Situation Analysis of Employee Relations and Employee Commitment in the Nigerian Brewery Industry

This study investigated current situation of employee relations and employee commitment in the Nigerian Brewery Industry using two firms. These were Intafact Beverages Limited – (SABMiller) Onitsha, representing South East and Champion Brewery plc, Uyo representing South South. The study was a survey and made use of questionnaire in obtaining data from middle and senior staff of these firms. The population of study was 106; a census study was conducted. The survey achieved 77% response rate. The analysis of data was done with descriptive and inferential statistics. The former used percentage method while the latter used multiple regression. The test of hypotheses in the study indicated that employee relations variables of conflict resolution, employee empowerment, employee compensation and employee voice significantly determined employee commitment in the Nigerian Brewery Industry. The model summary reported an adjusted R2 of 78.9%. It was recommended that breweries in Nigeria improve upon resolving conflicts in the area of doing that promptly and the approach followed; that breweries empower their employees to have some level of control over their work, deploy delegation of responsibility and encourage employee participation indecision making; that breweries improve upon compensation package offered their employees to make it motivating and so induce their commitment and that breweries recognize employees’ position on issues, incorporate their suggestions into operations management and generally improve upon its communication with employees.