Assessment of Air Transport Workers’ Motivation and Sustainable Service Delivery in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu

Assessment of Air Transport Workers’ Motivation and Sustainable Service Delivery in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu

Ugwoke, Kelvin C.¹, Eze, Hyacinth O.²*, Asogwa, Emeka C.³, and Ozuomba Cornelius U.⁴

¹Department of Political Science, Coal City University Enugu, Nigeria

²Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Caritas University Enugu, Nigeria

³Faculty of Education, Coal City University Enugu, Nigeria and

⁴Department of Architecture, Caritas University Enugu, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.90300081

Received: 08 February 2025; Accepted: 14 February 2025; Published: 01 April 2025

ABSTRACT

The research is aimed at workers’ motivation and productivity in terms of good services delivery in the Aviation Sector as observed in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. The specific objectives include ascertaining whether  poor material incentive affect workers’ attitude to work; and if leadership account for the high/low productivity of workers’ in the International Airport. The study was carried out with adoption of the hypotheses that poor material incentives affect workers’ attitude to work, and poor leadership account for low productivity of workers in the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. Human Relations Management Theory was used as the theoretical framework of analysis. The results of the finding reveal that: there is no comprehensive package of incentives for staff in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. However, the available incentives have spurred the workers to have a positive attitude to work and this has resulted to the available good service delivery in the enterprise. Also, there is good leadership in terms of having leaders that have good leadership qualities and good leadership styles in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. The efforts of these leaders have impacted positively on the organizations’ effectiveness, efficiency and good service delivery. It is concluded that human resources management is the tripod upon which the management of organizations based. As such, relevant recommendations to the findings were adequately presented.

Keywords: Airport, Motivation, Service delivery, Parastatal, and Productivity.

INTRODUCTION

Air transport service remains the fastest and most efficient mode of transportation all over the word. It is devoid of all land uses related challenges like traffic congestion, physical development obstruction, common en-route criminal interference and delays. No wonder the need to for this study as means for determining and achieving its sustainable service delivery.

All Airports in Nigeria, both international and domestic, except those ones owned by multinational oil companies, which are few in number, belong to public corporations and Government companies in Nigeria. The history of public corporations in Nigeria dates back to mid-1950s after the end of the Second World War which started in 1939 and ended in 1945. At that time, the Nigerian economy was monopolized by expatriate firms which engaged in both production and distribution of goods and services. These were the multi-national companies and they include, the United African Company (UAC) John Holt Ltd, Patterson Zochonis(PZ), United Tobacco Company (U.T.C) et cetera. The emphasis on the use of public corporations for purposes of development continued until after the period of oil boom which the nation witnessed in the early 1970s. It is worthy of note that following the dwindling revenue from oil and the subsequent reduction in revenue allocation of states, many states started embarking on the establishment of parastatals to beef up their financial shortfall. According to Ihimodu (1986:223-238) these parastatals can be categorized into three namely: “the p rofit-oriented, the social service-oriented and the institutional parastatals”. The profit-oriented parastatals are the ones whose basic objective was to generate income for the government through accumulation of profit. They are expected to be self-financing and not dependent on the government after the take off period. The institutional parastatals are those that have provision of educational services as their primary objective; and not expected to generate internal funds, though the introduction of school fees in most schools changed the situation.

The social service parastatals are organizations whose primary objective is to provide social services which the private sector is not likely to provide either due to the huge capital outlay required to operate them, long gestation period or are not regarded as profitable. Nigerian airports of which Akanu Ibiam International Airport is one of them belong to the service-oriented parastatals.

The aims of setting up public corporations by the government is to enable the government provide social amenities to the people because it is for the betterment of the masses. However, it can be observed that in spite of the well-intended aims of their establishment, these Corporations/parastatals are still reputed for their low productivity. This low productivity is caused by very many factors, one of which is general poor attitude to work. The situation is so bad that an average Nigerian has lost the sense of commitment and dedication to duty which has low productivity as the end result. A segment of the Nigerian scholars traced the genesis of the negative attitude to work prevalent in Nigeria, to the events of the colonial era. They argue that during the fight against colonialism, many nationalists, using different platforms tended to give the impression that government as an institution and its agencies should be impoverished and vandalized because they are agents used to subjugate, and exploit Nigerians by the colonial masters. So, the civil service was seen as the “white man’s job” and anything done to frustrate its operation was well intended.

In effort to address this trend, successive administrations in Nigeria spanning through the military and civilian governments have made efforts to dispel the erroneous impression and imbibe new orientation towards work. The civilian administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari (1979-1983) introduced Ethical Revolution which was a campaign for ethical regeneration and right attitude to work among Nigerians. The General Buhari administration (1983-1985) introduced the War against indiscipline (WAI) with special appeal to workers to “do their work, the W.A.I. way”. The General I.B. Babangida 1985-1993 introduced MAMSER which was aimed at inculcating the virtue of hard-work in the Nigerian worker. The General Sami Abacha administration introduced WAI-C which means, war against indiscipline and corruption, which was equally aimed at emancipating the Nigerian worker from poor attitude to work. Other administrations like the civilian government of Chief Olusegun, Obasanjo, Alh. Umaru Musa Yar’adua, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the present administration of Alhaji Mohammadu Buhari, introduced one programme or the other to re-orientate the Nigerian worker but the problem seems to be intractable.

It is in view of the foregoing that this study investigates workers’ motivation by the management as a tool for improving organizational productivity in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

Objectives of the Study

The study has both broad and specific objectives. The broad objective of the study is to examine workers’ motivation and productivity in terms of good service delivery in the Aviation Sector as observed in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu (2010-2020).The specific objectives are to: ascertain if poor material incentive affect workers’ attitude to work in Akanu Ibiam Internati onal Airport, Enugu; and determine if leadership account for the high/low productivity of workers’ in Airport.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The conceptual framework is anchored on human relation theory.  The failure of classical theories gave birth to the human relations approach in an organization which some scholars called the neo-classical approach to management which came into actual existence in the 1930s as an alternative to the classical approach to organizational analysis. This is because the classical theorists’ appear to have underemphasized the importance of humanism and socio- Psychological aspects of individuals’ behaviour as a panacea to organizational performance.

The Hawthorne studies as it is popularly called (Nwankwo, 2014, Omodan, Dube, and Isotersi, 2018) consisted of several experiments and the result of the experiments hold that human attitudes, relationships, feelings of belonging, interpersonal skills, participative decision- making and effective communication play a key role in the performance and effectiveness of an organization. Pancasila and Sulistyo (2020) examined the effect of work motivation and leadership on job satisfaction and its implication on employees’ performance in Indonesia; and found that leadership and work motivation have a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction. Kusuwati (2020) in another study also observed that motivational factors have significant influence on employee performance both descriptively and verifiably.

Assumptions of Human Relations Theory of Management

The assumptions of the theory is as follows: The needs such as sense of belongingness, inclusiveness and recognition determines workers’ morale than physical conditions of work environments; informal and formal social groups within work places such as team efforts; social conformity and group loyalty determines individual and group behaviours; People develop affinity for each other in the group that comprises individuals with various affinities; employees are motivated by social and psychological needs together with economic incentives; communication, power, manipulative influence, authority devoid of autocracy. They are very important.

Elements of Human Relations Theory

The following six basic propositions are at the core of the human relations theory:

• A Focus on people other than upon Machines or economics
• The organizational environment is not an organized social context.
• Human relations are important in motivating people.
• Motivation depends on team work requiring coordination and cooperation of individuals involved.
• Human relations within teams must fulfill both individual and organizational desire and effectiveness by achieving maximum results with minimum inputs.

The implications of Human Relations Theory of Management to Motivation of Workers in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu

The theory views human beings as individuals with differing psychological and distinct and dynamic behaviour affecting performances. The airport is a service oriented enterprise and the workers (human beings) have it as duty to offer those services; and there is the need to motivate the workers towards good service delivery. The motivation can come in form of offering good package of incentives to the workers, offering good leadership and addressing all the socio-psychological needs of the workers at the work place. These are the responsibilities of the airports management to guarantee. In doing these, the management should take into consideration the formal and informal groups in the organization and the needs and aspirations of the individual workers.

Motivation of the Airport workers by display positive attitude to work through offering of good incentives and offering good leadership all to ensure high productivity should be done in accordance with the following principles of Human Relations Theory of Management outlined below:

• Human beings are not interested only in financial gains; they also need cognition and appreciation;
• Workers are human beings, so they must be treated like human beings and not like machines. Managers should understand the feelings and emotions of the workers;
• An organization works not only through formal relations but also through informal relations;
• Workers need a high degree of job security and job satisfaction. Therefore, managers should give job satisfaction and job security to the workers;
• Workers want good communication from the managers. Managers should communicate effectively with the workers without showing superiority complex;
• Workers eschew conflicts and misunderstanding in the workplace. Therefore, managers should guard against such conflicts and misunderstanding in the workplace;
• Workers want to enjoy freedom. They abhor strict supervision. Therefore, managers should avoid strict supervision and control over the workers; and
• Employees would like to participate in decision making, most especially on issues that affect them directly. Therefore, management should encourage workers’ participation in management.

Some scholars of Nigerian development emphasize the issue of motivation at work as the cause of this national slide. This group of scholars is of the opinion that low productivity is a direct consequence of inadequate motivation. It is also strongly argued in many quarters that welfare of the Nigerian worker is not adequately ensured hence the Nigerian worker is made to do so much work for a very low pay and his future is not guaranteed. It is with this mind-set that the emphasis shifted to motivation as a panacea for higher productivity of a Nigerian worker.

In the early days of primitive commercial activities, little attention was given to motivation which affected the performance and productivity of the employee. This led to the two factor theory propounded by Fredrick Herzberg. He pointed out that good dealings, otherwise job satisfaction has to do, with factors related to job content such as achievement, recognition for achievement, the future of job itself, responsibility, growth and advancement opportunities as satisfiers or motivators.

There seems to be a general agreement among psychologists that man experiences a variety of needs, there is considerable disagreement as to what these needs are and their relative importance. It is important for the management of every organization to ensure that they motivate their employees to achieve the set goals and equally satisfy the personal psychological and material needs of the workers. The management of an organization can motivate its employees if it is able to study the characteristics of the employee and know what actually motivate them to high productivity.

Public corporations in Nigeria have been faced with multidimensional problems. Some of these problems include corruption, inefficiency, ineffectiveness, low productivity, and excessive bureaucratic bottlenecks. It is worthy of note that during the oil boom era in Nigeria, many of these public enterprises had their products and services heavily subsidized and a lot of revenue sunk into them were wasted. Revenue voted and released for the smooth operation and productivity of these enterprises end up being shared by the top management of these enterprises and the politicians in their supervising ministries as spoils of office with virtually nothing to show for it. Things have not changed for the better even with Nigeria’s dwindling oil revenues which necessitated the introduction of privatization and commercialization of some public enterprises. The idea of privatization and commercialization of Public Enterprises (PEs) in Nigeria was introduced by the Shehu Shagari’s administration in 1983 but actual implementation started with the military following the setting up of Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization (TCPC) and the promulgation of Public Enterprises Privatization and Commercialization Decree No. 25 of 1988. Following the introduction of democratic rule in 1999, the administration which was headed by President Obasanjo added vigour to the policy of privatization and commercialization with the promulgation of the Public Enterprises (Privatization and Commercialization) Act No. 38 of 1999 which established the National Council on Privatization with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) as its secretariat. According to Public Commissions and Study groups such as Adebo (1969), Udoji (1973), Onosode (1981), Al-Hakeem (1984) etc, the following factors were responsible for the dismal performance of public Enterprises:

• Lack of adequate investment capital and technical support
• Slow decision making process
• Bureaucratic bottlenecks
• Frequent government interference
• Economic decisions based on political expediency and massive corruption of public enterprise managers in collaboration with officials of the supervising ministries.

These problems have remained endemic and persistent in Nigerian public enterprises. A lot of reasons have been given for this anomaly and a lot of solutions suggested but the problem still remains intractable. This necessitated the need to investigate the Nigerian worker in a public enterprise. Nigerian workers especially in government-owned establishments still perform below expectation. Their productivity is far below average and their effectiveness measured in terms of the revenue they generate into the federation account virtually nil.

A re-examination of work in Nigerian public corporations and parastatals is necessary to further x-ray the reasons for poor attitude to work, low commitment and low productivity. There is a pointer that indicates that part of the problem is lack of adequate motivation.

Since motivating employees is a great asset to every organization, this study examined the impact of workers’ motivation on service delivery in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu– one of the twenty three (23) airports in Nigeria being managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). The reason for this choice is that the airport has operated for over five decades as a domestic airport but has been upgraded in recent years to the status of an international airport.

METHODOLOGY

The primary source used was questionnaire while books, journals, official documents and online materials were used as the secondary sources of data

Population of Study

The population of the study is all the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) staff working in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. The population is two hundred and Six (206) workers.

Sample and Sampling Technique

A sample size of one hundred and twenty (120) workers was drawn from the theoretical population above using sample size determination formula. The Sample size was drawn using random sampling techniques.

Hypotheses: Two hypotheses were tested in this study:

Hypothesis 1 under research question 1 is tested with the help of questions: 9,10,11,12, 13 and 14 in the questionnaire as presented and analyzed. It can be observed that the report of our research finding tends to validate the first hypothesis that poor material incentives affect worker’s attitude to work.

Hypothesis 2: This states that “poor leadership account for high/low productivity of workers in A.I.I.A, Enugu” under research question 2, tested with the aid of questions: 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 25 and 26 in the questionnaire.

Method of Data Analysis

Whenever a researcher finishes collecting his data, he has to analyze those data in order to obtain results. The information obtained from the questionnaire were arranged in tables and analyzed by means of descriptive/inferential statistical analysis using frequencies and percentages. This was aimed at establishing the relationship between workers’ motivation (Job Satisfaction) and the consequent or eventual service delivery they render on the job

The above table shows that the total number of staff of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) working in Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu is two hundred and six (206) people, made up of fifty-six (56) members of senior staff and one hundred and fifty (150) members of junior staff.

The sample of the study is one hundred and twenty (120) members of staff chosen randomly and comprising thirty-six (36) senior staff and eighty-four (84) junior staff. Among the questionnaires distributed, a total of one hundred and five (105) questionnaires were properly filled and returned while fifteen questionnaires were not made us of because they were either not properly filled (invalid) or not returned at all.

Enugu – The Study Area

Enugu State is in the South East Geo-political Zone of Nigeria. It is located at 6^o 30′ North of Equator, and 7^o 30′ East of Latitude. It is plus one hour (+1hr) GMT on the World Time Zone. It shares border with the following states: Abia and Imo to the south; Ebonyi to the east, Benue to the north-east, Kogi to the north-west and Anambra State to the west.

Enugu State has Enugu City, the Coal City, as the capital of the State. The State has three geopolitical zones of Enugu East, Enugu North and Enugu West with their respective identity local government area/town as Nkanu & Isi-Uzo; Nsukka; Awgu & Ezeagu and 17 Local Government Areas. The State is cosmopolitan given its former status as the capital of Eastern Nigeria. It has an estimated land area of about 72.8 Sq. Kilometers. The population figure for Enugu urban alone in 2006 stood at 722,664 (NPC, 2006).

The State has a number of higher institutions of learning which include these four that offer the study of Urban and Regional Planning.   They are University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (Federal) with the main Campus in Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State University of Science and Technology Agbani (State University), Caritas University, Amorji-Nike Enugu (Private University) and Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu (Sate Polytechnic). Other institutions in Enugu State include Enugu State College of Agriculture Iwollo, Enugu State College of Education Ehamufu, Federal Polytechnic Ohodo, Enugu State College of Education Technical Enugu, Coal City University Enugu, Godfrey Okoye University Enugu, and Institute of Ecumenical Education, Thinkers Corner, Enugu.

It has an airport, Akanu Ibiam International Airport at Emene, Enugu East Local Government Area (LGA). The State’s main industrial Layouts are also in Emene, and 9^th Mile Corner in Udi LGA. There are also numerous banks including Central Bank, shopping plazas, and corporate organizations.  It has Ogbete as its City Main Market; Coal Camp as the Motor Spare Parts’ Market; New Kenyatta as its building materials’ market; and numerous other local markets in the city, senatorial zones and rural Communities.

Data Presentation, Analysis, Findings and Discussion

Hypothesis One: Material incentive’s effect workers’ attitude to work in Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu?

Table 5.1: Distribution of respondents according to their views on incentive packages available in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu

The above table shows that a greater number of the population of the study acknowledges the payment of leave allowance and transport allowance to workers in A.I.I.A. Enugu. 102 respondents (97%) acknowledged the payment of leave allowance while 80 respondents (76%) acknowledge the payment of transportation allowance while a few of them acknowledge the payment of overtime and the existence of free quarters/housing allowance in A.I.I.A., Enugu.

The second item in the table above shows that 75 respondents (71%) will work as usual and 30 respondents (29%) will work harder if any of the benefits is withdraw in A.I.I.A., Enugu.

Table 5.2: Distribution of respondents according to their views on what will be their reaction in terms of attitude to work if more incentives are given

The above table shows that sixty-five (65) respondents (62%) were enthusiastic to state   that they will work harder if more incentives are given while twenty-two (22) respondents (21%) said that they will work as usual. What are other incentives for A.I.I.A. Enugu?

Table 5.3: Views of respondents on other incentives enjoyed by A.I.I.A. Enugu

If “YES” please indicate which one…..

The above table show that one hundred and three (103) respondents (98%), answered in the affirmative. It is interesting to note that many of the respondents affirmed that there is provision for “Best Staff of the Year Award” as they answered the follow-up question.

Table 5.4: Distribution of Respondents based on their opinion on the regularity of payment of salaries and other benefits in A.I.I.A. Enugu

The above shows that eighty-nine respondents (89) eighty five percent (85%) of the valid questionnaires are of the opinion that their salaries are paid regularly (monthly). Twelve (12) respondents which is eleven percent (11%) of the questionnaires returned acknowledge that payment of their salaries and other benefits is fairly regularly (bi-monthly) while other four respondents (4) which is four percent (4%) of the questionnaires returned point out that there is irregularity in payment of salaries.

Table 5.5: Views of the respondents on the compares of the conditions of service in A.I.I.A. Enugu with what obtain in similar organizations (Airports)

The above shows that ninety-five percent (95%) of the respondents are of the opinion that the conditions of service in Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu are good when compared with similar organizations (airports) in Nigeria. In response to the next question in the questionnaire (question number 14) about seventy percent (70%) of the respondents opined that one of the factors responsible for the good conditions of service in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu is the recent elevation of the status of the airport from a domestic airport to an international airport.

An analysis of the data in the tables thus for presented reveals as follows:

We sought to find out the material incentives that are available to workers of Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu. Our respondents acknowledge the existence of leave allowance, overtime/shift allowance, transport allowance and free quarters/housing allowance with 76% and 97% of the respondents emphasizing the existence of transport allowance and leave allowance respectively.

The second item in the above table was a follow up question where we sought to know what would be the reaction of respondents if any of the benefits is withdrawn. Majority of the respondents (71%) said that they will work as usual to sustain the level of service delivery in the airport because of the harsh economic condition in the country. The personal data of this category of respondents revealed that most of them are members of the junior staff of the organization. Twenty-nine percent (29%) of the respondents acknowledge that they will work even harder in order to retain their jobs.

Still in line with trying to find out the material incentives available to staff of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, we sought to know through the aid of table 4.2.1, what will be the reaction of the staffs if more incentives are added to the ones they are already enjoying. The data analysis shows that sixty-five (65) respondents (62%) acknowledge that they will feel happy and work harder while twenty-two (22) respondents (21%) stated that they will work as usual. In other words, the opinion of the majority of the workers in Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu is that, if more incentives are added and the available ones paid promptly, they will increase their productivity (service delivery) through hard work.

There is another outstanding incentive available to federal airports authority of Nigeria staff in AkanuIbiam International Airport, Enugu. Ninety-eight percent (98%) of the respondents acknowledge the existence of this incentive. In a follow –up question, they stated that there is a provision for the best staff of the year award. It is a remarkable recognition given to staff based on hard work and excellent service delivery, and it is accompanied with material rewards to the beneficiary and the portrait of the beneficiary is displayed in some strategic locations in the airport. Every member of the staff strives to win this award through hard work for according to them, it marks the attainment of the highest order need of self-actualization according to Abraham Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs form the theoretical framework of this study.

We sought to find out more facts on the material incentives available to staff of Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu, through the aid of table  on regularity of  the workers ‘salary payment. Salary/wage is a major means of satisfying the physiological needs of man especially in the third world countries. The table shows that there is regular payment of salaries. Eighty-nine respondents which constitute eighty-five (85%) testified that they are paid monthly.

The item of table that examined the conditions of service of staff of Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu in Comparison with other similar organizations (airports) in the country with a view of finding out if there is unequal treatment of equals or preferential treatment that can cause disaffection among staff which can result to low productivity. Ninety-five percent (95%) of the respondents are of the view that the condition of service in Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu is good in comparison with what obtains in similar airports in the country. Hypothesis 1 under research question 1 is tested with the help of questions: 9,10,11,12, 13 and 14 in the questionnaire as presented and analyzed. It can be observed that the report of our research finding tends to validate the first hypothesis that poor material incentives affect worker’s attitude to work.

In Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, the management has not established a comprehensive package of incentives to entice the workers to put in their best towards the achievement of the organizational goals, however, there are some incentives in place in the enterprise. There is no well-established welfare scheme for both junior and senior staff of the enterprise. Within a welfare scheme are such things like: Free medical services to the staff, wife and children rent free accommodation for a certain percentage of the workers, free water and electricity supply, car loans to senior staff, end of year bonus to deserving members of staff, constant training of members of staff, job security and prompt payment of retirement benefits, cordial labour management relations.

Every worker comes into an organization with his personal goals/needs, and productivity/service delivery in the organization depends on the proper integration of the needs of the worker with the organizational goal. A look at the pack of incentives available in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu reveals that they are primarily geared towards the satisfaction of lower-order needs. Abraham Maslow’s injunction that lower-order needs must be satisfied first before higher order needs becomes apt here.

The findings here run counter to Herzberg’s theory that incentives which he categorized into; hygiene’ or ‘maintenance” factors do not motivate. It could be remembered that Herzberg opined that only intrinsic factors in a job actually motivate workers to higher productivity (Herzberg, 1966:23).

Hypothesis Two:

The existence of good leadership account for high productivity/good service delivery in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu

It is the leadership of an organization that puts in place such vital issues like: the criteria for promotion of staff of the organization which determines whether workers will see prospects of growth/career advancement in the organization or not, the relationship of worker and management in the organization, the management style of supervisors and the immediate boss of workers, the nature of the workers’ involvement in decision making and policy formulation in the organization, the industrial relations in the organization etc. The above issues and many more constitute the climate/internal work environment of the organization. The above issues are human resources management (Personnel) matters which rest on the different leaders in the organization to determine and handle.

Hypothesis 2 which states that “poor leadership account for high/low productivity of workers in A.I.I.A, Enugu under research question 2 is tested with the aid of questions: 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 25 and 26 in the questionnaire. The data presentation and analysis is as follows:

Table 5.6: Distribution of respondents according to their views on the questions of whether the organizational climate put in place by the leadership of the enterprise affect workers’ satisfaction in the work place or not.

The above table shows that majority of the respondents are of the opinion that promotion in the enterprise are based on both APER score (59%), seniority (55%) and qualification (62%). No respondent is of the opinion that promotion is based on favoritism.

Table 5.7: Distribution of respondents according to their views on promotion prospects/career advancement in A.I.I.A, Enugu?

The above table shows that seventy-five (75) respondents representing seventy one (71%) are of the opinion that there are good prospects of promotion and career advancements in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu while twenty eight respondents (28) representing twenty seven percent (27%) are of the opinion that there are some prospects of promotion and career advancement in the airport.

Cordial relationship between workers and leadership/management and peaceful industrial situation enhance productivity in A.I.I.A, Enugu.

Table: 5.8: Distribution of Respondents according to their views on relationship between workers and leadership and industrial situation in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

Item in the above table shows that eighty-seven (87) respondent (83%) are of the opinion that the internal work environment created by the leadership in A.I.I.A, Enugu is conducive for optimum performance. The second item in the table seeks to know the relationship of the workers with the leadership/management of A.I.I.A, Enugu. Ninety-five (95) respondents representing ninety percent (90%) said that it is cordial. The last item in the table above shows that seventy-eight (78) respondents representing seventy-four percent (74%) acknowledge that there is no long-standing trade dispute in their work place.

The relationship between workers and their immediate boss enhances productivity/service delivery in A.I.I.A, Enugu.

Table 5.9: Distribution of respondents according to their views on the relationships between staff and their boss in the enterprise

Item one in the above table shows that eighty-two (82) respondents representing (78%) stated that the management style of their boss is democratic and participative.

Item 2 in the above table shows that ninety-seven (97) respondents, representing ninety-two (92%) acknowledged that it is in rare occasions that their opinions are sought by their boss in taking decisions. This is true with reference to many organisations especially decisions on policy matters but workers’ opinions are usually sought for on issues like day to day running of the offices. On the overall relationship with their boss, which the third item in the table sought to find out, ninety (90) respondents representing eighty-six percent (86%) said that it is cordial.

The leadership through their motivation to workers increased workers’ morale and satisfaction which enhanced productivity in A.I.I A, Enugu.

 How do you as a worker describe your moral and satisfaction and its impact on productivity/service delivery in A.I.I.A, Enugu.

Table 5.10: Distribution of respondents according to their views on their moral and sense of satisfaction in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

The first item in the above table in a remote sense wants to assess the morale of the workers as engendered by the leadership of the enterprise by requesting them to do a self-assessment of their service delivery in A.I.I.A, Enugu. Seventy-eight (78) respondents representing seventy-four percent (74%) enthusiastically expressed their view that their service delivery is very good while twenty-two (22) respondents which constitutes twenty-one percent (21%) of the population said that their service delivery is good but there should be room for improvement. The second item in the above table shows that ninety-three (93) respondents representing eighty-seven percent (87%) acknowledge that their job at A.I.I.A, Enugu is challenging and interesting.

The third item in the table above sought to find out the effect of leadership style and workers’ union activities on their morale and job satisfaction in their work place, eighty-two percent (82%) of the respondents are of the opinion that the above factors increased their enthusiasm, morale to work harder towards the achievement of the organizational goals. One’s high morale or low morale in the work place can be caused by a number of factors ranging from the management style of one’s boss to how one sees one’s job at the work place. It can be noticed from the data so far presented and analyzed that the management style of most of the boss in A.I.I.A, Enugu is democratic and participative. One notable advantage of this style of management is that the boss gives the workers a sense of belonging and carries them along in decision taking.

The questions which responses are presented and analyzed under research question 2 looked at leadership in A.I.I.A, Enugu as a macrocosm and equally looked at it at the level of the worker and his immediate boss as a microcosm. The responses seem to counter our earlier proposition in our second hypothesis which states that poor leadership account for low productivity of workers in A.I.I.A, Enugu. There is good leadership in the airport according to majority of the respondents. Productivity in an organization is a child of many factors, one of which is the availability of a conducive working environment. An environment is conducive if the leadership of that organization wants it to be. The work reveals that there is a conducive working environment in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu and it has a favourable implication of attaining the overall goals of the establishment which is good service delivery to travelers.

Environmental factors according to Rue and Byars (1977) influence performance in an organization. They influence abilities and traits, effort and task direction which are the core elements that influence productivity. Such environmental factors include: education, economy, supervision, company policies, societal expectation, training, values and situational factors, etc.

The leadership/ management of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu is not resting on its oars to motivate the workers. This is demonstrated by the availability of industrial peace in the work place. Peaceful industrial relations are important for the progress of any organization. Many enterprises have come to ruin due to loss of man-hours as a result of industrial actions and lock-outs.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION.

Conclusion

The management of human resources is the tripod upon which the management of organizations rest. Of all the tasks of management, managing the human component is the key and most important task because all else depend on how well it is done.

It has become universally acknowledged in most parts of the world that an employee’s effort at work in any organization, whether public or private should be commensurately rewarded, usually on the basis of some established criteria. It has been observed that financial and other material incentives have come to be regarded as a useful means of compensation to workers in return for their services.

Apart from financial remuneration, most workers in the public and private sectors of the economy have recognized other indirect means of rewards, some of which are financial or non-financial as necessary in order to motivate the workers to contribute his/her full potentials towards the realization of the organizational goals/objectives. The totality of the motivational package offered to the worker both in terms of basic salary as well as other available incentives constitutes the conditions of service which also includes the organization climate engendered by the leadership of the organization within which the worker operates have significant effects on workers’ motivation and productivity in the enterprise.

Compensation problems in every organization centre on ensuring that every worker is appropriately remunerated. Capitalism as an economic system has made employers of labour to look at the reduction of pay package of the workers to a minimal level for increased profit but still retaining the services of the workers, their primary concern. Workers on their own part evaluate all systems of a worker’s compensation given to him/her as fair and adequate. It is only when a worker perceives his general conditions of service as fair and equitable that such payment schemes can act as motivating factors. It is right to note that there is a convergence of the views of employers and workers on the need for fair and equitable worker’s compensation as an important tool for motivation.

Let us not concentrate only on the issue of money and other incentives as motivating factors in this conclusion, we should also look at the issue of leadership as a motivating factor in line with the second specific objective of this study. For an organization to be prosperous, it needs a body of able and proactive leaders who offer excellent leadership. The leadership should not be composed of mainly autocrats but people who will be able to carry the workers along all the time by leading through examples. Therefore, a leader that is dynamic and with a good style of leadership is a source of motivation to the workers.

Recommendations.

We make the following recommendations based on our research findings:

1. There should be an enlarged and comprehensive package of incentives put in place for FAAN workers in Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu and there should be consistent implementation of what is contained therein. This is to avoid disenchantment on the part of the workers which will negatively affect their performance. Salaries should be reviewed upwards to reflect the inflationary trend in the economy of Nigeria and paid regularly. Improved salary as incentive is very important because in third world countries of which Nigeria is among, people primary submit themselves for employment in order to be paid. This will enable them take care of their physiological needs and security/safety needs (lower order needs) according to Abraham Maslow in his Theory of Hierarchy of Needs. The satisfaction of these needs is not yet guaranteed in these countries. Public enterprises should adopt the same salary structure with the private sector companies to prevent the mass exodus of people from the public sector to the private sector because of the uncertainty of the future of the welfare of the worker following privatization.
2. Public enterprises, such as Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu should be fully privatized to make them more effective and result-orientated. Privatization will encourage competitiveness and open up the organization to the public thereby spreading the ownership to numerous shareholders which will enhance the capital base of the enterprises. Privatization is going to bring out all performing and non- performing leaders alike. Full privatization will eliminate political interference in the management of this enterprise.
3. Industrial peace is the unquestionable pivot in which progressive future of public enterprises rotates. Management and staff must aggressively revive the channels of communication which are unavailable in certain sectors of the enterprise for continued co-existence, understanding and goodwill.
4. The existent vertical structure of most public enterprises and the rigid downward communication and chain of command should be restructured to take a horizontal shape. This is to make room for more participative management and joint decision making. Democratic leadership style should be encouraged.
5. The appointment of members of the board of directors should be transparent and based on experience and skill and not on political grounds. This is to avoid having boards of directors that are a mere rubber stamp and which cannot make any meaningful contribution instead the members are there for their selfish interest.

If these recommendations made above are given adequate attention in implementation by both the federal government and the organizations’ management, poor performance and inefficiency will be reduced.

REFERENCES

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