EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND PERFORMANCE IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE A STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

  1. Background to the Study

The success and survival of any organization is dependent, to a large extent, on the quality of employees or human resources that it employs. Organizations that do not put emphasis on attracting and retaining talents may find themselves in direct consequences, as their competitors may be outplaying them in the strategic employment of their human resources (Orga & Ogbo, 2012). With the increase in competition, locally or globally, organizations must become more adaptable, resilient, agile and client-focused to succeed. In order to achieve maximum output or productivity, employers should, as a matter of priority and policy, relate well with their employees.

According to Rose (2008), ‘employee relations’ is the study of the regulation of the employment relationship between employer and employee, both collectively and individually, and the determination of substantive and procedural issues at industrial, organizational and workplace levels. Employee relations consist of all those areas of human resource management that involve relationships with employees – directly and/or through collective agreements where unions are recognized (Armstrong, 2006:751).

Employee relations are concerned with generally managing the employment relationship in an organization. Policies formulated in any organization cannot be enthusiastically and successfully implemented when the employees are indifferent due to relational issues in the workplace. A disillusioned worker cannot perform at an optimal level.  Maintaining a strong employer-employee relationship can be the key to the success of an organization. It is known that if a strong relationship is in place, employees will be more productive, efficient, committed and loyal (O’Brien, 2014). This will reduce withdrawal behaviours such as lateness, absenteeism and labour turnover.

Despite the application of technology in modern business management, employees are still the most adaptive resources of the organization. Other resources such as land, capital and technology are passive, but employees or human resources are dynamic and possess discretionary decision-making power that makes them have competitive advantage over the other resources. However, the management of employees is complex and problematic because the individuals as workers hardly adapt or voluntarily embrace the objectives of the organization (Anyim, Ikemefuna & Mbah, 2015). As individuals, the employees have needs, aspirations, motivations, desires and interests which influence their behaviour at work but unfortunately these objectives are sometimes in conflict with the corporate objectives of the enterprise. The ability of an employer to manage the diverse objectives of individual employees and align them with the main objectives of the organization determines the degree of success or otherwise of an enterprise. Failure on the part of employers to carry their employees along on welfare related matters and policy issues will result in individuals with low level of commitment who will just do enough work to get by. Such employees will be more concerned with personal success than with the success of the organizations since they look at themselves as outsiders. Any attractive job elsewhere will very likely result in their departure.

 Performance in an organization refers to the degree of accomplishment of the tasks that make up an employee’s job. It reflects how well an employee is fulfilling the requirements of a job (Onah: 2014:202). Improving performance of employees is the responsibility of management. According to Griffin (1997), management is a set of activities (including planning and decision-making, organizing, leading and controlling) directed at an organization’s resources (human, financial, physical and information) with the aim of achieving organizational goal. Management in this context refers to the federal, state and local governments as well as managers of public service or organization. Public service is a term used to refer to organizations that are owned by government such as ministries, departments and agencies.  The public service includes the civil service at the federal, state and local government levels as well as other public office holders and the armed forces. In a federal set-up like Nigeria, the central government possesses a universal jurisdiction over the ministries, parastatals and local government. It therefore has a superintending role in the set-up (Onah, 2014:15).

According to Udeze (2000:16), government in Nigeria has doubled as the highest employer of labour and the highest regulator of paid employment. These employees need to be maintained through attractive conditions of service, staff regulations and scheme of service that are adequately comparable with other relevant organizations in Nigeria. This is with a view to making the employees not only motivated but also satisfied with the work they perform. Staff conditions of service for public service employees are negotiated centrally between government and the labour unions. For the Federal Universities, negotiations or collective bargaining is between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the various staff unions. The unions are: Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT). The outcomes of such negotiations are documented as collective agreements that are jointly signed by representatives of both government and the unions to bind both parties.

It has been observed that some employees in public service like the University of Nigeria, Nsukka exhibit nonchalance in the performance of their duties as they feel that management do not care for their welfare. Complaints of non-payment of agreed allowances, irregular payment of salaries and non-involvement in decision-making abound amongst employees. This manifests in lateness to work, truancy and laxity. Management in some instances fail to convincingly communicate reasons for delay in fulfilling obligations to employees. According to Hunt, Lara & Hughey (2009), trust and respect are earned by an employer through open communication, consistent feedback and delegation of responsibilities to the staff. An employer who fails to abide by these elements of trust and respect will eventually put a negative strain on the relationship with employees.

A healthy employer-employee relationship is vital for improved performance in organizations like the public service. Since employees or human resources translate all other resources in an organization into visible products or services, it is important that organizations pay extra attention to their workers in order to attain optimum efficiency and effectiveness at the workplace. A positive employer-employee relationship has to exist in the public service in order to bring about job satisfaction, job enrichment and commitment on the part of employees, which will lead to higher productivity and improved performance.

This study investigates employee relations and performance in the public service. Specifically, the study is being conducted in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND PERFORMANCE IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE A STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA