EMPLOYEES’ PARTICIPATION IN DECISION MAKING AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY IN JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC.
ABSTRACT
The paper is a perception survey of employees’ participation in decision making and organizational productivity in Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island. It defines employees’ participation in decision making as a process of sharing influence in decision making among individuals who are otherwise hierarchically unequal. It assumes that involvement of employees in decision making increases their commitment and organizational productivity. The research question addressed the extent of the relationship between employees’ participation in decision making and increased employees commitment and organizational productivity in Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island.
The place of study is Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island while the duration of study is between May 2012 and June 2013. A descriptive research design was used in executing the study using 200 randomly selected respondents from a population of 2000 employees for questionnaire administration. The sample size of 200 was judgmentally determin survey research design in generating the required primary data. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results from the data analysisindicated that significant relationship exists between employees’ participation in decision making and increased employees commitment and organizational productivity. The research therefore concludes that significant relationship exists between employees’ participation in decision making and organizational productivity in Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island and recommends among others: encouragement of work teams,training and re-training of employees, improvement of reward system and improvement of
internal communication channels from 10% of the population size. The core aspect of the study is the use of cross-sectional
INTRODUCTION
Employees can affect organizational productivity positively when they are willing and committed to organizational goals. Willingness and commitment can be exhibited by employees towards their job if they are involved in decision making and participate in the affairs of the organization. Thus, for management to win the commitment of employees to get their job done properly, individual employees should not be treated in isolation, but must be involved in matters concerning them and the organization. When employees are involved in decision making, staff absenteeism is reduced, there’s greater organizational commitment, improved performance, reduced turnover and greater job satisfaction,It is for this reason that the management of Julius Berger Bonny Island allowed employee involvement in decision making on matters that affect them to elicit their commitment to organizational goals.
Employees’ participation in decision making has been widely recommended as a means of improving the quality of work life. However, when considering employees participation in decision making in the work place, one must differentiate between two levels. The first is horizontal participation- involves interaction between teams, co-workers, or peers. The second is vertical participation (direct and indirect) – involves interaction with one’s superiors.
Both types of participation are important components of the quality of work life. An organization which encourages both types will allow decision making at the lowest feasible hierarchical level. The implied goal is to provide an environment where an individual will have the freedom and autonomy to make choices which are related to his work environment and to improve the fit between his personality and the job demands as well as between his work and non-work domains. Participation in decision making strengthens the relationship between performance and the expectation of a satisfactory outcome through a better understanding of what the desired outcomes are and how they can be achieved as well as directs the energies of employees/work group towards the goals and objectives of the organization. Commitment to organizational goals may result from the sense of ownership or proprietary rights achieved through the participation process.
In granting employees opportunity to participate in decision making in its project execution,
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc., improves the quality of work life by altering the work environment to accommodate employees’ desires, as well as allowing them exercise greater control/autonomy over their work situation, thus creating opportunity for employees’ selfesteem/ actualization. It is against this background that it becomes pertinent to carry out organizational productivity in Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island.
1.1 Statement of the Problem
Since 1996, when Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. commenced the execution of the Bonny NLNG construction project, it has recorded an average of 1 total workers strike,2 partial workers strike, 3 near-strike cases and 5 minor workers disagreements per annum which is quite infinitesimal considering the magnitude of the workforce and the global construction industry labour disagreements statistics. Theoccurrence of labour disagreements in construction sites usually leads to site closure for the purposes of settlement, loss of man/machine hours, loss of output, high labour turnover due to search for better conditions of work and loss of corporate reputation. Economic development activities are usually hampered in a country with high rate oflabour disagreements; since productivity/national output will be low, inflation and rate of unemployment will be high while there will be an increase in social vices. Since labour disagreements originate from the exclusion of employees in decision making in matters that affect them, such disagreements, can be prevented through the adoption of a personnel management approach(whether direct or indirect) that guarantees employees participation in decision making in matters that affect them.
1.2 Research Objectives
The objectives of the research are as follows:
- To determine the extent of the relationship between employees’ participation in decision
Makingandincreasedemployees’ commitment in Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island.
- To determine the extent of the relationship between employees’ participation in decision makingandincreasedorganizational productivityin Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island.
1.3 Research Questions
The identified gap of ineffectiveness in previous decision making approaches which were mostly management driven, propelled the adoption of employees’ participation in decision making in Julius Berger Nigeria Plc.BonnyIslandthus prompting the following research questions:
- Does any significant relationship exist between employees’ participation in decision
Makingand increasedemployees’ commitmenting Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island?
- Does any significant relationship exist between employees’ participation in decision
Makingand increasedorganizationalproductivityin Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island?
1.4 Research Hypotheses
In view of the above research questions, the following null hypotheses were formulated: 1HO: There is no significant relationship between employees’ participation in decision
Makingandincreasedemployees’ commitmentin Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island.
2HO: There is no significant relationship between employees’ participation in decision
Makingandincreasedorganizationalproductivityin Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Bonny Island.
