries around the world, and presence in 33 sub-Saharan countries. As of December 2012, ETI's customer base was estimated at 13.7 million, with 9.6 million (70.2%), located in Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation. At that time, the group's total assets were valued at US$20.0 billion, with shareholders' equity of US$2.176 billion. ETI's branch network numbered 1,251, with 1,981 networked ATMs. The bank had 18,698 employees, in 37 countries, in Africa,  Asia and  Europe, at the end of May 2013.

ETI, a public limited liability company, was established as a bank holding company in 1985 under a private sector initiative spearheaded by the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry, with the support of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In the early 1980s the banking industry in West Africa was dominated by foreign and state-owned banks. There were hardly any commercial banks in West Africa owned and managed by the African private sector. ETI was founded with the objective of filling this vacuum.

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