WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES PRODUCTIVITY IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR

WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES PRODUCTIVITY IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR

---

Background to the Study

In the turbulent business environment, with changes in customer demands the main aim of every manufacturing organization is to improve its productivity but this can never be possible without the efficient performance of employees and one of the major challenges facing many countries has been the need to improve the performance of employees. Therefore, workplace management (PM) came into effect as a human resource management reform to address and redress concerns organizations had about performance (Amir, 2022). workplace management has been seen as a tool which focuses on managing the individual and work environment in such a manner that an individual or team can achieve set organizational goals (Esu & Inyang, 2019). However, workplace management has come to signify more than a list of singular practices aimed at measuring and adapting employee performance. Rather, it is seen as an integrated process in which managers’ work with their employees to set expectations, measure and review results and reward performance, in order to improve employee performance, with the ultimate aim of positively affecting organizational success (Mondy & Noe, 2018).

workplace management has been used as a tool to enhance employees productivity by managing their performance specifically, PM intends to improve accountability, performance, communication, efficiency and productivity among employees. Sheriff, Alibaba, and Aliyu (2022) gave an understanding to the concept of employee productivity that implies the level or degree of output achieved from a defined input, it is rather more serious as it has been found that it forms the core of achievement of corporate goals and objectives, production, market, and sustainability of organizations in the manufacturing industry. Effective utilization of workplace management is critical to enhance organizational performance, so as to achieve a competitive position in global marketplace. In the last 30 years, workplace management has remained a static process that consisted primarily of an annual appraisal. Today, workplace management is one of the principle tools executives, line managers, and employees are able to use to achieve their collective goals (Potgieter, 2016).The 1990’s saw widespread and rapid adoption of workplace management requirements in U.S. states. The adoption of these reforms continued through the 2000’s, albeit at a slower rate. By 2004, 33 states had workplace management statutes on the books, and the remaining 17states had administrative requirements (Melkers & Willoughby 2015). By 2008, a survey of the states found that 39 states had performance budgeting laws, and 6 other states had some sort of management requirement. The majority of such laws were adopted in the 1990s and 2000s. Many countries have experimented with workplace management initiatives but most of these were limited to the introduction of performance-oriented staff appraisal systems. These have not been very successful because in these systems promotions are linked to performance, while in many developing countries promotion is still linked to seniority or to relations (Waal, 2017).

Although workplace management is relatively unknown in many African countries, the interest in such an improvement tool is growing among African organizations and in specific African countries. Despite this growing awareness, workplace management is not widespread yet in Egypt, in South Africa, the term ‘workplace management’ is relatively new in the field of management (Motswiane, 2015), in Kenya, workplace management was traditionally defined as the process of financial control, in which the mission and strategy are translated into budgets, and subsequently results are compared with budgets (Malinga, 2004), in Ethiopia, there are some developments for the benefit of workplace management and in Uganda, there were inadequacies in setting performance targets and workplace management planning were hardly done (Amir, 2022). However, the overall lack of management skills and expertise often makes it not viable for developing countries to develop complex structures such as sophisticated workplace management systems (Waal, 2017). And the lack of precise definition and no consensus on an appropriate strategy for initiating and sustaining PM is a factor that sometimes militates against the unity of purpose required to make workplace management initiatives work in the public service in Africa.

Although there is a plethora of studies on the reasons why businesses failed, it was argued that most public sector businesses and industries have failed because of ineffective and inefficient implementation of workplace management (Esu, 2019).The performance of these businesses is predicated on several factors. Many businesses have failed to meet the objective or purpose of its formation. This has been the experience in all economies. It is more worrisome in the developing economics of the world where managers lack the requisite managerial skills in management. It is one thing to formulate individual and organizational objectives, and another thing is to achieve the set targets, sustain task-level and later improve on performance. The fact that most of the businesses (both large and small scale business) that we saw in our communities, states and country are no more in existence, means that something is wrong somewhere especially in the absence of workplace management which was determined to contribute to the high rate of business failures in Nigeria. Hence, the foregoing sets the pace for an understanding of the workplace management and employees productivity in the manufacturing sector in Lagos state.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

The issue of employee productivity has suffered from high level of neglect as indicated by Gerhart and Milkovich (2020) that the level of employee productivity in Nigerian organizations has been on the decline over the years and this could be ascribed to poor workplace management strategies put in place by these manufacturing firms. Watkins (2017) elucidates that some public sector business organizations like those in Delta State of Nigeria have not given adequate attention to workplace management review as a tool for improving performance even when recent studies suggest that performance reviews benefit organizational performance in both private and public sectors.

Aidah, (2017) opines that an employee may have the ability and determination, with the appropriate equipment and managerial support yet such employee may be underproductive. According to Adeniji (2018) the missing factor in most cases is the lack of adequate skills and knowledge, which are acquired through training and manpower development that brings about increase in absenteeism rate, low output, poor quality and results. The absence of these major variables of workplace management which have been proven to improve employee productivity may have resulted in low productivity in Nigerian companies as established by Esu (2019) who attributed failure of businesses to ineffective and inefficient workplace management. Therefore, in the light of these issues, could it then be said that the adoption of workplace management can actually improve employee productivity of manufacturing industries in Nigeria?

BUY THIS TOPIC ON WHATSAPP

Related Project Materials

THE ROLE OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES AND OTHER BACTERIA IN MENINGITIS AND SPONTANEOUS ABORTION IN SOME TOWNS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The involvement of Listeria monocytogenes in bacterial meningitis and spontaneous abortion in some towns in northern Nigeria was...

Read more

PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF MASS MEDIA AWARENESS ON CHILD TRAFFICKING

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Child trafficking or child abuse is one of the critical issues facing almost al...

Read more

STRATEGIES FOR INTEGRATING GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES INTO VOCATIONAL CURRICULA

Abstract: Strategies for integrating global perspectives into vocational curricula are incr...

Read more

IDENTIFICATION OF CONSTRAINTS AND EFFECTIVE EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES INFLUENCING THE PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION OFFICERS

ABSTRACT

Agricultural extension contributes to improving the welfare of farmers and other stakeholders...

Read more

AN EVALUATION OF DECORATED TRADITIONAL CLOTH USED IN TIV CULTURAL ACTIVITIES IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

EXCERPT FROM THE STUDY

1. the educational value of the decorated Tiv traditional cloth ...
   Read more

   L’INFLUENCE DE LA CULTURE OCCIDENTALE SUR LA CULTURE NIGERIANE

   INTRODUCTION

   Le sujet de ce mémoire est « L’influence de la culture occidentale sur la cultu...

   Read more

   BUILDING MAINTENANCE IN NIGERIA: STRUCTURAL DETERIORATION, INVESTIGATION OF CAUSES AND REMEDIES

   ABSTRACT

   This study examined building maintenance in Nigeria: structural deterioration, investigation o...

   Read more

   THE IMPACT OF IFRS ADOPTION ON FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY

   Abstract

   This research investigates the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) ad...

   Read more

   THE EFFECT OF SALES FORCE MOTIVATION ON PRODUCTIVITY (A CASE STUDY OF EMENITE COMPANY ENUGU)

   ABSTRACT

   The topic treated in this project is “The Effects of sales forces motivation on pro...

   Read more

   GROUND MAGNETIC AND GEOELECTRICAL PROSPECTING FOR GOLD MINERALISATION WITHIN TSOHO- GURUSU AREA OF MINNA, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

   ABSTRACT

   Ground magnetic and geoelectrical resistivity methods were used to prospect for gold mineralisation within Tsoho-Gurusu area of...

   Read more

   Share this page with your friends