THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED FOOD AND BEVERAGE COMPANIES

Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

Organizational performance is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon in Business management (Afal, Mahmood, Sajid & Hassan, 2013). According to Hassan (2016), organizational performance is the ability of an organization to utilize its resources efficiently and to generate outputs that are consistent with its goal and objectives, relevant for its clients and stakeholders. Hammed and Waheed (2011) stated that the organizational performance of a business is integral to the profitability and ultimate sustainability of the organization. As such it is critical for businesses to adequately monitor and manage how they perform as an organization (Kano, 2013). Organizational performance is however heavily determined by the performance of business inputs and the most important input of a business are the employees (Mankidy, 2012). Therefore, how they are motivated to perform their jobs could determine the organizational performance of a business.

Motivating employees in the current business climate all over the world has proven be tough. The diversity at workplace has provided managers with substantial magnitude of problems, the big difference between employees in every organization means that there is no best way to deal with such problem (Binder, 2017). What motivates some employees to perform very well may be discouraging to other employee, therefore it poses a big challenge to present day human resource managers (Mazoni & Sardar, 2009). Furthermore, in Africa, motivating employees has become a big challenge for human resource managers in business organizations. According to McQuerry (2018), the globalization taking place in most economies in Africa has made it easy for foreign employees to work in business organizations in African countries. As a result, there are varying cultures and nationalities represented in modern African organizations. This has made it more difficult for managers to motivate the employees as a group as each employee has their specific traits and specific source of motivation (Butod, 2009). Additionally, in Nigeria, the multiplicity of indigenous cultures and diverse composition of Nigeria as a whole is beginning to reflect in makeup modern organizations in the country. Thus, there is recognition among human resource managers in Nigeria that all the employees cannot have the same type of personality and as such they are motivated in different ways and have different means of deriving motivation to consistently perform on their jobs (Ukandu & Ukpere, 2011). However, many business organizations in Nigeria have found it difficult to adopt appropriate motivational techniques that are personalized to suit each employee and meet their motivational needs. This has contributed to poor performance by business organizations in Nigeria.

According to McQuerry (2018), many top organizations in the world have recognized these challenges of employee motivation and how they impede organizational performance and responded by adopting modern motivational techniques to suit the modern-day workforce and employees in order to draw the best performances from employees on a regular basis. Organizations like Amazon, The Boring Company, Microsoft and Google have adopted motivational techniques like providing employee benefits like Free health insurance packages, child care services, flexible working environments, free massages, video games, flexible working schedules and flexible payment structures (Schlosser, 2013). This helped these organizations become top performers in the Global market space. According to the CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos, a major secret to the prosperity of Amazon is their ability of their managers to adequately motivate employees through appropriate motivational techniques (Ukpere, 2017). Furthermore, in Africa, business organizations have begun to realize the need to break the barrier of personality diversity and create motivational methods that are personalized to each employee. As such companies like Sasol, Vodacom, ABSA and Orange Telecoms have adopted motivational techniques like paying school fees bills of employees, health benefits, subsidized car loans etc. The CEO of Sasol credits employee motivation as a major driving force behind its organizational performance and it is largest company in Africa with an Asset of with an average annual revenue of 21.78 billion US Dollars (Simons & Hinkin, 2011). Furthermore, in Nigeria, business organizations are beginning to adopt motivational methods that meet both the intrinsic and extrinsic needs of employees. Companies like General Electric plc allow female employee to bring their newly born babies to work, they grant mothers paid maternity leave, they also grant paid paternity leaves for more than 6 months (Olagunju, 2018). This has helped motivate the employees to put in their best performance consistently.

However, despite various companies in numerous industries in Nigeria successfully adopting and modern and effective motivational techniques, companies in the Food and Beverage industries in Nigeria have failed to successfully adopt and implement appropriate motivational techniques. Therefore, this study will aim to study the relationship between employee motivation and organization performance of selected Food and beverage companies.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The performance of the food and beverage industry is very important to the growth of any economy in the world. More so in a developing country like Nigeria where agriculture is one of the pillars of the economy, the food and beverage industry serve as an off taker for the products being cultivated by the agricultural industry. However, in recent years there has been a significant drop in the performance of food and beverage organizations. For example, Cadbury from the first quarter in 2015 to the last quarter in 2016 has experienced losses in each quarter in that period (Salako, 2018). This has made investors lose confidence in food and beverage companies. According Olajide (2017) a major reason for this dip in performance is the inability to motivate employees which has had a negative impact on their performance.

According to Akintoye (2017), a significant problem when it come to employee motivation in food and beverage companies is the fact that the managers cannot inspire the employees to perform excellently due to their poor leadership skills. According to Banjoko (2016), this is because the managers in the food and beverage industry are not charismatic leaders who can motivate employees through their leadership and as such employees are mundane in responding to these managers and end up producing poor performances.

Furthermore, Odusanmi, Iyagba and Onirin (2013) noted that another significant problem of employee motivation in the food and beverage industry is the amount of workload put on food and beverage employees. According to Odeyemi (2015), many employees of the food and beverage companies have complained that they arrive work by 7am and leave work around 8pm in the night and they are rarely given breaks during working hours. Furthermore, Iyioha (2017) noted that many employees in the food and beverage industry cannot cope with the workload and as a result need to tackle their tasks as a team in order to increase their organizational productivity. However, Njoku (2017) stated that there was not guarantee that adopting teamwork in the food and beverage industry would motivate employees to significantly improve the organization’s productivity.

In addition, Ajayi (2011) stated that significant problem of employee motivation in food and a beverage company was the lack of work flexibility in the industry. He noted that majority of the employees in food and beverage companies see their job as monotonous because they are do the same routine jobs every day and go through the same process every day. He further noted that the rigid working hours in food and beverage companies often led to the burnout of employees due to stress. Okoh (2014) noted that this lack of flexibility affected the effectiveness of the employees in the food and beverage industry.

These problems have hampered the performance of food and beverage companies and have ultimately hindered the growth of the industry. Therefore, this study seeks to provide solutions to these challenges by studying the relationship between employee motivation and the organizational performance of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun state.

1.3 Research Objective

The general objective of this study is to determine the relationship between employee motivation and organizational performance of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State. The specific objectives of the research are to:

1. Determine the significant relationship between Remuneration and job satisfaction of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State.
2. Examine the significant relationship between Team composition and organizational productivity of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State.
3. Assess the significant relationship between Work flexibility and organizational effectiveness of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State.

1.4 Research Questions

The research will aim to answer the following research questions

1. Is there a significant relationship between Remuneration and job satisfaction of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State?
2. Is there a significant relationship between Team composition and organizational productivity of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State?
3. Is there a significant relationship between Work flexibility and organizational effectiveness of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

The following hypothesis would be developed to help in this research.

H01: Remuneration does not have a significant relationship with job satisfaction of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State.

H02: Team composition does not have a significant relationship with organizational productivity of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State.

H03: Work Flexibility does not have a significant relationship with organizational effectiveness of selected food and beverage companies in Ogun State.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The study will focus on the relationship between employee motivation and organizational employee performance in Nestle Nigeria Plc and Cway Foods and Beverages. The study will adopt the simple random sampling technique while data will be analyzed using the regression analysis. The geographical location of the study will be Nestle Nigeria Plc, Agbara, Ogun state. Finally, the study would be carried out between October 2018 and April 2019 (7 months).

1.7 Significance of the Study

The findings of this research is useful to the management of Nestle Nigeria Plc and Cway Foods & Beverages as it would provide more understanding to them about the influence of employee motivation and how it could affect the level of performance of their organization.

The research will be beneficial to the food and beverage industry as it will help the industry identify the appropriate employee motivation that suits the food and beverage industry.

This research is also pertinent to society institutions as it will enhance their knowledge on employee motivation and organizational performance.

1.8 Definition of Operational Terms

Employee Commitment:

An employee’s positive emotional attachment to the organization

Employee Engagement:

It is an employee who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organization’s reputation and interests (Ukandu & Ukpere, 2011).

Employee Effectiveness:

Employee effectiveness means a situation when a worker produces a desired outcome in the best possible way (Ukpere, 2017).

Employee Motivation:

Employee motivation is the level of energy, commitment, and creativity that a company’s workers bring to their jobs.

Employment Performance:

Employee Performance Management is about aligning the organizational objectives with the employees’ agreed measures, skills, competency requirements, development plans and the delivery of results (Ukandu & Ukpere, 2011).

Employee Satisfaction:

Employee satisfaction is the terminology used to describe whether employees are happy and contented and fulfilling their desires and needs at work.

Intrinsic Motivation:

Intrinsic motivation is defined as performing an action or behavior because you enjoy the activity itself.

Extrinsic Motivation:

Extrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by external rewards such as money, fame, grades, and praise.

Salary:

A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis (Salako, 2018).

Work-Life Balance:

Work− life balance is a concept including the proper prioritization between work (career and ambition) and lifestyle (health, pleasure, leisure, family).

1.9 Historical Perspective of Research Content

The organizations chosen for the study are Nestlé Nigeria PLC and Cway Foods & Beverages Limited. They were chosen because they were one of the top performing Food and Beverages companies in Ogun State. As such there is a need to look at their employee motivation techniques and how they drive their organizational performance.

1.9.1 Historical Perspective on Nestle Nigeria plc

Nestlé Nigeria PLC is one of the largest food and beverage companies in Africa with a staff strength of over 2,300 direct employees, 3 manufacturing sites, 8 branch offices and a head office located in Lagos. Their most notable brands include Maggi, Milo, Golden Morn, Nescafé and Nestlé Pure Life (Nestle CWA, 2018). In the first quarter of 2018 it made revenue of ₦67.5 billion. The major strength of Nestle is the fact that they have the strongest brand in consumer goods market not just in Nigeria but all over the world (McGrath, 2016). Their weakness is their unwillingness to target customers in Rural Areas.

1.9.2 Historical Perspective on CWAY Group

CWAY as a company was founded by Mr. Onest Che in Nigeria in the year 1999. ‘CWAY’ is an acronym of the first alphabet of the word ‘CHINA’ and the word ‘WAY’, namely ‘China Way’. Similarly, Mr. Onest who has been motivated, decided to bring the successful experience from Chinese reforms and liberal enterprise into developing countries in the form of Foreign Direct Investment to impact positively on local social welfare.

Today, after 19 years of fast paced development, CWAY Group grew into a multinational enterprise operating 16 plants across Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, India and China. Thirteen (13) of these plants are located in Nigeria: Lagos, Ota, Ibadan, Kano, Kaduna, Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt, with thousands of employees.