NIGERIAN WORKERS ATTITUDE TO WORK & ITS EFFECT ON PRODUCTIVITY
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW
It is now a common phenomenon in many Nigerian organizations to see some workers sleeping on their table in the office or indulging in gossips in or outside their offices when there is heaps of work in the office to do. It is also a very common saying nowadays among the workers in most Nigerian establishment that “government work no be anybody’s work”. This attitude to work of most Nigerian workers is a very common phenomenon in most of the federal government establishment and it is very bad. Some of these establishments includes Nigerian telecommunications, Nigerian airports authority, power holdings company of Nigeria which will form basic for this research work. The commitment of most Nigeria workers to their work has drastically decline in the recent years compared to their attitude to work years ago. Nowadays, people refuse to work for their pay, instead they avoid their work slowly so as not to finish the work on time in an effort to do overtime and receive more payment. Even when they work, it is always done with less concern without minding quality of their output and the profitability of the business concerned. Some of these workers go as collecting wages and salaries from companies where one did not work.
This situation is referred to as Ghost workers. This attitude of workers is such that they have set their own goals which are in contradiction to the co-operations objectives some, PHCN workers go as far as connecting and disconnecting people illegally in an attempt to collect money from the effected consumers and put into their own pockets rather than the firms. Some sell company’s equipment to individuals in an attempt to make more money. Some do issue forged electricity bills to their clients so as to collect the money when payment is made. A critical appraisal of this bad attitude to work will help reveal some factors behind it. Also, efforts would be made to find remedy to this bad attitude of workers to their work.
1.4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
It is certain that a satisfactory final output of work is the result of the strength of work input by the staff, hence a bad worker or staff will undoubtedly produce a bad work. The attitude of Nigerians to their work has gone a long way in affecting the quality of their works. One may therefore be wondering what could be responsible for this attitude to work. This project is designed to give answers to this question and consequently proffer explanation to facts related to the attitude to work of Nigerians. It should find answers to what is meant by:
i. people’s structure, technology and work environment as factors of organization behaviour
ii. Organizational theory, human relation and human behavior
iii. Perception and personality attitude motivation and leadership as they affect organizational productivity.
iv. Determination of what makes an employer perform or lack behind.
1.5 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1. One major objective of this project is to define and analyze the concept of attitude and its effect on the organization as a whole.
2. Obtaining those factors underlying behavior, factors that determine how people behave or will behave under certain conditions.
3. To unveil those workers behaviour that affect productivity in any organization especially government establishment.
4. This study would be most beneficial to the heads of organizations and workers in general.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What effect does attitude to work has on the productivity?
2. What are the reasons behind positive and negative attitude to work?
3. Why do people work?
4. Does motivation and leadership have anything to do with attitude?
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance of the study is to reveal the attitude of Nigerian workers in discharging their duties and its effects on productivity using power Holdings company of Nigeria as our case study. Its relevant research has disclosed the ill attitude of the company and thus has given a positive solution to them.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
For the purpose of this research work, the study will be limited to appraising that attitude to work of Nigerian workers by using a case study. This study will be limited to uncovering the reasons for the negative attitude in the corporation, the importance of motivation and leadership towards attitude. Also employee selection and placement procedures will be appraised as well as finding solutions to these negative attitude and ways of increasing productivity at the power Holdings company of Nigeria (PHCN).
1.7 DELIMITATIONS/LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The researchers encountered a lot of problems in the course of carrying out this study effectively and efficiently. Prominent amongst them are non disclosure of information and uncooperative attitude of most of the staff of the power Holdings company of Nigeria in responding to some of our questions. Another problem is that of finance, the researchers being students and thus dependent on their older relations and greatly limited in their source of finance to travel from school to the organization under study in order to obtain relevant information needed. This was rather difficult and tasking because of the huge transportation fare spent and the risk involved on roads in trying to get in touch with staff who sometimes, seemed not to be keeping appointment schedules. However, reasonable amount of the money was out into achieving out aims.
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
1. Motivation: According to Charles Ray and Charles Elson (1984) motivation is an internal energize capable of directing behaviour in particular reactions. Carry Dessler (1988) defined it as “a drive which arouses one behaviour in particular way that the person feels will lead towards”. Motivation is also defined as the stimulus that induces a person to behave the way he does.
2. Leadership: It is managerial ability to accomplish group goals by working with and through people.
3. Hydroelectric power: Electricity produced from generators that are driven by hydraulic turbines. To ensure the requisite head of water constancy of flow, the turbines are emplaced in dams that impound the stream flow, thus creating reservoirs that can be used for recreation of water supply purpose.
4. Thermal electricity power: electricity produced by burning any kind of available fuel or by nuclear energy.
5. Productivity: in economics, it is a term to describe how well or how efficiently any economy’s resources are used in the process of production. The extent to which a given economy reached its full potential and the extent to which it expands that potential depend in part on this productivity.
6. Current: flow of electricity through and along a wire or cable
7. transformer: an apparatus that increases or decreases the voltage of an electric power supply
8. fluctuation: irregular movement, move up and down
9. Fluorescent: taking in radiations and sending them out in the form of light.
10. Sinecure: position for which one receives credit or payment but which does not entail work or responsibility