Employee motivation, recruitment practices and banks performance in Nigeria

Many organisations recognizes the use of human resource as a major influence to their success. And with today’s competitive environment, it is imperative for organisations to find ways to be more effective and efficient in utilizing their resources so as to improve their general performance. Hence, there is need to recruit and retain highly qualified and motivated employees in order to remain competitive in the unstable environment. This study evaluates the relationship between recruitment practices, employee motivation and their impact on organisational performance focusing on the Nigerian banking industry, with a view to investigating factors that motivate employees of Nigerian banks and the methods banks adopt to motivate their employees. The study also assesses recruitment and selection methods used by Nigerian banks to select effective employees. The study is a cross-sectional in time and the primary data collected from a conveniently selected sample of 60 employees each of the seven selected banks. Face-to-face survey and interview was carried out in order to achieve the research objectives and back up theoretical findings. Using correlation and thematic analysis, the results indicated that there was a strong positive relationship between employee motivation, recruitment practices and organisational performance. Findings from the analysis identified that bank employees are mostly extrinsically motivated; although intrinsic factors also motivate them, it is not as motivating as extrinsic factors. The banks also provide more of extrinsic motivators to increase the performance of their employees. The banks make use of various methods of employee selection, by dividing the methods into stages. In addition, recruiting is mostly undertaken through recruitment agencies or advert placements. The study provides future recommendations that banks in Nigeria should be firmer in their selection processes; this will allow them to identify unsuitable applicants and make room for effective employees who will improve the efficiency of the bank and be motivated. At the same time, this research also suggests that the bank should provide more accessible motivational incentives for its employees in order to boost their performance because unmotivated employees are of no use to any organisation.