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_ Ghana Library Journal, Vol. 13, 200!

MOTIVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY IN ACADEMIC
LIBRARIES: A CASE STUDY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
CAPE COAST LIBRARY, GHANA

PAULINA AFFUL YEBOAH
Assistant Librarian, University of Cape Const, Cape Coast

and

: I. K. ANTWI
Librarian, University for Development Studies, Tamale

Abstract

This paper discusses the importance of
motivation. It points out that heads of
sections should take interest in motivating
their subordinates, for this influences their
performance and organizational
effectiveness.

The paper then gives a short review of
the administrative structure of the
University of Cape Const Library. The
main focus is the presentation of empirical
data, which were gathered by means of a
questionnaire, relating to the motivation
and productivity of.library assistants at
the University of Cape Const Library. It
also goes on to give suggestions aimed at
improving the productivity of staff.

Introduction

Management is basically a process
which enables organizations to
achieve their objectives by planning,
organising and controlling their
resources, including gaining the
commitment of their employees
through motivation.'

The functions of management can be
grouped into five areas: planning,
decision making, organizing and co-
ordinating, leadership, motivation and
control.? It can therefore be considered

as a set of common processes or*
functions which when properly and
systematically carried out results in
organizational efficiency and
effectiveness. The functions are
interrelated and therefore managers
perform them simultaneously and
concurrently.

According to Likert in his book “New
Patterns of Management”, the central
and most important task of
management is managing the human
component because all else depends
on how well it is done.> It is also true
that a well motivated staff bring out
the effective and efficient functioning
of any organization. A functional
library building with a well-stocked
collection cannot offer effective and
reliable services to its users without a
crop of well-trained and competent
staff.

The managerial function of staff covers
all the different tasks connected with
both obtaining and retaining the
human resources of an organization.
Some of these tasks include
recruitment, directing, training and
evaluation, discipline and
development of staff.

The staff of most libraries usually
P Afful Yeboah & |. K. Antwi

consist of employees with various
educational backgrounds and levels of
responsibilities. Librarians provide
leadership by managing both the
whole organization and the various
divisions and sections in addition to
facilitating the required services to the
clientele of the library.

Professional librarians need assistance
from other staff in carrying out their
functions. The supporting staff consist
of workers with a variety of skills
ranging from para-professional to
clerical. The latter are often the largest
category of staff in a library system.
The supporting staff undertake
important schedules. These include
bibliographic searching and
verification, ordering, circulating
publications, filing and shelving, hence
the need for motivation for the
supporting staff.

According to Lucey, the central
objective of any organization will be
achieved more efficiently when the
people who work in it have drive and
commitment, in other words, when
they are motivated.‘

Motivation can be explained as a
driving force or commitment people
have for doing things. In other words,
motivation implies the inner state that
energises, channels and sustains
human behaviour. From the
management perspective, a person
who is motivated works hard, sustains
hard work, and has self-directed
behaviour towards important goals.
Thus, motivation involves effort,
persistence, and goals. It is the actual
performance that managers can

evaluate to determine the worker’s
desire. Performance problems are not
necessarily caused by a low level of
motivation. Other factors like
shortage of resources or lack of skills
may be the cause of low productivity
in an organization.

The best known theory of motivation
is probably Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs theory.’ He hypothesised that
within every human being there exists
a hierarchy of five needs. This is
normally presented in the form of a
pyramid with each level consisting of
a particular class of needs as shown
below.

    
 

Actualisation

Self-Esteem

  
 

Needs, Approval

   

Recognition

  
 

Social Needs, Acceptance

  
 

Affection

  
 

Safety Needs, Security,

 
 

Psychological Safety
Physiological Needs, Food, Drink

 
   

 

The relationship between the needs is
related to the pyramid structure.
Maslow argues that the lower down
the needs, the more basic they are.
Thus, the most basic needs are those
concerned with physical survival.
These needs have to be satisfied, at
least to some minimum level, before
the next level of needs become
important. According to Maslow,

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individuals work their way up the
hierarchy, but ‘each level of needs
remain dependent on the levels below.
Thus if one is motivated at work by
the oppor’ tunity to “self actualize” and
suddenly -he is made redundant, the
whole system collapses, as the need to
feed and provide for oneself and his
dependents again becomes the
predominant need.

Although Maslow’s theory has some
flaws, it provides managers with a
conceptual means of understanding
motivation of employees by giving a
guide to an individual's needs and
desires.

Managers, these days, take a keen
interest in motivation because it has
an effect on both employee output or
performance and organizational
effectiveness. Before managers can
motivete, they have to provide an
environment which induces
employees to contribute to the goals
of the organization. Evidence has
shown that majority of people do not
work to the fullest extent of their
capabilities and that most jobs do not
require that they do, It is therefore
imperative; that managers and
supervisors understand the nature of
motivation if they want their
subordinates to perform optimally and
maximally. |

Administration of the Library

The University of Cape Coast Library
was established in November 1962
while its parent institution was
established in October, 1962, by the
Government of Ghana. The Library
started in the present Institute of

Motivation and productivity in academic libraries

Educational Planning and
Administration offices with 650 books
inherited from the erstwhile Kumasi
College of Arts and Education. These
formed the nucleus of the library
collection and they were mainly books
in the Arts and the Humanities since
the Science books were found
unsuitable for undergraduate work.

In 1963, three staff members joined the
sub-librarian who was appointed in
November, 1962 to run the Library.
Just like the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
University in Bauchi, Nigeria which
started in a temporary building in
1981 and was soon found to be
inadequate to cater for the increasing
stock and staff who were needed to
provide effective services to the
university community, the University
of Cape Coast Library also started in
the present University chapel building.
The chapel building was completed as
a small library to house 20,000
volumes. With the expansion in
physical development, increase in staff
and student intake in the 1963/64
academic year, that building proved
extremely inadequate. Soon work
started on a prefabricated building,
envisaged as a temporary structure to
house 50,000 volumes for a period of
five years when a main and
permanent University Library
building would have been completed.

To complement the inadequate space
in the Library, the Science collection
of over 60,000 volumes had to be
moved away in 1969 to occupy a wing
of the Faculty of Science building.
Another library was improvised for
the Faculty of Education.

3
P. Afful Yeboah & |. K. Antwi

With a fairly large and relatively new
collection of over 151,886 volumes and
2,000 journals by 1987, the University
Library had performed quite
satisfactorily. However, the absence
of a main, central or permanent library
complex and the many fragments of
libraries all over the campus had their
disadvantages. Among these were
unavoidable but expensive
duplication in the acquisition of
general reference materials like
dictionaries and newspapers. The
situation also called. for the
recruitment of more qualified staff
which had not been possible due to
the institution's poor finances. Finally,
this was putting undue physical
hardship on some sections of the
student population who had to walk
long distances from their halls to
particular libraries. It was clear that
a central, permanent library complex
would promote the development and
functioning of the library's services for
the entire University community.
Fortunately, the new library complex
which commenced in 1976, and which
by 1987 had only started moving off
the foundation level, was eventually
commissioned for use in 2001.

The University Librarian is the chief
academic and administrative officer of
the University Library. He attends
meetings of Boards and Committees
and initiates policies for approval by
the Library and Academic Board. He
also controls the finances of the
Library. The University Librarian is
aiso responsible to the Vice-Chancellor
for the planning, development and
management of the University’s
bibliographical support for the

teaching, study and research

programmes.

The Library has four divisions. These
are Administration, Acquisitions.
Reader Services, Cataloguing ané
Technical Services respectively. The
Administration section is directly
under the University Librarian.
Currently the Reader Services section
is headed by an Assistant Librarian
whilst the Acquisitions and
Cataloguing sections are headed bv
Senior Assistant Librarians. The heads
of department are directly in contact
with the junior staff and supervise
their work.

Out of the fifty members of staff, only
eighteen of the lot constitute library
assistants. The latter represent 36
percent of the entire work force.
Library assistants have a crucial role
to play to ensure the realization of the
objectives of the library. This study is
therefore an attempt to find out the
degree of motivation and the extent
to which this would influence their
work in the Library.

Methodology

The data which form the basis of this
investigation were basically collected
through the use of a questionnaire.
There are a total of 18 Library
Assistants in the University of Cape
Coast Library. Each of them was given
a copy of the questionnaire to fill.
The questionnaire contained thirty-
seven items which required straight
forward answers and comments. It
was composed of questions relating to
sex, age and qualifications «:/ the
respondents. Other questions focused

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on areas such as length of service,
conditions of service, job satisfaction,
interaction with peers and
supervisors, involvement in decision-
making and appraisal methods.

In all 16 out of the 18 copies of the
questionnaire were completed and
retrieved within a period of six weeks.
These gave a response rate of 88.9
percent.

Presentation of Results
Background of Respondents (Table
1-3)

Tables 1 to 3 give statistical data about
the respondents with respect to sex,
age and educational qualifications.
According to the investigation, there
were more male library assistants than
female library assistants. Thus the Li-
brary profession in Ghana just like in
Nigeria® appears to be male domi-
nated.

TABLE 1: CATEGORY BY SEX

Motivation and productivity in academic libraries

TABLE 2: AGE DISTRIBUTION

 

 

 

Age No Percentage
16 - 20 1 6.25
21 - 25 1 6.25
26 - 30 2 12.50
31-35 12 75.00
Over 35 - -

Total 16 100

 

The educational qualifications of staff
at any level influence their career ad-
vancement and contributions towards
the corporate goals of the organisation.
For example, in a University Library
some of the library assistants deal di-
rectly with the requests of the library
patrons. Lack of understanding of a
client’s request may result in an un-
satisfactory service or no service at all
even though the request could have
been attended to positively if the right
calibre of staff had attended to it.

TABLE 3: TYPES OF QUALIFICATIONS

 

 

 

Sex “No Percentage
Male 10 62.5

Feniale 6 37.5
Total , 16 100

 

On the distribution of age of the
respondents, it was found out that
majority of them - 75 pereent were
aged between 31 and 35 years. The
rationale for finding out this
information was to relate this to their
levels of maturity vis-a-vis how they
could likely adapt to situations in their
environment such as conditions of
service, productivity and work ethics.
This clearly shows that most of the
library assistants are mature.

 

TYPE NO PERCENTAGE
Primary & Middle 0 0
G.C.E. “O” Level 5 31.25
G.C.E. “A” Level 8 50.00
Diploma in Librarianship 3 18.75
Total 16 100

 

According to Table 3, 31.25 percent of
the respondents had GCE ‘O’ Level,
50 percent had GCE ‘A’ Level and
18.75 percent had a Diploma in
librarianship. This is to be expected
since the recruitment guidelines of the
Library require a Library assistant to
have a minimum of five GCE O Level
passes including English. It is more
advantageous to recruit bright library
assistants who can perform effectively
and thus further their education to at
P Afful Yeboah & I. K. Antwi

least the Diploma level than to employ
“dead woods” who can hardly fit into
an academic environment.

Salaries

The respondents were then asked to
state if their current salary was
commensurate with their work and
qualifications. Unfortunately, no one
answered in the affirmative. They all
thought they were receiving low
salaries. It must be pointed out that it
is not only the library assistants who
complain of low salaries in the
University system in Ghana. This is
evident by the number of strike actions
that occur within an academic year.
The government is, however, trying to
improve conditions of service for
University staff.

Working Experience

TABLE 4. WORKING EXPERIENCE

 

 

 

YEAR(S) NO PERCENTAGE

Less than 1 year 2 12.50
1-2 - -

3-4 4 25.00
5-6 2 12.50
7-8 1 6.25
9 -10 2 12.50
10 and above 5 31.25
Total 16 100

 

It was found out that a good
proportion of the staff (31.25%) had
working experience in the library
spanning 10 years and above. A high
proportion of the staff (50%) had
working experience-spanning 1-6
years. The turnover among this
category of staff is high as expected.
This is due basically to the fact that
their qualifications make them eligible

to pursue post secondary courses.

Conditions of Service

TABLE 5. CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

 

 

 

RATING NO PERCENTAGE
Excellent - -
Very Good 3 18.75
Good 12 73.00
Fair 1 625
Total 16 100

 

Conditions of service here can be
defined as the aggregate of factors
that prevail in a work environment to
enable one to work in a conducive or
non-conducive atmosphere and that
these factors involve both monetary
and non-monetary factors like
discipline, types of leave, promotions,
allowances of all kinds, working
hours, nature of work, duties of staff,
facilities and work environment and
so on.

The writer had this definition in view
when she requested the respondents
to rate the conditions of service of the
university as they affect them. Table
5 gives a break down of their various
responses. Only 18.75 percent rated
this as being very good while 75
percent considered the conditions of
service to be good. Generally, staff of
the University are dissatisfied with
their conditions of service. This has
led to the University Council in 1994
revising the conditions of service to
improve staff welfare. It should be
pointed out that staff welfare cannot
be greatly improved if the University
continues to receive inadequate
budgetary allocation from the
government.

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Job Satisfaction

TABLE 6. HIGH JOB SATISFACTION

Motivation and productivity in academic libraries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REASONS COUNT PERCENTAGE
Job is challenging & interesting 6 23.0
Gain experience in doing it 2 27.0
Good leadership of supervisor 5 19.2
Attractive salary and incentives 1 3.8
Conducive work climate 0 0

No Response 7 27.0
Total * 26 100

* Multiple responses were allowed.

TABLE 7. LOW JOB SATISFACTION

REASONS NO PERCENTAGE
Routine & Boring — 5 31.25
Tasks are too demanding 2 12.5
Below qualification; training and status 3 18.75
Offering no challenges 6 37.5
Total 16 100

 

In this study, job satisfaction relates to
the work environment in the context
of one’s job. The major sources of sat-
isfaction are colleagues, the manage-
ment of the supervisory climate or gen-
eral atmosphere or overall work cli-
mate. An overwhelming number of
respondents, (73%) confirmed that
they were satisfied with their present
job while 27% held a contrary view.
Tables 6 and 7 give a summary of the
reasons for their satisfaction or dissat-
isfaction respectively. For example, a
mere 3.8 percent gave attractive sal-
ary and incentive as contributing to
job satisfaction, thus supporting a gen-
eral workers’ view that a worker will
most likely be motivated and this will
eventually lead to high performance
or productivity if the job is interesting

or stimulating and offers him chal-
lenges.

Reward for Hardwork

The Library undertakes an annual

staff appraisal exercise at the end of

each financial year. Staff appraisal

has 2 main objectives. These are:-

1, To determine how well an employee
is performing on the job, and

2. To assist an employee know how
well he is doing so that if
improvements need to be made, the
employer is aware of the areas in
which performance is below
expectation.

Performance appraisal can thus be
used as a mechanism of encouraging
the growth and development of an
individual worker. All the respondents
P Afful Yeboah & |. K. Antwi

conceded that they get an annual
increment in salary. This is an
indication that the Library is satisfied
with their work because annual salary
increase is not automatic. According
to the University policy it could be
withheld for ineffective performance
of duty and, or misconduct.

Appraisal Methods

The way appraisal methods are
carried out do affect staff morale and
productivity. If a worker has no
confidence in the appraisal exercise he
is not likely to work hard. The Library
has therefore adopted the open
reporting system. This requires heads
of section to evaluate their
subordinates using standard appraisal
forms. The completed appraisal forms
are given back to the subordinate for
him to countersign. Where a
subordinate disagrees with the head,
he can state this on the form with
reasons to enable management look at
his objections.

To the respondenfs, the major
parameter which can influence
workers to increase productivity is
promotion followed by staff training
and development and award of prizes
in that order.

Staff Development

Human resources are valuable assets
of organisations. They are in fact too
valuable in working out programmes
required for upgrading staff. The
University sponsors staff who want to
upgrade themselves to do a Diploma
in Librarianship course at the
University of Ghana and other higher
courses elsewhere.

Attitudes of Colleagues and
Supervisors
The respondents were almost

unanimous - indicating that they
enjoyed a good working relationship
with their colleagues. Again, majority
of them 75% did state that interaction
with their heads were cordial. 65%
of them went on to indicate that their
heads correct their errors in respect of
their ‘schedules in a_ friendly
atmosphere and because of this 40
percent of them even discuss some of
their personal problems with their
heads. These are healthy

- developments because the effective

supervisor “sees the job as an
obligation to create a climate of
support by being open and receptive
to people’s ideas”.

Participative Management

This style of management “involves
subordinates in making organi-
sational decisions. This style does not
imply democratic governance or
majority rule. Subordinates take part
in the decision-making process
through consultation.’ Participative
management structures, according to
Jones and Jordan, “create conditions
at work which enable staff to realise
their potential, make greater use of
their professional training, and thus
improve the effectiveness of the service
offered” .!°

There are no committees in the Library
itself. The whole University has a
Library Board with the Librarian as a
member of it. No other staff of the
Library serves on this Board.

The respondents suggested that at least

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Motivation and productivity in academic libraries

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a Consultative Committee can be set indication that management is
up in the Library with the Librarian receptive to suggestions from staff.
as the Chairman. With this, they This is an indication that members of
believe major issues and policies will staff are more likely to implement
first be discussed before their heads projects or decisions which are
send their views to the Committee for collectively agreed on at meetings.
final ratification. This is based onthe
principle that it is only when the rank Discipline
and file benefit by having a chance to Discipline is the action taken by an
participate in the governance of the organisation against an individual
Library thatbetter decisions are made employee when that employee’s
with staff involvement, and that performance has deteriorated to the
increased job satisfaction of staff will level where action is necessary to
lead to a better library service." preserve the interests of the
organisation and protect the rights of
According to Charlton, unless the _ the individual. 40% of the respondents
more direct forms of participation are _ indicated that they were satisfied with
developed at lower levels, the indirect the Library’s current disciplinary
form, imposed at the top, will never procedures while 50% expressed a
achieve the results which are expected contrary view. The latter, however,
from it, that is, the development of a failed to give reasons for their
pluralist approach to organisational responses. It is therefore suggested
decision-making”.'? When the that management should look at its
respondents were asked if they are _ disciplinary procedures with the view
consulted when decisions affecting to improving them.
them and their jobs are taken, 85% of
those who answered the question Communication
replied in the affirmative. Costley and Todd define
communication as “the vehicle
Staff meetings contribite to staff through which human abilities and
development in addition to involving physical resources are combined to
staff in the decision-making process. produce outputs and attain
Majority of members thought that objectives.” There are three types of
staff meetings are occasionally heldin communication: written, oral and
the Library. The Library holds atleast non-verbal. In an organisation,
two general meetings involving all communication generally can be
staff every semester. considered to flow in three directions;
downwards (from superior to
A very high proportion of the subordinate)or vice versa; and
respondents (90%) confirmed that horizontal (lateral - this does not
they contribute ideas at staff meetings follow the chain of command).
while 70% indicated that the Most of the respondents pointed out
suggestions they give atsuch meetings that they orally communicate with
are normally accepted. This is an their heads while an overwhelming
P. Afful Yeboah & 1. K. Antwi

proportion of them - 80% indicated
that they are communicated to by
management/heads through circulars
especially on major policy issues. The
Library has a telephone, photocopy
and e-mail services and the
respondents indicated that they make
use of these.

Overall Assessment of Management
Last but not the least, the respondents
were requested to assess the effective-
ness of the libfary administration. A
sizeable majority of them 75% stated
that they were satisfied with the man-
agement style of the Library. This is a
clear indication that staff have confi-
dence in the leadership and are thus
predisposed to teaming up with the
latter to work towards achieving the
goals of the Library.

Conclusion

From this survey, it can be concluded
that the administration in University
of Cape Coast Library has successfully
motivated its library assistants to
perform their duties effectively. It is
pertinent to note that there are,
however, some institutional and
external factors that have adversely
affected the unhindered development
of this category of workers. To the
library assistant, the basic negative
force to be reckoned with is lack of
promotion. This, to the writer, is not
a negative force if the worker is really
prepared to upgrade himself.

As stated above, people with good ’O’
or’ A’ Level passes are employed in the
Library. Th? rationale behind this is
that all library assistants can have the
opportunity to write the entrance

examination at the University o!
Ghana Library School. Those whe
pass this examination are grantec
study leave with pay to go and study
for two years and earn a Diploma.

Unfortunately, a minimum number ot
people can be allowed to go to schoo!
within a certain period and this
frustrates the workers.

For this category of workers,
promotion brings only a minimum
monetary reward which could easily
be accommodated in the Library's
budget. The effect of their promotior.
will ultimately lead to increased
productivity since frustrations due to
non promotion or delayed promotion
would be removed.

The central government should
provide more funds to the University
to meet its obligations to staff so that
its primary functions of teaching,
research and consultancy can be
undertaken effectively and efficiently.
Staff development and training
should be taken more seriously.

REFERENCES

1. Cole, G.A. Management, theory and prac-
tice. London: DP Publications Ltd. p.5

2. Lucey T. Management information systems.
6th ed. London: DP Publicatons Ltd. 1991,
p.7

3. Likert, R. New patterns of management.
New York: McGraw Hill, 1961, p.1.

4. Lucey, T. Op.cit p. 120

5. Ibid p. 76.

6, Makui, P.J., Managing people at work.
London: The British Psychological Society,
1993, p. 34-35.

7. Antwi |. K. & Bello M.A. Motivation and
productivity in academic libraries a case
study of the Abubakar Tafawa isalewa
University Library, Bauchi, Nigeria. (ibrarv

10

 

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£

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ws Management, Vol. 14, No. 5, 1993, pp.27 - 34
8. Nzotta, B.C. A comparative study of the job
satisfaction of Nigerian Librarians
international Library Review, Vol. 19. No. 2.
“ 1987, p. 166. I
9. Kinard, J. Management. Lexington: DC
Heath & Co. p. 1988.
10. Jones, N and Jordan, P. Staff management
~ in library and information work. 2nd ed.
|
|
a
(
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= |

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Motivation and productivity in academic libraries

Brookfield: Cover, 1987 p. 69.

11. Costley, D.K. and Todd, R. Human relations
in organizations. 3rd ed. New York: West
Publishing Co. p. 1987.

12. Charlton Quoted by Alemna A.A.
Motivation and productivity in academic
libraries: A case study of Balme Library.
University of Ghana, Journal of Library
Administration Vol. 16 No. 4, 1992, pp 45-46.

11