Title: Influence of Motivation on Turnover of Library Personnel in Some Public Universities in South West Nigeria
Abstract: Introduction A characteristic of organisations in the 21st century is the continuous and rapid pace of change. Volatile free market economic environments, rapidly changing technologies, global competition, workforce diversity, and new organisational structures are some of the challenges an organisation faces. Organisations may differ in the priority they attach to the human resource component, in their efforts toward achieving high productivity and competitive advantage, yet they all recognize the value of a qualified, motivated, stable, and responsive team of employees (Huselid, 1995). Retention and productivity levels of the existing workforce are an essential concern in human resource management. Employee turnover is one of the most studied topics in organisational psychology (Mitra, Jenkins and Gupta, 1992) and is of interest to other professionals, including personnel researchers, and managers of organisations (Mobley, Griffeth, Hand and Meglino, 1979). According to Tella, Ayeni and Popoola (2007), the management of people at work is an integral part of the management process. To understand the critical importance of people in the organisation is to recognize that the human element and the organisation are synonymous. A well-managed organisation usually sees an average worker as the root source of quality and productivity gains. Such organisations do not look at capital investment, but at employees, as the fundamental source of improvement. An organisation is effective to the degree to which it achieves its goals. An effective organisation will make sure that there is a spirit of cooperation and sense of commitment and satisfaction within the sphere of its influence. In order to make employees satisfied and committed to their jobs in academic libraries, there is need for strong and effective motivation at the various levels, departments, and sections of the library. Literature Review Motivation is a basic psychological process. A recent data-based comprehensive analysis concluded that competitiveness problems appear to be largely motivational in nature (Mine, Ebrahimi, and Wachtel, 1995). Along with perception, personality, attitudes, and learning, motivation is a very important element of behaviour. Nevertheless, motivation is not the only explanation of behaviour. It interacts with and acts in conjunction with other cognitive processes. Motivating is the management process of influencing behaviour based on the knowledge of what make people tick (Luthans, 1998). Motivation and motivating both deals with the range of conscious human behaviour somewhere between two extremes: reflex actions such as a sneeze or flutter of the eyelids; and learned habits such as brushing one's teeth or handwriting style (Wallace and Szilag 1982: 53). Luthans (1998) asserts that motivation is the process that arouses, energizes, directs, and sustains behaviour and performance. That is, it is the process of stimulating people to action and to achieve a desired task. One way of stimulating people is to employ effective motivation, which makes workers more satisfied with and committed to their jobs. Money is not the only motivator. There are other incentives which can also serve as motivators. Motivation is something that can come and go in an instant. The workplace often can be a fun and enjoyable place, but other times it can be the pit of hell. Not only do most of us cope with stress, fatigue, mental and physical anguish, but we must also complete the mission that is set forth for us. Motivation is delivered in many different ways. Each person may be different, but sometimes we share the same types of motivation with others. Along with perception, personality, attitudes, and learning, motivation is a very important part of understanding behaviour. Luthan (1998), asserts that motivation should not be thought of as the only explanation of behaviour, since it interacts with and acts in conjunction with other mediating processes and with the environment. …
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 15
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