CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Reward is one of the most important elements in motivating employees for contributing their best efforts to generate innovation ideas that lead to better business functionality and further improvise organizational productivity both financially and non-financially (Dewhurst et al., 2010). The current financial crisis Nigeria is experiencing has made the reward system. With focus on bonuses and viable remuneration, a highly debated topic in media.  The mantra that is always heard is that organizations expect employees to follow the rules, regulations and also to work according to the standards set for them whereas the employees expect good working conditions, fair play, fair treatment, a secure career, power and involvement in decision making.

Basic to the accomplishment of each organization is the welfare and working states of the employees. Regularly than not, inspiration and reward are utilized conversely. Inspiration or reward of employee is an exceedingly relative issue since it fluctuates in degrees, measurements and spots of business (Issah, 2012). In this way, the approaches detailed in any organization can’t be eagerly and effectively actualized when the employees are exceptionally detached with the conditions winning in their work environment. Thus, reward of workers in any organization is a sine qua non to the accomplishment of the coveted or structured objectives or goals.

This paper in this way tries to discover the impact that reward system has on productivity in selected insurance firms in Lagos state, Nigeria. This investigation is viewed as well-suited on the grounds that, the issue of productivity of the Lagos State Insurance firms’ workers have been a quarrelsome issue after some time. This examination is especially essential since, it benefits employees of the insurance firms system the chance of finding an exit from the low productivity level in the system. Additionally, there is no known investigation because of reward system on productivity in the selected insurance firms in Lagos State. The discoveries of the examination will profit administrators of neighbourhood firms as a manual for approach plan and usage with the view to improving workers’ productivity in the system.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM                 

Insurance firms are set up to achieve particular destinations. The firm that desires to accomplish these targets must have a focused and maybe a far reaching absolute reward system that is lined up with the organization’s business system and that mirrors the aggressive reality of the work showcase. In this present reality where individuals have turned out to be increasingly requesting about their lives and environment, the reward system could be utilized to propel employees by fulfilling these requests. Be that as it may, there exists an absence of comprehension in how to rouse every one of those high requesting people, making the vast majority of the reward systems sub-advanced.

As per Obikeze (2012), a more noteworthy level of the employees in assembling organizations have been significant guilty parties of delay to work and not keeping arrangement to clients, antagonistic and even end up unfriendly while taking care of clients, some lose centre and thus supply wrong brand of items to clients and these outcome in long sitting tight time for clients to get the required merchandise and enterprises, and the ensuing low performance as a few clients lose tolerance and subsequently withdraw and even go the choices. The poor mentalities of the business power, for example, delay to work, deferred deals calls, absence of data for clients issues, could add to the low development of employee performance in assembling organizations and these emerges from the inadequately organized and now and again inaccessible reward system through absence of incidental advantages to labourers, acknowledgment and thankfulness offered by the assembling organizations to their workers Obikeze (2012).

Different organizations staffs have demonstrated that they have assorted necessities that require a far reaching all out remuneration system to address the issues of different workers. Subsequently organizations have been looked with the test of executing and offering focused prizes to the workforce to enhance their productivity as the absence of exceptional acknowledgment to recognize remarkable individual or group accomplishments with little money grants, singular performance rewards dependent on particular employee performance criteria and stock possession prizes to experts who meet particular objectives have been ignored by administration in a few organizations (Kawara, 2014). Due to these, the theoretical and versatile performance of the employees has been on the decay prompting client misfortunes as the employees feel less persuaded towards work and authoritative benefit will decrease (Hafiza, Shah, Jamseheed, and Zamam, 2011).

The reward composes in many organizations normally are not productivity based. In this manner, they are not connected at all to business structure and worker enlistment, maintenance, inspiration, performance, input and fulfilment. Besides, the beneficiaries of these prizes in many organizations don’t take part in the arranging and the performance of the reward systems in organizations. Further, there are various escape clauses in the organization of the different methods for compensating workers in organizations. Once more, most insurance firms in Lagos State see remunerate as just the financial pay given to employees to repay them for their productivity.

1.3       Research Questions     

In line with the above stated objectives, the study will answer the following research questions:

1. What is the effect of Sense of Accomplishment on employee’s task productivity in selected insurance firms in Lagos State?
2. What is the impact of productivity on employees in insurance firms in Lagos State?
3. What is the influence of salaries/wages on employee’s productivity insurance firms in Lagos State?
4. Evaluate the extent to which fringe benefits affect employee’s adaptive productivity in insurance firms in Lagos State?

 

1.4       OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is accessing the impacts of reward system on workers’ productivity in selected insurance firms in Lagos State, Nigeria.

The objective is further broken down below as;

1. To find out the effect of Sense of Accomplishment on employee’s task productivity in selected insurance firms in Lagos State.
2. To discover impact of productivity on employees in insurance firms in Lagos State.
3. To investigate the influence of salaries/wages on employee’s productivity in insurance firms in Lagos State.
4. To evaluate the extent to which fringe benefits affect employee’s adaptive productivity in insurance firms in Lagos State.

 

1.5           Hypotheses

To provide answers to the research questions, the following hypotheses will be tested in this study:

H0_1: Sense of Accomplishment has no significant effect on employee task productivity in insurance firms in Lagos State.

H0₂: Productivity has no significant effect on employee productivity in selected insurance firms in Lagos State.

H03: Salary/Wages has no significant effect on employee’s counterproductive behaviour in selected insurance firms in Lagos State.

H04: Fringe Benefits have no significant effect on employee’s adaptive productivity in selected insurance firms in Lagos State.

1.6      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will give an understanding of the significance of remuneration systems in accordance with insurance firms in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos state and as it is required to be. An all-around outlined system for remunerating work extraordinarily has a hearing on the yield of employees and consequently effect on the performance of the organization all in all. Reward speaks to by a wide margin the most critical and hostile component in the working relationship and is of equivalent enthusiasm to the business and worker. To the business, since it speaks to a huge piece of his costs, it is progressively imperative to his employees’ profitability and to aggressiveness and influences his capacity to enlist and hold a quality work constrain. To the worker, it is a key to his way of life and is a proportion of the estimation of his administration or profitability. The related benefits and negative marks that go with remuneration systems were additionally analyzed. The aftereffects of this investigation would go far to make mindfulness about the shortcomings in the performance of this system and the proposed path forward. It is consequently trusted that this study will contribute valuably towards expanding organizations and also the worker’s comprehension and acknowledgment of the effect of remuneration systems on individual performance and along these lines, the corporate performance in chose insurance firms. The study evaluated the reward systems of organizations as a whole by focusing on selected insurance firms in Lagos State and established whether their current reward systems have any bearing on corporate productivity.

 

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study concentrated on impact of reward system on workers’ productivity in insurance firms as one of the money related foundations in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos state.  The independent variable is measured in terms of salary/wages, sense of accomplishment and fringe benefit and employee productivity is the dependent variable. The research covered a period of 1 year from 2018-2019 mainly because this is the time within which the researcher is undergoing her master of business administration program. it also represent the time when insurance firms in Lagos state have been experiencing the problem of poor reward system and poor employee productivity.

 

1.8 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY

The study is broken down into five chapters. Chapter one carries the introduction of the study by giving the background information on the research problem, objectives, the scope and limitations of the study. Chapter two is the review of relevant literature which comprises of conceptual review, empirical review and the theoretical framework of the reward system in organizations. Chapter three dealt with the research methodology adopted in the execution of the study and relevant justifications. Chapter four presented the results and discussion on the impact of reward systems on corporate performance in selected insurance firms. Chapter five also presented the conclusions and recommendations drawn from the research findings. References and appendices follow up beneath.