ASSESS THE IMPACT OF MOTIVATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION TEACHERS

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background Of The Study

The success or failure of any educational system whether in developed or developing nations of the world depends to a large extent on the teachers. Teachers are the hub of the educational system and it has been generally agreed that no education system can rise above the level of its teachers. There is no doubt that the services of the teachers are indispensable and critical to the nation’s future and the quality of individuals the society wants. But the ability and effectiveness of teachers in discharging their professional duties could be influenced by a lot of factors among which is motivation which is one of the most important factors in human resource management today. Teachers need proper motivation to enhance their effectiveness not only by extrinsic rewards but also by intrinsic reward, Akpan (2013).

Motivation appears to be the urge, impetus inspiration, incentive and ego booster that energize a teacher (in this case) towards performing certain duties as required by him in order to meet the stated aims and objectivities of the firm (Robbins, 2000). Patrick (2013) refers to motivation as an act that causes a person to act or to do something. Olabaji (2007) views motivation as an incentive which incites, inspires and promotes the desire for the individual in learning. It is an inner drive which makes a person to work hard, encourage him to feel that he is part of an organization to which he belong and that his efforts are appreciated. Motivation is a factor required in the realization of the objectives of Education in Nigerian schools. Inadequate use of motivation therefore may go a long way in negatively affecting the performance of business education teachers.

Many contributions and studies have been carried on organizational efficiency and seem to posit that motivation seems to promote workers’ performance. Whether in the form of wages, piecework (getting paid for units produced at a certain quality level) or any other incentive pay, bonuses, stock options, company-paid insurance, or any of the other things that may be given to people for performance, money is important; it could also mean status or power. For some people money will always be of the utmost importance, while for others it may never be. It is probably quite true that in most kinds of businesses and in enterprises money is used as a means of keeping an organization adequately staffed and not primarily as a motivator. People in various positions, even though at a similar level, must be given salaries and bonuses that reflect their individual performances. The way to ensure that money has meaning, as a reward for accomplishment and as a way of giving people pleasure from accomplishment, is to base compensation as much as possible on performance (koontz and Weihrich,1990; Edwin, 1993).

Mefun (2012) viewed factors responsible for poor performances of teachers in business education as non-payment of salaries, delay in promotions, inadequate funds for seminars and workshops. Different people are motivated by different things so it is important to make sure that you offer the right incentives to the right member of the team. According to Fayana (2002) the relationship between motivation and performance seems to be powerful that some people equate the cause of performance or lack of it in organizations to the level of motivation. A high level of performance seems to be attributed to a high level of motivation, and if performance is low, it is assumed that motivation is low as well. It is generally accepted that having targets to work towards, as long as they are realistic, is one of the most effective ways of improving performance. Hitting targets improves morale and self-confidence but remember that those who consistently underachieve will end up feeling demotivated. Target achievement can be rewarded not only with financial incentives but perhaps with the offer of increased responsibility or even promotion.

Yusufu(2004) said that lateness to school, teacher absenteeism, poor environmental sanitation and dirty classrooms, shabbily dressed teachers, strained teacher-principal relationship, disrespect for school heads, poor student-teacher relationship, Lack of personal professional commitment to duty and unreadiness for service and sacrifice in general are due to lack of motivation for teachers and students. Ajeji (2010) said that poor performance of students arising from improper assignment of duties to teachers. poor personnel policy resulting in undefined promotional policy and confusion in the chain of command, Human elements such as various feelings, desires, perceptions, motives, values which an individual brings to the school, Family factors caused by poor parental upbringing of the students.

All these issues call for research efforts, so as to bring to focus how an appropriate reward package can jeer up or influence workers to develop positive attitude towards their job and thereby increase their attitude to work and performance.

In the words of Leon (2013), many organizations are getting keener on spending the right way, recognizing the right employees in the right position for the right performance. Successful employee’s motivation programmers do not need to be elaborate. It can be as simple as a personalized thank you letter for a job well done give to the employee for going above and beyond expectations. Employees like to be acknowledged and nothing beats this saying “thank you for a job well done’’ in writing which comes better when accompanied by the company’s token of appreciation. This little appreciation goes a long way in inducing employees to put more effort towards achieving enhanced performance through employee loyalty. It is on this background that this study is aimed at evaluating the effect of motivation on performance of business education teachers.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

The performance of organization and employee motivation has been the focus of intensive research effort in recent times. It is very common in our education system to find candidates with relatively superior qualifications and adequate professional degrees getting employed into the teaching profession, yet the problem of deteriorating standards both qualitatively and quantitatively appears to be on the increase in our schools. It becomes imperative to find out what may have been responsible for the continued decline in standards. Could it be that teachers, in spite of their superior professional qualifications, may not have been satisfied with their job, or not being well motivated?

It has been observed that poor remuneration is related to profits made by organizations. Other factors responsible for poor performances of teachers includes non-payment of salaries, delay in promotions, inadequate funds for seminars and workshops breeds lack of commitment and low productivity. In addition, demoralizing to teachers and consequently reduced their performance.

Although Job enrichment deals with creating a work that includes a greater variety of content, necessitating a higher level of knowledge and skill and providing the employee with more autonomy and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling his job. The Nigerian educational system hardly enjoy the feeling of personal responsibility for their outputs and an opportunity for teachers to help plan their work objectives, make decisions on how to do the work, and experience personal growth due to targets set.

Given the intense competition in the business environment, there seem to be an increasing problem on what to do to spurn employees towards and designing attractive rewards and incentive that can motivate employees for better performance. This has become challenging given the low morale of staff, poor quality of work, absenteeism, problem of general poor attitude to work and reduced productivity.

Different people hold different needs and respond accordingly. Motivating people to work could be one of the basic problems in our society and it has been the concern of many managers in modern organizations. The concept of motivation is primarily concerned with inducing and encouraging the willingness of employees to put in their best efforts for an increased productivity through incentives. However, most employers seek little or no employee input thus leading to lack of management and employee cohesion.

1.3 Objective Of The Study

The major objective of this study is to assess the impact of motivation on the performance of business education teachers in Oshimili local Government Area of Delta state.

Other specific objectives include;

1. To ascertain the effect salary has on teachers performance.
2. To inquire how job enrichment as a management strategy help enhance teachers’ productivity.
3. To examine the various target, rewards, incentives and their relationship with the attitude to work of the employees.

1.4 Research Questions.

The following research questions were formulated for the purpose of this study:

1. To what extent does salaries enhances teachers performance?
2. To what extent does job enrichment as a management strategy enhances teachers’ productivity?
3. To what degree does targets, rewards and incentives has positive effects on teachers attitude towards work?

1.5 Statement Of Hypotheses

For the purpose of this research, the following hypotheses were formulated:

1. H0: There is no significant relationship between salaries and workers performance.
   H1: There is significant relationship between salaries and workers performance.
2. H0: There is no significant relationship between job enrichment as a management strategy and workers productivity.
   H1: There is significant relationship between job enrichment as a management strategy and workers productivity.

1.6 Significance Of The Study

People are motivated by unmet needs and these varies from person to person according to their particular circumstances, values and beliefs, family, education, personality, and work experience etc. Management aims are at maximizing profit and minimizing cost. For this to be achieved, this study provides information on how to motivate teachers towards increase productivity.

This study will help many organizations especially the management to improve their understanding about motivation and its effect on teachers performance. It is expected that when employees (teachers) are given some incentives, they are likely to put more effort in discharging their duties.

Therefore, this study will be of significance to researchers, the public, the employers of labour/management of organizations and the employees as it delves into the link between teachers performance in relation to employee motivation.

Management of any establishment has to put policies in place to enable the employees put in their best efforts towards the higher performance and efficiency.