CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background to the Study

The management of people at work is an integral part of the management process. And no organization ever succeeds without due recognition and appreciation of people through whom any task is accomplished.Nkereuwem(1986),observed that human factor is a major component in any fast-growing and vibrant organization.Therefore,their presence as well as their input must be both recognized and encouraged for the sustenance of growth in the said organization. To understand the critical importance of people in the organization is to recognize that the human element and the organization are synonymous. Cranny, Smith and Stone (1992),observed that ‘managers, supervisors, human resource specialists, employers and citizens in general are concerned with ways of improving job satisfaction’. They all agree that job satisfaction is the driver for job performance. In their contribution, Judge, Hanisch and Drankoski (1995), advised that it is imperative for human resource managers to beware of those aspects within an organization that might impact employee’s job satisfaction, and enhance them. The reason is that in the long run the results will be fruitful for both the organizations and employees.  Any well-managed organization usually sees an average worker as the root source of quality and productivity gains. Such organizations do not look to capital investments; but to employees, as the fundamental source of improvement. An organization is effective to the degree to which it achieves its goals. An effective organization will always ensure that there is a strong spirit of cooperation and sense of commitment and job satisfaction within the sphere of its influence. And in order to make employees satisfied and committed to their jobs in any academic and research libraries, there is need for strong and effective motivation at the various levels, departments, sections and units of such libraries.

Motivation is a basic psychological process. As Miner, Ebrahimi and Wachtel (1995), once analyzed, competitiveness problems appear to be largely motivational in nature. Along with perception, personality, attitudes and learning, motivation is a very important element of behaviour. According to Luthans (1998), motivating is the management process of influencing behaviors based on the knowledge of what make the people tick. And as Luthans (1998), further added both motivation and motivating deal with the range of conscious human behaviors somewhere between the two extremes below:     

-   Reflex actions such as a sneeze or flutter of the eyelids; and

-   Learned habits such as brushing one’s teeth or handwriting style.

Luthans (1998), equally added that motivation is the process that arouses, energizes, directs and sustains behaviors and performance. This is to add, it is the process of stimulating people to action and to achieve a desired task. And one way of stimulating people is to employ effective motivation; which can make the staff to feel more satisfied and committed to their jobs. From the fore-going therefore, one can say then that money is not the only motivation.

Even though motivation has been commonly assumed to be a good thing, one cannot feel very good about oneself if one is not motivated. Motivation is one of the several factors that go into a staff’s performance in the academic libraries. Other factors may include: benefits, rewards, co-workers’ behaviour, prompt payment of salaries, in-service training and promotion opportunities.

As Olajide (2000),puts it motivation can be conceived of as whatever it takes to encourage any staff to perform by fulfilling or appealing to their needs. He further opines that motivation should be goal-directed; and therefore cannot be outside the goals of any organization whether public, private or non-profit.

Unfortunately, these criteria are often not considered when it comes to motivating the staff in our academic libraries. Specific employee’s attitudes relating to job satisfaction and organizational commitment are of major interest to the field of organizational behaviors and the practice of human resources management.

Attitude has direct impact on job satisfaction. Organizational commitment on the other hand focuses on their attitudes towards the entire organization. Although a strong relationship between satisfaction and commitment has been identified, more recent researches seem to give more support to the idea that commitment often causes satisfaction.

The way librarians in academic and research institutions perceive motivation greatly influences their level of job satisfaction and commitment. While job satisfaction has been the topic of many studies, this work intends to present fresh information and a new perspective; describing motivation and job satisfaction of librarians; particularly in the context of  academic institutional  libraries in Akwa Ibom State.

1.2      Statement of the Problem