Relationship between Principals’ Personnel Management Practices and Teachers’ Productivity in Public Secondary Schools in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Teachers as chief implementers of the curriculum occupy a pride of place in secondary education especially when they are productive. However, it has to be said that they function under the influence of principal’s administration who possess various personnel management practices. The purpose of the study was to ascertain the relationship between principals’ personnel management practices and teachers’ productivity in public secondary schools in Delta State, Nigeria. Five research questions and five hypotheses guided the study. Correlational research design was employed for the study. The population of the study consisted of 7,708 secondary school teachers in the 489 Public Secondary Schools in Delta State. The sample for the study comprised 750 secondary school teachers using stratified random sampling technique. The instruments for data collection are two structured questionnaires titled: “Questionnaire on Principals’ Personnel Management Practices (QUPPMAP) and Questionnaire on Teachers’ Productivity (QUTEP), which were validated by three experts. The reliability of the instruments using Cronbach Alpha statistics yielded coefficient values of 0.73 for QUPPMAP and 0.78 for QUTEP. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used in answering the research questions while regression statistical analysis was used for testing the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that principals’ personnel management practices (in all its’ components) is positively related to teachers’ productivity, however, welfare practices have the highest relationship with teachers’ productivity. The study further revealed that there is a significant relationship between principals’ personnel management practices and teachers’ productivity in secondary school in Delta State, Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that government in collaboration with principals should develop a system of recognition and incentives for outstanding teaching performance. This could include awards, promotions, or professional development opportunities to motivate teachers and enhance their productivity.