CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Sales management is one of the most important elements in the success of modern organizations. When major trends emerge such a shift in the economy towards small to medium sized businesses it is important for sales managers to react with new selling approaches.

Managers use motivation in the workplace to inspire people to work, both individually and in groups, to produce the best results for business in the most efficient and effective manner. It was once assumed that motivation had to be generated from the outside, but it is now understood that each individual has his own set of motivating forces (Gachanja, 2004). Dobre (2013) a motivated and qualified workforce is essential for any company that wants to increase productivity and customer satisfaction. Desai (2016) insurance agents are sales representatives of insurance companies who earn commissions for their sales of insurance products and that commission is the core motivation and pivot which propels insurance sales representatives to work hard to earn their living. However there have been various problems in the field as far as personal development, personal sales volumes and retention of agents in the industry. Balachandar, Panchanatham and Subramanian (2010) motivation strategies contribute immensely to the promotion of the efficiency of the officers of the organizations. Insurance companies spend huge sums of money and efforts for the satisfaction of their officers so as to make them more productive.

The task facing management in various Insurance industry in recent times is that of determining what should constitute adequate motivation for the workers. To achieve these objectives, the environment for the performance of the individuals working in group towards accomplishing common objective must be maintained. Personnel managers as well as employees are the single most important source in any firm. They are the keys to higher productivity and efficiency. Most managers have discovered that productive work cannot be achieved through command, order or executive fiat. The primary aim of personnel managers is to recruit, select and place were they rightly suit, in order words, improved personnel managers productivity and efficiency depends on individuals motivation that gives them job satisfaction. The themes of motivation suggests that personnels who have a clear sense of their own contribution to their firm and who receive effective feedback from their manager are more likely to experience job satisfaction than those who do not. Achieving goals and being recognized for doing so is intrinsically motivational. The satisfaction a personnel derived from their work varies, some derive satisfaction from their environment, good salary they receive other benefits and oversees training courses made available to them by the management.

Those in Insurance industry derive their own satisfaction from the nature of their job, car loan, rewards, interaction, training exercise and other benefits they receive from the organization. Motivation has a lot to do on workers emotion, when an individual is not motivated he cannot put in his best. Motivation they say activates human energy. It is a force which leads people to satisfy their important needs. All human behaviour is directed towards a goal. Individual values and goals differ from organizational goals and values. These values help personnel make judgment and decisions on matters affecting them. Personnel in organization have a number of responsibilities. They are responsible to the organization for doing what they are paid to do which is hiring new workers and administering basic resources like pay and benefits and also responsible for meeting their own needs and protecting their own values.

According to Eli Ginzberg (1982) in his human Economy, workers want to earn enough from their work to meet the needs of their families and to enjoy a rising standard of living. Secondly, they want reasonable assurance that if their performance is satisfactory they can look forward to holding their jobs and to the special benefit which will accrue to them by virtue of their long term with the organizations. They want their job to provide the satisfaction that comes from the meaningful activities of the management. Finally, workers expect that those who supervise and direct them will not infringe on their rights as human beings and as citizens.

Furthermore, Koontz et al (1982) define motivation in a general term applying to the entire class of desired needs, wishes and similar force. We can look at motivation as involving a chain reaction on wants or goals sought which gives rise to tension, then causing action towards achieving goals, and finally satisfying wants. We can easily note that many physiological needs are stimulated by environmental factor. The smell of food may make one hungry, a high thermometer reading may make us suddenly feeling hot or the sight of a cold drink may cause an overwhelming thirst, who for example, has not had certain physiological needs accentuated by an attractive

advertisement.

Udoh E.U. (1999) says that management has a major influence on our perception and needs. The promotion of a colleague may kindle one’s desire for a higher position. A challenging problem may want our desire to accomplish something by solving it. Personnel manager like other categories of workers every where are basically the same. They want more money, training exercise, more motivation accordingly. Even in the Insurance industry, benefits that management can use in motivating personnel managers include, medical facilities, pension, gratuity plans, vacation leave with pay, and sick benefit with pay, housing subsidy, and transport allowance. If these are the needs and wants of personnel managers everywhere in the Insurance industry, what type of benefit do managers in the sector provide to satisfy the yearning of their manpower. From the situation of things in the country, we can see that these fringe benefits are being denied to personnel mangers in most insurance companies in Ghana. We don‟t need anyone to convince us that productivity of personnel managers in such insurance companies is one of the lowest in the sector.

However, the basic focus of this study centers on the role of management in motivating personnel managers in the Insurance industry. Also the study has to look into things that makes recruiting officers in the Insurance industry feel satisfied in their work as well as the things management in the Insurance industry have to do to make sure that their personnel derive satisfaction from their work to boost their productivity, using Glico Insurance Company, Accra as a case study.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Motivation of personnel managers in every insurance company poses some serious problems to both management and employees themselves and the two have been on entangled midway but research and analysis of the motivation of personnel appears to emphasize the importance of making job challenging and meaningful.

Employees attitude to work depends on the degree of motivation they derive from the job. Satisfaction an individual derives from job varies with age, sex, occupational level, social group and individual increase in productivity depends on workers input and workers cannot put in much when they are dissatisfied with their work.

In other words, the efforts of managers in motivating personnel manager or human resource managers in most of the insurance institutions does not seem to yield expected result, but managers in these insurance companies often consider their immediate corporate financial position to the detriment of effective motivation of the personnel workers and the role played by personnels, forces managers always to take consolation on aggregate return rather than individual rate of returns thereby, getting the wrong evaluation and faulty picture of the impact of the role of personnel managers in motivation. This degree of laxity and limitation constitute the problem of this study which necessitates this research.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of this study are:

1. To determine how managers contributes to the motivation of personnel managers and their satisfaction in the insurance

sector.

2. To determine the effectiveness of personnel workers in the Insurance industry

3. To look into some motivation mix, that is, the set of controllable variables that managers in the insurance companies can use to influence their personnel workers and recommend appropriate motivation mix that will make the staff experience job satisfaction that will enhance performance and quality of service rendered to customers.

4. To determine the effectiveness and impact of motivation on employee’s productivity in the insurance company.

1.4 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research work will be relevant to the managers and personnel managers of Glico Insurance Company. It will also be beneficial to other public sector organization in Ghana; it will also be of importance to the government, potential and future researchers on the issue of management’s means to motivate personnel workers or related studies on motivation.

This empirical study is also important to the researcher, since it is a partial requirement for the award of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in industrial Relations and Personnel Management. It is hoped that the result of this study would be used by all corporate financial and recruiting organizations involved in insurance and personnel services, by way of providing the necessary information and machinery that will be useful for appropriate decision making and recruitment process in the area of study. It would also guide management of related organizations on policy formulation and even on implementation processes.

This study will also identify how the academic environment would stand to benefit in the direction of having a guide for research work, lectures, seminars and even class work for the study. The professionals would have enough ground for professional advice for client and other related publics. Government will use the result of their study as guiding information for policy formulation and other decisionmaking.

Finally, the general public and even the personnel managers would benefit from this work by actually knowing what motivation as well as the impact on performance is all about.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Are their any room for personnel management in your insurance company?

2. Are workers in your insurance company motivated on their work?

3. Does your insurance company management have concern on workers‟ job

satisfaction?

4. What are the things management use to motivate personnel managers in your insurance company?

5. Are there problems arising in your insurance company concerning workers‟ motivation?

6. Did you think that motivation have an impact on worker’s

productivity in your insurance company?

7. Does the management respond to the workers problems

positively?

8. In what ways do you think that motivation packages for workers in your insurance company could be improved?

1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The researcher formulated the following hypothesis based on the objectives and problem identified for the purpose of this research work, stating them in both Null and Alternate forms.

1. Ho: Motivation does not have significant impact on workers productivity

Hi: Motivation has significant impact on workers productivity

2. Ho: Employee productivity does not depend on motivation

Hi: Employee productivity depends on motivation

3. Ho: The role of management in motivating worker in the Insurance industry is not significant.

Hi: The role of management in motivating workers in the Insurance industry is significant.

4. Ho: Provision for advancement would not improve workers productivity

Hi: Provision for advancement would improve workers productivity.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research work focuses particularly on the role of management in motivating workers in the Insurance industry. For this reason therefore, the research has consulted with several views on the issues of motivation and workers to include text books on management, Human Resource Management; industrial relations, Newspaper, edits, journals insurance companies etc. The work could be voluminous if all the arguments of different authors are presented, but they have been carefully selected so that only issues particularly concentrating on management’s motivation of workers in Insurance industry are

considered.

1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

In the process of conducting this research work on the role of management in motivating workers in the Insurance industry, a lot of factors militated against the study. First was the attitude of the respondents to the researcher, some of the respondents took the researcher to be an agent from external bodies and deliberately refused to answer the questions. This is mostly the case with the senior staff/managers.

Closely associated with this problem is the fact that some of the respondents did not return the questionnaire to the researcher. This is a big limitation to this study since it further reduced the sample of workers in the company used for the study.

Another problem that was encountered was due to shortage of time and financial constraints. The research was faced with financial problem due to transportation involved, printing questions, consulting newspapers etc. also the scarcity of current materials or books imposed serious limitations on the study.

The effect of the national strike which also affected the insurance companies was also a constraint. Finally, the problem of retrieving questionnaire from the

respondents, some of whom did not care to complete the

questionnaire and so it became necessary to retrieve and redistribute them.

The research would have even cost more if it were to cover all Insurance industry in the country, thus, the research areas is limited to Glico Insurance Company, Accra.

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Motivation – It is a feeling of enthusiasm, interest or commitment that makes a worker wants to work and accomplish such work.

2. Personnel manager – It is a person who administers nationwide merit system for federal employment, including

recruitment, examination and training programs.

3. Management – A person or a body controlling and directing the

affairs of business, institution firms etc.

4. Organization – A group of people brought together for the purpose of achieving certain objectives while these members may change, the role of the organization which is this basic unit is maintained.

5. Work – This implies any kind of purposive activity whether paid or unpaid, fulltime or part time, formal or informal. With reference to an organization. It used to imply the operations involved in a particular job.

6. Human resources – It is a field of business concerned with recruiting and managing employees or workers in any working sector.

7. Productivity – It is referred to the measured relationship between the quantity (and quality) of result produced and the quantity of resources required for production. In essence, it is a measure of the work efficiency of an individual, work unit, or entire organization.

8. Promotion – It is advancement to a more senior job or a higher rank, grade or position and also it could be a source of encouragement of the growth or development of something.

9. Job Satisfaction – It is when a worker carries out a work and

feels fulfilled that such work is carried out.

10. Job Security – It is an area of safety in job that helps deals with the protection of workers health and safety, through the control of the work environment to reduce or eliminate hazard.

11. Job Evaluation – It is the process of comparing, ranking and appraising jobs by the use of specific qualitative or quantitative factors, such as mental and physical skills, degrees of responsibility and working condition.

12. Fringe benefits – It is an alternative and offered by a firm to this workers to make them feel satisfied with their jobs, such as pensions, vacation and sick days, insurance, health, bonuses etc.

13. Employee productivity – Is the amount of time an individual is physically present at a job and also the degree to which he or she is

“mentally present” or efficiently functional while present at a job.

1.10 THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

The theory of Abraham Maslow’s (the hierarchy of needs) is used to explain the relationship between management’s motivation and personnel manager. It is the most widely mentioned theories of motivation and that best suit this research work. Maslow saw human needs from the lowest to the highest needs ie in hierarchy and he concluded that when one set of needs are satisfied, this kind of need ceases to be a motivator. Maslow said; “If we are interested in what actually motivates us and not what has or will, or might motivate us, then a satisfied need is not a motivator”. According to Maslow, these needs are classified into five and all of them go towards giving an individual (personnel manager) motivation and job satisfaction. These needs are:

a. Physiological need:

Undoubtedly, these basic needs are the most proponents of all needs. What this means specifically is that, human beings who has not achieved anything in life in an extreme fashion, it is most likely that the major motivation would be the physiological needs rather than any other. A person who is lacking food, safety and esteem would probably hunger for food more strongly than anything else. At every stage in the organization, management is to recognize that every kobo means much to the employee. He would trade some comfort for money.

b. Safety need:

Once the first need are largely satisfied, safety needs emerges. An individual becomes concerned with the need for safety and security, protection from physical harm, disaster, illness and security of income, life style and loss of employment. An employee likes to know that his employment is permanent. The loss of his job could induce him to seek ways of satisfying his physiological needs. In other to motivate such employee and encourage productivity, management would try as much as possible to provide security for workers.

c. Social need:

The need is often referred to as acceptance need. The individual has satisfied his two basic needs and wants acceptance, to love and to be loved. The value of friendship, affection and the sense of belonging are much needed and are seldom satisfied by money. Management on their part could motivate personnel manager by paying them adequate salary and rewarding them for the services rendered.

d. Esteem needs:

At this stage the individual has need for recognition, accomplishment, and achievement for the need for self respect. He loves to take responsibilities and prove himself. The esteem need is the ego need. A personnel manager would feel motivated when management gives room for his contribution to be recognized and appreciated. The feeling of independence, professionalism and confidence is highest at this stage. It is important for management to recognize.

e. Self Actualization:

This need is often called fulfillment need. This is the need for an employee to reach his highest potential at work place in conquering his environment. A personnel manager is motivated by a desire to selfactualize, to achieve whatever he defines as his maximum potential, to do his work to the best of his ability. As he succinctly put it, “what a man can be, he must be”.

Maslow believe that an average citizen satisfies perhaps 85% of his physiological needs 70% of his esteem needs and 10% of his self actualization needs. According to him, human motive at work are governed by these needs and their satisfaction will lead to motivation and high productivity. It must be recognized that there is a great deal of over lap in the concept of hierarchy of needs and a great deal of inter-dependence among the various levels there is no clear cut distinction between one level and the other, when all the individual needs tends to be partially satisfied, the safety need disappears as social needs and esteem needs emerged, they only become less

active.

Certainly, there is evidence that Maslow’s theory is able to account for findings on occup