Pay Dissatisfaction Among Civil Service Workers in Nigeria

Pay Dissatisfaction Among Civil Service Workers in Nigeria

Chapter One of Pay Dissatisfaction Among Civil Service Workers in Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Pay constitutes an integral part of the success of any organization. It motivates employees to put in more effort in their services in the organisation and this in turn reflects positively on the efficiency and productivity of the organization. It is the single most important motivator used in the workplace. Pay is an important process in human resources management covering economic rewards in form of wages and salaries and various forms of non-wage economic payments called fringe benefits, indirect compensation or supplementary pay (Martocchio, 2011).

The significance of pay emanates mainly from the fact that it provides income to workers and constitutes an important cost item to the employer. It is the single largest cost for many organizations. It provides means of satisfying wants and needs for the workers. Pay is a major component of the compensation process, which is aimed at reimbursing employees for their work and motivating them to perform to the best of their abilities (Fapohunda, 2015).

Herzberg (1979) identifies pay as a satisfier and a hygienic factor. Pay motivates workers to achieve desired performance and improve morale and complies with labour contract and governmental regulations. Pay is a major factor in attracting individuals to an organization, persuading them to remain and inducing them to contribute positively to achieve corporate goals.

The role of pay system in shaping the live of an organization cannot be overemphasized. Pay system has been described as the development, implementation, maintenance, communication and evaluation of compensation processes (Galanou, Georgakopolous, Sotiropoulous and Dimitris, 2010). Ordinarily, the management of people at work is an integral part of the management process, put differently managers need to understand the critical importance of people in their organizations so as to recognize that the human element and the organization are synonymous (Popoola and Ayeni, 2007). Therefore, it is imperative and morally worthwhile to have a sound pay system in place.

Cascio (2012) asserted that because of the importance that pay and rewards holds on people’s lifestyle and self esteem, individuals are very concerned about what they are paid. While on the other hands organizations are concerned with what they pay because it motivates important decisions of employees about job satisfaction and overall corporate performance.

The happier people are with their jobs, the more satisfied they are said to be (Odunlade, 2012). The perception of being paid what one is worth predicts job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is perceived as an individual’s attitude and behavior towards aspects of his own job. Personal job satisfaction is an affective or emotional response toward various facets and outcomes of one’s job; meaning that personal satisfaction in relation to a job is not unitary, as a person may be satisfied with one aspect of his or her job and may be dissatisfied with the rest (Bozeman and Gaughan, 2011).

Employees will demonstrate pleasurable positive attitudes when they are satisfied with the corporate pay system which the job brings. Thus, good pay system will increase the employees’ job satisfaction which will invariably affect corporate productivity and performance (Millan et al, 2011). Hence, this study will investigate pay dissatisfaction among civil service workers in Nigeria with a particular reference to Ekiti State.

Statement of the Problem

Generally, research exploring civil service workers salaries and incentive schemes in Nigeria shows that, civil servants are poorly paid and motivated and are dissatisfied with their living and working conditions. The key reasons for this has to do with lack of career advancement opportunities, low wages when compared with other professionals, high workloads, poor work environment, inadequate fringe benefits, and irregular payment of civil service workers’ salaries. According to Bennell (2004) these conditions are responsible for low civil service workers’ productivity and the difficulty in attracting and retaining quality personnel into the civil service in Nigeria.

Civil servants’ motivation for efficient performance in the Nigerian public sector has not always received due attention despite the obvious leading roles they play in the public sector. This situation has remained a very serious problem. The International Labour Organization (ILO, 2003) lamented that the situation of civil service workers in the public sector in Nigeria is so bad that it had reached “an intolerable low point”. The societal image of most civil service workers in terms of their purchasing power, social status, gender bias, etc, has made the civil service unattractive. Its members had gone through harrowing experiences in the hands of the political office holders in the current political dispensation. For instance there is often delay in the payment of salaries to civil service workers for several months in Ekiti State.

The problem has become disturbing that civil servants in Ekiti State are being compelled to seek for alternative means of livelihood to meet their basic needs. The ill treatment and non-professionalization of civil service job breeds dissatisfaction and hamper productivity in the public sector. In the face of frustration, low morale, harassment, condemnation and job-dissatisfaction, civil servants in Ekiti State had been accused of being responsible for the poor performance of the public sector (Hayble, 2001).

Furthermore, inconsistence in governmental policies such as nonpayment of civil servants allowances, embezzlement of pension fund, and non-inclusion of civil servants in long service award programmes have been identified as responsible for the otherwise job dissatisfaction among civil servants in Ekiti State. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to investigate pay dissatisfaction among civil service workers in Nigeria with a particular reference to Ekiti State.

Objectives of the Study

The major aim of this research is to investigate pay dissatisfaction among civil service workers in Nigeria. While the specific objectives include the following:

i.            To evaluate the relationship between pay dissatisfaction and civil servants’ productivity in Ekiti State.

ii.            To examine the impact of rewards system on employees’ job commitment.

iii.            To investigate the relationship between compensation management and civil servants’ job satisfaction.

Research Questions

The following are the research questions generated for this study:

i.            What is the relationship between pay dissatisfaction and civil servants’ productivity in Ekiti State?

ii.            What is the impact of rewards system on employees’ job commitment?

iii.            How does compensation management and civil servants’ job satisfaction?

Research Hypotheses

The researcher intends to test the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis One

Ho:      There is no significant relationship between pay dissatisfaction and             civil   servants’ productivity in Ekiti State.

HI:There is a significant relationship between pay dissatisfaction and   civil    servants’productivity in Ekiti State.

Hypothesis Two

Ho:      Rewards system has no impact on employees’ job commitment.

HI:Rewards system has an impact on employees’ job commitment.

Hypothesis Three

Ho:      There is no significant relationship between compensation management and civil servants’job satisfaction.

HI:There is a significant relationship between compensation management and civil      servants’job satisfaction.