PHYSICAL WORK ENVIRONMENT AND THE OFFICE MANAGER'S PERFORMANCE IN SELECTED FIRMS IN RIVER STATE

1.1 Introduction

The vision and mission of an organization largely determine what component of an organization it will rely mostly on. Organizations that provide services rely heavily on the strength of their employee’s capabilities, skills, knowledge and abilities to take the firm to a greater height. The organizations studied, Pabod Breweries Limited and Palm Nectar Breweries Ltd belong to product producing sector of the economy and their continued existence depends very much on how well their production machineries perform; how often it breaks down and the quantity and quality of product produced. It is however important to note that these production equipment do not operate themselves, even those that are fully automated and operate as robots still needs people to program them and thus makes employees indispensable part of every organization. Employees are the backbone of any organizations. They are the most precious and important asset among all the asset of any organization (Ganesh, 2015). Yesufu (2000) views it differently when he state that labour is generally regarded as the most dynamic of all the factors that are employed for the creation of wealth, having the potential to energize and serve as catalyst to all the other resources.

It is easier to influence the performance of production equipment because it performs according to what you instruct it, needing no additional incentives unlike the employees who are complex and need a combination of factors to influence their performance; both physical and psychological factors. Ushie, Agba, Ogaboh and Okorie (2015) posit that human beings are very complex in their psychological make-up and hence, managers cannot influence employees’ inner state directly, they can however create work environment that encourages quality performance. Most managers especially in Nigeria are of the view that employee are influenced to perform better through pay; how much they get from the organization. In the view of Onwuka (2002), many managers and supervisors labour under the mistaken impression that the level of employees’ performance on the job is proportional to the size of the employees pay package. It is important to note however that some employees may be motivated by money but the effect does not last for long and so needing order kind of motivators. Onwuka (2002) opines that in fact, salary increases and bonuses for performance in many instances have a very limited short term effect. The extra money soon comes to be regarded not as an incentive but as an entitlement.

Employees could be influenced to put in their best through how well their work environment is structured. Committed employees who are highly motivated in terms of conducive work environment contribute their time and energy to the pursuit of organizational goals and are increasingly acknowledged to be the primary asset available to an organization; they provide the intellectual capital that for many organizations has become their most critical asset (Hienja, 2010).

Physical work environment (PWE) is an aspect of work environment. Workplace environment is the sum of the interrelationships that exist between employees and the environment, which they work (Kohun, 2002). Heath (2006) asserts that this environment involves the physical location as well as the immediate surroundings, behavioural procedures, policies, rules, culture, resources, working relationships, work location, all of which influence the ways employees perform their work. PWE as an aspect of work environment has to do with the office layout and design. It constitutes things such as furniture (tables, chairs etc.), machine layout, ventilation and lighting. Others are noise level, protective equipment, workstations, office gadgets, computers and office space.

The way and manner the physical work environment is structured influence how employees in such establishments perform. The physical work environment in the focused firms seems not to be ergonomically structured and could affect employees’ performance. The environment where people work, especially in Nigeria is unsafe and unhealthy. Often times we have poorly designed workstations, unsuitable furniture, lack of ventilation, inappropriate lighting, excessive noise, insufficient safety measures in fire emergencies and lack of protective equipment (Ushie, Agba, Ogaboh & Okorie, 2015). Chandrasekar (2011) posited that people working in such environment are prone to occupational disease and it impact on their performance. The focused firms go to a great length in making sure their employee have the requisite skills and knowledge to operate machineries in order to boost performance but little seem to be done in making sure the work station suits the employees and performance could be affected by this act. Akinyele (2010) posits that many enterprises limit their productivity enhancement of employees to the acquisition of skills. The type of work environment in which employees operate determines the way in which such enterprises prosper. He further state that about 80% of productivity problems reside in the work environment of organizations. Conducive work environment ensures the wellbeing of employees which invariably will enable them exert themselves to their roles with all vigour that may translate to higher productivity (Akinyele, 2007).

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1.2 Statement of the Problem

Equipments are central to the achievement of the goals of productive firms such as Pabod Breweries Limited and Palm Nectar Breweries Ltd, this is possibly the reason they ensure that state of the art equipment are purchased and installed. They do not stop at that but also train their employee on how to operate such equipment for optimum performance. However, it was observed that more attention seems to be paid to the productive equipment than to the operating personnel. They ensure equipment are properly situated to prevent overheating and for proper ventilation. The employees who operate these equipments however seem to be left out of the consideration for proper design to ensure that the equipment suits the person; rather they seem to be driven by the principle of the persons suiting the equipment. Employees have been observed to complain of too much heat in the operating room, poor ventilation and lighting, equipment being too close to each other. This increases the risk of accident in the work place and increases stress level which reduces productive capability of employee. As a result of the seeming disregard for ergonomics in the focused firms, reduced job satisfaction was observed which could have impact on employees’ performance and negatively influence organizational overall performance. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to examine the nature of relationship that exists between PWE and employee performance.

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1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Physical Work Environment and the Office Manager's Performance in Pabod Breweries Limited and Pabod Breweries Limited, River State. In achieving this aim, the following objectives were set out as follows;

1. To examine the nature of relationship that exists between PWE and employee performance in Pabod Breweries Limited and Palm Nectar Breweries Ltd in River State.
2. To determine the nature of relationship that exists between Ergonomics and Job Satisfaction in Pabod Breweries Limited and Palm Nectar Breweries Ltd in River State.

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1.4 Research Questions

The following are the research question of the research work;

1. What is the nature of relationship that exists between Ergonomics and Job Satisfaction in Pabod Breweries Limited and Palm Nectar Breweries Ltd in River State?
2. What is the nature of relationship that exists between physical work environment and office managers' performance?

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1.5 Research Hypothesis

H0: There is no significant relationship existing between Ergonomics and Job Satisfaction in Pabod Breweries Limited and Palm Nectar Breweries Ltd in River State.

H1: There is a significant relationship existing between Ergonomics and Job Satisfaction in Pabod Breweries Limited and Palm Nectar Breweries Ltd in River State.

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1.6 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the Physical Work Environment and the Office Manager's Performance in Pabod Breweries Limited and Palm Nectar Breweries Ltd in River State.

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1.7 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.

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1.8 Significance of Study

The relevance of the physical work environment and office managers' performance are as follows;

1. The physical environment of a workplace greatly affects the positivity within the firm. Great energy can be created by an, attractive, comfortable physical environment.
2. It allows an office manager to look out and envision a new idea, which enhances creativity in the office.

Besides, the study will serve as reference material for subsequent researcher in the field or related topics.