Employee Involvement in Decision Making and Worker Motivation: A Study of Two Selected Banks in Ghana

Abstract

Rewarding workers for their effort within a given period becomes a motivation that spurs them on to work harder. Motivation for work is both intrinsic and extrinsic, but with time, individual workers become more drawn towards one of the forms of motivation. This study focuses on examining the relationship between employee involvement in decision making and their levels of motivation. Participation or involvement in decision making constitutes an intrinsic form of motivation while monetary benefits and other material incentives constitute the extrinsic form of motivation. Specifically, the study sought to examine whether giving workers the chance to participate in decision making makes them more motivated on the job. It also sought to find out if employees in private and public banks differ in their motivation preferences. The study again went further to establish which of the forms of motivation are workers of banks more drawn towards. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Interviews were conducted with one human resource officer from each bank and supplemented with survey data gathered from workers of each bank, who responded to both close-ended and open-ended questions. Respondents were workers in two selected banks in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana – one private bank and one public bank. Out of the 120 questionnaires administered, 104 (representing 86.7 percent) were successfully retrieved for analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the analyses. The findings revealed that, although bank workers get motivated when given the chance to participate in decision making, such motivation is not strong enough (weak positive correlation). Partaking in decision making makes employees feel satisfied on the job; makes them feel as part of the organisation; and there is reduction in autocracy. Again, workers in the public bank are more motivated when they take part in decision making than their counterparts in the private bank. While managers are more inclined towards non- financial incentives (specifically intrinsic motivation), non-managers are more inclined towards financial incentives (extrinsic motivation). Finally, workers in banks prefer more of financial rewards than participation in decision making. It is recommended that seminars should be organized to educate workers on alternative forms of incentives. This will enable them appreciate other reasons or incentives for work including: inner satisfaction through participation in decision making and recognition.. Future research on the subject should consider a comparison between organisations from diverse industries or sectors of the economy for deeper insight into the dynamics of worker motivation and generalisation to all categories of workers.