THE IMPACT OF NON-FINANCIAL INCENTIVES OF ARTISANS PRODUCTIVITY IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

1.1 Introduction

Construction industry makes significant contribution to the socio-economic development process in developing countries, employing a large proportion a country’s labour force and helping in the improvement or acquisition of skills. Incentive strategies are those possible instruments which move, impel of induce one to act to satisfy a need or want. It is therefore defined as a force that pushes one to increase effort to achieve a goal or an objective for reward. Incentive is anticipatory in nature. When one is moved to action, a reward must be expressed. As the names imply, intrinsic satisfaction is the derivation of satisfaction of needs from the work itself; while extrinsic satisfaction is the derivation of the needs satisfaction through reward received for doing the work.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

The incentives involved are fairly intangible and are the one related to maslows higher needs and involve in particular, the fulfilment of those needs defined by Herzberg as the motivating need. Thus the incentives offered acknowledge the importance of the individual and recognize his need for group participation to provide social satisfaction. Certain work requires little to be provided by the employer as an incentive, much of the work is useful to self – motivating. It is therefore necessary in most cases of offer additional incentives of a more tangible nature and associated with hygiene needs often expressed as semi financial incentives. It is not always necessary to give extra payment to motivate people.

The construction sector is bedeviled by many problems such as cost and time overrun, abandonment of projects, low productivity, low GDP and conflict among players in the industry (Mohammed and Isah, 2012; Kolawole and Anigbogu, 2004; Aiyetan and Olotuah, 2006; Umoru and Yaquib, 2013). The after math of these problems has resulted in litigation and job losses thus compounding the security situation and impairing the national economy (Kolawole and Anigbogu, 2004). However, construction workers according to Odesola and Idoro (2014) are not seen as an important input to project execution in Nigeria.

Scott Jeffrey’s paper (2002) on the benefits of tangible non-monetary incentives constitutes one of the significant studies regarding the use and effectiveness of non-monetary incentives. He argues that the use of tangible non- monetary incentives might accomplish the objective of motivating employees in a lowest cost better than the market value of that incentive in cash.

Scott Jeffrey, (2002), states the long-term benefits of tangible non-monetary incentives as follows. First, tangible non-monetary incentives might be perceived as gifts, which change the nature of the employment relationship. Second, a tangible non-monetary incentive like a trip to a touristic place will be remembered longer and more clearly than what is done with a cash bonus. This type of incentive creates fond memories (e.g. photographs of the trip) that will create a positive feeling in construction staffs, which will induce more positive attitude towards the firm.

Nwachukwu (2001) also observed that most building workers on construction sites complain on the need for motivation which has been affecting productivity in the construction industry. Given the large nature of the construction industry and its importance to the Gross Domestic Product as well as number of people it employs, so there is need to identify ways at which workforce productivity in the construction industry can be improved.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Non-Financial Incentives of Artisans Productivity in Construction Industry.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that many factors are responsible for the influence of labour productivity on cost performance in project. These factors when not put in place could bring about reduction in level of productivity and consequently affect cost performance of projects. There has been lack of investigation into labour productivity and cost performance which is probably due to the low level of awareness of the merits of such investigations.

This problem has overtime denied construction works of its ideal cost and if un-attended to, it might in the nearest future overshadow the important potentials of improved labour productivity.

Another problem that has been identified is that of inconsistency in the level of labour productivity. This has subsequently affected cost of the project. It is therefore imminent for this problem to be assessed and solved so as to institutionalize a consistent standard for construction projects.

The level of motivation and incentives such as welfare packages, awards to best worker, award to longest serving staff all, serve as a dependable instrument for improving labour productivity. But this has not been found in construction industry. Finally, this study was embarked upon to ascertain how improved productivity would influence cost performance. This study seeks to provide solutions to the above identified problems.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Impact of Non-Financial Incentives of Artisans Productivity in Construction Industry. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To determine the extent to which identified non-financial incentives improve construction workforce productivity in Industry.
2. To evaluate management commitment towards the implementation of non- financial incentives for productivity improvement in construction Industry.
3. To examine the challenges of non-financial incentives on construction workforce productivity artisans in Nigeria.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Do incentive measures contributed to lack of organizational effectiveness?
• To what extent do these non-financial incentives improve workforce productivity in the construction firms?
• What are those non-financial incentives commonly used by construction firms in Nigeria?
• What are the management commitments towards the implementation of non- financial incentives on construction workforce productivity artisans in Nigeria?
• What are the challenges faced by construction firms in improving non- financial incentives on construction workforce productivity artisans in Nigeria?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There are no significant challenges faced by construction firms in improving non-financial incentives on construction workforce productivity artisans in Nigeria
• H1: There are significant challenges faced by construction firms in improving non-financial incentives on construction workforce productivity artisans in Nigeria

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1.7 Significance of Study

Construction clients, contracting organizations, specialist, consultants and suppliers, individual professional contractors, lecturers and students in the construction and allied field would find the study very useful as it will contribute to their own effort to optimize their level of involvement in construction activities.

Based on the results and findings of this research work, construction stakeholders, would be able to appreciate and control the parameters involved in the productivity and cost performance concept of construction projects.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Impact of Non-Financial Incentives of Artisans Productivity in Construction Industry.

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1.9 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. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Incentives: These are instruments of material or possible statement used to motivate or encourage employees to higher productivity in an organization.

Employees: This simply means people or persons that are successfully employed for wages/salary in an organization. 

Productivity: This can be defined as a measure of the output on organization per unit of input (labour, capital, raw materials, etc.). But simply put as the ration of output to inputs.