Determinants of employee motivation in the nigerian institute for oil palm research [nifor]: herzberg's hygiene factor approach

Abstract

Employee motivation is one of the most popular discuss in management and organizational psychology studies with several motivational theories developed over the past seven decades. However, the universal validity of these motivational theories including Herzberg's Two Factor motivation theory is controversial. The purpose of the current study is to analyse the factors affecting employees’ motivation based on Herzberg's hygiene factors theory and to ascertain the viability of the Herzberg's hygiene theory in today's scenario. Survey design together with convenience sampling was employed to select respondents working at the Nigerian Institutes for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) in Benin City. The instrument used is a well-constructed questionnaire designed by the researcher to solicit responses from a sample size of 67 employees working at the main station of NIFOR. Using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the reliability was calculated to be 0.60. Friedman's’ test results show that among all Herzberg’ hygiene factors affecting motivation, salary and wages is most perceived while job security is ranked lowest. Furthermore, the regression analysis results obtained from this study show that only the hygiene factor of Job Security revealed a statistically significant positive effect on employee motivation. Hence, the study recommends among others that management should consider policies that will promote the level ofjob security of staff in the course offormulating reward policies. This should be mixed with policies that will enable growth-inducing tasks in job content. By implication, a proper mix of this combination will spark positive responses from the employees and automatically stimulate work motivation in the workplace.