UNIVERSITY OF GHANA WORKERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SOURCES OF MOTIVATION IN PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS A CASE STUDY OF THE GHANA POLICE SERVICE BY EBENEZER SAM (10020942) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL SOCIOLOGY DEGREE DECEMBER, 2013 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i Declaration I, hereby, declare that, except for references to other peoples’ works which have been duly acknowledged, this work is the result of my own research carried out in the Sociology Department, University of Ghana, Legon, under the supervision of Dr. Dan- Bright S. Dzorgbo and Dr. Stephen Afranie. This research has not been presented elsewhere for another degree and all errors in the presentation are solely mine. ............................................... EBENEZER SAM (STUDENT) ............................................... DR. DAN-BRIGHT S. DZORGBO (SUPERVISOR) ............................................... DR. STEPHEN AFRANIE (SUPERVISOR) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii Dedication To God [the author of my life] be the glory To my dear wife, Rebecca Afua Sam, my son Angel Gabriel Fiifi-Sam and everyone who has made our running smooth and faster and added zest, laughter and love to the race. ................................................................ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii Acknowledgement My sincere gratitude goes to those who have contributed in diverse ways in making this project successful, especially my supervisors Dr. K. Yeboah, Dr. K. Ohene-Konadu, Dr. Steve Tonah and Dr. Stephen Afranie for their fatherly care and guidance; and the entire staff of the Department of Sociology, University of Ghana, Legon for their immense support during my period of study at the Department. Special thanks also go to the Head of Sociology Department, Dr. Dan-Bright Dzorbgo, for his selfless service to my year group in particular and the entire students’ community in general. The personal secretary to the Head of Sociology Department also needs special mention for her excellent human relations with students. More so, but for their brotherly love and care this study will not have seen the light of the day: Mr. Clifford Budu, Mr. Alexander Amoah, Mr. Eric Anderson and Mr. Gyebi Asante were very supportive in so many ways during my course of study and also contributed their precious resources towards the realization of this noble task. May the Good Lord richly bless them. Last but not the least, my sincere appreciation goes to Rev. Annor-Yeboah, the founder and Head Pastor of Christian Praise International Centre (CPIC), and the entire Headquarters’ congregation for making my life meaningful, worth living and enjoyable. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv Abstract The Ghana Police Service (GPS) relies to a large extent on human labour. Motivation is critical in service delivery in the area of protection of lives and property, maintenance of law and order, as well as public safety and internal security. This study, therefore, adopted the needs-based theory in examining the perceptions of personnel salary, training, promotion and fringe benefits as a set of motivational tools. In addition, study assesses the perceptions of personnel of managerial and workplace conditions, supervision and interpersonal relationships, workload and participation in decision-making. It also examines ways by which the personnel of the GPS can be effectively motivated to enhance performance. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, where publications, journals, personal interviews and other literally work were used. The systematic sampling technique was used to select personnel; data were collected by use of self-administered structured and semi-structured questionnaires. Findings of the study revealed that, although the personnel of the GPS considered all the variables presented to them as sources of motivation, not all of these variables were perceived as motivating. Among the nine motivational tools, only fringe benefits, workplace conditions, and supervision and interpersonal relationships were perceived as motivating by the personnel. There rest, including the salary levels and participation in decision-making did not motivate personnel. Some motivational tools which could motivate personnel were not in the notice of management. In conclusion, the study recommends that the management of the GPS should review the motivational strategies in the Service. This is because the elements of motivation in the Ghana Police Service contribute immensely to the performance of the personnel. Second, management of the GPS should include the personnel in the review of the motivational tools. This will enhance the decision-making process of the Service which the respondents considered non-participatory. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------i Dedication---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ii Acknowledgement----------------------------------------------------------------------------------iii Abstract-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------iv Table of contents--------------------------------------------------------------------------------v-viii List of tables------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ix List of figures-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x CHAPTER ONE…………………………………………………………………………1 MOTIVATION IN THE PUBLIC ORGANISATONS………………………………..1 1.0 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------1-2 1.2 Background and Structure of the Ghana Police Service------------------------------2-6 1.3 Statement of the Problem-----------------------------------------------------------------6-9 1.4 Objectives of the Study----------------------------------------------------------------------9 1.5 Significance of the Study----------------------------------------------------------------9-10 1.6 Definition of Concepts------------------------------------------------------------------11-13 1.7 Organisation of the Study------------------------------------------------------------------14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi CHAPTER TWO……………………………………………………………………….15 THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW…………….…15 2.0 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------15 2.1.0 Theoritical Framework----------------------------------------------------------------15-16 2.1.1 Hierarchy of Needs Model of Motivation------------------------------------------16-18 2.1.2 The Existence Needs, Relatedness Needs, and Growth Needs (ERG)---------19-20 2.1.3 Two-Factor Theory of Motivation---------------------------------------------------21-23 2.1.4 The Acquired-Need Theory of Motivation-----------------------------------------24-29 2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………................30 2.2.1 Workers’ Perception and Sources of Motivation ---------------------------------30-33 2.2.2 Forms of Motivation at Work Places-----------------------------------------------33-38 2.2.3 Incentives and Performance Based Rewards---------------------------------------38-46 2.2.4 Training and Development as Sources of Motivation----------------------------46-47 2.2.5 Job Redesign and Workload Characteristics---------------------------------------47-50 2.2.6 Participation of Employees in Decision Making----------------------------------50-53 CHAPTER THREE…………………………………………………………………….54 RESEARCHMETHODS………………………………………………………………54 3.0 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------54 3.1 Study Area------------------------------------------------------------------------------54-57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii 3.2 Research Design-----------------------------------------------------------------------57-58 3.3 Sampling Design---------------------------------------------------------------------------59 3.4 Sources of Data and Data Collection Instrument-----------------------------------60-61 3.5 Data Gathering Procedure-------------------------------------------------------------61-62 3.6 Mode and Instruments for Data Analyses-----------------------------------------------62 3.7 Ethical Considerations-----------------------------------------------------------------62-63 3.8 Problems Encountered in the Study and Limitations----------------------------------63 CHAPTER FOUR………………………………………………………………………64 DATA ANALYSES……………………………………………………………………..64 4.0 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------64 4.1.0 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Sample------------------------------------64-65 PERCEPTIONS OF PERSONNEL OF SALARY, TRAINING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT, PROMOTION AND CAREER PROGRESSION AND FRINGE BENEFITS AS SOURCES MOTIVATION-----------------------------------------------65-66 4.2.1 Perceptions of Personnel of Salary as a Source Motivation---------------------66-70 4.2.2 Personnel’s Perceptions of Training and Career Development-----------------70-74 4.2.3 Respondents’ Perception of Promotion and Career Progression---------------74-75 4.2.4 Respondents’ Perception of Fringe Benefits as a Source of Motivation-------76-77 PERSONNEL’S PERCEPTIONS OF WORKLOAD, PARTICIPATION IN DECISION- MAKING, WORKPLACE CONDITIONS, SUPERVISION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP, AND MANAGERIAL CHARACTERISTICS----------------------78-79 4.3.1 Respondents’ Perceptions of the Nature of Workload----------------------------79-81 4.3.2 Participation in Decision-Making as a Source of Motivation--------------------81-80 4.3.3 Workplace Conditions--------------------------------------------------------------------82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii 4.3.4 Respondents’ Perceptions of Supervision & Interpersonal Relationships-----83-84 4.3.5 Personnel’s Perceptions of Managerial Characteristics---------------------------84-86 IMPACTS OF PERSONNEL’S PERCEPTIONS OF SOURCES OF MOTIVATION 4.4.1 How to Motivate the Personnel to give off their Best to the Service------------89-90 4.4.2 How Recognition /Attention could be used as Effective Motivation Tool-----90-91 4.4.3 How One-on-One coaching could be used as an Effective Motivation Tool---91-92 4.4.4 How Training & Development could be used as Effective Motivation Tool---92-93 4.4.5 How Job Titles / Ranks could be used as Effective Motivation Tool---------------93 4.4.6 How Workplace Conditions could be used as an Effective Motivation Tool--93-94 4.4.7 How given Leadership Role could be used as an Effective Motivation Tool--94-95 4.4.8 How Casual Dress Day could be used as Effective Motivation Tool---------------95 4.5.0 Discussion of Findings---------------------------------------------------------------96-103 CHAPTER FIVE……………………………………………………………………...104 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMANDATIONS……………..…….104 5.0 Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------------------------104 5.1 Summary of the Research Process----------------------------------------------------104-105 5.2 Summary of the Research findings---------------------------------------------------106-107 5.3 Conclusion-------------------------------------------------------------------------------107-108 5.4 Recommandations-----------------------------------------------------------------------108-110 References------------------------------------------------------------------------------------111-119 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix Questionnaire---------------------------------------------------------------------------------120-126 Appndix---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------127-130 List of Tables Table 1 Respondents’ Rank and Perceptions of motivation by Salary levels-------68 Table 2 Respondents’ Rank and Perceptions of Salary levels-------------------------69 Table 3 Respondents’ Rank and Perceptions of Training / Career Development --71 Table 4 Respondents’ Rank and Perceptions of Training / Career Development--72 Table 5 Years in Service & Perceptions of Promotion and Career Progression----75 Table 6 Respondents’ Perceptions of Fringe Benefits----------------------------------76 Table 7 Years in Service and Perceptions of Types of Fringe Benefits -------------77 Table 8 Respondents’ Rank and Perceptions of Workload----------------------------79 Table 9 Respondents’ Perceptions of Decision-Making Process --------------------81 Table 10 Respondents’ Perceptions of Workplace Conditions-------------------------82 Table 11 Respondent’s Rank and the need for Supervision-----------------------------83 Table 12 Respondents’ Perceptions of Interpersonal Relationships -------------------84 Table 13 Respondents’ rating of Managerial Characteristics ---------------------------86 Table 14 Whether or not Respondents are Satisfied with their jobs--------------------87 Table 15 Respondents’ Final Rating of set of Motivational Tool----------------------87 Table 16 Sets of motivational tools recommended by respondents--------------------90 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x List of Figures Figure 1. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs---------------------------------------------16 Figure 2. The Existence Needs, Relatedness Needs, and Growth Needs (ERG) ----------20 Figure 3. Two-Factor Theory and Acquired-Need Theory of Motivation------------------22 Figure 4. Comparison of Herzberg, Maslow and Alderfer Motivation Theories-----------23 Figure 5. Greater Accra Map with its Districts-------------------------------------------------55 Figure 6. A Bar Chart Showing Respondents’ choice of Motivational tools---------------66 Figure 7. A Bar Chart Showing Respondents’ Perception of Salary as a Tool-------------67 Figure 8. Respondents’ Perception of Training and Career Development------------------73 Figure 9. A Pie Chart Showing Respondents’ Sources of Motivation-----------------------78 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE MOTIVATION IN THE PUBLIC ORGANISATONS 1.0 Introduction Motivation is an indispensable subject as far as performance in public organisations is concerned. The willingness of workers to exert and maintain an effort towards organisational mission is to great extent a function of their motivation levels. Thus, when existing elements of motivation are not perceived to be satisfactory by workers, they are likely to find ways to compensate for this. For instance, they will become more concerned with earning enough to cover their basic needs in ways other than to concentrate on their duties. Alternatively, workers may also resort to strike actions as Ghana has been experiencing for the past years as far Government workers are concerned. In recent years, government workers are not only criticized for non-performance, they also criticized by the general public for issuing threats of boycotts and strike actions or embarking on them. Ghana Police Service is one of the public organisations that has received its fair share of public criticisms with regards to public expectations and performance. The Service is perceived as corrupt, slow and irresponsive in the area of its mission of maintaining law and order as well as ensuring safety and security (Myjoyonline.com: July 9, 2013). Unfortunately, by the very nature of its mandate, the Police personnel are not supposed to embark on strike action to register their grievances when they feel to do so. The gap between public expectations and the actual performance of police personnel suggests the need to re-visit the organisational drivers of human performance in the Service. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 Moorhead and Griffin (1995) associate the difference between highly effective organisation and less effective to the motivational profiles of their employees. For Moorhead and Griffin, human beings work for a wide variety of reasons. Some want money, some want challenge, and some want security. This means that determining motivation to work requires taking into consideration individual uniqueness. This study is an attempt to contribute to the discussion on performance management by drawing attention of the Service to personnel’s perceptions of sources of motivation in designing appropriate motivational packages to influence employees towards achieving organisational goals. It is appropriate to engage in this research on account of the pressing need to get the police personnel to improve upon their performance in the light of increasing demands on the Service. 1.2 Background and Structure of the Ghana Police Service The Ghana Police Service (GPS), as a law-enforcement agency, has undergone much transformation, dating back from the pre-colonial times, through the colonial period, to the post- independence era (GPS; Strategic Policing Plan, 2010). The coming into force of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana signaled the beginning of an epoch of revolutionising the principles and practice of policing to make the Police Service human-centred with public safety and human rights issues becoming the core components that influence and guide the operations and strategies for realising the overall objectives of protecting life and property and maintaining law and order (GPS; Annual Report, 2009). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 “The Force predates the country’s independence, in 1957, by over one hundred years. The first Gold Coast Militia and Police were known to have been put together by the British around 1844 from private troops guarding the coastal forts and castles” (GPS; Strategic Policing Plan, 2010 : p.23). The Gold Coast Militia and Police operated as armed force or private army. They were formed to protect the colonial regime and for that matter the interest of the British. The personnel were used to protect the British officials as they engaged in escort duties, safeguarded government strategic installations and enforced law and order. This the personnel did by use of brutish force. They had power to take people into custody. The British had full control over the Gold Coast in 1871 and by 1876 “the Force was renamed the Gold Coast Constabulary with about 700 men. At this period, the line of authority or hierarchy could be explained as master-servant relations rooted in Douglas McGregor’s Theory X (McGregor, 1960). In this type of hierarchical relations, the personnel were to obey orders from above. Besides, powers were concentrated at the top to the extent that the personnel having little regard for the use of discretion. Threats and coercion were, therefore, used to gain compliance from subordinates. It was at this period that the personnel had very little motivation to work. Two factors could be attributed / related to this. First, the recruitment into the Service was a matter of force. The chiefs at the time were used by the British Government to forcefully recruit young energetic men into the Service. As a result of people’s general dislike for British rule, these personnel were seen not only as part of exploitative machinery used by the British Government but also stooges who run the errands of the “Whiteman” without questioning. Second, the personnel of the Service had little respect and motivation as most of them entered the Service against their will. Besides, the use of coercive force by the personnel in their University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 operations to achieve the objectives of the colonial masters made the Service quite unattractive. Perhaps, the only motivation available at the time could be the training offered to personnel, provision of logistics as well as the chance of taking part in missions abroad. By independence, “the work force had expanded to 6,000 officers and to about 19,000 in 1970 / 71. The size of the Police Service declined to 15,484 in 1992 and by 2001 there were 14,412 officers servicing a population of 18.9 million, which is more than double the population of 1970 / 1971” (GPS; Strategic Policing Plan, 2010: p.24). In December 2005 the GPS had 17,944 officers serving a population of 21.12 million – hence - indicating a police-population ratio of 1:1,178. By December, 2008 there were 23,702 officers, serving a population of 23.9 million Ghanaians, resulting to a police - population ratio of 1:1,008 (GPS; Strategic Policing Plan, 2010). Since independence, the Service has played a principal role as far as the criminal justice system of the country is concerned. The Service is the most visible arm of government as the symbol of law and order to the people of Ghana. The work of Ghana Police is guided by the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the Police Service Act, 1970 (Act 350) as well as the Police Force (Amendment) Act 1974 (NRC D. 303). The Service is also governed by the Police Service (Administration) Regulations, 1974 (LI 880) and the Police Service (Disciplinary Proceedings) Regulations, 1974 (LI 993) (Ministry of the Interior, 2010). It is one of the fourteen public services in Ghana by Article 190 (1) (a) of the same Constitution (GPS; Strategic Policing Plan, 2010). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 However, since the Service retain most of the structure and the principles bequeathed them by the British, one can find an element of this sort of relations in the Service presently. In its current structure, the Ghana Police Service maintains a regimented and hierarchical arrangement with the Inspector–General of Police (IGP) at the top, followed by the Deputy Inspector–General of Police (DIGP) who assists the IGP in the management of the Service. There are also eleven (11) Director-Generals and twelve (12) Regional Commanders who head various Schedules and Police Regions respectively. These Schedules and Regions are divided into Departments, Units, Divisions, Districts, Stations and Posts which are headed by appropriate Senior Police Officers and personnel at the inspectorate level (GPS; Strategic Policing Plan, 2010). The structure and hierarchal nature of the Service could be the consequences of the way it was organised by the British. The personnel took instruction from their European superiors and administrators. They were made to safeguard the regime rather than seeking the needs and providing security to the people. Nevertheless, this kind of relationship had been modified to suit the present democratic principles of the country. As the current name implies, the Service (Force) has undergone some transformation since Ghana’s independence from its crude force orientation and operation to a Service, particularly with the coming into force of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, focusing on the protection of the public and community safety with individual rights being the major factor that determines and direct the operations and strategies for reaching out to the public, particularly the vulnerable. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 The Constitution enjoins the Service to run on independent policing principles. Currently, the Service is dedicated to a constant transformation of its services from traces of its martial and coercive policing outlook into one functioning on the democratic viewpoint and globally accepted best practices of providing safe, calm and non-violent community policing services (GPS; Strategic Policing Plan, 2010). The responsibilities of the Police Service are to protect life and property, prevent and detect crime, apprehend offenders, maintain law and order as well as ensure safety of persons and property (Ministry of the Interior, 2010). Though these responsibilities have been specified or spelt out and the institutions governing them have also been developed over the years, these do not necessarily guarantee maximum performance by the personnel. Experts indicate that workers do perform in relation to availability / existence of certain motivational elements (Adkins, Werbel, and Fahr 2001; Ashford, Lee, and Bobko 1989; Davy, Kinicki, and Scheck 1997). Therefore, to improve the performance of the Ghana Police Service personnel, management of the Service cannot disregard motivation. One aspect of motivation that has been taken for granted over the years but being considered in this work is how the perceptions of personnel of sources of motivation affect the efficacy of those motivational elements. 1.3 Statement of the Problem The mission of the Ghana Police Service is “to deliver services in crime prevention, detection, apprehension and prosecution of offenders, consistent with the expectation of Ghanaian University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 stakeholders for maximum protection, safe, secure and peaceful communities” (Ghana Police Service, 2010: p.13). This mission cannot be materialized exclusive of the desire of the police personnel to bring to bear and sustain an effort towards organisational goal. Motivation to accept a post, to remain at that post and perform to expectation is related to meeting needs of job security and salaries among other factors. As noted by Herzberg (1959), an organisation or institution can attract and retain personnel in their posts through good salaries, allowances, favourable working environment and the availability of equipment among others. Moreover, once conditions of work are not felt to be adequate and inspiring by personnel of the Service, they are may be tempted to sacrifice the organisational goals at the expense of personal interest. The personnel possibly will take on other engagement that will bring them additional resources to make up their unmet desires instead of concentrating on their corporate responsibilities. Since perception is how an individual considers, thinks and understands the value of something in relation to his / her life; finding the personnel’s perceptions of sources of motivation should precede the adoption of a particular theory of motivation. Failure to do this would likely result in a one-size-fit-all theory or system of motivation. Such a theory would result in the provision of certain conditions which would not motivate the intended target. Unfortunately, studies about workers motivation have focused on elements of motivation such as job satisfaction (Adkins, Werbel, and Fahr 2001; Ashford, Lee, and Bobko 1989; Davy, Kinicki, and Scheck 1997), organisational commitment (Adkins, Werbel, and Fahr 2001; Ashford, Lee, and Bobko 1989; Davy, Kinicki, and Scheck 1997; Pfeffer 1998), performance bonus (Heinrich, 2005) and job insecurity (Burchell 1999), rather than the perception of workers about these elements to inform decision-making. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 Internal security is deemed to be critical not only for accelerated socio-economic development, but also for the attainment of sustainable development, which is contingent on the maintenance of peace, security and stability. Peace, security and favourable environment are sine qua non for successful execution of critical developmental projects, be it in the oil or the manufacturing industry, agriculture, health, education, tourism and Foreign Direct Investment. Thus, accelerated socio-economic development can only succeed in a safe and secure environment. The Police play a critical role in ensuring peace, security and maintenance of law and order. In that respect, motivation should be of concern to management of the Service. In Ghana, the Police are often seen as corrupt, slow and ineffective. For instance, the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer released by Transparency International indicated that, Police Service was for the third year running, ranked as the institution perceived to be the most corrupt in the country (Myjoyonline.com: July 9, 2013). This raises the question whether the Police are not motivated enough. Since Police personnel are the law enforcers, if they are not motivated enough, it means peace and order which is most important for social existence, investment and development cannot be achieved. Ghanaians are anxiously hoping for a more peaceful, safe, and orderly society. It is therefore, of paramount importance to empirically discern the feelings and attitudes that the key actors (police personnel) have about their job experiences, their current expectations, and available alternatives. A progressive approach must be developed to maximize satisfaction of these diverse groups’ needs and minimize subordination of the organisation’s good to their personal goals. The study is intended to create an avenue for in-depth discussions of the perceptions of the elements of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 motivation of the personnel of the Ghana Police Service. The study contends that motivation strategies cannot achieve the intended results unless their adoption is informed by the perceptions of the majority of the target personnel. The study therefore seeks to contribute in this direction by highlighting how the workers’ perceptions of sources of motivation will tend to influence how they respond to a particular motivational element adopted by management. 1.4 Objectives of the Study The general objective of this study is to examine police personnel perceptions of sources of motivation and their general level of satisfaction with conditions of service in the Ghana Police Service. Specifically, the study seeks: 1. To examine personnel’s perceptions of salary, training and career development, promotion and career progression, and fringe benefits as a set of motivational tools and strategies. 2. To assess personnel’s perceptions of workload, participation in decision-making, workplace characteristics, supervision and interpersonal relationship, and managerial characteristics. 3. On the basis of the research findings recommend ways by which the personnel of the Ghana Police Service can be effectively motivated to enhance performance. 1.5 Significance of the Study The study is significant in many ways. First, it seeks to add to the research in the field of public sector performance management. Thus, the study is to fill some of the existing gaps in the literature regarding workers’ perception of sources of motivation in the public sector in general and the Ghana Police Service in particular. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 Second, by investigating the problem from social psychological lenses, the study seeks to unravel the extent of adequacy of existing motivators from the personnel’s point of view. It is believed that knowing how the personnel perceive the existing system of motivation will not only add to the body of knowledge in Social Psychology, but it will also provide room for continuous research, as well as serve as useful material to researchers and students in the related fields of study. Third, the study seeks to provide useful information on issues of motivation which is essential to performance management. The management of the Ghana Police Service may find the result of this study beneficial as they pursue their mission of protecting life and property. The findings of the study will be useful for policy formulation and decision-making in the Service’s efforts of transforming its operations to be in line with new democratic principles and to offer a more peaceful, safe, and orderly society for Ghanaians. It is expected that, the output of the research will assist the management of the Service to empirically discern the mind-set and attitudes that personnel have concerning their job experiences and their present expectations. This will provide an in-depth knowledge on alternatives as far as an effective strategy of motivating personnel of GPS is concerned. This should aid the management of the Service to adopt appropriate progressive approach to maximize satisfaction of the varied needs of personnel so as to reduce the tendency of sacrificing the organisation’s good on the altar. In this case, the practices and actions of the personnel are expected to be line with organisation goals. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 1.6 Definition of Key Concepts The following concepts have been defined to assist in understanding of the work since they will be used extensively in the study. Perception: Is how an individual considers, thinks and understands the value of something in relation to his / her life Kroeger and Thuesen (1992). In this way, if a person feels that the existing elements of motivation will help to improve his / her well being, he / she will react positively and exert greater effort. Contrarily, if a person feels that the existing elements of motivation is not beneficial in relation to his / her life, it is likely that he /she will not be motivated to excel – hence will react negatively. Therefore in an organisational setting, the interpretation that an employee gives to sources of motivation influences his / her attitude toward an organisational goal. For instance, in a situation where an employee feels that there exist well structured opportunity for career advancement and it happens that, career advancement is what that individual is yarning for; then it is likely that he / she will be encouraged to give off his / her best in anticipation of such an opportunity than otherwise. Motivation: A set of forces that initiate behaviours and determine its form, direction, intensity and duration. “Motivation has been defined as an act of stimulating someone to take a desired cause of action – to push the right button to get a desire reaction. Motivation concerns itself with the will to work. It seeks to know the motive for work and to find out ways and means, by which their realisation can be helped and encouraged” (Ghosh, 2000, p152). Reward: Something that is given or received in return for working. Public organisations employees receive monthly salary as their reward. Rewards are of two types – intrinsic and extrinsic. Both are desirable outcomes but Porter and Lawler (1968) are of the view that the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 intrinsic rewards are much more likely to produce aptitude about satisfaction that is related to performance. Reward System: A set of package or benefits that is made available to employees. There can be monetary rewards and non-monetary rewards. Salary: The money paid to somebody for regular work done. It is usually paid at the end of the month. Promotion: The process of raising somebody or of being raised to a higher position for a more important job. A job could have an excellent promotion prospects and that may motivate employees to aspire higher. “A promotion is the transfer of employee to a new position which commands higher pay, privileges or status compared with the old. It is a vertical move in rank and responsibility. Promotion usually implies several things to the person concerned – higher status, both at work and in the community, more pay and fringe benefits, perhaps greater security and a more senior position from which a person renders better services to his company”(Ghosh, 2000 : p103) Training: The process of preparing employees to perform a particular job or skill well or it is the acquisition of skills, which are needed to perform a particular job. The term training indicates the process involved in improving the aptitudes, skills and abilities of the employees to perform specific jobs. Training helps in updating old talents and developing new ones. (Ghosh, 2000: 205). Training has a more immediate concern and has been associated with improving the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 knowledge and skills of non managerial employees in the present job. Example of training is IT training. Development: This is a process of helping managers acquire emotional and intellectual abilities necessary for improving performance. Example is helping managers acquire decision making and time management skills. Career Development: Individual career development focuses on assisting individuals to identify their major career goals and to determine what to do to achieve these goals. Organisational career development looks at individual filling the needs of the organisation and individual’s personal work irrespective of where this work is performed. Benefits: These consist of all rewards that are not included in direct financial compensation. Unlike pay for performance, programmes and incentive plans, benefits are made available by the organisation to employees as long as they remain with the institution. Fringe Benefits: These are extra benefits given especially to an employee in addition to salary or wages. This may include the use of official car and free health care. Conditions of Service: Terms of employment including salary, allowances, housing, medical care, promotion, retirement and other benefits. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 1.7 Organisation of the study The first chapter of the study deals with the introduction, the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study (general objective, specific objectives), purpose of study, significance of the study, explanation of terms and organisation of the study. Chapter two discusses different theories and approaches to motivation. Here, emphasis is placed on literature review of works done by others in the area of motivation and conditions of service. This chapter also describes the study area. In chapter three, the research method of the study is dealt with. There is a brief description of the study area, target population, sample size and sample techniques. It also discusses instruments of data collection, research tools and methods of analysis. Finally, ethical considerations, research limitations and dissemination of the result of the study are also captured in this chapter. Furthermore, chapter four deals with the presentation of findings and discussions. The data collected are analysed and discussed vis-à-vis theories of motivation. Here, an attempt is made at discussing the result in the areas such as personnel’s perceptions of sources of motivation such as salary, fringe benefits, promotion, training and career development; workplace condition, supervision and interpersonal relationship, workload and participation in decision-making as well as managerial characteristics. It also looks at how personnel can be effectively motivated. Finally, the discussions of key findings, summary, conclusion and recommendations of the study are put together as chapter five of this research. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction There exist some theories and concepts on motivation as well as research works and scholarly publications on workers’ perception of sources of motivation. This chapter discusses the theoritical framework of the study. It seeks to situate the study in an appropriate conceptual context in Sociology. Sociologists are interested in workers’ perceptions of sources of motivation in to e extent that these perceptions affect social life, group interaction and policy making in organisations. Many theories on motivation have been propounded by both sociologists and psychologists. The study however adopts needs-based theories due to their appropriateness. 2.1.0 Theoritical Framework Motivation in the public sector is undoubtedly not a new subject in academic discourse and is likely to be with us so long as the public business is conducted in such a manner that suggests and signals the need to visit the drivers of human performance in the public sector. To appreciate better a concept, it is appropriate to understand the different theories associated with it (Finkelstein, 2004). Griffin et al (1981 p.264) categorized theories of motivation into three: classical theory and scientific management, behavioural theory, and contemporary motivation theories. The major contemporary motivation theories include human resource model, the hierarchy of needs model, two-factor theory, expectancy theory, equity theory, and goal-setting theory. To ensure appropriateness, this study adopts the Hierarchy of Needs Model, the Existence Needs, Relatedness Needs, and Growth Needs (ERG) theory to examine why the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 perception of workers of the Ghana Police Service may find the existing motivation system inadequate and de-motivating. Additionally, the Two-Factor Theory and Acquired-Need Theory of Motivation will also be examined. 2.1.1 Hierarchy of Needs Model The Psychologist Abraham Maslow propounded the theory of Hierarchy of Needs which he published in his book, Motivation and Personality in 1954. According to Maslow, people have a number of different needs that they attempt to satisfy in their work. He classified these needs into five basic needs types and suggested that they are arranged in a hierarchy of importance. By calling it a hierarchy, Maslow conveys the idea that the lower levels of needs have to be met first before satisfying the higher levels of needs (Maslow, 1954). Figure 1is a representation of Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs. Figure 1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory Source: http://meediastudies.blogspot.com/2010/10/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs.html University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 Maslow was of the view that, lower levels needs like survival (basic food, water and shelter) and safety (physical, mental and financial safety) have to be met before higher levels needs like social needs (social interaction and team spirit) and status (respect, recognition and self-esteem) can be fulfilled. Then self-actualization comes where one focuses only on the development of his / her potential with the achievement of the potential being the only reward required. This is only possible when the first four needs are fulfilled. According to Maslow, only 2% of the world’s population in his time was self-actualizing. Self-actualization is the state that most bosses wish their workers would be in (Maslow, 1954). But to achieve this, they would have to ensure that the other needs of the workers are already fulfilled. In particular, this should include a decent pay package and basic employee benefits, company culture which is conducive as well as sufficient recognition and appreciation of work done. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, therefore, has two key assumptions. First, different needs are active at different times and only needs which are arranged in a fixed order of importance are called hierarchical (Maslow, 1954). The theory states that behaviour is triggered by a need deficit that drives the individual to reduce the tension it creates. Tension leads to behaviour that will potentially satisfy the need. For example, a child’s education in a family means a greater financial burden. In view of this, the worker would increase his effort to ensure promotion and pay rise. As soon as a lower order need is satisfied, a higher – order need emerges and demands satisfaction. The second assumption is that once one set of needs has been satisfied, it ceases to motivate behaviour (Griffin et al., 2002: 267). This implies that only one level of need is capable of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 motivating behaviour at any given time and this level of need is said to be proponent (DeNisi and Griffin, 2008:426). This is the sense in which the hierarchical nature of the lower-level and higher-level needs affects employee motivation and satisfactions. Maslow’s theory, however, leaves much to be desired. A major difficulty associated with this model lies in its obvious rigidity. While few people would deny there are lower-level and higher- level needs, many would dispute that needs are satisfied in a relatively systematic way from the bottom to the top (Ghosh, 2000). Some studies on Maslow’s theory have confirmed that people are motivated by more than one level of need at any point in time, and people do not move up the hierarchy, but sometimes move down the hierarchy as well (DeNisi and Griffin, p.427). Again, Maslow’s model assumes that once a need has been satisfied, it will remain so forever. That is far from right. Despite these criticisms, it is true that the needs of workers can be categorized into lower-level and higher-level needs. For instance, accommodation and salary are considered as basic needs of police personnel whilst career advancement is considered, among others, as higher-level need. This theory aids this work by categorizing the needs of police personnel into lower-level and higher-level needs. However, there still remains a question as to whether or not a worker will perceive an element of motivation designed purposely to help him / her achieve basic needs beneficial as such. The efficacy of a particular element of motivation whether designed to achieve a lower or higher level need depends on the perception personnel have of that particular element of motivation. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 2.1.2 Existence Needs, Relatedness Needs, and Growth Needs (ERG) Theory. After testing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Clayton Alderfer realized the rigidity of the theory and proposed a different theory which has only three levels of needs. He called this Existence Needs, Relatedness Needs, and Growth Needs (ERG) theory (DeNisis and Griffin, p.428). Thus, the ERG theory is an extension of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Alderfer (1972) was of the view, that needs could be categorized into three, instead of five. Existence needs are similar to Maslow’s physiological and safety need categories. Relatedness needs involve interpersonal relationships and are comparable to aspects of Maslow’s belongingness and esteem needs. Growth needs are those related to the attainment of one’s potential and are associated with Maslow’s esteem and self-actualization needs. Comparatively, the ERG theory differs from the hierarchy of needs in that it does not suggest that lower-level needs must be completely satisfied before upper-level needs become motivational. The ERG theory also suggests that if one is continually unable to meet upper-level needs one will regress and lower-level needs become the major determinants of one’s motivation. The ERG theory’s implications for managers are similar to those for the needs hierarchy: managers should focus on meeting employees’ existence, relatedness, and growth needs, though without necessarily applying the proposition that say, job-safety concerns necessarily take precedence over challenging and fulfilling job requirements. The figure below depicts the ERG Theory. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 The Figure 2. ERG Theory Source: http://www.web-books.com/eLibrary/NC/B0/B58/085MB58.html/ftn.fwk-carpenter- fn14_00 The major input the ERG theory made to the literature is its critique which led to the relaxation of the assumptions put forward by Maslow. For instance, ERG theory does not categorize needs in any exacting order and clearly appreciates that more than one necessity may exist at a given time (eLibary, 2013). Additionally, the theory has a “frustration-regression” hypothesis, indicating that persons who are discouraged in their efforts to meet one need may go back to another one. A case in point is someone who is frustrated by the absence of growth opportunities in his job and slow development toward career goals may regress to relatedness needs and begin spending more time socializing with one’s co-workers. The inference of this theory is that the management of the Ghana Police Service should have fair appreciation of various multiple needs that their personnel may be confronted with at any material moment to understand their behaviour so as to design an appropriate incentive package for them. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.web-books.com/eLibrary/NC/B0/B58/085MB58.html/ftn.fwk-carpenter-fn14_00 21 2.1.3 Two-Factor Theory Herzberg (1959) tackled the issue of motivation in a special way - by finding out from individuals what satisfies them on the job and what dissatisfies them, Herzberg came to the conclusion that aspects of the job situation that satisfy employees are very different from aspects that dissatisfy them. Herzberg termed factors causing dissatisfaction of workers as “hygiene” factors because these factors were part of the context in which the job was performed, as opposed to the job itself. Some of the Hygiene factors identified included company policies, supervision, working conditions, salary, safety, and security on the job (Herzberg, 1959). For instance, supposing that one is carrying out an assignment in an objectionable work environment. One would certainly be depressed and unhappy in such a work environment. Contrary, if these difficulties were solved so that one’s work environment is just right one would be motivated though one would take the situation for granted. In fact, many factors in the work environment are things that are missed when they are absent, but take for granted if they are present (Herzberg, 1959). Contrary, motivators are factors that are intrinsic to the job, such as achievement, recognition, interesting work, increased responsibilities, advancement, and growth opportunities. According to Herzberg’s research, motivators are the conditions that truly encourage employees to try and work harder. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 Figure 3. Two-Factor Theory of Motivation Source: http://www.web-books.com/eLibrary/Books/B0/B58/IMG/fwk-carpenter-fig14_007.jpg Herzberg’s research, which is summarized in Figure 3 above, has been a subject of critical analysis. One issue raised against this theory has to do with the classification of the factors as hygiene or motivator. For instance, pay is seen as a hygiene factor. Conversely, pay is not necessarily a background factor and is likely to have symbolic significance by showing workers that they are being acknowledged for their inputs as well as signaling to them that they are progressing within the organisation. According to Simon and Enz (1995) good pay and secure job (hygiene factors) are more important than interesting work and full appreciation of good work done which are classified as motivators as far as hotel workers are concerned. Also, in the view of Chitiris (1988), once an employee was unable to meet most of his or her needs, hygiene factors became more influential sources of motivation compared to motivators, hence leading to improvement in performance and productivity. Again, contemporary studies by Hyun (2009), to re-examine Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation in the Korean Army Food service Operations at Iowa State University concluded that “food service soldiers regarded hygiene factors as more powerful predictors of their job satisfaction than motivators. In contrast to food University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 service soldiers, motivators were considered as the more significant predictors of the logistics officers’ job satisfaction” also “human supervision was the most powerful predictor of job satisfaction for foodservice soldiers and achievement for logistics officers. However, not all hygiene factors were more important than motivators for the food service soldiers. Likewise, not all motivators appeared to be more important factors than hygiene factors for logistics officers” Irrespective of its shortcomings, the two-factor theory can be a valuable aid to managers and for that matter this study since it points out that improving the environment in which the job is carried out goes only so far in motivating employees. Figure 4. Comparison of Herzberg, Maslow and Alderfer Motivation Theories Source: http://www.neiu.edu/~aserafin/421/motivation/aMotivation/tsld007.htm University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.neiu.edu/~aserafin/421/motivation/aMotivation/tsld007.htm 24 One cannot discuss the need-based approaches to understanding motivation, without looking at Douglas McClelland’s acquired-needs of Motivation. According to this theory, there exist three types of needs that individuals acquire as a result of life experiences. These needs are, need for achievement (nAch), affiliation (nAff), and power (nPow). These needs which are influenced by one’s life experiences could as well affect employees’ motivation and effectiveness in certain job functions. In the view of McClelland and Burnham (1976), the “nAch” categories of people have strong need to be successful in their endeavours. They normally come out with brilliant ideas, set timelines and meet deadlines, put in place the necessary strategies and ensure that they achieve their goals. They also plan for their career progression. The major disadvantage with the “nAch” category of people is their lack of interest in delegation. The “nAff” category of people has strong need to associate with co-workers. They are good team-players and desire to foster good inter-personal relationships. Delegation therefore is not a problem to “nAff” category of people though they tend to be overly concerned about how they are perceived by others. They also have difficulties in giving critical feed back to employees as well as ensuring discipline. Those with high need for power desire to influence others and have control over their work. The “nPow” categories of people come in two forms: individuals who desire for power to achieve their personal interest and social / institutional power which is acquired to further the interest of an organisation. The need for institutional power is useful for managerial and leadership roles. The McClelland theory is said to have little application as far as public sector workers are concerned. As Opined by Jurkiewicz, Massey and Brown (1998, p. 231) public sector workers are motivated by job security and stability, teamwork and worthwhile services to the public University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 contrary to desire for monetary rewards, prestige, desire for challenges and autonomy. This means that most public sector workers are likely to be high in affiliation but low in the desire for achievement and power. Superior in public sector therefore finds it difficult to delegate task and also create competitive environment. Nonetheless, the relevance of McClelland’s theory is that with the knowledge of one’s need profile; leadership will be able to shape and place employees on appropriate positions / schedules to the benefit of the organisation. The disadvantages associated with the various needs groups can be shaped /addressed through career training and staff development programmes. Need-based theories describe motivated behaviour as individual efforts to meet needs. According to this perspective, the manager’s job is to identify what people need and then to make sure that the work environment becomes a means of satisfying these needs. Maslow’s hierarchy categorizes human needs into physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. ERG theory is a modification of Maslow’s hierarchy, where the five needs are collapsed into three categories (existence, relatedness, and growth). The two-factor theory differentiates between factors that make people dissatisfied on the job (hygiene factors) and factors that truly motivate employees. Finally, acquired-needs theory argues that individuals possess stable and dominant motives to achieve, acquire power, or affiliate with others. Each of these theories explains characteristics of a work environment that motivate employees. The needs-based theories are considered appropriate for the study since they offer coherent explanation to the research questions raised in this study. The central question of the study is: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 how do the personnel of the Ghana Police Service perceive the existing sources of motivation? How do these perceptions of sources of motivation impact on the attitudes of the personnel? How can the personnel be effectively motivated? According to the needs-based theories of Maslow and Alderfer, people are motivated by needs and not everyone would be motivated by the same set of needs at any one time. This implies that organisation needs to have different set of motivation packages for employees at any given time. DeNisi and Griffin illustrate that if an organisation tries to motivate employees by meeting their esteem needs, this would only be effective for employees for whom these needs are important. The plan would not work for employees who are focused on more basic needs that might be satisfied by a pay increase. Thus, while the hierarchy of needs theory gives managers / administrators a straightforward way of understanding how various work conditions satisfy employee needs, it also suggests that since workers are not motivated by the same set of needs at one time, they are likely to have different perceptions of existing motivation packages. In the context of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the study expects the personnel of Ghana Police Service to have diverse perceptions of the different sources of motivation available. The logic of the analysis is that the personnel have diverse needs that they seek to fulfill. In the Ghana Police Service certain basic conditions of employment (such as the pay) satisfy physiological needs. Esteem needs are met by rank (status), interaction and communication with fellow workers. Any work that is fulfilling is expected to satisfy esteem and self-actualization needs (Ghosh, 2000). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 Similarly, on the question of how these perceptions of sources of motivation impact on the attitudes of personnel and general performance of the Ghana Police Service, the simplest explanation is that, despite the existence of organisational culture and traditional modes regarding sources of motivation such as authority and power, the personnel would have different attitudes to work. These attitudes are expected to be reinforced by the perceptions of available sources of motivations. Consequently, the level of general performance of the Service is determinable by the number of personnel that perceive the existing elements of motivation as favourable. If the majority of personnel perceive that the existing elements of motivation are not favourable then the general performance will be low and there would be non-conformity to best organisational practices and procedures, as personnel would find some other means of satisfying the unmet needs. With regards to the question of how personnel can be effectively motivated to do their best, one can say individual officers of the Service has their peculiar needs, desires and aspiration for joining the Service. Therefore, McClelland’s theory of acquired needs becomes handy in that respects just as proponents of other needs based theorists all seem to conclude. Employees with different needs have to be motivated differently should the organisation desires the best of them. The appropriate buttons need to be pressed / pushed by putting in place appropriate set of rewards systems at any point in time, having individual personnel as a reference point. For instance, personnel with high need for achievement should be given challenging jobs and assignments with reachable goals. They should be provided appropriate frequent feedback in the form of rewards. Personnel with high need for affiliation will likely serve best in a cooperative environment such as being employed on frontline duties and intelligence gathering in the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 communities in the Service’s effort to build closer and mutual working relationship with all stakeholders. Personnel with high need for power should be provided with the opportunity to manage others, for instance, by leading their teams during operations and other assignments. It is believed that, all these could be achieved as management of the Service make deliberate efforts to design and put in place systems, such as research, training and development programmes to address, shape and meet the needs of its personnel. Finally, the proponents of the needs-based theories do not categorically over-emphasis the role of money per se as a source in motivating workers. Herzberg’s research for instance attracted criticism for the fact that his theory perceived pay as a hygiene factor. By that pay is seen not to be a motivator, though absence of it causes dissatisfaction. Generally, the issue of pay / salary may not necessarily be viewed as a contextual factor and is likely to have symbolic significance as it is one major means of acknowledging employees inputs as well as indicating to them that they are progressing within the organisation. Thus, while pay may not be an important motivator, it could be an effective form of feedback, especially in many less-developed countries like Ghana. More importantly, pay / salary, if it is reasonable has the potential for satisfying most of the needs proposed by both Maslow and Alderfer in different perspective. For instance, money helps to acquire the things such as food, water, houses, insurance and pension schemes which can go a long way in meeting both physiological and security needs. Besides, social needs are met by having friends, which may not be achieved satisfactory in this era of globalisation and technology where money has become an important factor that shapes relationships. Thus, one may not be able to achieve one’s social needs unless there is money for University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 spending leisure time with friends and other relations. Again, esteem and self-actualizing needs may also require resources including money in realizing them, for instance, to acquire knowledge or have access to higher education and investment in things that give self-fulfillment; one is certainly required to have some financial resources to meet these obligations. Though, the issue of low pay is not peculiar to any public organisation in Ghana even with the introduction of Single Spine Salary Structure, the personnel of the GPS have over the years complained about the meagre size of their salaries, poor working conditions, inadequate office and residential accommodation, to mention only a few (Ministry of the Interior, 2010). This means that these hygiene factors are likely to play very important role when it comes to examining personnel perceptions of sources of motivation. In conclusion, motivation is a very crucial element in improving organisational performance. Workers have different needs they seek to satisfy in their work places. Since they cannot all be satisfied by the same level of needs, they are likely to have different set of perceptions of existing sources of motivations. These different perceptions would trigger different attitudes to work and therefore determine in the long run the general performance of the organisation. Therefore knowing personnel point of view, feeling and understanding of the value of elements of motivation to his / her wellbeing should be the pre-occupation of management of the Service before implementing any policy. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 2.2 Literature Review This segment of the study seeks to acknowledge and review some research works and scholarly publications on workers’ perception of sources of motivation. The intention is to provide information on the workers’ perception of sources of motivation. In achieving this, the review is organised under the following themes: a) workers perception and sources of motivation b) forms of motivation at work places; c) incentives and performance based rewards; d) training and development as sources of motivation; e) Participation of Employees in Decision Making as a Source of Motivation f) job redesign and workload characteristics. 2.2.1 Workers Perception and Sources of Motivation Research has shown that perception is closely related to attitudes (Champoux, 2010, Pickens, 2005). In his Organizational Behavior, management expert, Champoux, describes workers perception in terms of a “target”, or a “stimulus threshold”, which is a certain level of information that must be received in order to make a perceptive assumption on a person, work process or any other target. Lindsay and Norman (1977) define perception as the process by which organisms interpret and organise sensation to produce a meaningful experience of the world. In other words, perception is the way one considers, thinks and understands the value of something in relation to one’s life. Sources of motivation are stimuli or situations that affect the attitude of workers. Besides, like any other persons, when workers are confronted with a situation or stimuli they interpret the stimuli into something meaningful to them based on prior experiences. In this way, if workers feel that the existing elements of motivation will help to improve their well-being they University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 will react positively and apply greater effort in relation to organisational goal. Contrary, if they feel that the existing elements of motivation are not beneficial, they will not be motivated to excel – hence will react negatively toward realising an objective set for them. For instance, Champoux explains that how an individual perceives sources of motivation, such as inter- personal relationships with their superiors, influences their attitude toward work. If a person has a wrong perception, such as fundamental attribution error that arises when one person mistakes another person’s characteristics as the cause of a negative event, it can lead to changes in organisational behaviour (Champoux, 2010). Nevertheless, Pickens (2005) thinks that workers’ interpretation or perception may be substantially different from reality. This is the reason why workers’ perception should be of greater concern to management. Again, literature suggests that not every source of motivation will motivate all workers in the same way. Pickens (2005) establishes that perception process follows four stages: stimulation, registration, organisation, and interpretation. People react to stimuli differently. Assael (1995) shows that a person’s awareness and acceptance of the stimuli play an important role in the perception process. Reaction to the stimuli is highly selective and may be limited by a person’s existing beliefs, attitude, motivation, and personality. In Assael’s view individuals will select the sources of motivation that satisfy their immediate needs and may disregard sources that may cause psychological anxiety. This means that motivation within an organisation is likely to be high, if the existing sources of motivation meet the needs of workers. Also, some studies indicate that workers perception of career path and growth affect attitudes to work and performance (Miami University 2012, Murlis and Schubert, 2002). The study University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 conducted by the Miami University sought to find out why volunteers / group members lose interest in volunteer organisations. The study concluded that motivation was negatively affected because volunteer perceived an absence of opportunity for growth, a lack of involvement or a lack of opportunities to demonstrate any creativity (Miami University, 2013). Besides, Murlis and Schubert (2002) reports a survey conducted by Singapore’s Ministry of Education. In 2000 the Ministry faced a crisis when it realised it could lose a third of its teachers within five years. Instead of looking at conventional reward-based solutions, the Ministry asked a sample of its 24,000 teachers for input on what would attract people to and keep them in the teaching profession. Career prospects were a critical issue. Many of the respondents felt that they were not in management, and they had little opportunity to advance. To solve the problem, the Ministry came up with a creative solution. It established three new career tracks, or “fields of excellence,” that teachers could pursue. Those who wanted to stay in teaching could pursue a “Master Teacher” accreditation. Teachers who wanted to develop in a specific area such as educational psychology could work to become “Senior Specialists.” And those who wanted to lead could follow a management track that ranges from the heads of departments to the top of the Ministry. Later, evaluation of the solution showed that teaching has not only become a more attractive career, attrition has also slowed (Murlis and Schubert, 2002). Finally, contemporary studies have confirmed the conclusions of past studies of Maslow and Alderfer that workers have different needs they seek to achieve (Murlis and Schubert 2002). Hay Group Incorporation, in a series of studies conducted at more than 330 companies with over one million workers, has realised that one-size-fits-all programmes no longer works as a reward University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 strategy. Hay Group has identified six motivational drivers that help create an engaged workplace and influence results. They are: Inspiration and Values, Future Growth/Opportunity, Quality of Work, Enabling Environment, Work/Life Balance and Tangible Rewards. According to Murlis and Schubert who conducted the research for Hay Group, “not all of these drivers will matter equally to everyone. You need to collect specific data to identify the most significant needs within the different demographic segments of your workforce. Only then can you formulate high-impact programmes to meet employees’ needs and effectively engage them.” Perception is important when considering work / life benefits. In two of such studies at Prudential Company and General Dynamics Defense System (GDDS), Murlis and Schubert found that a huge investment in work / life benefits can deliver a negative return if managers send a message inconsistent with company policy. The telecommuting example at GDDS demonstrates that by listening carefully to employees (letting them vote for the benefits they wanted), the company gained tremendous goodwill from a programme that cost little or nothing (Murlis and Schubert, 2002). This emphasise the need for management to examine the workers’ perceptions of sources of motivation. This will not only avoid the ‘fallacy of one-size-fits-all’, it will ensure that the application of motivation variables depends on facts derived from workers. In this case, management would have found clue to improving organisational performance. 2.2.2 Forms of Motivation at Work Places In the book, Personnel - the Human Problems of Management, George Strauss and Leonard R. Sayles (1960) discussed three major options of motivation that supervisors in the workplace make use. They emphasize authority as the traditional form of motivation at the work place. This University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 consists of forcing people to work by threatening to fire them if they did otherwise. By this approach management must tell every worker exactly what he / she is to do at every minute so that he / she is left with the narrowest possible range for discretion. Nowadays, people expect more from their jobs rather than sheer punishment. Consequently, the policy of the use of authority has become less effective as a motivating device. This method assumes that the only reason why people work is to earn money. It ignores the fact that people also want intrinsic, ‘on- the-job satisfaction’, from work (Strauss and Sayles, 1960). In organisations where employees do not have channels of redress or the opportunities to express aggression, the consequence of this means of motivation is frustration. Employees are likely to become fearfully rigid and at worst openly rebellious. This method can only motivate employees to do only enough work to keep them from being fired, and it also enables them to “get away” with as much as possible. Another way of motivation is to raise employee morale by providing good conditions of service, fringe benefits, and offer high wages (Strauss and Sayles, 1960). This is the philosophy of paternalism. It operates on two planes. First, the argument holds that if management is good to employees, they will work hard out of loyalty and gratitude. Secondly, it holds that liberal benefits and good working conditions will make employees happy and therefore work hard. The provisions of these actually raise employee morale. The only problem with this position is that since every one shares equally in these benefits, there is no reward for the individual worker to do more than the minimum required to keep him from being fired. However, this method of motivation helps to reduce tension among employees and to some extent may contribute to higher performance. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 Another form of motivation espoused by Strauss and Sayles (1960) is competition for pay increases and promotions that go with outstanding performances. Competition results in several forms of need satisfaction in that the prospect of a reward spurs on the employee to work towards attaining it. Conditions must be such that on attaining the goal the employee would enjoy an economic reward, a sense of progress and added social prestige. Less supervision is required on jobs where competition provides a reasonably satisfactory source of motivation; since each man is on his own to do the best job he can. Strauss and Sayles (1960) were of the view that competition as a device for motivation is successful among certain category of workers. Journalists of a newspaper for instance are paid according to the number of articles they publish. But in a bureaucracy as in the public service, where promotions are structured on the principle of seniority, competition is not so much embraced and therefore employees would not like to expend their extra effort. In the civil service organisations, managerial positions are reserved for university graduates; this reduces the chances of lower level personnel from rising into management positions. Moreover, goal-setting has been considered an effective way of motivating employees to improve organisational performance. Locke et al., (1990) indicate that there is considerable evidence that goal-setting works in the real world, for it urges the goal-setter on to achieve the target set. People who set goals out-perform those who do not set goals. It is an approach to arousing, directing and maintaining motivation at work. The basis of this view is that: difficult goals lead to higher task performance than easy goals, and specific difficult goals lead to higher task performance than no goals such as “do your best”, Strauss and Sayles (1960). It is worth noting, that currently public organisations in general and civil service organisations in question University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 are required to set goals and objectives through the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) policy of budgeting. Organisational performance assessments are based on the goals set. Greiner (1986) in his article, Motivational Programmes and Productivity Improvement in Times of Limited Resources, declares quality circles as a way of motivating small groups of mostly non- supervisory personnel who meet voluntarily on a regular basis to identify, analyze and solve problems they experience on the job. It represents a form of participation designed to give non- supervisory personnel great opportunities to contribute to decision-making. Joint labour management committees and welfare committees are examples of quality circles. Any organisation which is committed to the principles of quality management aims at making workers feel a natural sense of involvement in their work and raises their morale. This approach to motivation is based on the assumption that employees inherently want to do a good job. In this approach, management views employees as assets, not liabilities whilst negative assumptions about employees’ desire not to do a good job (if you do not watch them closely, they are sure to slack off) is seen as counterproductive to motivation, (Straws and Sayles, 1960). Shedding light on the Hawthorne studies, Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld (1985) notes that economic factor of motivation continues to be very important, in the sense that in our society, pay is a means of obtaining status and material well-being. Many people will therefore work hard if there is an opportunity for monetary reward. Thus, it is very common for people to leave the public service, even though there is a well-structured system of advancement through periodic promotions, for the private sector where there is no hope of systematic progression but the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 existence of higher monetary reward. In discussing remuneration of personnel, Breeze (1995) indicates that pay is the price of services rendered. As far as possible it should be fair and should encourage keenness by rewarding well-directed efforts. Bame (1974) summed up by saying that every mode of payment, (monetary and non-monetary) such as making the personnel more valuable and improve their lot and inspire keenness at all levels, should engage the constant attention of management. Elton Mayo is generally seen as the founder of Industrial Sociology and the Human Relations School of business organisation. His research on groups and behaviour in workplace has had direct implications for management of organisations and for sociology. His study at a spinning mill in Philadelphia and the Hawthorne works of the Western Electric Company in Chicago proved that rest periods and workers’ involvement in fixing it increased morale and reduced labour turnover (Mayo, 1947). Indeed, motivation is crucial to boosting organisational performance. However, whether or not workers will actually be motivated to do more than what is expected of them depends on how they perceive the existing conditions of service and system of motivation. Though the use of traditional authority, improvement in conditions of service, competition for pay increases, goal setting and quality circles as means of motivation is important, it must be noted, however that the acid test of the efficacy and continuous relevance of these systems of motivation is the perception of workers. If workers do not perceive the existing motivation system adequate and result oriented, management efforts to achieving results with such a motivation system would prove futile. But, as can be seen from above, discussions on motivation sometimes do not relate University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 the motivation system to how workers perceive the system. In sum, in order for Ghana to achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, it is important for the public services to improve their performance. But in order for the public service to maximize performance they need to have workers that are fully capable of doing their jobs and a system that motivate them to exert their highest levels of effort (DeNisi and Griffin, 2008:425). 2.2.3 Incentives and Performance Based Rewards as Sources of Motivation Incentives involve external measures that are designed and established to influence behaviour of individuals, groups or organisations. Incentive systems or structures are combinations of several more or less coherent incentives. Elements of motivation or Motivators include all incentives such as individuals bonus scheme, groups bonus scheme, profit sharing scheme and all other external factors, which impact upon people’s or organisations’ behaviour. The term “motivational system” (or structures) can be used to refer to a set of such motivators, more or less persistent in nature, in place at any given time (UNDP, 2006). Employee benefits and services are part of the rewards in any organisation that reinforce loyalty to the employer. Major benefits and services include pay for time not worked for, - pension, during leave, vacation and study leave; end of service benefits, provisions of housing facilities to serving officers, transport facilities and provision of free medical care for serving officers and their immediate family (Bame, 1974). Motivation can be at different levels – individual, organisational and societal. Individuals are driven by their own desires and moral beliefs. Individual motivations may be “internal” or “intrinsic” (activated from the inside) such as hobbies, caring for children, or voluntary work in society; or they may be “external” or “extrinsic” (activated from the outside) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 which is nurtured from the outside. Organisational motivation, distinguished from capacity, refers to the internal motivation of an organisation (OECD, 2006, p.176-177). Social motivations derive from the fact that people tend to identify with others and have a sense of belonging to groups. Individuals depend on others and thus have a certain loyalty to the groups they belong to. Social relations are governed by formal and informal rules. There are three dimensions of societal motivations. The first is a sense of fairness: People, groups and organisations want to feel that they are treated fairly compared to peers or competitors. A second dimension is the existence of criteria and authority that stops unfair dealings and that encourages fair behaviour. A third is the phenomenon of “social pressure”. It can be appreciation or disapproval from superiors, peers or others that the person feels responsible for, for instance children (http://www.undp.org). At any of these levels, there are always internal motivational factors. But it should be recognised that motivators for improving performance may also come from external sources. For example, for organisations, motivators may reside externally in other organisations and the broader enabling environment. Furthermore, there are interactions of motivations among these three levels – e.g. individual motivations may enhance motivation in an organisation, but organisations also impact on people, such as their staff or clients. They influence other organisations, such as competing businesses or subordinate offices, in the public administration. Organisation may in many cases also be the prime entry point for motivating larger societal changes, such as in the case of a tax authority, a Ministry of Education that decides on curricula, or an anti-corruption agency that permeates public and private business (UNDP Practice Notes: Capacity Development and Capacity University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 Assessment, 2005). Use of monetary or other financial incentives in the classic performance paradigm is based primarily on the theoretical propositions of reinforcement theory. Reinforcement theory focuses on the relationship between the target behaviour (e.g., performance) and its consequences (e.g., pay) (Skinner, 1969), and is premised on the principles and techniques of organisational behaviour modification (Luthans, 1973; Stajkovic and Luthans, 1997). Organisational behaviour modification (OBMod) is a framework within which employee behaviours are identified, measured, and analyzed in terms of their functional consequences (i.e., existing reinforcements) and where an intervention is developed using principles of reinforcement (Luthans and Kreitner, 1975; Stajkovic and Luthans, 1997). Many of the writings on motivation and organisational performance focused on organisations using financial incentives to increase both individual and group performance and productivity (DeNisis and Griffin, 2008). These types of monetary incentives include individual and small- group rewards, as well as profit-sharing and gain-sharing incentive plans. These reviews examined these types of financial incentive systems and addressed issues of pay-for-performance, variable pay plans, or group bonus plans. Recent reviews of the effects of organisational behaviour modification indicate that monetary incentives significantly improve task performance. Stajkovic and Luthans’ (2003) studies found that an organisational behaviour modification intervention using monetary incentives improved task performance by 23%, whereas an intervention with social recognition did so only by 17% and with feedback only by 10%. Furthermore, by combining all three types of motivational reinforcers simultaneously, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 performance improved by 45%. This was a stronger effect on performance than when each approach was applied separately. Feedback combined with money and social recognition produced the strongest effect on performance. Several reviews focused on individual monetary incentives (i.e., Bucklin and Dickinson 2001; Jenkins et al., 1998; Tolchinsky and King, 1980). In general, these reviews also indicated that individual monetary incentives improved performance, but not under all conditions. Bucklin and Dickinson’s (2001) review of different types of pay arrangements found, for example, that individual monetary incentives plus feedback improved performance significantly more than hourly pay plus feedback. The most critical determinant of performance was the use of a ratio schedule in which individuals earned a specified amount of money for the number of work units completed. However, these studies focused primarily on college students and included only studies using an experimental design. Again, focusing primarily on college students, Jenkins et al.’s (1998) meta-analysis of 39 studies addressed performance quantity and quality, and found that financial incentives were significantly related to performance quantity but not to quality. In this review, a type of task moderated the financial incentive-performance relationship. However, the type of task was not related to the strength or relationship between financial incentives and performance quantity. In contrast, and related to goal setting, Tolchinsky and King’s (1980) review specifically examined the role of goals as mediators of the performance-monetary incentive linkage. They found that, although monetary incentives influence performance, the relationship is not mediated by goal setting. That is, goal-setting and monetary incentives independently influence performance. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 Salary is one of the oldest and most common financial methods of rewarding employees and for enhancing their level performance (DeNisi and Griffin, 2008). It is perceived as one of the most essential factors that drive people to jobs or make them choose one profession at the expense of others. Salaries may either be rewarding or not. Whatever the case may be, some studies have indicated that income level and job satisfaction of workers are positively related (Center and Cantril, 1946; Marriott and Denerley, 1955; Reiner 1957; Terman and Oden, 1959; Rudd and Wiseman, 1962; Phipp1968; Nelson, 1970). Center and Cantril’s study was carried out in the United States and based on national sample, while Marriott and Denerley sampled a number of British factories. Both studies attempted to find out workers’ perception of income levels. In the end they found a positive correlation between job satisfaction and income levels. This places salary as crucial in motivating employees. Similar studies were conducted on the teaching profession by Reiner, Rudd and Wiseman, and Phipp. These studies show that, in the US, England, Uganda, and DR Congo respectively, inadequate salary was one of the factors which made some teachers leave the teaching profession. Researching on the topic, “Job Satisfaction and Salary: An illustration from Ghana”, Bame (1974) states that the literature on job satisfaction and work attitudes clearly shows that salary or money is one undisputable source of peoples’ motivation to work. They work in anticipation for money which they get to exchange for most of their needs. The salary invariably determines the recipients’ status and material well-being. In any organisation, salary can produce two motivational effects which affect workers performance. First, the quantity can serve as stimulus to inspire and motivate employees to perform better (Bame, 1974). The bigger the salary packets University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 the greater the urge to perform better, all other factors being held constant. Secondly, the salary can become a great source of motivation if it is seen as a regular source of income. This is irrespective of the size of the salary packet; the consistency of it can inspire a sense of job security in the worker (Bame, 1974). Currently, some experts in human resource management believe that workers’ performance can be enhanced if management tie rewards, especially pay to performance. DeNisi and Griffin (2008) discussed many incentives and performance based rewards which are used by organisations. According to them, an organisation can choose between two incentive approaches: merit-pay plans and skill and knowledge based pay. They also discussed two ways by which incentives plans can be used to boost performance. In their view, incentives can be provided on individual levels – for example, sales commission – and group and team level – for example, gain-sharing, scalon plans, profit sharing, stock-option plans etc. Looking for comprehensive discussions of the circumstances under which merit pay plans produce positive effects on individual job performance, Heneman’s (1992) text, Merit Pay, and the National Research Council’s Pay for Performance (Milkovich and Wigdor, 1991) included the public and private sectors, as well as a discussion of the institutional arrangements and other situational characteristics that moderate the pay-for-performance relationship. Generally, they conclude that merit pay plans can result in positive outcomes—particularly in terms of individual job performance (Milkovich and Wigdor, 1991). Again, however, differences in institutional arrangements contribute to the feasibility and effectiveness of merit pay, as do differences in employees’ preferences for merit pay. Heneman (1992), however, later concludes that merit pay University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 44 is at best moderately effective. It is consistently shown to be related to positive attitudes (albeit with one major exception—the federal government), but that pay is only inconsistently linked to improved performance. Reviews on the individual financial incentives and its effectiveness in the traditional public sector settings as indicated by (Ingraham, 1993; Kellough and Lu, 1993; Perry, 1988) appear to be at odds with findings of reviews examining financial incentives in the private sector or in laboratory settings using college students. In general, these reviews suggest that merit pay and pay-for-performance systems in the public sector generally have been unsuccessful, have little positive impact on employee motivation and organisational performance, and fail to show a significant relationship between pay and performance. These reviews, however, do note that the failure to find a significant pay-performance relationship is likely, due to a lack of adequate funding for merit pay and the organisational and managerial characteristics necessary to make pay-for-performance work in traditional government settings. Team-based or small-group incentives are characterised as rewards in which a portion of individual pay is contingent on measurable group performance (DeMatteo, Eby, and Sundstrom, 1998). In general, the conditions under which team rewards will be effective are unclear, especially because experimental laboratory studies appear to be more supportive than field studies. Effectiveness is dependent on the characteristics of the reward system, the organisation, the team, and individual team members (DeMatteo, Eby, and Sundstrom, 1998). Honeywell- Johnson and Dickinson (1999) did find that equally divided small-group incentives sustain high levels of productivity and satisfaction for group members and that small-group incentive were at University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 45 least as effective as individual incentives with groups of two (2) to twelve (12) people. However, their review again consisted primarily of experimental studies using college students. Conversely, reviews of alternative pay systems such as profit-sharing or gain-sharing plans are remarkably consistent in their findings. These incentive programmes include various pay-for- performance approaches that link financial rewards for employees to improvements in the performance of the work unit (Welbourne and Gomez Mejia, 1995). In general, prior research indicates that these types of incentive systems are associated in practice, as well as in employer and employee minds, with both higher productivity and improvements in organisational performance. Yet, even though these findings generalise across qualitative, quantitative, and survey research studies, they again are focused exclusively on private sector settings. There are problems with the use of salaries, incentives and performance based rewards. For instance, as DeNisi and Griffin note, incentives and performance based reward are practical only when performance can be measured easily and objectively. The performance of most public services, such as GPS, does not fit into this pattern, as it is characterized by ambiguous performance indicators that are difficult to assess. GPS cannot adopt a merit-pay plan, which ensures that at least some meaningful portion of compensation is based on merit (the relative value of employee contribution to the organisation). Besides, group reward system, while effective in some instance, are also subject to problems. First, not every member of a group may contribute equally to the group’s performance, and second for incentives based on firm profitability, employees may not see how their effort lead to increase in profits. Lastly, despite the correlation found to exist between income levels and job satisfaction, it must be realized that University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 46 people want higher income to satisfy basic needs after which they may need some higher level needs. This puts consistency of income level system of motivation in question. This implies that there should be a regular survey by managers to determine the motivation needs of their employees. 2.2.4 Training and Development as Sources of Motivation Training and development have been identified by experts as essential for the enhancement of individual and organisation performance (Averred and Burrow, 1996; Torrington, Hall, and Tallow, 2005; DeNisi and Griffin, 2008). According to these scholars, workers can perform at their optimum when they have acquired the requisite skills and knowledge. According to Averred and Burrow (1996:513), training and development are means of improving employee’s performance, preparing an employee to take a new job, helping an employee develop. They also argue that during periods of organisational change, training is needed to prepare employees for the change. Torrington et al (2005:176) explain two perspectives on the link between training interventions and employee turnover. The first perspective argues that employees have positive perception of training and development opportunities. For this perspective, training opportunities enhance commitment to an employer on the part of individual employees, making them less likely to leave voluntarily than they would if no training were offered. The alternative view holds that training makes people more employable and hence more likely to leave in order to develop their careers elsewhere. The view is thus put that money on training is money wasted because it ultimately benefits other employers. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 47 F. Green, A. Felted, K. Mayhew and A. Pickle (2000, pp. 267-72) report on the perceptions of 1,539 employees on different kinds of training. They found that the overall effect is neutral, 19 per cent of employees saying that training was ‘more likely to make them actively look for another job’ and 18 per cent saying that it was less likely to do so. However, they also found the type of training and the source of sponsorship to be a significant variable. Training which is paid for by the employer is a good deal less likely to raise job mobility than that paid for by the employee or the government. Firm-specific training is also shown in the study to be associated with lower turnover than training which leads to the acquisition of transferable skills. 2.2.5 Job Design and Redesign as Sources of Motivation In The New Public Service, Paul Light’s (1999) survey of five cohorts of MAP graduates revealed that a common concern of respondents was “show me the work,” a motivational refrain underlying the logic of all job design initiatives. Job design has its modern roots in Frederick Herzberg’s (Herzberg, Mainer, and Snyder man 1959) two-factor theory of motivation (namely, hygiene and motivator factors) and his guidance for enriching jobs (and, hence, performance) by incorporating into work “satisfiers” a linked to personal growth. These include jobs designed to afford a sense of challenge or accomplishment. More recently, most work design attention has centered on Hackman and Oldham’s (1980) job characteristics model. They posit that jobs rich in motivating characteristics (e.g., task significance) stimulate psychological states (e.g., experienced meaningfulness of work) among job incumbents, that in turn, increase the likelihood of desired personal and work outcomes. For instance, the significance of a task can trigger a sen