: INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The one thing all leadership theories agree on is that effective leaders

energize direct and sustain subordinates efforts; that is they are

capable of motivating people to do their best.

Motivation is the set of forces that cause people to behave in certain

ways. Performance depends on personal ability and on the

opportunities afforded by the organisation for employees to use their

talents. A highly motivated employee in a boring repetitive job is

likely to get frustrated and either leave the firm or become a

malcontent. A person with little mathematical ability is unlikely to

become a top-flight engineer regardless of how hard he or she tries.

But a high level of motivation increases perseverance to use talent to

the maximum and this attitude makes an employee more valuable to

the firm. In many cases high motivation compensate for lower ability

by making employees eager to learn. One of the major problems

confronting management is that of motivating workers to perform

assigned tasks to meet or surpass predetermined standards. It is not

easy to motivate an individual for the success of any motivational

effort depends on the extent to which the motivator meets the needs

of the individual employee for whom it is intended. An unmotivated

employee is a threat to the organisation if he fails to achieve a goal

or perceives that he can not achieve a goal he feels frustrated and

could develop other peculiarities characteristic of the position in which

he finds himself. All instinctive indignation causes people to behave

in certain patterns which seriously hamper relationship in industries

unless the instincts are understood and used properly.

The essence of all motivational efforts is to increase employee

productivity. Motivated workers out-produce unmotivated employees.

The factors that influence productivity of an employee include;

i) ability

ii) lack of technological know-how or skill

iii) lack of physiological drive

iv) managerial ability and attitude and

v) technology employed.

To motivate employees managers need to set challenging goals

reinforce desired behaviours satisfy employees’ needs design jobs

that are interesting and offer opportunities for incumbents to use their

talents provide performance-contingent rewards that people value

and be fair. There are several well-known theories that focus on

different aspects of motivation together they help explain what

makes people work harder and what managers can do to facilitate

and stimulate high performance.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

One of the major causes of low productivity in an organisation is the

gross negligence of motivational strategy by organisation. The

managers need to understand these strategies and have interest in

enhancing the motivation of their subordinates. This will enhance the

organisational performance both in the short and long run.

Another major problem confronting managers is how to commit their

employees to task accomplishment. Most of the jobs designed by

managers do not possess high motivating potentials. Enriched jobs

are more satisfying and are therefore motivators.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study include:

i) To appraise the various motivational strategies used by

managers to motivate their employees in higher performance.

ii) To find out the impact of motivation on employees productivity

iii) To study various theories of motivation

iv) To appraise effective supervision as a motivational factor

v) To investigate the reasons for low productivity of employees

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The importance of this study will be of value to the following:

This study will be of utmost important to the management as it will

assist them have understanding on how to motivate their employees

to higher performance for achievement of the organisational

objectives.

To the public it will assist them to take advantage of knowing the

concept of motivation.

Also other scholars who may be interested in conducting research on

similar topics can use this research as a reference material upon

which they can achieve their study and broaden their knowledge.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research question serves as a guide to the researcher for

answers to the problems being investigated. This question include

among others the following:

i) What are the various motivational strategies used by managers

to motivate their employee to higher performance?

ii) What is the impact of motivation on employee productivity?

iii) What are the various theories of motivation?

iv) Is effective supervision a motivational factor?

v) What are the reasons for low productivity of employees?

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The researcher decided to limit the scope of this study to motivational

strategies to know the impact of motivation on employees’

productivity in an organisation. And also focus on motivational

strategies used by Mobile Telecommunication Network Kaduna North

Branch. This is to enable the researcher meet with time and

minimize cost.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The attitude of MTN Kaduna Branch staff was not encouraging as

some did not answer the questionnaires and management were not

willing to give out certain information as they termed such information

as strictly confidential.

Literatures on the subject matter even though available but the

problem is having it at the right time.

Low return rate of questionnaires by the management and staff

The limited time within which the research work is to be completed.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Motivation: is the set of forces that cause people to behave in

certain ways.

Productivity: is one or a number of output measures can be taken

and compared with one or a number of output measures.

MTN: Means Mobile Telecommunication Network.

Performance: Depends on personal ability and on the opportunities

afforded by the organisation for employees to use their talent.

Strategy: is a company’s game plan. Although that plan does not

precisely detail all future deployments (of people finances and

material) it does provide a framework for managerial decision.