Abstract
Recognition and opportunity for advancement are facets of motivation that affect employee satisfaction at the workplace. For management to adequately attend to these, there is the need to know how the employees themselves feel about such issues. This study was conducted to assess the perceptions of employees of a financial institution in Ghana regarding recognition and opportunity for advancement. Survey with questionnaire and interview were used to collect data from 61 employees. Descriptive statistics and chi-square at 0.05 level of significance were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that majority of the respondents (55.7%) appeared satisfied with recognition accorded them at the workplace. There was no significant difference among respondents categorized according to gender regarding recognition. However, senior staff appeared to feel more recognized by management than junior staff. Regarding adequacy of opportunity for advancement, majority of the respondents (77.0%) found it to be inadequate. Employees would like to have in-service training, study leave with pay and re-imbursement of subscriptions and examination fees for membership of professional bodies. The study also showed no difference of opinion among respondents categorized according to gender. When categorized according to status, senior staff appeared to be more satisfied with opportunity for advancement than junior staff. It is recommended that management should strive to maintain the existing conditions that make both male and female employees feel equally treated, while trying to bridge the gap between senior and junior staff regarding recognition and opportunity for advancement.
Highlights
Opportunity for advancement and the recognition accorded employees at the workplace are among the motivators of Frederick Herzberg’s hygiene theory and have been studied extensively by researchers in human resource management and organizational behavior
A study conducted by Luk and Arnold (1989) about the motivations and job satisfaction of women in Hong Kong found that the respondents rated chance for promotion and advancement as important job motivators
This study sought to determine the perception of employees of a Ghanaian financial institution regarding recognition accorded them by management, adequacy of opportunity for advancement provided by management and the influence of background characteristics on the aforementioned variables
Summary
Opportunity for advancement and the recognition accorded employees at the workplace are among the motivators of Frederick Herzberg’s hygiene theory and have been studied extensively by researchers in human resource management and organizational behavior. In the study of Lindner (1998) that examined the ranked importance of 10 motivational factors of employees at The Ohio State University's Piketon Research and Extension Centre and Enterprise Centre, it was found that appreciation for work done (recognition) was ranked third and promotion and growth (opportunity for advancement) in the organization was ranked sixth. 288 employees selected from 15 companies in Nigeria ranked full appreciation of work done (recognition) as sixth among seven motivating factors (Aworemi et al, 2011). On the contrary, Aworemi et al (2011) reported promotion and growth (opportunity for advancement) in the organization being ranked fifth among seven motivating factors by 288 employees selected from 15 companies in Nigeria
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