MOTIVATION AS PREDICTOR OF PERFORMANCE OF SECRETARIAL STAFF IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This study investigated motivation as a predictor of performance of secretarial staff in tertiary institutions in Anambra State. The study was guided by two purposes, two research questions and two hypotheses. Correlation survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 522, comprising 369 secretarial staff and 153 Staff registrar cadre staff (Deputy Registrar and above). Census sampling was used in the study due to small size of the population. Data for this study were collected using two researcher-made structured questionnaires namely, “Job Satisfaction and Motivation of Secretarial Staff” (JSMSS) Questionnaire and “Secretarial Staff Job Performance” (SSJP) Survey.  Two experts in Faculty of Technology and Vocational Education, and one in Educational Foundations (Measurement and Evaluation), all from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka validated the instruments. The instruments yielded reliability co-efficient values of 0.82 and 0.85 for SSJP and JSMSS respectively. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient (r) was used to answer research questions and test hypotheses. The strength or direction of the relationship of the variables was tested with Regression analysis while they were interpreted using Creswell (2009) correlation coefficient scale.  The study found among others that, motivation is a significant predictor of job performance, with regression results indicating that nearly half of the performance variance was explained by motivation levels.  Based on the findings, the study recommended among others, that secretarial staff should receive fair, competitive remuneration from management of tertiary institutions based on workload, experience and performance to increase job satisfaction and retention. Government should prioritize clear communication regarding job continuity, institutional support, and protection from arbitrary dismissal to enhance job commitment and reduce anxiety among secretarial staff