Employee Involvement in Decision Making and Worker Motivation: A Study of Two Selected Banks in Ghana
Date
2013-06
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University of 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.
Description
Thesis (MPHIL)-University of Ghana, 2013