The effect of employee motivation on the attainment of the organisation goals: The case of Malawi Adventist University

Abstract

Employee motivation is a very important subject as far as the achievement of organisation goals in universities is concerned. This has been recognised by some studies on staff motivation in Malawi and even abroad. Nevertheless, not much has been done on the factors that affected the achievement of organisation goals. Therefore, this study examined the effect of intrinsic, extrinsic and demographic factors on the achievement of organisation goals at Malawi Adventist University. A causal research design was used in this study. The university population was 241 employees whose employment status was permanent and contract, teaching and non-teaching, excluding those on wages. To ensure that all employees were represented, employees were randomly selected for the study. Krejicie and Morgan pre-calculated sample size table was used to select a sample of 181 employees from the population. Data was collected with a self-structured questionnaire validated with Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of .535 on extrinsic factors, .579 on intrinsic factors, .611 on demographic factors and .690 on organisation goals. A total of 146 questionnaires were validly completed and returned, representing an 81% response rate. Descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that at the 0.05 level of significance, intrinsic motivation factors such as nature of work and responsibility significantly affected the achievement of organisation goals at Malawi Adventist University, as evidenced by the p-values of (0.180, 1.961 and 0 .052) and (0.225, 2.574 and 0.011). Also, a p value of (0.279, 3.221 and 0.002) provided evidence that extrinsic motivation factors such as co-worker significantly influenced the achievement of organisation goals at Malawi Adventist University. Furthermore, at p-values of (0.238, 2.519 and 0 .013) and (0.185, 2.304 and 0.023) on job position and education level respectively, the demographic factors determined the achievement of organisation goals at Malawi Adventist University. The study concluded that management provision and integration of the nature of work, responsibility and co-worker motivation factors, in collaboration with the job position and education level are important towards achieving organisation goals. Therefore, the study recommended that management provide: 1. opportunities to its employees to advance in their career. Career advancement opportunities will help employees to acquire new skills and experiences which will benefit the organisation in the long run. This can be done either by sponsoring the individual employees in their area of work or by giving them an opportunity for career advancement at their expense. This will motivate employees to work and achieve the organisation goals. 2. supervise and monitor its subordinates to see the progress of their work and be able to spot the challenges faced by the employees to achieve the organisation goals. 3. introduce a reward system to recognize the work achievements of employees. The employee reward system will act as a tool for encouraging employees to work hard and go an extra mile with their respective work obligations, with an aim of being recognized. Eventually this will help the organisation achieve its goals.