ABSTRACT

The study is on Management and organizational performance in the banking industry in Kogi State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are: to ascertain the extent to which planning, organising, directing and controlling affect organisational performance in the Nigerian banking sector; to assess how training affect employees’ performance; to determine the role of performance appraisal on organisational performance in Nigerian banks and to identify how motivation affects employees performance in the Nigerian banking industry. The study had a population of 1219 out of which a sample size of 301 was realized using Taro Yamane statistical formula. The instruments for data collection were structured questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire was structured on five-point Likert scale in line with the objectives of the study. The instrument was checked for reliability using Cronbach’s Alpha statistical tool. An Alpha of 0.98 and an inter-item (standardised) coefficient of 0.99 were obtained. The study employed survey research design. The questionnaire was administered to senior and junior staff of each of the banks studied. The total number of questionnaire distributed for the study was three hundred and one (301) copies while two hundred and eighty (280) representing 93 % were completed and returned. The findings show that: planning, organising, directing and controlling enable organisations meet goals and objectives in the most effective and efficient manner; training removes performance deficiencies and improves employees’ skills and proficiency; performance appraisal identifies individual strengths to be built and areas of weaknesses to be overcome which will in turn lead to performance improvement; performance improves when an employee has responsibility, personal growth and achievement and also recognised. The study recommends that; management should make employee satisfaction a strategic corporate goal in order to make the organization have improved performance; recognition as a motivational tool should be given enough attention in the Nigerian banking industry; the employees should be communicated and clearly explained the purpose as well as the process of appraisal. Workers should be trained and retrained from time to time in order to update their knowledge for performance of their tasks.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Every organisation is judged by its performance. For more than a decade, organisational environments have experienced radical changes. As a result of greater competition in the global marketplace, the majority of organisations have greatly streamlined their operations (Collis and Montgomery, 1995). Every moment presents a diverse set of challenges and obstacles: laws and regulations are evolving, the economy is altering, and most importantly, no one is aware of what problems or obstacles will arise. Other environmental factors, both external and internal are there for organisations to grapple with. To remain competitive in such an environment, an organisation needs to get the most out of its assets, especially the human assets. To achieve this, proper management of the performance of an organisation’s resources have to be given serious attention.

Effective management of people within an organisation has over the years become a business imperative. The collective focus and effort towards achieving desired goals, and the ability to deliver and manage effectively, is necessary to drive business results on an ongoing basis. Employees play a vital role in organisational success. Their performance has been shown to have a significant positive effect on organisational performance (Collis and Montgomery, 1995). One of the major pitfalls in an organisation occurs when managers believe their organisations are constantly operating at the highest level of efficiency, or that they do not require input from their employees (Foot and Hook, 1999).

The principal influence on organisation’s performance is the quality of the workforce at all levels of the organisation. The function that human resources can play in gaining a competitive advantage for an organisation is empirically well documented (Brewster et al, 2003). For organisations to accomplish their goals, they must continually look for better ways to organise and manage their work. There is a growing recognition that the primary source of competitive advantage is derived from organisation’s human resources. This was not always the case, as human resources were traditionally seen as a cost (Brewster, et al., 2003).

Due to the realisation that people are the most valuable assets in an organisation, the importance of proper management has been pushed to the fore (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1995). The complexity of managing organisations today requires managers to view performance in several areas simultaneously.

Managing performance is an integral part of effective human resource management and development strategy. It is an ongoing and joint process where the employee, with the assistance of the employer, “strives to improve the employee’s individual performance and his contributions to the organisation’s wider objectives” (Hellriegel et al, 2004:135).

A successful management system is one that requires full participation between employees and managers through effective communication and goal agreement, resulting in complete common understanding and not unfounded expectations (Cambell et al, 1993). A well-executed management system is a medium for managers and employees to develop an understanding of what tasks the mission of the organisation requires, the manner in which these tasks should be accomplished, and to what extent it has been achieved. Employees should be empowered and receive support from their manager without removing any of the employee’s responsibility (Armstrong and Baron, 1998).

Management helps to link together individual goals, departmental purposes and organisational objectives is known to incorporate issues that are central to many other elements of human resource management such as appraisal, and employee development, performance-related pay and reward management, and individualism and employee relations. Indeed it has been argued that performance management is synonymous with the totality of day to day management activity because it is concerned with how work can be organised in order to achieve the best possible results in an organisation. Management is concerned with performance improvement in order to achieve organisational, team and individual effectiveness. Organisations, as stated by Lawson (1995:205), have

‘to get the right things done successfully’.

It can be seen that the individual’s performance has an impact on the organisation’s wider objectives, and it is thus imperative that every organisation should be properly managed. Given this background, it is therefore necessary to investigate how to manage performance as a means of achieving organisational objectives.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In a world filled with challenges faced by every organisation in this 21st century, management must be carried out adequately in order to move the organisation towards the right direction. If an organisation is not properly managed, it will definitely not be able to measure results. If it cannot measure results, it will not be able to adequately demarcate between success and failure and thus cannot claim or reward

success or avoid unintentionally rewarding failure. If an organization cannot recognize success, it will not be able to learn from it. If it can’t recognize failure, it cannot correct it. If it can’t measure it, it can neither manage it nor improve it.

If the organisation is not managed adequately, employees may become emotionally distant and have no interest in the success of the company. They will display passive behaviours, become uncooperative, work less or produce substandard results. They will lose faith and motivation and may consequently loose confidence in the leadership team. The fallout of all these is that there will be low productivity. Low productivity in the workplace can severely hinder a business operation. The decrease in employee productivity clogs the entire system, harming relationships with customers and delaying the delivery of goods and services. This can also lead to general disorganisation among the staff, as the workers fail to complete routine tasks. Meetings can start late, run over the scheduled time or fail to address the true purpose for the discussion, communication between the employees is delayed, and deadlines or requests for assistance end up lost. Consequently, Organisational effectiveness will be hampered. Thus, the study focuses on management and organisational performance in the banking industry in Kogi State, Nigeria.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The specific objectives of the study are:

1. To ascertain the extent to which planning, organising, directing and controlling affect organisational performance in the Nigerian banking sector.

2. To assess how training affects employees’ performance.

3. To determine the role of performance appraisal on organisational performance in Nigerian banks.

4. To identify how motivation affects employees performance in the Nigerian banking sector.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

For this study to accomplish its desired objectives, the following research questions are formulated.

1. To what extent do planning, organising, directing and controlling affect organisational performance in the Nigerian banking sector?

2. How does training affect employees’ performance?

3. What is the role of performance appraisal on organisational performance?

4. How does motivation affect employees’ performance in Nigerian banks?

1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

1. Ho: Planning, organising, directing and controlling do not significantly affect organisational performance.

Hi: planning, organising, directing and controlling do significantly affect organisational performance.

2. Ho: Training does not remove performance deficiencies and improve employees’ skills and proficiency.

Hi: Training removes performance deficiencies and improves employees’ skills and proficiency.

3 Ho: Performance appraisal does not identify individual strength to be built and areas of weaknesses to be overcome which will in turn lead to performance improvement.

Hi: Performance appraisal identifies individual strength to be built and areas of weaknesses to be overcome which will in turn lead to performance improvement.

4. Ho: Performance does not improve when an employee has responsibility, personal growth and achievement and also recognised.

Hi: Performance improves when an employee has responsibility, personal growth and achievement and also recognised.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

1. This study is significant to managers interested in leveraging the performance of their subordinates so as to increase their productivity and consequently organisational performance.

2 This research is relevant to business organisations, non profit making organisations, and indeed every organisation that seek for improved performance.

3 The findings of this research work will contribute significantly in enhancing performance of employees in organisations where adequate attention is not given to performance management.

4 This research will serve as a guide to researchers in the future who will want to consult it and build from it.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study focuses on Management and organisational performance in the Nigerian banking industry. It covers areas such as theoretical framework on management, functions of management, principles of management, establishing a lifelong training and learning in the workplace, the impact of training on employee commitment and employee turnover, performance appraisal, performance management

forms as working documents, motivation, importance of motivation, etc. The study is limited to four commercial banks in Kogi state. They are Zenith bank, U.B.A, Diamond bank and Finbank.

1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The major constraints of the study include:

Time: The researcher does not have enough time to carry out this study. There was constraint of time in going to places where data and information relevant to the study could be obtained.

Finance: A lot of money is required in data collection, analysis and interpretation. The researcher is constrained financially. Owing to this constraint, the researcher could not cover all the banks in Nigeria and thus had to select three.

Attitude of Respondents: Some of the respondents showed lukewarm attitude towards the study. This is because there was no financial benefit attached to it. A few others withheld certain information due to confidentiality.

1.9 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

Performance: Performance can be defined as the outcomes of work because they provide the strongest linkage to the strategic goals of the organisation, customer satisfaction, and economic contributions (Bernadin et al, 1995).

Organisational Effectiveness: The situation where an organisation is producing the result that is wanted or intended. (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary).

Performance Appraisal: It is the process of determining and communicating to employees how well they are performing their jobs and establishing a plan for improvement (Ezigbo, 2007).

Training: this is the process of teaching organisational members how to perform their current jobs and helping them acquire the knowledge and skills they need to be effective performers. (Ezigbo, 2007).

Motivation. Forces either within or external to a person that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action. Daft (2010)

1.10 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANISATIONS UNDER STUDY

United Bank for Africa plc (UBA)

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is the product of the merger of Nigeria’s third (3rd) and fifth (5th) largest banks, namely the old UBA and the erstwhile Standard Trust Bank Plc (STB) respectively, and a subsequent acquisition of the erstwhile Continental Trust Bank Limited (CTB). The union emerged as the first successful corporate combination in the history of Nigerian banking.

UBA’s history dates back to 1948 when the British and French Bank Limited (“BFB”) commenced business in Nigeria and the erstwhile STB and CTB both in 1990.Following Nigeria’s independence from Britain, UBA was incorporated in 1961 to take over the business of BFB. Although today’s UBA emerged at a time of industry consolidation induced by regulation, the consolidated UBA was borne out of a desire to lead the domestic sector to a new era of global relevance by championing the creation of the Nigerian consumer finance market, leading a private/public sector partnership at supporting the acceleration of Nigeria’s economic development, and growing the institution from banking to a one – stop financial services institution, while spreading its footprints across Africa to earn the reputation as the face of banking in the continent.

Today, United Bank for Africa Plc is one of Africa’s leading financial institutions offering universal banking to more than 7 million customers across 750 branches in 14 African countries. With presence in New York, London and Paris and assets in excess of $19bn, UBA is your partner for banking services for Africans and African related businesses globally.

Diamond Bank plc

Diamond Bank Plc began as a private limited liability company on March 21, 1991 (the company was incorporated on December 20, 1990). Ten years later, in February 2001, it became a universal bank. In January 2005, following a highly successful Private Placement share offer which substantially raised the Bank’s equity base, Diamond Bank became a public limited company. In May 2005, the Bank was listed on The Nigerian Stock Exchange. Moreover, in January 2008, Diamond Bank’s Global Depositary Reciepts (GDR) was listed on the Professional Securities Market of the London Stock Exchange. The first bank in Africa to record that feat.

Today, Diamond Bank is one of the leading banks in Nigeria respected for its excellent service delivery, driven by innovation and operating on the most advanced banking technology platform in the market. Diamond Bank has over the years leveraged on its underlying resilience to grow its asset base and to successfully retain its key business relationships. Diamond Bank has won several awards including the prestigious “Nigerian Bank of the Year, 2009”, the “Most Improved Bank of the Year,

2007″ and “Best Bank in Mergers & Acquisition, 2006” all by the ThisDay Annual Awards.

In 2008, in order to ensure it grows with the needs of its customers, diamond bank streamlined its operations into three distinct strategic business segments: Retail banking, Corporate Banking, and Public sector.

Zenith Bank plc

Zenith Bank Plc is one of the biggest and most profitable banks in Nigeria with total assets plus contingents of N1 .66 trillion as at the end of December 2009. The bank was established in May 1990 and started operations in July same year as a commercial bank. It became a public limited company on June 17, 2004 and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on October 21, 2004. The bank presently has a shareholder base of about one million, an indication of the strength of the Zenith brand. The operating results of the bank since it went public in 2004 indicate an impressive performance on all parameters. Total assets grew by 759 per cent from N193.3 billion as at the end of June 2004 to N1.66 trillion in December 2009. Within the same period, shareholders funds rose from N 15.6 billion to N337.8 billion, indicating an increase of 2065 per cent while total deposit jumped by 830 per cent from N 131 billion to N 1.2 trillion. Recent financial performance has been equally impressive with results for the fifteen months ending December 2009 showing gross earnings of N277 billion and profit before tax of N35 billion. Profit after tax for the period was N20.6 billion.