Influence of motivation on academic library employees’ performance and productivity in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Employee motivation is very integral to the success of any service organisation like libraries and information centres. This study was carried out to investigate the influence of motivation on employees' performance and productivity in some academic libraries in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research design with a sample of 322 library staff from four selected academic libraries. Three hundred and twenty two copies of questionnaire were administered on library staff from selected libraries out of which 266 representing 80.0% were returned with useful responses. The Motivation and Employees' Performance and Productivity (MEPP) Questionnaire was used for data collection with a coefficient correlation of 0.90. The study found that various forms of motivations like job security, wages and salary, relationship with colleagues, staff appraisal, financial incentives, and reward were available to the library employees; and that most of the motivational parameters have influence on the performance of the library employees to a very great extent. The study showed that many staff were uncertain about the future of their career, while there was also lack of complete senior management commitment and support. The study recommended that employees in academic libraries should be well and adequately motivated from time to time to boost their morale for efficiency and higher productivity.Keywords: Motivation, Library employees, Productivity, Performance, IntroductionHuman resources can be regarded as one of the most important elements of an organisation. Its major responsibility is to facilitate service provision and delivery. In a way, no organisation can survive without the full support and contribution of the employees. The significance of human resource in libraries has been further emphasised by Idowu (2011) who reiterated that in the present day information era, the quality of library information services is anchored on certain factors such as the nature of information resources, facilities and most importantly, the personnel.

An approach to quality improvement of Nigerian university library services: A framework for effective quality management implementation

“…Johnston (2016) emphasised the choice of transformational style of leadership, which he described as the approach that centres on high expectations from employees as key to ensuring service quality, by focusing on the value of the customer. The type of leadership style practiced influences human resource development in ensuring the selection and recruitment of the right personnel, to provide adequate training for developing and empowering the workforce (Bamgbose and Ladipo, 2017;Lamptey, Boateng and Antwi, 2013).…”

Organizational Climate Factors in Job Creativity among Public University Librarians in Anambra State

“…Development and implementation of innovative/creative products/services will go a long way in ensuring that their institutions succeed in meeting their objectives as well as guarantee the future of the academic libraries. This is in view of the fact that librarians as knowledge workers are core to the competitiveness of institutions [14] because of their involvement in the creation, distribution and application of knowledge. There is the need therefore that the organizational climate of these academic libraries is such that supports/encourages innovation/creativity among librarians (Unegbu & Yemisi, 2020).…”

“…The working environment which is made of the physical conditions which affect the work and the employees and the goals and policies [3] designed to actualize then affect employees and can orchestrate work frustration [4,5], turnover intentions [6], low life satisfaction [7,8], poor members' interaction [9,10], organizational innovation [11] and could equally instigate employees' retaliatory behaviour as forms of deviance [12,13]. Climate is equally as important in the management of libraries as supportive climates stimulate the motivation of employees to perform their best for the organization [14]. Usually, when the organizational climate is favorable and supportive, there is greater chance of participatory management with staff especially regarding decision making [15] which encourages members' creative contribution and involvement in the job [16].…”

Productivity story of Iranian librarians: assessing the impact of knowledge management and emotional intelligence

“…It seems that motivation is not only necessary but also a factor that affects librarian productivity. The correct recognition of the motivational effects on librarians can also be considered a valuable tool for spotting what causes their behaviours, evaluating their job performance and determining managerial measures as required (Bamgbose and Ladipo, 2017). As a result, in this study, JM is operationally defined as receiving incentives that fit the librarians' initiative, encouraging librarians to seek innovative ways to deliver professional services, managers' willingness to support librarians and the ease of communication between librarians and managers.…”