ABSTRACT
This study investigated the relationship between motivational variables and job satisfaction as perceived by nurse and midwife educators in Schools of Nursing and Midwifery in Akwa Ibom State. The objectives of the study were to: (i) Determine the relationship between staff recognition and job satisfaction as perceived by nurse and midwife educators in Akwa Ibom State. (ii) Determine the relationship between promotion and job satisfaction as perceived by nurse and midwife educators in Akwa Ibom State. (iii) Ascertain how salary influences job satisfaction has perceive by nurse and midwife educators in Akwa Ibom State. (iv)Ascertain how the level of job enrichment influences job satisfaction as perceived by nurse and midwife educators in Akwa Ibom State (v). Determine how training and development impact on the level job satisfaction as perceives by Nurse and midwife educators in Akwa Ibom State and (vi) Determine if nurse and midwife educators perceived job satisfaction in their place of work. A descriptive cross sectional survey was adopted for the study. No sampling was adopted, all nurse and midwife educators in schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Akwa Ibom State consisting of one hundred and sixty (160) subjects were studied. A researcher–constructed instrument “Motivational Variables and Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (MVAJSQ)” containing 53 items in two sections was used for data collection and was pretested using split half reliability with Pearson Product Moment Correlation which yielded r = 0.75. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical procedure: mean, standard deviation and mean of means was 2.50. Hypothesis tested with Pearson Product Moment correlation probability value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The survey result revealed that nurse and midwife educators perceived recognition and promotion in their places of work, they were not enriched in their job placement and poorly perceived salary grade level, they were not satisfied with their job so the nurse and midwife educators should be made more attractive through the implementation of the special and enhanced salary structure to educators.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Motivation is that energizing force that induces or compels and maintains behavior Nwachukwu, (2011). Human behavior is motivated and goal directed. The success of any motivational effort depends on the extent to which the motivator meets the needs of the individual employees for whom it is intended. Motivation is a basic psychological process, and motivational factors show the competitiveness in the institution naturally along with perception, personality, attitudes and learning. Motivation is an important element of behavior (Ebrahim, &Wachtel, 2010). Shaffer and Shoben ( 2011) defined motivation as a socially learnt behavioral pattern involving need, desire, recognitions, rewards mechanisms and end results. Motivation is very important in a workplace as it may lead to employee satisfaction.Nurse and Midwife educators are employees in nursing educational institutions, and like other employees in other work organizations, they desireto be motivated through various means.
Motivational variables and job satisfaction are very essential in the lives of employees because they constitute some of the fundamental reasons for working in life.A motivational variable is a factor that exerts a driving force on actions and work output of employers in work situations and contribute to employee’s job satisfaction.Moreover, employees are the key drivers of prosperity and success of any institution or organization. Unless and until the institutions or work organizations recognize the effort and contributions of their employees and reward them accordingly, they will not be able to conquer the highest level of motivation and job satisfaction of the employees(Agbaragba,2010).
Motivational variables are those factors which when put in place act like a driving force that propels an employee to work to achieve a set goal for the organization. Motivational variables include such factors as recognition, promotion, remuneration, job enrichment, staff – training and development. Reward and recognition are advantageous to the employees in a way that it injects self-confidence (Khan, 2011). An employee looks forward to the day he will earn a promotion. Regular promotion is a reward for past performance and encouragement to help an employee to continue to excel. It is a vote of confidence and the employee who is denied promotion for a long time gets frustrated. How an employee perceives an opportunity for promotion influences job satisfaction.
Remuneration is another important motivational variable. Regular and good salary is a motivator of behavior. There are people who have to work in order to maintain a large family .If an individual works hard but does not receive what he considers as adequate remuneration for the effort expended, he could be dissatisfied (Nwachukwu, 2011).
Job enrichment contributes a lot to job satisfaction. It is believed that the nature of job or work in the present job is one of the factors that influence job satisfaction. Management can motivate employees by designing jobs so as to satisfy motivational needs. Any job that robs employees of their needs for achievement, recognition, acceptance and self-fulfillment will tend to dissatisfy them (Nwachukwu, 2011). Management should find out if the job is fascinating, routine, satisfying, boring, pleasant, tiresome, challenging or frustrating. Whether an employee works hard or not, derives satisfaction from the job or not is influenced by the way he perceives the work he is assigned to perform (Akpan, 2011). Training and development is an important factor in fostering personal and academic development of the employee. Training is an important motivator and training of employee brings about personal and enhanced development. If employees are trained, their level of education will be updated and there will be increase in skills. When employees are motivated through recognition, regular promotion, remuneration, job enrichment, training and development, it is likely that job dissatisfaction will be eliminated (Van-Knippenberg,2010).Motivation within an organization remains high if a worker perceives that there are opportunities for personal development or professional advancement, if he feels capable of completing tasks correctly and is involved with various organizational decision-making and goal-setting processes.
Irrespective of the relationship which may exist between motivational variables and job satisfaction different individual or groups may perceive it from different perspectives. Perception is the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through senses. It is the way in which something is regarded understood or interpreted. Nzuve and Nduta 2014 opines that perception is our sensory experience of the world around us and involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Motivation can be reduced if the worker perceives a lack of opportunity for growth, a lack of involvement or a lack of opportunities to demonstrate any creativity.Motivating employees to complete their work correctly and on time is one of the major tasks of management. Changing an employee’s perception of his place within a company is sometimes an effective way of improving organizational behavior constructively. Employees who perceive that they have a greater control over their work lives will likely be more motivated to excel within the organizational structure.(Kalisch, Lee &Rochman 2010).
Job satisfaction is the ability of the job to meet employee’s needs and improve their job performance. Job satisfaction is another important variable in an employee’s expectation from work place, Mitchell and Lasan (2011) described job satisfaction as the most important and frequently studied attitude in the field of institutional behavior. It is so important that its absence often leads to poor performance and reduced institutional commitment, and lack of job satisfaction is a predictor of quitting a job (Alexander, Lichtenstein &Hallnan 2011: Jamal, 2011). Sometimes employees may quit their jobs from public to private sector and vice versa due to lack of promotion and late payment of salaries (Akpan, 20011). So job satisfaction can be motivated by the availability of recognition, promotion opportunities, pay satisfaction, job enrichment, training and development (Bolarin, 2011, Gemen, Xhenandex, Kasier, Paradisand Robinson, 2011). This study set out to investigate the relationship between motivational variables and job satisfaction as perceived by nurse and midwife educators in schools of Nursing and midwifery in Akwa Ibom State.