ABSTRACT
The study set out to examine to explore the impact of
working conditions and performance among non-teaching senior staff at the
University of Education Winneba. The specific objectives that guided the study
were; to assess the effects of physical conditions on performance of the non-teaching
senior staff; to analyse the effects of occupational health and safety on the
performance of the non-teaching senior staff; to analyse the effects of
internal organisational communication on performance of the non-teaching senior
staff in UEW. The study was a survey study which adopted a quantitative
research approach. The design of the study was descriptive, with a sample of
140 using Krejcie & Morgan (1970), out of which 126 responded. The study
adopted a simple random sampling technique with a self-structured questionnaire
as the main instrument. The results from the survey were analysed with
Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS 20 version) software. The study
findings first indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between
employee performance and physical working condition at UEW. The results of the
study also pointed out that, there was a strong positive effect of occupational
health and safety on employee performance. It was found that internal
communication has a positive and significant effect on employee performance.
The study recommends that the Management of the University should provide
comfortable working environment for the job of the non-teaching staff. The
university should eliminate the barriers on communication and create
participative and transparent communication medium to improve staff
performance. Training must be provided to staffs on matters related to their
health and safety.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This section presents the overview of the study which
includes the background to the study, statement of problem, purpose of the
study, objectives of the study, hypotheses of the study, significance of the
study, delimitation of the study, and organization of the study.
Background to the Study
Employees’ performance is an issue of concern to every
employer, mainly because their performance is the main contributor to the
success of every business. If employees’ performance is not optimized results
will not be achieved. One way of ensuring performance is through appropriate
working conditions. Working conditions comprise a good and serene working
environment, as well as other incentives given to employees by employers to
motivate the employees to deliver at their very best. Armstrong (2002)
indicates that most employers do not have high levels of sensitivity towards
the working conditions of their employees. Herman and Gioia (2000) further
explained that employees themselves, especially those with key skills, are
becoming more demanding and require organizations to make exceptions on the
basis of their individual preferences.
The more employees feel satisfied with their working
conditions, the easier it is
for them to
work in conformance
with the aspirations
of the employer. The existences of good working conditions
give employees the perception that employers are not overlooking their efforts
and so they tend to put in more effort with the hope of getting more
recognition in the future. The more satisfied the employees, the better for the employing
institution and the more likely the company can retain the best human resources
available on the market. Frank, Finnegan and Taylor (2004), states that the
attraction and retention of skilled and experienced employees is the key
priority for all companies. One way of retaining such skilled and experienced
employees is by offering them good working conditions as per agreed terms of
engagement. It is therefore an issue of concern to many professionals as to
what constitutes appropriate working conditions and how these affect employee
performance.
Among all the factors that are combined to create wealth or
undertake production, labour is considered the most dynamic, serving as a
catalyst that energizes all the other factors (Yesufu, 2000). Irrespective of
the status of the worker, their performance is very important to the
organization whether it is commercial or not. The relevance of labour extends
beyond the organization to the entire national economy towards improving the
welfare and standard of living of the individuals within the country at large
and the reduction of mass poverty (Yesufu, 2000).
In the early 20th century, money was regarded as the most
vital input into the production of goods and services (Lindner, 1998). But,
after a chain of researches, one known to be the “Hawthorne Studies”, conducted
by Elton Mayo from 1924-1932 at the Hawthorne Works of the American Western
Electric Company in Chicago, it was observed that employees’ performance were
not provoked solely by money but that employee behaviour was linked to their
attitudes (Lindner, 1998). The Hawthorne studies started the human relations
movement in management, whereby the needs and working condition of employees become the prime focus of managers (Minkler,
Driver,Roe,& Bedeian, 1993). According to Sarpong (2016), working
conditions are the factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be
continually attracted and committed to a job or to try to attain a goal.
Working conditions that motivate positive effect results from the interaction
of both conscious and unconscious factors such as the; intensity of desire or
need, incentive or reward value of the goal and expectations of the individual
and of his or her peers.
These factors are the reasons one has for behaving a certain
way. The motivation of an employee plays a major role in achieving high levels
of satisfaction among its customers (Sarpong, 2016). Every employee or worker
has his or her own set of working conditions and personal incentives that
ginger him or her to work hard or not as the case may be. Some are motivated by
recognition whilst others are motivated by cash incentives. Whatever the form
of employee motivation, the key provide suitable working condition as an
employer, is understanding and incentives (Nduro, 2000). Employees need good
working conditions to actualize their potential and there are several ways of
enabling them and empowering them to do so. These include the role of reward
systems in motivating employees according to their needs and providing them
opportunities that appeal to their motivation needs. Good working condition is
the key to creating an enabling environment where optimal performance is
possible.
Increasingly, employers are realizing that the core asset of
the modern business enterprise does not lie in buildings and investments, but
in the intelligence, skills and experience of employees who need to
be retained (Harvard Business Review, 2003). This has increased the concern for
performance among public sector workers. The most relevant issue of concern is
what amounts to appropriate working conditions in the views of the recipient.
There are many components of working conditions other than money that should be
considered by management (Amstrong, & Murlis 2007). In the University of
Education, Winneba, there have been instances where a worker is found to be
providing what may not even amount to half of their potential work output.
Disregarding the question of whether or not the reasons for this instance of
unsatisfactory output are personal, it is the role of management to ensure that
everything on their end is of the highest order, to ensure that the fault is
not from management.
On the other hand, there are instances of outstanding workers
who seem to know no limits to what they can do for the workplace, and play
their roles so well that one expects them to get a raise at the next possible
opportunity. For sake of this study, the Winneba campus was main focus. The
University has about nine hundred and fifty three (953) of its staff in the
category of senior staff occupied in various divisions, departments and units.
These categories of staff are involved at the operational level and the
day-to-day running of the entire university. The aims of the university are to
provide higher education and foster a systematic advancement of the science and
the art of teacher education, to train tutors for the colleges of education and
other tertiary institutions, to provide teachers with professional competence
for teaching in pre-tertiary institutions such as preschool, basic, senior
secondary school and non-formal education institutions and to foster
links between the schools and the community in order to ensure the holistic
training of teachers. The administration and service of the school seek to
guard the mandate of the University which is to produce professional educators
to spearhead a new national vision of education aimed at redirecting Ghana’s
efforts along the path of rapid economic and social development.
This study, therefore, seeks to investigate the effects of
existing working conditions of non-teaching senior staff of the University of
Education, Winneba, on their performance.
Statement of Problem
The expectation of any organization is to get the most
optimal performance levels in all it does. Employees who expect to be motivated
with the right compensation and rewards mostly manage the expected performance
levels. There arise the challenges of designing the condition of service
packages that can compensate for the expected performance. Cohen and
Bailey(1997) explained that one major problem of working conditions is the
challenge of designing it such that it not only spans the world and supports
the organization’s strategic goals and objectives, but also guarantees consistency,
equity and transferability throughout the entire working life of all employees.
It has been explained in other studies that working conditions can be either
financial or non-financial; the most important thing is how it is perceived by
the employee. Stein (2007) stated that organizations that incorporate financial
and non-financial elements into their working conditions are more likely to
compete successfully in the global employment market. Therefore, better working conditions always have positive impact on the
performance of employees
Despite attempts made by successive governments in Ghana to
tackle the problem of poor performance, the situation remains more or less
unchanged. This is one of the reasons why the country is still poverty-ridden
despite the overwhelming natural resources at its disposal. The country is
unable to combine its numerous natural resources with other factors, such as
labour, to attain a commensurable level of development. Rising levels of
efficiency which results in higher performance have been cited by Akinyele and
Fasogbon (2010) as the basis for high standards of living among developing
economies. The persistent decline of the country’s development has attracted
the attention of business and economic analysts. Many businesses and
organizations are introducing managerial innovations to tackle the problem
(Balas, 2004). Unfortunately, many of these managerial innovations being
implemented across private institutions are not available to managers of public
institutions (Akinyele, 2010). Unlike private sectors, most public sectors in
Ghana are performing poorly. Also, working conditions in most private sectors
in Ghana is far better than that of the public sectors.
Several researchers have also dug into working conditions and
their possible effects on employee output (Yusuf & Metiboba, 2012;
Jayaweera, 2015; Mafi & Diodio, 2014). Further literatures in Ghana have
established that working condition has significant effect on the performance of
employees. The current economic development witnessed in Ghana has triggered
rapid development of public universities, including University of Education, Winneba. The rapid expansion has also generated a lot of
internal management problems with consequent effects on employee job
performance. Therefore, efforts to improve upon working conditions of public
universities can create satisfied employees with a positive effect on
performances of the staff of these universities. The University of Education in
Winneba, Ghana experiences a number of employee related challenges including
high rate of absenteeism, low morale and turnover among others; all reminiscent
of poor working environment.
Nevertheless, very few studies have been conducted on the
effects of the working conditions on the performance of the non-teaching staff
at the University. In recent years, employees comfort on the job, determined by
workplace conditions and environment has been recognized as an important factor
for measuring their productivity. Organizations must therefore know how to
manage a diverse group of workers because as this will aid in recruitment and
retention of talented employees and ensure high levels of job satisfaction.
Hence, Heartfield (2012) is of the opinion that in order to create an
environment for employee, especially the non-teaching staff, that can aid
performance in workplace (emphasis added), it is vitally important to know
which key factors of the environment affect their performance. Most studies
have therefore not focused on certain service provision and administrative set
ups in Ghana. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to know the
relation between working condition and performance of non-teaching senior
staffs at University of Education, Winneba, Ghana.
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